Throneless Saga

A series of (4) short books based on the Throneless Games. Mostly based on the nice ideas for factions + backstory (and what they can do) I’ve already invented for the games.

Structure

Narrator

These stories are purposely all TELL and no SHOW.

We are almost exclusively in narration, and it’s incredibly on-the-nose and obvious. (To keep it easy for myself + practice this kind of narration.)

“Now this fox wasn’t a normal fox. No, he had the arrogance usually only reserved for giants and lions.”

This also means the narrator is EXTREMELY unreliable.

This would really highlight the fact that you have to think critically for yourself, see stuff in action, instead of just letting someone tell you how it is. (It’s a stepping stone for more involved stories about power and rule.)
For example: the narrator repeatedly gets colors/sizes of things wrong. (Narrator calls something blue, then later some character calls it red.)

Factions

Each book has exactly 1 chapter per faction. We can do this (keeping the same protagonists) because they all have some magic/rule about “swapping places”.

When I say “per faction”, I mean we predominantly learn about that group + it’s mostly told from a POV from within that group.

This should mean roughly 12 * ~1500 = ~20,000 words

The final book is longer and more serious/adult. It has exactly 2 chapters per faction.

We go through them all clockwise once
Then we go counter-clockwise once.
(For example, the first faction is also the last.)

General Plot

There’s a mysterious “traveling throne”. It just shows up somewhere, they realize it gives you powers when you sit on it, and so the fight for that throne begins.

The narrator turns out to be the one who created the throne and is chasing it down? Or their best friend created the throne, and they’re the ones who corrupted it and now use it basically as a social experiment to see what happens?

Smallseat

Takes place in a magical/cozy/fairy tale forest. It comes attached with a mysterious person too (Teller).

We start with a protagonist who hates being told what to do (by their parents) and sees the throne as a way to command them and tell them what to do.

Otherwise, the forest is great. Peace, prosperity, friendliness, magic, etcetera.

The Teller claims they must all vote by giving him some magical piece of wood with the sigil of the faction who gets the throne. (With a clear deadline.)

Age: Kid

Swapping Rule: HOWEVER, the only way to get the Vote for another faction, is to “swap places” and live a day in their life.

REVELATION: These pieces of wood have some extra power which this person then abuses? (Or they’re actually well-protected and impossible to corrupt, which the Teller hates?)
REVELATION: The Teller placed a bet on who would win in the end and is desperately trying to make that come true.
REVELATION: They uncover some backstory of the throne, such as that it keeps moving around. This leads them to think it can be moved again. So, in the end, the Teller wins … but as soon as he takes place, they make the throne move.

Writing Style: it starts with rhyming sentences, but that slowly degrades as the animals realize how the throne is corrupting them.

A mysterious throne appeared in the forest. A lavish seat that looked quite out of place, if I’m honest. The forest was magic and creatures light-hearted, but this seat was golden—and the animals startled. Its legs made of Mistwood, its arms covered with vines and thyme, yes a throne so beautiful it made this narrator rhyme!

And each chapter ends with a “place swap”.

And so Bario realized what this forest truly needed. He journeyed back to the throne and changed who was seated.
Bario couldn’t stand it anymore, he couldn’t look in those faces. He walked away from the Pricklypettes and once more swapped places.

Queenseat

Takes place in a slightly more “civilized” area, with starting homes, towers, villages.

Now the throne comes on its own, but it has a clear countdown. Whoever sits on it has power X.

Age: Teen

Our protagonist now wants more freedom? They think being powerful and mighty will give that freedom, but once they actually reach the seat … and stay on it for a few chapters … they realize just how heavy a burden it is?

One of the earlier factions comes back (or is sought out), with more information about how the throne used to work and how it might work now?

Swapping Rule: somebody has to sit on the throne. The longer you’re there, the more powerful you become, and the harder it is to dislodge you. At the same time, it drives you insane and you want to swap away.

Kingseat

Takes place in the most “typical” medieval fantasy setting.

Age: Young Adult

Our protagonist now is burdened by expectations and uncertainty about where to go? They have to become a knight to protect “the sacred throne”, but not even sure if that’s useful or why it’s so special?

Maybe his father just asks him to protect “whatever I tell you to protect”
So he’s tasked with guarding a mysterious room he’s not allowed to go inside
… which obviously contains the recently appeared mysterious throne, and now he’s temped, and he has to lie, etcetera.

Swapping Rule: He discovers you’re supposed to vote for the Throne. But his father (King) has hoarded all those votes (and is secretly killing/capturing people who still have them).

So, he tries to secretly regain them, then deal them among people he trusts to vote for the right thing.
(He also learns these votes are still magic and they only count if they passed through enough hands? OR, REVELATION, their type changes after giving them away—which he doesn’t realize at first, creating misunderstandings and unintentional betrayal!)

