WhirlwindBrushMethod/ToLiveIsToDie

Not all stories are about heroes. Even in this world, even as the Age of Sorrows turns and blood falls like rain on the peoples, even in times such as these... life goes on. The heroes do great deeds, but there are plenty of small deeds that must be done as well. They may not keep the sky from falling, drive the barbarians away, or break the hearts of a thousand beauties, but the people of Creation are as glorious, in their own humble way, as the heroes who stride this earth as giants.

Now, you may be chomping at the bit, ready to hear yet another tale of the Great Celestial Heroes who fight off the forces of savagery and dispair, but I am an old man. I have heard those tales and re-told those tales ever since I can remember. I'm sick of them. Listen to me, boys! You, YOU are heroes! You may never hold a sword and bravely defend your people (the gods know that I never got that chance, bless them), but it doesn't matter! In your chest splashes a heart as brave and true as any that walked this earth.

You don't believe me? Ha! Of course you don't. But you haven't heard my new tales, boys... tales not yet widely known but, believe me, true as the dirt I'm squatting in! These are tales of heroes, boys, but heroes just as mortal as you or I.

But where to begin... Ah, yes... At the beginning...

Anthology Description

Hey.

I'd like "To Live Is To Die" to take a slightly different form then the rest of the WhirlwindBrushMethod stuff. This requires everyone who wants to participate to buy into some specific guidelines, in order for the story to work. Here's what I'm hoping for:

1. The story is about mortals. Not Exalted. Not mortal god-blooded. Normal, everyday mortals.

2. Okay, so the mortals don't have to be THAT normal. My initial story concept is about a beastman slave who grew up serving a prominent family in the Realm. That's not especially normal, but it's not a mortal++ either.

3. The primary characters will NEVER Exalt. That defeats the whole point.

4. The stories will start out in more of an anthology format than a continuing story. Each writer details the life of a single mortal or group of mortals in one part of Creation. These stories can build and continue over time, but they should not overlap or intersect without actual collaboration in the creation process. That is, if Player A writes about a beastman living near the edges of the Wyld and I want to use her in my story about the beastman slave, I should check it out with the other write first and do some collaborative brainstorming.

5. So, basically, I'd like to encourage seperate, parallel development with occasional overlaps based on writer-writer collaboration. You could even have two writers create individual takes on the same general scene, an interaction between their characters or groups of their characters.

6. The action of the story should focus on normal people AS ACTORS IN THE DRAMA OF EXALTED. They have agency, in other words. They aren't simply ants for the Exalted to crush under their feet (though that sometimes happens). If the story is about mortals, but only Exalted characters (who aren't even the protagonists) do things that are significant, that sucks.

7. The mortal protagonists should still be treated like average mortals should be in the Age of Sorrows. This means that they shouldn't be fabulously lucky or have things just happen to go their way. They shouldn't rise in rank to become kings or earn massive fortunes. No. They're average joes and jills. If you want to get your power-hungry escapism on, write in another story. Trying to make this guideline work with the one above it isn't easy, but that's the challenge of this story. Making mortals believable but significant in a world of demigods.

In any case, that's the plan. Comments and suggestions are welcome. I don't know when I'm going to get around to writing my first post (a day or so, maybe, since I have to do my taxes, unless I can get them done tonight), so anyone else is welcome to jump in and get us started, if they like.

comments go here

This page has been heavily edited, based on earlier comments. Additional comments, as always, are welcome. -- JonathanWalton

When I get a good character concept I will put something here. I am extremely fond of this idea. - willows

Likewise. I'm thinking of inflating my old three-paragraph "Nexus fish story" into a full entry.\\ _Ikselam But first, gotta beat CtS into submission...

I'm getting an idea, despite my previous skepticism-- it makes a lot more sense having seen the first chapter. Is thamaturgy off-limits? -dissolvegirl

Not having read PG, I am going to make a guess here - thaumaturgy sucks too much for it to make mortals unmortal. - willows

The PG actually does say that most people should know at least a little thaumaturgy. The real-world analogy it uses is math; "although mathematicians highly knowledgeable and uncommon, almost everyone can count out change." Plus, it really is not all that good. You can get some fairly impressive effects if you're very skilled, and have access to vast resources, but it really is the hard way to get things done.\\

_Ikselam

Hm. Can I suggest that we keep a "mortals idea bank" here? I'm still banging my head for a character here...maybe I should take my own advice that I gave to someone else earlier and create situation instead of character... willows