Errand NaNoWriMo The Trail

Task 1: Create a setting.
This would be where it takes place, be it a school, a house, a city, an imaginary world, etc. We want you to be detailed in this. It needs to be 1000 words or more (you will thank us for this later).

The Trail takes place in an imaginary world that is similar to Earth with a few tweaks. In a way, the world is far more technologically advanced. People are capable of doing a lot more things in a day, with technology that can provide fast travel across the planet - saving hours in commuting time or providing people the ability to work anywhere across the world. People require less sleep with technology that can make you sleep more efficiently in a shorter amount of time.

As traveling across the land became easier, the world started to merge together. Countries became cities. Cities became towns. Monarchs and Government organisations started to merge. The police, ambulance or other emergency services started to work together. It took a while but at some point, the world became governed by larger organisations that worked internationally, rather than by each individual country.

In a way, this was good. People came together. A sense of community, friendship, acceptance of each other and of diversity. But in a way, it was missed. Things started to get lost over the years. Hundreds of languages were quickly eradicated as people stopped speaking them. Different cultures started to merge into one. Things were lost in history, things were started to die out. If you cared about something, you had to make a stand for it to continue it and keep it going. Over the years, people started to translate all of the information that they wanted to keep into technology. Huge archive buildings started to be created. They were museums that had a specific purpose: to store and collate information before things got lost.

Even the humans themselves started to become better, more improved versions of themselves. This was not in a good versus bad kind of way. Both good and evil existed. Crime still continues. Laws were still being used. But rather, people - inspired by the superheroes that they loved watching when they were younger - started to research ways in which these abilities could become real. Hundreds of years later, the generations of humans had been researched on. They were not superheroes, per se. But they had moved up the evolutionary ladder. People had better vision, hearing and strength than before. Some people's skins would be harder to penetrate. Other's might be able to mildly camouflage. Whatever it was, people started to become healthier and stronger than they had been before. Disabilities started to be cured. People were living longer. Life started to get repetitive and almost boring... You worked till you were eighty now so you had enough money to survive on.

As technology advanced, research led to new discoveries. One day, a few years ago, something strange started to happen. Mystery portals started to appear around the world. They could be anywhere. In the ground, hovering midair in the sky. These large floating portals radiated an energy. People were advised not to touch them until they could figure out what it was, exactly. They were purple in colour. They were labelled as 'purple holes' when one appeared underneath someone who was walking. The person disappeared, never to be seen again. It was like being sucked into a vacuum. 

Over the months, more portals started to appear and more people disappeared. Then one day, about a year ago, someone came back. A few people did. One man came back and was spotted by neighbours getting his partner and their children, running through the portal once more. Another lady came back, healthier than she had been before. The illnesses that plagued her had been cured - illnesses that were seen as incurable in this world, despite the technology - and she returned to her previous life, just much healthier. 

Researchers began to work on them, of course, the minute that they first arose. As more people returned, they were questioned. Most people that returned came back for something or someone before trying to rush off. A few were caught in the process, for examination. 

Rumours started to spread. Of riches, of good health, of a better lifestyle. Not everyone returned. But those that did seemed to be pretty off. But they were only rumours. None of the news, no government organisation, no one spread any of this positive information. But people higher up were seen going through the portals. The King started to send people into them. A few people who returned claimed it was dangerous, horrifying. One had lost his arm, claiming to have been transported to a strange part of the world where the crocodiles were three times the size - or he was made smaller by the portal. He spoke of how he narrowly escaped the world, losing an arm - instead of his life. Another person came back completely changed. Their once happy self seemed traumatised, unable to speak. 

The portals were closed off as soon as they could. The Government claimed they were too dangerous. Researchers knew they were capable of teleporting you somewhere. But they were unable to figure out where or how from this side of the portal. These portals fell under the control of the King. No one was allowed in.

Yet, the King started to send people in. Sacrifices, as it were. To go in, find out what was going on and bring a report back. As the months went on, rumours continued. Leaks from the reports - whether they were fake or not - started to spread. People were told of new worlds, new areas, just within their grasp. These worlds contained better technology, a better life, better health or more money. Different cultures and opportunities to learn new things... People started to sneak in, keen to find out more. People wanted to travel, they wanted to see what was on the other side for themselves. These portals were seen to be the gateway into other dimensions or worlds across the galaxy. It was not quite clear how big these areas were or what they were like. Every person, every report, every single portal was different.

