A combination of the (never posted) Fragments "an alternate sci-fi interpretation of the word "photogate" (still taking "photo" to mean light)" and "someone with the ability to control doors (limited to locking/unlocking and switching hinges so that a pull door becomes a push door or vice versa)." Still needs a lot of work.
Working Title: Portalmancy
Genre: Fantasy/Steampunk
Protagonist: Daniel Jacobson, a 16-year-old with hazel eyes and dark brown hair that's a bit shaggy and covers his ears. Although he was raised in a fairly rich family, he considers it more of a handicap than a blessing as he wants to make a name for himself through something he accomplishes rather than inherits. He's serious but has a dry sense of humour, and he's a bit of a nerd.
Other Main Characters: Elizabeth, Daniel's smiley, 17-year-old sister. She's on her way to becoming a proper lady, but she's extremely curious about portalmancy and protective of her brother.
Hannah ("Hannes"), a 16-year-old disguising herself as a male to join the portalmancers. Her blonde hair is cut short, and her frame isn't large, but she's physically quite strong. She's a bit paranoid about her disguise failing, but she's naturally rather talkative and usually bears a wry smile.
Antagonist: The soldiers and portalmancers of enemy nations, as well as fellow soldiers-in-training who look down on Daniel and/or suspect Hannes's real identity.
Setting: The steampunk world of portalmancers, mid-war. Magic is like physical prowess: everyone has a bit, it takes training to go anywhere (and portalmancy is a strictly-guarded secret outside of the military), and different people have different knacks. All magic is based on doors, with a door being any framed structure capable of opening and closing without being damaged (so it includes sash windows and such). There is, of course, classic doorway magic, where the door opens into a completely difference place (and occassionally time if something goes wrong). There are also photogates, doors that open to an image of another place; their frames go undetected by those on the other side, but if anything blocks even a part of the doorway, the image disappears. People can walk through other doors to don perfect disguises or armour, or do quite a few other things.
Plot: Starting his training at 16 to go into the fields at 18, Daniel struggles to master portalmancy when his only talent seems to be switching door hinges. Hannes struggles to maintain her disguise, although her training is going well. The army struggles with the other nations involved, and to keep portalmancy secret as traitors attempt to leak techniques to the enemy and the more oppressed parts of the nation. Et cetera.
Point of View: Third-person, limited to Daniel.
So photogates would essentially be used to spy on other areas? This sounds like a very interesting idea, and while other aspects of the storyline have definitely been used before (a girl disguising herself as a boy to fight; a steampunk nation at war) I think the creativity of the magic could carry the story through, particularly if the characters are fresh.
ReplyDeleteThat is correct.
DeleteYeah, I don't have a solid view of the characters at this point, but they seem like they'll turn out to be fun to work with.