Liner Notes for Soul Of A Construct

 

Liner Notes for A Soul Of A Construct

Here’s where the magic comes in! A magical construct is made up of at least two elements, one animal, one mineral. Each has a different enchantment; it is the two acting together that give it motion. As becomes clear it also takes a sacrifice. More on constructs later in the series.

A pairing, a dyad! Here we have a classic match up, one who’s good at figuring things out, and one who’s good with people. Together they fight crime! Or as it turns out, they fight things in the arena. Olianos needs a sidekick in a way that other characters in this serial don’t. Vinculus is driven, has plans, stories will develop as he acts on them. Agonistes always has people around him, who he treats with his arrogant goodwill, and his ambition burns fiercely propelling him forward. Eyes Of The Angel has the other women, and unlike the others doesn’t really want to be there; anything that happens to her generates conflict and story.

Olianos, I realised, is a flat effect Agonistes, or a tepid Vinculus. He plans – to win the fight in front of him. He wants to be champion, perhaps to get in the record books, but because he loves record books. Not for the acclaim, the rewards, the immortality. Because he likes lists of things, and classification.

So I gave him a sidekick who wants other things. What things? That’ll come up later. Still, let me suggest that Olianos is trying to figure out how to win, including playing out fights in advance. Nanda, she wants to survive and will practice precise throwing to do that. It’s a difference that’s important in the arena.

Rather than awkwardly move us forward three days to the fight for the finale, I have Olianos visualise the combat. Running it back and forwards, looking for the way through to victory. Is this a bit too filmic? Perhaps.

I intended to look a bit more at the city, and Olianos gives us a bit of background. But he’s not that interested really. The city is the backdrop to the arena for him, and the arena is at it’s most prominent as the place records are set. He really ought to cultivate the clerks more. They’re the ones how keep the records.

They’re the ones who write the history.