Great Oz Meets the Disenchantress

[caper_est]

About another Kword since last post.  Finished the chapter, and brought on - quite a tertiary character, but a pivotal one: a small survivor, with no great strengths except eyes wide open and the courage of utter disillusion.  She is not, I suppose, in many senses a very attractive personality.  But Flashy Elder Brother - and I too, I begin to think - really needed to meet her.  I've waited two years and thirteen chapters to see her again after a brief second-hand glance at the very beginning, and now the wait seems worth it.  I didn't anticipate half the difference she'd make, and I very much hope her sub-plot survives the Great Redraft.  In her way she is quite the equal of Katy.

Next chapter, the war of manoeuvre starts getting really crunchy.  Lots of research, sheaves of half-arsed ideas to gather over the next few days.  Original plans already badly battered: heroes and enemies keep punching through their weak spots as fast as I can shore 'em up.  Why didn't I write about bulging-thewed Og and the Mad Mage of Mollocking March instead?  Nnngghh!