I shudder at how derivative, Shanara is, never even complete the first novel.
Still a ring is a very small object, easily place on a finger. So convenient. In my WIP, I wish the device to have a more subtle ability, it merely effects how its wearer dreams.
Then again, I am considering not using a ring. Perhaps some other small adornment, easily concealed when needed.
I have thought a coin. The user would have to grasp it as they slept. A little difficult, perhaps.
A nose ring that releases subtle odors that affects the dreams by the subconscious response to the odors.
A navel ring that ties the dreamer to his/her place of origin and influnces the dream based upon what is transpiring there.
Other ringed appendages... let's not go there.
I guess there's a toe-ring too. Perhaps a little too effeminate for the character.
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited November 22, 2004).]
Can be worn in view or tucked inside a shirt. If it is touching the skin while the wearer sleeps, it affects dreams.
You could still use a coin or ring that could be worn on a chain.
I have considered two coins, placed on the eyelids. It would call to mind the practice of putting the coins on the eyes of a dead person. Of course, if the sleeper turned over...
Tell the story.
That's true. In the first draft, I had a powerful being give the character these abilities. But on further thought it was too much like a Deus Ex Machina cliche.
This time I think whatever the device, the character has a dream, the dream leads to the idea. The character is never sure of the dream's origin.
I'm never sure of my dreams origins either! And mostly I just don't want to know.
(BTW, his MC was a departure from the norm, too.)
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This time I think whatever the device, the character has a dream, the dream leads to the idea. The character is never sure of the dream's origin.
So, you don't want the MC to immeadiately know what is causing the dreams? I'm not sure I'm reading that right. The coins on the eyes sounds a bit odd, because who would put coins on their eyes before going to sleep? Unless the person already knows the magic in the coin.
Does it have to be something inherantly percious (like a coin or piece of jewelry)? Could it be an everyday item? i.e. a nail or something?
Perhaps he acquired some horseshoes and horseshoe nails that were forged from some enchanted metal. He shoes his horse and tosses the left over nails in his pocket. Through the night his hand slips into his pocket and he has the strangest dream...
Just a thought.
He has a dream involving a tree growing in the middle of the Lake. He journeys to the end of a branch, and sees himself with X device.
After he gains his "powers", in time he fashions X. When he sleeps in contact with X, he is able to explore the memories of his peers and superiors in his dreams.
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited November 22, 2004).]
But seriously, perhaps in the dream he notices that the hook and sinker are far too ornate for catching fish, something about them looks artistic. He could fashion the hook and sinker and wear them on a string or fishing line around his neck. Instead of using them to catch fish, he can use them to fish for memories or whatever in his dreams.
The only other thing that really comes to mind, is if the device were something made of wood, whittled (sp? 
) from the tree.
Basically, all these "magic" devices look metallic, though are of a higher order than ordinary matter.
Ok, perhaps not.
::hides in the sf genre::
Or what if the object was a weapon? A broken spearhead, or something.
How about a small doll?
Then the whole problem of wearing the item is negated. And it puts a different spin on it all, too.
Shanu,
Good idea. Planted inside the body.
In fact, if the character had to do it themselves, cut themselves open, put it in, sow themselves up, it would be a good price to pay for the this ability.
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited November 23, 2004).]
Or something like a native-American "dreamcatcher" or a witchball that does more than just scare away evil spirits. It wouldn't be on their person, but nearby when they're sleeping.
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What if it were a magical glyph tattooed on their body?
Done to death.
In the millue, the laws of "magic" which would be too lengthy to explain, it basically involved taking ordinary matter and transforming into Mechanisms, objects that are of a Higher order of matter. They help amplify the Initiate's powers. The Mechanism can borrow the Initiate's sentience and act as a sort of AI.
The material is metalic-like in apperance, yet flexible. The kind of material that is said to be found in UFO lore, after a crash.
Think about the device's maker. What was his intent? That may suggest an object.
For instance I have always thought that a ring was a good item because it was worn on the hand which is a symbol of a person's ability to act, create and realise their desires.
If by dreams you mean sleeping dreams I think the earring is a great idea, though it lends itself to the idea of hearing voices.
But if you want this item to begin influencing the character by way of waking dreams, or visions you may think about an item that represents the ability to see.
Perhaps he lost one eye to this magic spear and its tip is lodged in the bone at the back of his socket, effectively replacing the eye. Visual stimulus is replaced with a magical, auratic one that flows directly into his brain.
You have both the means and a price paid.
cool 
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited November 23, 2004).]
Hannibal, king of Carthage, lost an eye to infection after crossing the Alps.
Philip of Macedon, (Alexander the Great's dad) was blinded in one eye by an arrow.
