About my story: The Last Werecat

[mau]

I thought I would post a little about my story that I've been working on. The actual writing process is a little slow and I'm thinking about just writing down the plot before putting in the intricate details like "he walked over to the shed at midday, and noticed a curious red stain on the walls" or something to that degree.
It may be of interest to the members of the forum because it has werewolves in it. In fact, there are two different shape shifters in it, werewolves and werecats.
It's actually going to be a series if I ever write this, a three book series with an additional prequel possibility.
I'll just post about the first story. It takes place in a small country town in New York called Chesire Town, and it's about a man named Kevin Slash. He's come to town with his dog, Ripper looking for big game. He lives and loves to hunt.
There he meets a mysterious woman named Ashura who runs a small store selling things like herbal remedies. Y'know, one of those natural stores.
He had heard there was big game in the woods of that particular town and rented a cabin there.
But, he hears this strange rumour that there are werewolves in the woods. Werewolves? Kevin's one of those skeptics who thinks everyone's crazy.
That is, until one night when he does venture into the woods at night and gets attacked by the werewolves!
But there's another creature there as well, that creature looks like an anthromorphic cat!
I don't want to give away the whole story, but I will say this.
Werecats were created in Ancient Egypt by the goddess bastet to be protectors of mankind.
Werecats don't really like the name "werecat." That's because it's too easy to identify them with the werewolves that they are fighting. They prefer to call their race the "Bast Clan" and each individual werecat is a "basti"
Many years ago the werecats would protect man kind against evil forces such as werewolves and vampires. But when the werecats kept getting into their way, the werewolves and vampires teamed up against them producing "werepire" hybrids. With their combined teamwork and the hybrids, the werecats would dwindle in number until there was only a handful of them left. This is why they aren't present in as much folklore, and if they are, they're mistaken for monsters like the werewolves and vampires are.
Convinced there weren't any more werecats, the werewolves and vampires disbanded. Originally they were rivals themselves, but after fighting a "common enemy" they agreed to just stay out of each other's way. Vampires went into the cities, while werewolves went into the rural areas.
The first story focuses on the werecats and werewolves.
I will note that not all werewolves are bad, some are just following orders, while many embrace the werewolf curse.
Their origin has to do with a man who was a hunter himself. But he slautered and tortured animals to death. It was really brutal. So when he killed off the members of a wolf pack, the spirit of the alpha wolf cursed him to become a wolf himself and desire the flesh of mankind. (Of course, werewolves can live off animal flesh...but human flesh is the most desireable to them)
Something important will be revealed about Kevin Slash, and why the werewolves want him. More in particular, the alpha leader wants him.
I'll post more later on this, if anyone finds this interesting.

[Marcus]

Your writting method should be the one your most comfortable with. Different writters use different techniques. Some like to plan out the plot, as your suggesting, and then fill in the details. Others prefer not to know where the story is going, and write it as they go, letting the story unfold to them during the course of the writting, often taking them in unexpected way. And other writers do it in other ways. Find the way that works for you the best, and don't worry if it evolves.

One advice though that seems to be agreed upon by every writter - Write what you know.

This can be tricky in a fantasy/supernatural setting, but it could be interpreted as - Learn about your subject all that you can before you start.

From the what you've posted I think you need to work on the names of things a little. You say your werecats originated in Egypt, so shouldn't their race have an egyptian name? Bast Clan doesn't flow very well when spoken - maybe children of Bast perhaps?

Is there a lot of hunting and forestry in New York state? I don't know the region at all, why I'm asking. Is there enough territory where your basing the town on the maps of the region to enable a pack of werewolves to survive without being seen?

Becareful with the link your hinting at between the werewolves and your central character. There are a lot of cliches and twists which have been done to death. Try to come up with something that hasn't been done before. You could always have it that he's immune to the werewolf curse, or something in his blood (from a teenage drug binge?) which enables the werewolves to shapeshift outside of a full moon (assuming that's how it works in your novel), Don't know many books that use either of those kinds of linkage.

From what you've put, the setting is a modern day one, much like our own, except the myths of werewolves and vampires are real, but they remain secret. Have you asked yourself how they keep this secret? do others know, governments, religious orders?

How many werewolves and vampires are in your world? It sounds like their somewhat organised, do they communicate beyond their local environs?

Also be careful you don't make it too much "world of darkness" like, unless your planning on submitting your story to whitewolf of course for publishing under that setting.