But it started something. It opened up a new path, new discoveries. And when these portals opened up metres away from you, the question would pose: would you walk through or not. The portals opened up a new trail for people, a brand new adventure for them to follow.

Word Count: 1057

Task 2 - Create a main character.
This would be your main protagonist. Tell us about them - what do they look like, where did they come from, what are their strengths and weaknesses and what are their flaws. Why are they in this story and what do you want them to gain from their adventure. Be as detailed as you can regarding this. It needs to be 1000 words or more (you will thank us for this later).

Kaira Trivedi - or Kai for short - is an eighteen year old girl in this new world. She currently has long purple wavy hair, obviously dyed that way and beautiful brown eyes. Last month, her hair was green and a few months before, she rocked pink for a while. Dyeing her hair is only the start of her experimental nature. She did not like green for very long. It clashed a little with her caramel coloured skin.

As a child, she always loved to try new things. Whether that was different types of food or new hobbies. She never really stuck to one hobby for long. Three months of piano lessons, a year of learning guitar, five months of ballet. Whatever it was, it did not last long. Mostly because she found something new that she wanted to try - and she simply did not have the time to keep up all of the hobbies at once.

This does mean that she gets bored easily and she's viewed as someone who can't be loyal to something. But she does not see it in a negative way. As far as Kaira is concerned, she simply has not found the thing that will spark her interest - that burning passion.

Ever since the portals arose, she had an interest in them. Her curious nature made her very interested in finding out where each one went. With each portal, there was a brand new adventure. A whole new area to explore. It was like travelling but it was beyond anyone's understanding. At least, that was the way she viewed it. Kaira loved travelling, exploring new cultures and cuisines. She disliked how similar things were at home but the portals provided a whole new experience that she really wanted to try.

Physically, Kaira is a 5 ft 6, and about sixty kilos. She had pretty decent muscles as she enjoyed exercising. Running on a treadmill might have been boring to her but playing a variety of different sports or martial arts - and constantly changing it up - kept her fit.

She likes to wear clothing that does not get in the way of anything. Her fashion sense is very 'functional', as opposed to what is trending. She would not wear a knee length skirt that prevented her from kicking someone in the face, for example. Kaira usually wore shorts, leggings or trousers. She liked having pockets on her - ones that were capable of holding more than it looked like they could hold.

She pretty much exclusively wears boots on her feet and carries a thin scarf around no matter what the weather is like. Kaira dislikes heels, tight skirts or dresses, very oversized clothing. Her hair is usually tied up in a ponytail or plaited. She avoids fringes or loose hair as they both just get in the way a lot. Her ears feature a few piercings and she has a couple of tattoos that are usually visible.

She is pretty independent, wanting to explore things on her own and stand on her own two feet. But she also does enjoy other people's company. Mostly, she likes to make her own decisions. Seemingly indecisive, she will go with her gut instinct and just roll with it. Her alignment was definitely good but it might have been a little chaotic good. It can sometimes be annoying as it seems like she never takes anything too seriously. She's very active though and dislikes doing absolutely nothing. She's the type of person that will be watching a film whilst being on an exercise bike and also texting all of her friends, with food in the oven and laundry in the machine. She finds it difficult to sleep and is often seen overdosing on sugar or candy to help keep her energy levels high.

Kaira's eyesight is incredibly sharp. Her observation powers are spot on, almost scarily so sometimes. Her hearing was pretty good too. Whilst they were good, they weren't unheard of. In this world, many people had a special power of some sort. Kaira did not have anything all that special, other than these. Her lack of powers kind of annoyed her. A part of why she was trying everything was for this reason. Her logic was that if she tried everything at least once, she would be able to see if she excelled it something she was otherwise unaware of.

Deep down, she really wanted to unlock her own potential and ability - and there was a huge doubt that remained hidden within that perhaps she did not have one. Everyone else seemed to have one, after all. Most people started to display signs of their abilities from a young age. Kaira has a carefree attitude in life so this doubt is usually kept very deep within and unknown to most.

Her fighting style is with her fists and legs. She changes it up, trying not to rely too much on specifically one part of her body. She tried using a few different weapons but so far, nothing has bonded with her. Kaira is pretty fast on her feet though and capable of throwing quite a punch, despite the fact that she looks innocent.

