Cheers!

1) All right, we need a concept - dragons? elves? fairies? assassins? knights? wizards? flying staplers?

2) Then we need characters. Male? female? old? young? tentative? bold? evil? sweeties? etc.

3) Then we need setting. Present? history? another world? city? country? mountains? plains? desert? rainy place?

4) I am currently enamored with medieval Europe, but take your pick of setting. Last TAPM story I did was set in Paris of the mid 1700s, and it was fairies, so I'd like to do something besides that. 

5) If we set it in another world, I think we should use a world from a book we've both read so we don't have to develop the world as well as the characters and story.

6) I have an unfortunate tendency to hog the story. If I write too much and you'd like me to tone down, put "TDL" (for "tone down, lav) at the end of any post, and I'll take the hint and back off a little. 

7) No need to call me lavendershy if you'd prefer lav - much shorter and all. 

8) I refuse to make all the decisions. I gave you the questions - give me some answers, and I'll tell you what I think of them. Some people are so nice they wander around constantly deferring to everyone else and nothing actually gets done. I don't know if you're like that, but I won't tolerate it. :D We're going places, Emma!

Cheers,

lavendershy

All right! This is coming along nicely! Guilds do sound
pretty cool. (couple side noets: Yes, I was talking about Joseph.
Thanks for complementing my cackle. :P) I think this is what we have so
far.

Setting: Medieval Europe, England, Large Town

Characters: Members of a guild of assassins.

Storyline: The characters are plotting to assassinating a lord. Perhaps the assassins are actually working for England's king and are planning to assassinate a Scotish lord.

We still need to decide...

1. What we should call the town

2. Where they are going (Did we decide on Scotland?) I like Scotland.

3. Who is their target  The leader of a Scotish clan, I propose.

4. What the character's names are

5. What role they play (apprentice, journeymen, master) in the guild A little of everything, I would say. Perhaps a master and his apprentice set out, accompanied by a journeyman who used to work for the master. This is a little too much like the Ranger's Apprentice books, though.

6. If we include dragons (If so, I think I'd be awesome to have them on the assassain's side!) I am in total agreement. Dragons + assassins also = epic win.

7. If we include magic I vote no.

8. I there is a war (if so, what war, just against Scotland or the War of the Roses? I'm leaning more towards Scotland) Just Scotland-England, I think. 

I believe that's all! Aye!

Ok, so for names. . . . I vote when you come to a character, make up a name for him/her, and we'll debate it on the side. That way neither of us does all the names. Town name. . . . Here are random ideas: Meril, Sharnam, Planta. Those came off the top of my head, so don't worry about bashing them. :D I'm generally open to bashes. 

The cliche thing to do would be to have a character join the Assassin's guild and lean the ways of the Assassin. (Cliche as in Star Wars, Harry Potter, Eragon and a ton of other storylines use that.) It would be the easiest thing, though, I think. Or perhaps just dive into the story. I'm not much good at intros, I warn you. 

I am ready to start whenever you are - just begin the story once you feel we've got enough material. 

I began to write a story based off this idea, and it's a lot of fun. I propose that we at some point have a little kid, cause little kid dialogue is really fun to write, what with the mispronunciations and questions and word coinages.  :D

Cheers,

lavendershy

((*headdesk* *harder headdesk* Ugh. I'm sorry, Emma. My bad. I wrote a good deal to make up for all that time. Two things: I changed Adriana's character a bit, and I like Braeden's name quite a lot. Anywho, here's to a great new year of storytelling! Cheers!))

"You'd better be, or you'll kill yourself on your own camp food. I'm the only one of you lot who can cook."

Braeden raised his eyebrows with an injured air. "Now, that's not quite fair! Who was it taught you how to cook?"

"My mother. Why?"

"You little liar! I did; don't you remember that?"

"I remember rather distinctly that you tried to when I already knew how." She raised her hand to stop his exclamation. "Oh, no, it was very helpful, believe me! Since then I've made sure I don't do anything you did that day, and no one has died from my cooking yet."

"You ungrateful girl! Do you know where you'd be without me?"

Adriana yawned. "Probably asleep. Why?"

With a groan, Braeden turend toward the quarters where the junior Assassins lived when not on duty. "You're hopeless. Let's get the others - no reason they should suffer because of you."

Adriana raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain that remark?"
"What do you mean?"