I take it Ashura is the werecat?

btw, hate the name werepire. Do you need to make a hybrid race at all? Isn't werewolves and vampires enough if they work together? Or why don't you combine the two fully, and rather then having them as seperate races or hybrids, make them one single race, and it's more choice in how they behave than being a werewolf or a vampire (ie those that chose to live in the city tend not to use their shapeshifting much but prefer to stay human looking so they are better able to hide amongst the masses and hunt humans for food. Where the rural living ones, change more often into the wolf form to chase down fleeing foes through the forests, and track them better in the wilds. and this state has gone on long enough for them to be slightly different in outlook and use of their supernatural natures?)

Where did the werewolves originate from? egypt? or euorpe? or americas? You mentioned it was the alpha male's spirit that cursed him to become the first werewolf. How did this wolf have so much magical/supernatural power to do this? were all animals at that time gifted with such abilities? Or was it a "spirit" as in a god (same as Bastet is for the werecat race but punished rather then blessed).

From one of the things you've said, I take it there are a lot more other types of supernatural/mystic beings running about besides the vampires, werewolves, werecats? or have they been wiped out?

If you fill the world up too much with supernatural stuff, it'll be hard to maintain the general setting's belief that these things don't exist, especially the more active you make them.

Well that's my ramble over - lots of bits and pieces all mixed up in that for you to think about, ignore, laugh at. Just a jumble of thoughts as I read your post really.

hmm maybe I should have asked at the begining if you minded critisisms and suggestions. ;D

[mau]

Your writting method should be the one your most comfortable with. Different writters use different techniques. Some like to plan out the plot, as your suggesting, and then fill in the details. Others prefer not to know where the story is going, and write it as they go, letting the story unfold to them during the course of the writting, often taking them in unexpected way. And other writers do it in other ways. Find the way that works for you the best, and don't worry if it evolves.

It's been evolving, and I've already tried the "write and see what happens" technique and unfortunately I always run into this evil l ittle demon called "writer's block." I may do a combination of both, I may plan out the plot and then as I'm writing it, I may find that I want the story to go in a complete different direction.
So, I'm not worried about it evolving, especially since all my stories have evolved, including the stories involving my roleplaying characters. ;D

One advice though that seems to be agreed upon by every writter - Write what you know.

I know quite a bit about cats and I've been doing research on the way wolf packs run. Did you know that the alpha male and female are actually just the parents of the other wolves?
My wolfpacks are more or less set up like a tribe, after all there's gonna be some human elements there as well.
It's not bad advice either, although it's also common sense in a way.

This can be tricky in a fantasy/supernatural setting, but it could be interpreted as - Learn about your subject all that you can before you start.

Doing that, and coming up with more fantasy ideas as I go along.

From the what you've posted I think you need to work on the names of things a little. You say your werecats originated in Egypt, so shouldn't their race have an egyptian name? Bast Clan doesn't flow very well when spoken - maybe children of Bast perhaps?

I'll keep that under consideration. Nothing's completely set in stone yet, but I am keeping their egyptian heiritage. Some of the werecats may have been American or European but were changed by the original werecats.
The way they are changed will differ completely from how a werewolf or vampire changes.

Is there a lot of hunting and forestry in New York state? I don't know the region at all, why I'm asking. Is there enough territory where your basing the town on the maps of the region to enable a pack of werewolves to survive without being seen?

The name Chesire town is based off a town called Chesire, although it may have elements of other small towns surrounded by wooded areas as well. Chesire town is going to be one of those towns that you pretty much blink and it's gone. I grew up in the country and there have always been hunters around. (Yes, I grew up in New York state)
What's actually in the town, I'm giving it a bit of an artistic liscense. It's a big game town surrounded by woods. The woods are the wolf's territory. At one point in time it may have been safer for hunters to go there, but when the wolf pack came there, well...it's not so safe anymore. It's degraded into somewhat of a ghost town in the middle of the country.

Becareful with the link your hinting at between the werewolves and your central character. There are a lot of cliches and twists which have been done to death. Try to come up with something that hasn't been done before. You could always have it that he's immune to the werewolf curse, or something in his blood (from a teenage drug binge?) which enables the werewolves to shapeshift outside of a full moon (assuming that's how it works in your novel), Don't know many books that use either of those kinds of linkage.

He's not immune to the curse by any means and he's not a teenager either. He's a young adult, probably in his mid to late twenties and early thirties (I havn't decided on a specific age yet)
His link to the werewolves may be cliche, but there's something significant about it that I'll reveal later in the story. There's a bigger picture, but one that I won't get into. Remember, I'm planning on making this a three part story. This is just the "first novel" that I'm working on.

From what you've put, the setting is a modern day one, much like our own, except the myths of werewolves and vampires are real, but they remain secret. Have you asked yourself how they keep this secret? do others know, governments, religious orders?