Antigonus, one Alexander's successors was nicknamed Monophthalmos (One Eye) because he had lost an eye in battle.
Interesting, I wonder what Plutarch made of it.
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited November 23, 2004).]
Or perhaps something placed on the skin the position of the thrid eye (in the middle of the forehead).
Reminds me when Dworkin put the Jewel Of Judgement into Coral's empty eye socket.
It does have to be something inconsipcous. Otherwise the character's peers and superiors might notice. It is by dwelving into this pool of thier memories that shocks him into turning against them, and later spying on them.
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited November 23, 2004).]
i apologize if anyone else has already said this, i didn't bother checking the entire thread :P
If I were telling blonde jokes, (just an example - don't get me started... please) one would assume a blonde would figure in the joke at some point, which would make it just like every other blonde joke ever told. The originality comes when you make the joke your own, and that's all in the way you tell it.
[This message has been edited by Warbric (edited November 24, 2004).]
Yanos seems to be saying it does not matter but use something that helps tell the story.
dpatrige seems to be saying it doesn't matter but its the details that distinguish reused plots
Warbric seems to be saying it does not matter but use your storyteller's instinct, (And your storyteller instinct is clearly telling you to put some effort into this).
In other words, it does matter.
I sometimes play Eye-spy with my kids, it is very boring when they pick the first and most obvious thing they see, it is fun when they think about it.
I appreciate thought and effort in the details
Edit:
ChrisOwen, how does the character know he can trust what he sees?
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited November 24, 2004).]
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited November 24, 2004).]
Try clicking on the pencil and paper icon above your post (that's the "edit" icon). There should be a "delete?" option above Your UserName:
Or, you can wait and I'll delete it when I find out about it.
[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited November 24, 2004).]
Then again, I'm so bloody old that I suspect the government has already mailed my curmudgeon starter kit, so consider the source and take anything I say with a grain of salt.
Oh, and as an afterthought, for some stories I am absolutely dead wrong. My rant shows my slant as a reader though: characters have to change and grow, or the neatest idea, milieu, or event in the world is lost on me. Give me all that and a character who reacts to and is affected by it in a credible way, and through whom I can experience it all and I'm yours for the second and third books in your trilogy. 
(Edited for spelling & syntax errors, maybe a little for sense, too.)
[This message has been edited by Warbric (edited November 24, 2004).]
When he is asleep, his dreamform is in the "Lake Of Transformation", as are the dreamforms of all those of his group. Normally, with 'said device', the dreamer dumps thier memories into the Lake, and then relieve the last waking moment over and over again, be it hours, or even seconds.
When this character discovers 'said device' instead dumping his memories into the Lake, he learns to navigate and access the memories stored there. Since his memories are stored there upon Initiation from before birth to Initiation in vivid detail, he trusts the vivid memories of others are trustworthy). He experiences the memories from the POV of that person, in all 5+ senses, thier thoughts and emotions...
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited November 24, 2004).]
I'd like to remind those of you who know this already, and tell those of you who don't know it yet, that OSC recommends that you don't go with the first idea you get, and even the second idea can be discarded.
Try to come up with more ideas and go with the fourth or fifth one.
That's one thing that's cool about this forum: people are willing to brainstorm with each other and come up with those fourth and fifth and sixth ideas.
(I like the idea about having to cut yourself open to insert a magic item and then having to sew yourself back up as the price for the magic. I think OSC would like that one, too.)
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No, actually, I was saying to concentrate on telling a thumping good story first and worry about inventing/reinventing a whizbang device later, if ever. If you get the story together and written, then you can go back and change whatever the neato-keen thingie is.
Sorry, but I must disagree on that. You've got to put the kind of unique imagination and thought into what the object is and how it fits into the plot to such a high degree that it could not be any other object than the one you created. If it's interchangeable, you didn't spend enough time conceiving, implementing, and most importantly, exploring the consequences of it in your story.
[This message has been edited by Magic Beans (edited November 27, 2004).]
quote:WOW! that, i totally agree on MB. in fact, this is the problem i'm facing with my mortvers, once called ratplant and too powerful for its own good. a certain integral part of my story REVOLVES around having that mortvers, i can't just get rid of it, i can tweak it to all get-out, but i can't get rid of it and make it some silly robots instead
You've got to put the kind of unique imagination and thought into what the object is and how it fits into the plot to such a high degree that it could not be any other object than the one you created. If it's interchangeable, you didn't spend enough time conceiving, implementing, and most importantly, exploring the consequences of it in your story.
Okay, just kidding. But nothing about the mortvers that you have described couldn't be done better and more plausibly by Von Neumann Ninja-bots.