Mapmaker part 1: A Dimming Star

Chapter 1

Soooo, this is my nanowrimo (national novel writing month) novel, that is terribly behind schedule and needs to be properly edited (I'm only at 2,371 words at the moment, and I'm aiming for 30,000 T.T) But this is the start of it, and I plan on working on it a lot even after November ends.

I also hope to get some pictures I made or characters and stuff uploaded sometime (I especially need to work on the cover...) I'll draw maps as the story goes along to show Lilla's progress as she explores more, and hopefully by chapter 2 I'll have one of her countryside done.

By the way, I'll put pronunciations of names and such at the top of chapters, such as this one- 

~Lilla - pronouced Lee-luh 

Here's the synopsis and I can answer any questions you have about it or anything else if you're confused~

In a world where separate lands refuse to accept foreign ideas and explore the unknown, Lilla plunges outside of her countryside home to fulfill her dream of creating a map of the world, while acting as one of the few bridges between nature and the xenophobic peoples of the world. Born with a gift of foresight through dreams from Queen Mab, the faery queen of dreams, and a close relationship with the spirits of nature, Lilla embarks on her quest  for herself and  to re-establish the relationship with people and nature. Along the way she meets Rayne, a wanted gambler and thief from a large city, Twyla, a clever and beautiful warrior cast out from her tribe of nomads, and Annick a justice seeking desert prince, who join her journey for their own reasons as well.

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“Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.”

-Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Chapter 1

I dream of lands unexplored; lofty mountains, flashing forests, vast valleys, swiftly flowing rivers, barren deserts, snowy lands filled thickly with echoing silence. I dream of cities; filled with people as diverse as the creatures in this world, booming markets with a cacophony of shouts from vendors telling of their far traveled wares. I dream of journeys, through every part of the land, sea, ground, and sky. I dream of carving paths of light from the dark unknown; each pen stroke marking a miniscule puzzle piece to be adjoined with other signs of existence forming a large indescribable image of our now waking world. I dream of adventure.

And adventures didn’t happen in the quiet countryside, or at least not in ours. Imagine a sky painted in watercolor with soft shades of blue, with light cotton clouds floating in its sea, like cream lightly stirred in coffee. The land is ripe with softly rolling hills, the color bright green apples, and sprinkled with short chocolate bluffs.Large rows of wheat, corn, beans and rice spread in uniform lines on the outskirts of the establishment and the occasional orchard stands tall above the windblown fields.Now why would I want to ever leave this beautiful place? Just wait, you’ll soon understand once you get to know more about me, a certain someone, and our community on this countryside.

I gazed through the lens of my telescope towards the still visible morning stars. They were just gorgeously bright in the country sky, with no city lights or dense smoke of hundreds of flames to dim their shine. Ironically, this very rural land that showed the natural glow of these stars dimmed and diminished my own glow, to the point that I sometimes felt like I was extinguished with nothing left to burn. Oh how I desperately wanted to leave this place!