She has a few younger siblings, that are quite a bit younger than she is. Having grown up in a quiet town, there were not actually many children her own age. So she spent a lot of her childhood playing on her own, which was how she became a lot more independent. Despite that, she does not really like the silence and will always have headphones on if there is no one around to talk to. Her headphones will be playing some sort of music, an audio book or perhaps a podcast. It's a good way for her to continue to learn, whilst on the go - but can also provide her some relaxation.

She isn't very materialistic or tied to any of her items. She does enjoy using objects to help make life easier but she has little emotional value to most of them and will happily use them so much that they break and she needs a new one. Though, she can also do basic repairs on things after the amount of times she has taken it apart and tried to fix them.

Word Count: 1057

Task 3 - Create a main plot.
This is where you talk about the main story itself. What are they doing? Is this a journey, a coming of age experience, a battle against a terrifying nemesis, etc. Consider doing this in an outline format to make things more organized. It needs to be 1000 words or more (you will thank us for this later).

The Trail is a story of a journey, starting with Kaira and her dreams of understanding more about herself and the world they lived in. Her curious side desired an adventure and the portals that suddenly appeared provided it. She recently became of age, giving her the opportunity to branch out into the world by herself. She heard of the rumours of the new areas and worlds that the portal provided. But more than that, she heard of people being sent in - despite all of the news and propaganda showing that it was unsafe. Her neighbour, Jack - a man several years her senior - was working on these portals. He was in charge of researching a few that appeared in their town.

When they first started to appear, he was researching them and keeping her informed of what was happening. It was, of course, exciting and intriguing for everyone. But soon after, they were 'shutdown'. The portals were not allowed to be entered by the general public. Researchers signed non-disclosure agreements. Everything suddenly went quiet. Jack, understandably, could not share information about the portals. On one of her treks, she found a rock that she could climb up to. It was a little unstable - and perhaps a bit risky - which was why no one really ventured there. But from there, she saw a beautiful view of the town. It quickly became her favourite spot. It was from that secret spot that she noticed a group of people, dressed in full body armour and gear, researching one of the portals that had appeared. No one was allowed in. That was the law. But she could swear she saw Jack walk in.

Kaira saw him a few days later, when he completely dismissed her as being ridiculous. But she knew. It became painfully obvious that people were entering them - even if it was for research purposes. The only difference was that the Government was now controlling them. People were entering under his orders.

She did not know it then but these people were essentially sacrifices. The Government did not care if they lost a handful of people in these portals. They was after something. Knowledge, power, wealth... who knew. But they controlled who went in and they took everything that came out - if they came back out.

Stories appeared in the news, scaring the public. They shared stories of people who had accidentally fallen through and come back, hurt and horrified. They used quotes from people who purposefully went there but apparently regretted it. Kaira believed these stories, until she started to question why Jack had walked in when it was said no one should.

She worked in a newsroom herself, writing such news stories that her managers told her to. Quite new to the job, she was told 'no' every time she asked to investigate the story firsthand. Her manager would simply give her quotes or a testimony from an anonymous witness that she was supposed to write about. Kaira never once met any of these people. She started to question it all, snooping around till she found that these stories were lies. The Government wrote them. She had no idea which were true and which weren't. But she was determined to find out.

Kaira was always a curious person, and she enjoyed making her own adventures. Finding out the truth behind these portals firsthand was the most natural step for her. She met Amie and Jocacia during these investigations.

Amie was trying to find out what happened to her parents. She was sure that their disappearance was connected to the portals - though she could not prove it. They were both researchers too, which was why she was inspired to become one. Their research was always top secret but she could not fathom why they would be researching anything except the portals at this point in time. They had to have been.

Jo was determined to find a cure to an illness that her stepmother had. She had spent years studying medicine and trying to help people. But she could never find a cure for the illness that plagued her stepmother - no doctor could. Despite all of the advancements in technology, they still failed. She was determined to find a cure and the rumours of people returning from these portals with better health had turned her attention to them.

Despite their individual goals, each of them had a purpose that required stepping into the portals and learning everything they could about them. The portals themselves brought them together. Their friendship and their adventures were all focused around these unique portals. Each of them had their own priority and agenda but working together will be the key to helping them get through this journey. As the story goes on, they will meet new people, perhaps make new companions and discover new secrets. They will find out whether or not the Government is lying or truthful. They will do whatever it takes to find out the truth about the world, their parents or if there's a cure out there for a supposedly incurable disease.

Their enemy, unfortunately, will be the Government. The minute they step through their first portal, they will be wanted for questioning. Every single person who returned has suddenly disappeared. No one knows if they returned to through the portals or if they were taken by the Government for questioning, but each of them has gone. Whatever is inside these portals, people are starting to fear talking about them.

