Agnes walks along an old road through a mountain forest while leading a demonic boar on a magical silver chain. To keep herself awake, she talks to the creature, confessing that she wants to study its magic in an effort to revitalize the fortunes of her dying kingdom. The demon eventually begins to reply in garbled human speech. It responds strongly when Agnes asks about a golden medallion that she found on the battlefield after she asked the hero who saved her to spare the monster’s life. The demon, who is clearly in pain, asks Agnes to place the medallion against a scar on its forehead. She feels compelled by something larger than herself to do as it asks, only to be overwhelmed by magic.
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An Unfound Door is a gothic mystery set in a decaying castle. Agnes, the princess of Faloren, hopes to save her crumbling kingdom by unlocking the secrets of long-lost relic, but she must conceal it from Fhiad, a mysterious emissary with sinister motives. As their paths cross in twisting corridors and hidden passages, Agnes and Fhiad realize that they must descend into the shadows of the past together if they hope to bring light to the future.
This story summary needs some work, but I’ll keep editing it as I write.
In terms of “Save the Cat” story structure, this initial chapter provides the opening image: A young woman leading a demonic boar through the darkness of a mountain forest.
The closing image, which will mirror the opening image, will be Agnes and the now-human demon sitting in the shade of a lone tree as they watch the sun set. In both cases, Agnes will be leaving the scene of a battle with the demon to return to civilization. What Agnes considers to be “civilization” will have changed, as will her understanding of herself and her relation to the magic she’s trying to harness. And obviously she and the demon will have kissed.
The opening chapter sets the gothic tone of the story by introducing a brave but somewhat naive young woman not-quite lost in a dark and sinister place. It also presents what I hope is an intriguing mystery. What is the demon, and where did it come from? Why is Agnes’s kingdom in decline, and why is she alone in the forest with a demon?
To establish Agnes’s character as the protagonist, she has literally “saved the cat” here, except the “cat” in this case is a giant horrible boar demon. I assume the “hero saves the princess from the evil demon” narrative pattern will be familiar to most readers, who will hopefully be intrigued by the element of Agnes’s character that leads her to capture the demon instead of killing it. She perceives her need of the demon’s magic to be worth the risk, but she’s also curious and looking for trouble, even if she can’t yet admit that to herself.
Agnes is going to start wearing a series of masks once the story gets going, so I think it’s useful for the reader to see her true face at the beginning. As corny as this sounds, the way that Agnes needs to change over the course of the story is to learn to follow her heart, by which I mean she needs to recognize her own face underneath her masks. Also, I want to use the story to explore the beauty of decay, and I’d like to use Agnes to make an argument that some kingdoms should be allowed to crumble.
The illustration accompanying the chapter preview graphic was created by the marvelous Ilya Rawan, who posts magical artwork on Twitter (here) and on Instagram (here).
Digital Fantasy Diary 