Begin with the client's death (King so-and-so). Corwin is devastated, almost suicidal. Decides to rob the tomb out of desperation.
Asks his daughters what they want, not telling them that the money's gone.
Travels to the tomb, paranoid. He's never been a criminal before. Has an alarming night in an inn, hearing rumours of tomb robbers. Thinks he's been found out.
Arrives in the night to find the great seal already broken, evidence of many thieves. But he's come so far, he goes down to see what's left to be scavenged. He finds many empty rooms, going deep into the earth, four levels cut deep into the granite.
He finds a cave-in, near the deepest point. The body of the late king is in this final chamber, stripped of its finery and its flesh, too, a raw skeleton dried to firewood. He is not alone here. When he raises his lantern to see down the hollow, he thinks he sees jewels, or eyes, dozens of them gleaming back at him before they suddenly vanish, and he's attacked. It's a brief, furious battle before he smashes his lantern into the attacker's face, and it collapses.
When he lights the lantern again (flint), he finds the creature laid out. He draws the knife he brought, meaning to cut its throat, but it wakes up before he can, pleading for its life in a language he can't understand. He can't bring himself to kill it, can't bring himself to turn his back on it, either, so he bundles it up in his cloak and begins the climb out.
At the surface, the creature revives and attempts an escape on the road. It breaks free of the cloak, bu tthe sun's bright and hot and it winds up cowering against Corwin's legs, the only near shade. He bundles it up again, continuing on.
When he gets home, his daughters run out to greet him, giving him no chance to hide the monster. But like before, the sunlight makes it harmless as they freak out. Dusa, the town's teacher, wants it drowned before it can eat local children. Seppe wants it burnt as an abomination. Not understanding them, but hearing and smelling their fear, the monster huddles afraid, and Elspeth pleads for it to be safely released. Corwin denies all three, telling them his plan.
He seals the beast in a nearby dry well, and begins to build a wooden cage to house it in an empty barn on their property. He has big plans for his new sideshow (maybe a week to build?)
While it's in the well, Elspeth visits the monster. It's curled up at the bottom, filthy in the few inches of muddy water, obviously miserable. When she speaks to it, it tries to speak back, and she begins to teach it words, one by one. Chicken. Rock. Water. Hands. And she feeds it.
When the cage is finished, Corwin has to figure out how to get it from the well to the cage. He tries to knock it out with dropped rocks, but it flings them back, resisting. So he lassos it by the neck and one hand, nearly killing it as he hauls it up from the bottom. It's sick, coughing and sputtering in the sunlight, but it attacks him anyway, desperate, and only stops when Elspeth puts herself in the way. Corwin locks it in the cage, telling her it'll be better off in there.
People start coming to see it as Corwin spreads the word. First the locals; They're a small town, with many reactions like Dusa's and Seppe's, but there's a growing fascination.
People start coming from farther away, stranger folk. Corwin stops letting his daughters fraternize with the visitors, but Elspeth sneaks into the barn as often as she can to be the beast's guard, and keep it company while it's stared at. Once, she stops a wealthy visitor from cutting off one of its strange long fingers as a souvenir.
The local Duke visits, and Corwin is overjoyed, sure that their money troubles are over forever.
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Outline #2 - By scenes(1/2)
Date: 2010-10-25 01:05 am (UTC)Asks his daughters what they want, not telling them that the money's gone.
Travels to the tomb, paranoid. He's never been a criminal before. Has an alarming night in an inn, hearing rumours of tomb robbers. Thinks he's been found out.
Arrives in the night to find the great seal already broken, evidence of many thieves. But he's come so far, he goes down to see what's left to be scavenged. He finds many empty rooms, going deep into the earth, four levels cut deep into the granite.
He finds a cave-in, near the deepest point. The body of the late king is in this final chamber, stripped of its finery and its flesh, too, a raw skeleton dried to firewood. He is not alone here. When he raises his lantern to see down the hollow, he thinks he sees jewels, or eyes, dozens of them gleaming back at him before they suddenly vanish, and he's attacked. It's a brief, furious battle before he smashes his lantern into the attacker's face, and it collapses.
When he lights the lantern again (flint), he finds the creature laid out. He draws the knife he brought, meaning to cut its throat, but it wakes up before he can, pleading for its life in a language he can't understand. He can't bring himself to kill it, can't bring himself to turn his back on it, either, so he bundles it up in his cloak and begins the climb out.
At the surface, the creature revives and attempts an escape on the road. It breaks free of the cloak, bu tthe sun's bright and hot and it winds up cowering against Corwin's legs, the only near shade. He bundles it up again, continuing on.
When he gets home, his daughters run out to greet him, giving him no chance to hide the monster. But like before, the sunlight makes it harmless as they freak out. Dusa, the town's teacher, wants it drowned before it can eat local children. Seppe wants it burnt as an abomination. Not understanding them, but hearing and smelling their fear, the monster huddles afraid, and Elspeth pleads for it to be safely released. Corwin denies all three, telling them his plan.
He seals the beast in a nearby dry well, and begins to build a wooden cage to house it in an empty barn on their property. He has big plans for his new sideshow (maybe a week to build?)
While it's in the well, Elspeth visits the monster. It's curled up at the bottom, filthy in the few inches of muddy water, obviously miserable. When she speaks to it, it tries to speak back, and she begins to teach it words, one by one. Chicken. Rock. Water. Hands. And she feeds it.
When the cage is finished, Corwin has to figure out how to get it from the well to the cage. He tries to knock it out with dropped rocks, but it flings them back, resisting. So he lassos it by the neck and one hand, nearly killing it as he hauls it up from the bottom. It's sick, coughing and sputtering in the sunlight, but it attacks him anyway, desperate, and only stops when Elspeth puts herself in the way. Corwin locks it in the cage, telling her it'll be better off in there.
People start coming to see it as Corwin spreads the word. First the locals; They're a small town, with many reactions like Dusa's and Seppe's, but there's a growing fascination.
People start coming from farther away, stranger folk. Corwin stops letting his daughters fraternize with the visitors, but Elspeth sneaks into the barn as often as she can to be the beast's guard, and keep it company while it's stared at. Once, she stops a wealthy visitor from cutting off one of its strange long fingers as a souvenir.
The local Duke visits, and Corwin is overjoyed, sure that their money troubles are over forever.