How does the witches and wizards remain secret in Harry Potter? I suppose it would be the same idea, although the vampires and werewolves would eventually have to feed. I havn't thought too far ahead about this. I'm assuming the government would probably know and treat it like an Area-51 type of deal.
The townsfolk in Chesire town would know about the werewolves...some of them would be werewolves themselves.
In the cities, the people would just assume the vampires are people with albinoism. (Vampires don't have any melanin in their skin or hair, which is the scientific explanation for their sensitivity to sunlight. The folklore explanation I'll reveal later on)

How many werewolves and vampires are in your world? It sounds like their somewhat organised, do they communicate beyond their local environs?

Yes. There are many werewolves and vampires scattered throughout the world, I don't have an exact number, and they are organized.
Werewolf "government" if you can call it that, will be touched base upon in the story and become an important plot element.

Also be careful you don't make it too much "world of darkness" like, unless your planning on submitting your story to whitewolf of course for publishing under that setting.

Well, even in real life there's secret socities that few people know much about although I somehow doubt any of them are going to contain anything supernatural. Naw, I don't plan on making any submissions to whitewolf.
It's just pretty much, you have your average guy, a skeptic, who learns there's something more out there than the usual day to day things, something beautiful, and something dangerous.

I take it Ashura is the werecat?

Yep. But Kevin won't know that right away.

btw, hate the name werepire. Do you need to make a hybrid race at all? Isn't werewolves and vampires enough if they work together? Or why don't you combine the two fully, and rather then having them as seperate races or hybrids, make them one single race, and it's more choice in how they behave than being a werewolf or a vampire (ie those that chose to live in the city tend not to use their shapeshifting much but prefer to stay human looking so they are better able to hide amongst the masses and hunt humans for food. Where the rural living ones, change more often into the wolf form to chase down fleeing foes through the forests, and track them better in the wilds. and this state has gone on long enough for them to be slightly different in outlook and use of their supernatural natures?)

Vampires and werewolves have different originating stories. I probably won't use the term "werepire" it's just a general term used to get my point across and I just havn't come up with a good name to call them yet.
There's a point to the whole hybrid thing, although I'm still in debate whether or not I'll even use this plot element or not. Having vampires and werewolves working together may be enough as it is, but there may be some "children" they have together that result in hybrids that they can't control.
See the thing is, vampires and werewolves still have a shread of humanity left. It's not much, but it's there.
But the hybrids would be "twice cursed" without a single shread of humanity. They would essentially be monsters.

Where did the werewolves originate from? egypt? or euorpe? or americas? You mentioned it was the alpha male's spirit that cursed him to become the first werewolf. How did this wolf have so much magical/supernatural power to do this? were all animals at that time gifted with such abilities? Or was it a "spirit" as in a god (same as Bastet is for the werecat race but punished rather then blessed).

I was thinking Europe. I'll give this some thought, it could've been a wolf god, or maybe it's one of those mysterious things that we don't know about animals that we gave up in our evolution into mankind.
I suppose I could see this working with Native American folklore however, as the native americans used totem animals and called upon their spirits to aide them in battle, and this wolf saw that this man was abusing animals including his own pack.
There may be some element of totemism here, although if it took place in Europe it's one of those things the Native Americans are aware about and why they treat animals with respect, but obviously the Europeans aren't aware nor do they care too much with their "I'm human therefore better" superiority complex.
However, I don't have an official answer to that as of yet.
A friend suggested that the werewolves originated in Egypt since my vampires will also originate in Egypt, but I don't think there are any Egyptian wolves in existance for that to work.

From one of the things you've said, I take it there are a lot more other types of supernatural/mystic beings running about besides the vampires, werewolves, werecats? or have they been wiped out?

If you fill the world up too much with supernatural stuff, it'll be hard to maintain the general setting's belief that these things don't exist, especially the more active you make them.

It may just be a matter of not believing in them anymore and using science to explain the unexplainable.
There's others out there, but they are just as secretive as the werewolves, vampires and the basti.
It's all just a bunch of stuff the main character would find out as the story progresses, because once introduced to these secrets, it makes it easier for the other secrets to unfold, if it makes any sense.
However, other mystical creatures and beings would only play a minor role in this entire development. It's kind of like, they might mention a witch or run into one much like how vampires might be mentioned in Harry Potter but aren't really seen.

Well that's my ramble over - lots of bits and pieces all mixed up in that for you to think about, ignore, laugh at. Just a jumble of thoughts as I read your post really.

Don't worry, I'll be thinking about this stuff and I appreciate the insight.

hmm maybe I should have asked at the begining if you minded critisisms and suggestions.

I had to chuckle at that comment. If I didn't want suggestions and criticisms, I wouldn't have posted my idea in the first place! ;D

[Werewolf]

Have you done any writing before? Perhaps some fanfiction, etc

[uchihalycan3]

I think that this will turn out good. I like your plot i have been trying to get to writing a book for a while. I think i have the writer's block.

