Finding X

This past weekend, I felt like this about Doleful Creatures.

With good reason do I feel this way. The story, while partly formed, still resembles a pile of Tinkertoys dumped on the floor. There are parts, but there’s no real structure. I’m not yet to the point I need Dr. Ronald Chevalier-levels of inspiration, but there’s still some work to be done.

So I sat down late yesterday and took a few notes:

 Put legend/backstory to the fore, make the split with the Lady and the Sparrow-Minder be over the lack of magic for the animals.

She wants to give them magic because she knows when humans come, they will exercise dominion and kill and eat animals, destroy habitat, drive animals to extinction, etc. Animals could counteract this with magic that would make humans more docile, less prone to destruction.

The SM knows this would rob humans of agency and upset the order of things, as “animal” is only part of a soul’s progression toward becoming a god.

Nevertheless, some animals choose magic over the sacrifice for future progression and end up trapped in The Lady’s cave because they can no longer progress.

They are only promised a chance to progress if The Lady is destroyed by one who recognizes that X.

What is the X? What is the motivation?

Submission now means progress later?

Reminders: Animals already have souls. A soul can’t be a motivator.

What would be the difference between animal and human agency?

Rule of Claw and Fang versus Rule of Love?

Would magic prevent them from feeling joy? How?

Or is it simply training to show them how unrighteous dominion feels? They see humans exercise unrighteous dominion and think, hey, when I progress, I don’t want to be like that.

What do we know in the scriptures about dominion, unrighteous dominion?

This brings up obvious questions: Is this progression from animal to human, or animal to something else? I kind of think animal to human is too obvious. I want to see if I can hint at that something else. Something more transformative.

And is this going to be too allegorical? Or should I even worry about that, and just chalk it up to pseudotheology?