Reflection 2

Pneumonia is about as bad as a virus: it makes one sick, it fades away, it returns, and it makes one's work late. Please excuse the tardiness of this blog post, as I was coughing up a storm Friday night and throughout Saturday and there was a long, scheduled, family event today.
This week, I spent my time brainstorming characters and beginning to write a short intro to the novella I have planned. As stated in the previous post, the plot will revolve (to an extent) around a creature or spirit known as the “Carrion Man”. It is a representation of death, taking the form of a plague doctor with robes and mask a bit too organic-looking to be inanimate. His eyes are red crusted and watery, congealed mess clinging to his face and thick tears streaming down the mask, but are also cold, calculating, and insane. The “protagonists” include a braggart, who has turned to alcohol in order to escape the present and delve back into the past; an old woodsman, who lost his daughter years ago and has yet to forgive himself; a wise woman, who has given up on humanity and wanders only so that fate may gift her with death; a priest, who clings to a crumbling religion even as humanity falls to pieces around him; the cultist, the priest’s foil, who has begun exploring and channeling the same dark, vague arts that caused the end of civilization; and, the narrator, an old poet and explorer, his intentions and history left vague and hinted to be a dark tale that he does not wish to relive.
Sadly, the story tying the group together has been much more difficult to develop. It is difficult to give meaning to a quest or journey when the story itself emphasizes the meaninglessness and futility of life. Perhaps the characters will simply go along with the Carrion Man's vague wishes, or perhaps they have been told of their goals before the narrative begins; both these options seem weak, but it is difficult to imagine any without ruining the dark and dead atmosphere of the story.

Due to the complexity of this conundrum, I have been thinking about changing the ideas entirely and focusing on one man slowly losing his mind in a mundane world, perhaps a doctor with a strong sense of inferiority and begins to slowly descend into the void of insanity as the line between reality and his dreams blurs.
This week, I plan to work on the introduction to the story, as well as planning out the overarching plot (or plots; maybe both stories shall be written).