People with special abilities too, suddenly are more wanted. In this world, it is far more common to have enhanced abilities but quite a few people unlock something more than just 'better sight'. There are people with invisibility, flight, magic, telekinesis... The more unique and powerful your ability, the more you were suddenly wanted. The Government was attempting to recruit more people with these 'unique' abilities that they could use.

A lot of these people - the ones whose abilities were known - have disappeared. It was rumoured that they went through the portals but it was up to anyone's guess whether that is the truth or not. Even if it were true, no one could tell you if it was by choice or force.

Word Count: 1052

Task 4 - Create 2 subplots.
Subplots are other important and relevant stories that are ongoing but are not a part of the main story. Love interests or dealing with a school bully/rival are a few examples of this. Again, consider writing this in an outline format to make things more organized for yourself. It needs to be 1000 words or more (you will thank us for this later).

Coming Soon

Task 5 - Create at least two secondary characters.
Who are they? What is their relationship to the main character? No story is ever only about one character, there's a whole world full of people around your protagonist! Think about why they are important and what their function in the story is. There need to be 300 words per secondary character.

Jo - short for Jocacia - is most definitely the serious one of the group. She often plays 'mum' to the group, despite only being twenty three. Especially when Kaira decides to wander off somewhere without having a second's hesitation or Amie bursts into one of her mood swings. She's a good listener, challenges people on their stance or provides a decent hug when all else fails. She has a loud voice, usually scolding people for doing something that she thinks they ought not to do - like running into a field of stinging nettles.

She is very sweet though. Often caring about others more so than herself. Her desire to help people has made her want to cure people of their diseases. Jo studied the world of medicine, trying to create new cures and continue the advancement of it. She dislikes hurting people for any reason and usually avoids fighting at all. But she will stand up for her friends or when innocents are in trouble. She really dislikes when people abuse the system and hurt the innocent.

Jo has dark curly hair, and brown eyes. She is almost always seen with make up on, as well as fake eyelashes. Jo really enjoys dressing up, no matter what the occasion, and tends to go with nice 'on trend' outfits. Her wardrobe is mostly dresses or long floaty skirts with blouses. She always wears jewellery, except on her hands.

Ever since she was young, she started to show signs of magic. Hers is often controlled by her hands but it requires immense concentration. She's not very skilled in it yet but unfortunately, there is limited information on how to control the ability - as not many people have it. There are schools around that help you to enhance your special powers but the ones that she has tried have not really been of any use to her.

Amie is the smallest in the group. She's around four foot five, on tiptoes and in boots. She often gets mistaken for a child - no older than twelve - but is actually twenty one. Her dress sense does her absolutely no favours. She is usually seen in very large hoodies. They are so oversized that they basically look like dresses on her, with the arm cuffs hanging down so far that her hands disappear inside it. She pairs this with boots, usually. Though she does have a love for any 'cute' clothing. She will often be seen wearing attire that have cute animals on them - like pandas.

Her straight blonde hair is often either loose or up in pigtails. She wears a pair of glasses, which always match her clothing. She must have a dozen pairs, in different colours. She dislikes sunglasses but sometimes has to wear them as her eyes are quite sensitive to too much sun light exposure. Her eyes are a light blue, slightly grey.

Her fashion sense and small physique aren't the only reason she's viewed as cute. Her personality is pretty cute too. Amie can be rather sweet and is usually quite emotional. She likes a good cry - and can cry on cue. She's sensitive to other people's emotions too, and often gets caught up in their emotions - finding it kind of hard to separate herself from it at times.

She's intelligent and creates various tools on her own. A few of her designs have been patented. The glasses she wears, for example, were own invention.  She likes having a plan, detailed to the minute. It pretty much never goes to plan when Kaira is around though. She's highly organised, and likes to do a lot of research.

She can be rather clumsy, often tripping over her own shoelaces and getting hurt. She's not much of a fighter but she's pretty good at acting. Understanding emotions as well as she does and being a keen researcher makes very good at manipulating them in return. And looking like a child makes it much easier to catch people off guard or to fool them into thinking she is younger and more innocent than she is.

Her parents disappeared suddenly, one day. Amie knew she had to find them. Putting her intelligence and her cuteness into play, Amie was determined to find them - no matter what.

Word Count: 317 [Jo] + 403 [Amie]