okay--
basic premise-- there's a council of 9 different goddesses who basically keep time moving and the human world spinning. goddesses are formerly human, nominated, pass an initiation process, choose their archetype (the goddess they want to be for all of eternity) and join the council. they serve as long as they want to, but can retire if they decide they don't want to do the work or be immortal anymore. the council has a problem now-- one goddess has officially submitted her retirement (can't be revoked) but another one has run off w/o submitting her retirement, just dissappeared (haven't decided if there's going to be foul play involved or if she's just having a temper tamtrum yet)
HOWEVER-
the rules of the council state that:
-at no time may there be any more than one vacant seat on the council
-any retiring goddess must be replaced within no more than 2 full moon council sessions from when she steps down
so by the next full moon council, they either have to have found the missing goddess or replaced the retired goddess (at a minimum)
SO... here's where I need help. if they don't do one of those two things, what terrible consequence will occur? the end of the world just sounds lame, so i need either a different way to phrase that or a better consequence. thoughts? random suggestions?
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nov. 4, 2009 - 07 37
If they are in charge of the passage of time and the rotation of the earth, I would go for strange things happening rather than the end of all. Clocks stop moving, the tide never goes back out, it's always dark in Indonesia, etc. Then you could go on about the problems that arise when there is no sun. Or ships could be stuck out at sea, unable to find a safe harbor.
There's my two cents. Take it or leave it.
Another option could be that nothing happens. That would get the goddesses to start questioning their rules. Maybe there is an underlying reason for the rules that has nothing to do with actually making everything work...
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nov. 4, 2009 - 07 42
I like the idea for your story a lot. I have a couple ideas that may help out.
1. Natural disasters of some kind.
2. Disease or death that starts off slowly and gets worse the longer there are 2 vacant seats.
3. (the one I like best) Have it relate to what the goddesses that are missing stand for. If they stand for peace, then war starts to break out. They are not doing their job, so that aspect of the world won't act normally.
Hope that helps!
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nov. 4, 2009 - 08 18
Thank you both! It's enough to get my mental wheels out of the mud and spinning productively again.
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nov. 4, 2009 - 08 30
Strange things happen. Time gets loopy. The remaining council start making fatigue errors in their work. Time speeds down or slows erratically and counterintuitive, the long wait for the bathroom zips by in a perceptual second, the instant of lovemaking spreads out to a perceptual eight days of mind-burning orgasmic satori. Life gets very weird and starts breaking down but in small ways. Trees flower out of season and fruit out of season. Animals mate out of season. Minor calamities start to cascade and become major ones.
This of course becomes pressure to solve the problem as fast as possible before all of everything breaks down -- just make sure the breakdown process is gradual enough that your goddesses have a chance to find the renegade and get her to put in her shift and/or replace the retiree.
One way to go with it is that the runaway/missing goddess's aspect is the one that breaks down soonest. Another is that with the rest covering for her, their own aspects are what gets neglected with minor errors cropping up. Tempers flare with all that overwork and stress too. Show gradually increasing strain and the effects of sleep deprivation on these immortal goddesses. Past a certain point they may become delusional, psychotic and erratic with mood swings and poor judgment. But being goddesses their hallucinations stand a chance of manifesting and counting as reality. Their fears start to manifest. Their nightmares start giving mortal world serious problems.
It could get ugly that way. Great premise.
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nov. 4, 2009 - 08 46
If the appointed godesses fail to find a suitable replacement in time:
1. Time stops (chaos ensues)
2. The earth ceases to rotate, and the nautral progression of events is disrupted (chaos ensues)
3. They are stripped of their titles until such a time as they have proven themselves worthy; those who cannot are punished and/or executed
4. (alternate option from 1,2, & 3) They have a certain amount of time to fix their mistake or choices 1,2, & 3 will happen
----------Chance Cummings
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nov. 4, 2009 - 09 08
ok-- i got it. i've made previous reference to the Wheel of the Year from Wiccan theology. so if they don't fill at least one of the open seats on the Council of Nine, the Wheel will cease to turn and the world will be stuck in a sort of stasis, perpetually at whatever point on the Wheel it is stuck at and the entire Council will lose its power and authority completely. (with all the accompanying wackiness that might ensue as a result.)
here's hoping the mortal woman currently nominated to replace the retiring Goddess will accept the post or help the Council locate the missing Goddess or both!
thanks for the boost everyone!
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Just keep writing, just keep writing...
2009: Goddess Bless Book One: Lost and Found-- We shall see!
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nov. 4, 2009 - 10 05
That's what I was going to suggest, it appears the logical conclusion from the rest you have written here.
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nov. 5, 2009 - 08 35
It looks like you already figured it out. I like the idea of the Wheel of the Year getting stuck.
I just wanted to say, this sounds like a very interesting story.
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