[Marcus]

Have you thought of making your vampires more monstrous, more like what they really are, which is a dead body animated and given a hunger for blood? Maybe could have it that the blood keeps them from rotting, but when their unable to feed they begin to show signs - which are not healable even when they feed again - so the older the vampire the more like a decayed corpse they look for all those little times where they've missed or waited too long between feedings.

You could have them from egypt, could have it that vampires are created through corrupted mummyfication rituals. Originally used as curses and punishments by the priesthood, the vampires got out of control, and fled across the world.

Would be rather refreshing to have monstrous vampires again.

[mau]

They certainly aren't going to be "sparkling" if that's what you mean. *chuckles*
I always felt the undead vampires were kind of cliche. :/

Vampires in my story are a creation of Apep. Apep is like the Egyptian equivalent of Satan, the enemy of Ra. He was jealous of man, the creation of the gods, and Apep can't create anything of his own, he can only corrupt what was already created.
So he bit a man, and corrupted him turning him into a monster that fed upon blood.
Seeing this, Ra cursed this abomination that Apep created, so that they could not step out into the sun.

Now granted, it's possible the vampires could have a decaying appearence without being dead themselves, like having leprosy. Obviously they have to feed on human blood or they will die. But it will be possible for vampires to produce their own offspring without needing to change a human into one.

Your idea is pretty good though, you could always write your own vampire story. Just that every vampire story except for Underworld (I don't really know about Twilight myself but I heard they are nothing like how vampires are supposed to look) portrays them as undead.
Well, there's also Castlevania and Vampire Hunter D...but Dracula, Van Helsing, Interview with a vampire, The Lost boys, all portray vampires as undead.

When I think undead, I don't think of vampires...I think of zombies.

But I have to admit, I kind of like "sexy" vampires. XP

[Marcus]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Bast killed Apep. Which would definately explain the hatred between your vampires and werecats.

[mau]

That's a good idea. I'll have to look at more information but I think I remember hearing that somewhere.
Also Bast protects her father "Ra" from the snake as he makes his journey across the sky.
Of course, I wonder how I can use Egyptian mythology with modern science...

[Marcus]

Yup, Bast embodies both Sun and Moon aspects.

Also From memory I'm sure I read that the King of Gods wasn't Ra, but a joining of Amun and Ra (called Amun-Ra) who was the king of gods in egypt. Infact I vaguely remember something about them later splitting back into seperate gods, and Ra merging with Horus or something.

Not sure what you main when you talk about using egyptian mythology with moder science. Do you mean having the Egyptian gods in some way have been using modern science for their divine powers? or how modern science copes with having real dieties and devine powers based on the ancient Gods within the modern world?

[mau]

Alright, well what I mean is this...we know the Earth revolves around the sun, and the earth spins an an axis. This gives the illusion that the sun is moving in the sky, when in reality it's the earth that's moving.
But in Egyptian Mythology, Ra made a journey across the sky, while Bastet and other gods helped him fight off Apep and anything that would threaten the sun until nightfall when the sun would be engulfed by Apep. It was a never ending battle between good and evil.
So...my question is...how would this ancient myth be applied to modern science?

[Marcus]

Well, why not have it that Ra had somekind of airship - a hot air balloon, or zepplin style vessel. Which he used to travel in. Have it gold coloured and ornate.

Maybe having had two structures built one at either end of his kingdom where the airship docks - One at either end of the Nile, composing of two towers each, and becoming known as the gates of morning and the gates of night.

Then at somepoint the ship was destroyed and the towers brought down. And as the centures pass this became legend, then myth then changed from an airship to the sun.

Or, Ra could have had built the towers as above. but instead they had giant mirrors on them, which were weapons he could use, but one only worked towards the end of the day when the sun was in the right point in the sky, and the other in the morning when it could be used. These would form defenses against Apep's forces.

[mau]

These are all some very good ideas. Right now I need to get a good structure of the story itself first. But for the history behind the egyptian gods and egypt, these are some good ideas and I'll make note of them.

[Sebiale]

AbsoluteWrite - It's a bunch of authors talking to one another, I find it quite helpful.

[mau]

For the vampires, it would kind of be a neat idea if maybe they looked really good, but they had a "true form" which looked something more like the monsters that they are inside.
I mean, they still wouldn't be undead per say, but they would have a more gruesome looking form.

Now for the werewolves, they have a completely different origin, but I would assume that the egyptian mythologies wouldn't be the only one in existance. It's just that the story centers on the three groups: Vampires, Werewolves and Werecats (and humans technically)