"How would they suffer from what I just said? If you go get them so they won't suffer, all they're avoiding is a couple hours of sleep. Or are you going to make them all eat your cooking cause I said it was terrible? You try really hard to make witty remarks, Braeden, but it just doesn't work." She clapped him on the shoulder, laughing at him as they went. "This, my dear sir, is why we work together. You cut through the armies, I get you out. You do the big, glorious, stupid things, and I do the sly, smart, unnoticed things." Her tone turned slightly bitter. "And, of course, you get all the credit."

Braeden let the silence hang for a moment. ". . . Yes. But do I ever do anything without you? Do I ever use that credit to my advantage?"

"Advantage? No. Tell me, Braeden, have you ever heard of this thing called glory?"

"It's a generally discouraged notion in the Assassins Guild, Adri. ((We have to have a nickname for Adriana. Either Adri or Ana, I think. I'll go with Adri for now, but if you prefer Ana or something else, let me know. I've no problem with changing.)) You work in secret. For the Guild if it has to be known. I'll bet outside of the Guild not half a dozen people are aware that our leader's name is Lucifer. Or that we even have a leader. You've not been here very long, Adri, but that much you know."

"Yes. Yes, I do." She paused. "Anyway, who's paying?"

"For what?"

"The assassination. Lord Cesan's death."

Braeden's eyebrows drew together. "Well, I don't know. Lucifer didn't say anyone was. You think it's a hired job?"

"Cesan is rather too important for Lucifer to have him killed without getting a fat price for it. What do you get in the end?"

"Seven hundred. Five of us. One-forty apiece."

"Not bad, I guess. And Lucifer would never pay seven hundred for a job of his own. No, this one was bought."

Suddenly Braeden snapped back into the Assassin's mold, strictly willing to leave everything but what he was told to do alone. His voice was formal. "Not that it matters."

". . . No." 

((That's not the most decisive of conclusions, but I wanted you to be able to end the scene or continue as you wish, as you see the story. This is the beauty about working with someone else - you get tired of writing, just wait a bit and voila! Your story comes back with plot holes filled in, scene transitions worked out, and the next mini-conflict all done. :D I'm terribly sorry this took so long. I will check often in the next couple days to try to get our story moving again.

Cheers,

lavendershy))

((Garg! "Your computer has been restarted to install new updates. We
apologize for the inconvenience." Apologize? If you were sorry, you
would have saved the story on here and the Notepad document for me. . .
. Forgive me. That's one of the things that makes me mad. Anyway, this
is not the first time I've written this. :P I think we should have
dragons, but perhaps they shouldn't come in until the mountains,
because if they live in the Assassin's guild they would a) be way too
hard to hide, and b) have to be sort of beasts of burden, which is
below the character of the dragons. So they'll be on horses just now, I
think. Thank you for giving me that option. And romance. I don't think
we talked about that yet. I'm going to put in just a little, honestly.
I generally dislike it, but these characters are late teenagers.
They're good friends. It just wouldn't be realistic without a touch of
romance. You can let it fizzle out if you don't want it, I suppose.))

Brenna
laughed and brushed her red-brown hair out of her face. "I sure hope
you mean they're ready to be ridden, 'cause otherwise we're in for a
long walk, and carrying the horses." 

Damien took her bag with a
wink. "Brenna's too sharp for you, Braeden. You and Keegan to the grunt
work, and the rest of us will do the brain work." He gave Brenna a hand
onto her horse, and Adri smiled to herself when she saw his hand linger
on Brenna's a little longer than was necessary and when Brenna flashed
a smile at him. 

Keegan took Adri's bag, and Braeden moved to
help her onto her horse. "All right! We're off! Scotland and the
north!" Damien called as he swung onto his own horse. Braeden followed,
a little less enthusiastically. He knew he wasn't the sharpest of the
Assassins, but was it really true that he was all brawn and no brain? Oh,
forget it. Off on a new mission - not the time for deep thinking. Screw
this up and Lucifer will have something to say to you, and probably
with a knife. 

Adri smiled a little at Keegan when he rode by
her. He was quiet and uncomplaining, and no one knew much about him,
but he was always polite, always the perfect gentleman, and Adri liked
that. Courteous as always, he nodded back, and Adri had the feeling
that a nobleman, a king even, might have made that same nod. "You
puzzle me, my friend," she murmered under her breath.

Brenna was
ahead with Damien, laughing with him at something, when Braeden hissed,
"Quiet! Do you want to wake the whole Guild? Keep your voices down, and
remember this mission is a secret!" He took the head of the line, and
Adri settled back as the rearguard. 

It was a long way to Scotland. 

((I
have the Guild situated near London, maybe on the Thames. That suit
you? And I didn't do much plotwise here, just made them start and
worked on characters a bit. Hope that's all right.

Cheers,

lavendershy))