In the end, after a tense fight, most of the votes still go to the protagonist?

@IDEA (STORY): Someone is really valuable to a town or community, like a healer, or the only one who grows food, whatever. Then someone discovers they have committed a crime/have some terrible past/habit/hobbies. What to do? Whoever they speak to doesn’t even want to consider charging the man/woman as they’re too valuable!

@IDEA (STORY): Inspired by Jesus Christ Superstar; Heaven On Their Minds. There are really two interesting bits in that story, I think.

Someone being “afraid of success”: if their (religious) group becomes too large and effective, this will draw attention from the emperor/leaders, and they won’t like it.
Someone being the only one to see a Messiah (Jesus) as “just a man”. Which makes it easier to betray them or bring them down—which is why the resurrection part is so important in casting doubt on this notion and turning someone into “maybe they ARE divine”.

Kaizerseat

Takes place in a more advanced fantasy / sci-fi setting, with more made-up elements and weird tweaks to how it all works.

Age: Adult

Swapping Rule:

Power in this world is distributed through actual (small) seats. Some families own just 1, others own plenty of them.
When you sit on them, you (SOMEHOW) get a say in matters or get a vote in all decisions and you help rule the entire country.
“Swapping” then refers to swapping/changing who has these seats or who sits on them.

This completes the origin story of the mysterious throne? This is where the protagonist eventually combines them all into ONE GREAT THRONE that has SUPERPOWER. (Because each of those small seats only has a tiny, specific power on their own. But combined …)

This is aaaall against the backdrop of a major election where people are trying to gather votes in all sorts of ways, and trying to count them/collect them in “secure” ways (without tampering). Because whoever wins—or whatever the distribution is—decides the new arrangement of those seats across the families (called Seats?)

@IDEA (MIGHT CONNECT TO THIS): “To Kill A President” => About someone who inexplicably kills a beloved president, after years of loyal service and absolutely no sign of it. He keeps silent about his reasons and all, taking whatever punishment. Why? Because the president went insane/became sick/something happened and they ordered total destruction of the world. They could only prevent it with a quick unplanned assassination, but they didn’t want to tarnish the president’s reputation or undo all the good he’d done (which would have perhaps been doubted/reverted if people claimed the president was mad all along).

