Something simple, not as lengthy to get me back in the groove. I'm certainly out of practice at the moment and not ready for a long project just yet. There's a short concept I've had in mind for a while: the events of a single night (or day), played successively through the perspectives of multiple characters. Each character will get not more than 10 chapters before we move on to the next.
It'd start off as something like this:
***
Night of the Hummingbird
Ankida. The greatest and oldest city on the continent, the center of the once burgeoning Shinar Empire. Many have dubbed the Empire the Sick Man of the Old World and dismissed it as a failing government clinging onto outdated monarchy through sheer pride, nostalgia and no little stubbornness. Still, even with the Empire’s strength sapped by years of war and the changing winds of history, the brilliance of Ankida itself remains undiminished. It is still a metropolis that many poets have titled the Jewel of the World in countless poems and songs. It is, still, the cradle of minds and egos that have gone on to do great things, as it has been for millennia. No matter how many Emperors have ruled it, no matter the philosophies of the land it stands on, no matter how many young, upstart nations stake their claim to importance, Ankida is still the pivot on which the world turns.
And on this night, in the mansion of the most influential noble of the Empire, amidst the howling gales of republicanism that are storming the continent, the world is about to revolve once more around this ancient city…
Tonight would go down in history as the Night of the Hummingbird.
For as an old Shinari verse goes, the hummingbird drinks nectar by day, and blood by night.
***
Choose a character to follow:
A. Lady Orlessa Ramsesphilios (52) - Spouse of Lord Ramsesphilios. Noted philanthropist, social butterfly and avid gardener. Her reach amongst the ladies of high society is said to rival that of her husband’s own amongst the Council of Nobles. Organizer of tonight’s banquet.
B. Natia Ramsesphilios (18) – Sole daughter of House Ramsesphilios. A young woman who knows her family’s influence and is not afraid to use it. Tonight’s banquet serves as her debut into high society.
C. Vitruvius Camna (23) - Scion of House Camna, a militaristic family of nobles that has seen better days. Having recently graduated summa cum laude from the Imperial Academy, he is keen to prove his worth. He has become famous as one of the advocates against the spread of republicanism in the Empire.
D. Ambassador Zhang (46) - The Higashi ambassador. Descended from a long line of Concordiat diplomats and fluent in seven languages, he has been stationed in Ankida for more than a decade. His tenure has gained him many allies amongst the Ankidans due to his gregarious nature.
E. Eannos Lumen (23) - A manservant of the Ramsesphilios family. Inanna’s brother. Was once a cadet in the Imperial Academy’s military wing, but dropped out due to personal circumstances. A brooding young man that still maintains contact with certain more radical elements of the military.
F. Inanna Lumen (18) - A maid of the Ramsesphilios family. Eannos’s younger sister. Unaware of her brother’s activities. A kind and gentle girl that is the apple of Lady Orlessa’s eye, even above her own daughter.
G. Wulfric Wendelltyr (25) - A young inventor from the Skane Republic. Under patronage from Lady Orlessa, he has taken up residence in Ankida. Invited by his patron to demonstrate his recent invention: a steam-powered stage play. His neuroticism and nervousness makes him a poor fit for a banquet, however.
H. Nameless (20s?) - A young man with neither clothes nor memory to his belonging. He finds himself sitting on the walls of the mansion grounds with no idea whatsoever as to how he got there.