A series of (4) short books based on the [Throneless Games](https://pandaqi.com/throneless-games/). Mostly based on the nice ideas for factions + backstory (and what they can _do_) I've already invented for the games. ## Structure ### Narrator These stories are purposely **all TELL and no SHOW**. We are almost exclusively in narration, and it's incredibly on-the-nose and obvious. (To keep it easy for myself + practice this kind of narration.) "Now this fox wasn't a normal fox. No, he had the arrogance usually only reserved for giants and lions." This also means the **narrator is EXTREMELY unreliable.** * This would really highlight the fact that you have to think critically for yourself, see stuff in action, instead of just letting someone tell you how it is. (It's a stepping stone for more involved stories about power and rule.) * For example: the narrator repeatedly gets colors/sizes of things wrong. (Narrator calls something blue, then later some character calls it red.) ### Factions Each book has exactly 1 chapter per faction. We can do this (keeping the same protagonists) because they all have some magic/rule about "swapping places". When I say "per faction", I mean we predominantly learn about that group + it's mostly told from a POV from within that group. This should mean roughly 12 * ~1500 = ~20,000 words The final book is longer and more serious/adult. It has exactly 2 chapters per faction. * We go through them all clockwise once * Then we go counter-clockwise once. * (For example, the _first_ faction is also the _last_.) ## General Plot There's a mysterious "traveling throne". It just shows up somewhere, they realize it gives you powers when you sit on it, and so the fight for that throne begins. The **narrator** turns out to be the one who _created_ the throne and is chasing it down? Or their best friend created the throne, and they're the ones who _corrupted_ it and now use it basically as a social experiment to see what happens? ### Smallseat Takes place in a magical/cozy/fairy tale forest. It comes attached with a _mysterious person_ too (Teller). We start with a protagonist who hates being told what to do (by their parents) and sees the throne as a way to command _them_ and tell _them what to do_. Otherwise, the forest is _great_. Peace, prosperity, friendliness, magic, etcetera. The Teller claims they must all _vote_ by giving him some magical piece of wood with the sigil of the faction who gets the throne. (With a clear deadline.) **Age: Kid** **Swapping Rule:** HOWEVER, the only way to get the Vote for another faction, is to "swap places" and live a day in their life. * REVELATION: These pieces of wood have some extra power which this person then abuses? (Or they're actually well-protected and impossible to corrupt, which the Teller hates?) * REVELATION: The Teller placed a bet on who would win in the end and is desperately trying to make that come true. * REVELATION: They uncover some backstory of the throne, such as that it keeps moving around. This leads them to think it can be moved _again_. So, in the end, the Teller wins ... but as soon as he takes place, they make the throne move. **Writing Style:** it starts with rhyming sentences, but that slowly degrades as the animals realize how the throne is corrupting them. _A mysterious throne appeared in the forest. A lavish seat that looked quite out of place, if I'm honest. The forest was magic and creatures light-hearted, but this seat was golden---and the animals startled. Its legs made of Mistwood, its arms covered with vines and thyme, yes a throne so beautiful it made this narrator rhyme!_ And each chapter ends with a "place swap". * _And so Bario realized what this forest truly needed. He journeyed back to the throne and changed who was seated._ * _Bario couldn't stand it anymore, he couldn't look in those faces. He walked away from the Pricklypettes and once more swapped places._ ### Queenseat Takes place in a slightly more "civilized" area, with starting homes, towers, villages. Now the throne comes on its own, but it has a clear _countdown_. Whoever sits on it has power X. **Age: Teen** Our protagonist now wants more _freedom_? They think being powerful and mighty will _give_ that freedom, but once they actually reach the seat ... and stay on it for a few chapters ... they realize just how heavy a burden it is? One of the earlier factions comes _back_ (or is _sought out_), with more information about how the throne used to work and how it might work now? **Swapping Rule:** somebody _has_ to sit on the throne. The longer you're there, the more powerful you become, and the harder it is to dislodge you. At the same time, it drives you insane and you _want_ to swap away. ### Kingseat Takes place in the most "typical" medieval fantasy setting. **Age: Young Adult** Our protagonist now is burdened by expectations and uncertainty about where to go? They have to become a knight to protect "the sacred throne", but not even sure if that's useful or why it's so special? * Maybe his father just asks him to protect "whatever I tell you to protect" * So he's tasked with guarding a mysterious room he's not allowed to go inside * ... which obviously contains the recently appeared mysterious throne, and now he's temped, and he has to lie, etcetera. **Swapping Rule:** He discovers you're supposed to _vote_ for the Throne. But his father (King) has _hoarded_ all those votes (and is secretly killing/capturing people who still have them). * So, he tries to secretly regain them, then _deal them_ among people he trusts to vote for the right thing. * (He also learns these votes are still magic and they only count if they passed through enough hands? OR, REVELATION, their type _changes_ after giving them away---which he doesn't realize at first, creating misunderstandings and unintentional betrayal!) In the end, after a tense fight, most of the votes still go to the protagonist? **@IDEA (STORY):** Someone is really valuable to a town or community, like a healer, or the only one who grows food, whatever. Then someone discovers they have committed a crime/have some terrible past/habit/hobbies. What to do? Whoever they speak to doesn't even want to consider charging the man/woman as they're _too valuable_! **@IDEA (STORY):** Inspired by Jesus Christ Superstar; Heaven On Their Minds. There are really two interesting bits in that story, I think. * Someone being "afraid of success": if their (religious) group becomes too large and effective, this will draw attention from the emperor/leaders, and they won't like it. * Someone being the only one to see a Messiah (Jesus) as "just a man". Which makes it easier to betray them or bring them down---which is why the _resurrection_ part is so important in casting doubt on this notion and turning someone into "maybe they ARE divine". ### Kaizerseat Takes place in a more advanced fantasy / sci-fi setting, with more made-up elements and weird tweaks to how it all works. **Age: Adult** **Swapping Rule:** * Power in this world is distributed through actual (small) seats. Some families own just 1, others own plenty of them. * When you sit on them, you (SOMEHOW) get a say in matters or get a vote in all decisions and you help rule the entire country. * "Swapping" then refers to swapping/changing who has these seats or who sits on them. This completes the _origin story_ of the mysterious throne? This is where the protagonist eventually _combines_ them all into ONE GREAT THRONE that has SUPERPOWER. (Because each of those small seats only has _a tiny, specific power_ on their own. But combined ...) This is aaaall against the backdrop of a _major election_ where people are trying to gather votes in all sorts of ways, and trying to count them/collect them in "secure" ways (without tampering). Because whoever wins---or whatever the distribution is---decides the _new_ arrangement of those seats across the families (called _Seats_?) **@IDEA (MIGHT CONNECT TO THIS):** "To Kill A President" => About someone who inexplicably kills a beloved president, after years of loyal service and absolutely no sign of it. He keeps silent about his reasons and all, taking whatever punishment. Why? Because the president went insane/became sick/something happened and they ordered total destruction of the world. They could only prevent it with a quick unplanned assassination, but they didn't want to tarnish the president's reputation or undo all the good he'd done (which would have perhaps been doubted/reverted if people claimed the president was mad all along).