Divided: Act 4 Timeskip Teasers + Scrapped Idea Reveals

 CONTENT WARNING: Spoilers for Divided - everything before the start of Act 4.

NOTE: These are just teasers, and may change in the actual chapters.

 Another timeskip teaser for Act Four! So Act 3 was quite the wild ride, with a lot of drama, death, and the loss of an important asset to the fight against witchfinders...Once again, much like the end of Act One, everyone is sprinkled across the map once again away from one another. On top of that I will be revealing some ideas that got completely scrapped! I love reading about cut content from video games and such, it's so fun (sometimes sad) to see what didn't make the cut. So let's have a look at some Divided plot points that didn't end up happening.

Scrapped Ideas

• Those of you know of Oskar's daughter from the past, Ilse, who died of old age. Here is her initial character description from early story planning from my planning document: She was still going to be alive to this day.
  'Ilse Lorenz: Turned by Oskar to somehow 'save' her from a terminal illness. She has been a vampire for almost 80 years. She resents Oskar because she will never grow up, but he did it to save her life, though how much of that was up to selfishness is anyone's guess.'
  
  
• It was a coin flip sometime during early Act 2 that decided whether it would be Oskar or Violeta who died. Had it had been the other way around, the idea I had written down was this: 'After Violeta's death, Oskar loses control of himself and gives in to enough of the bloodlust that he becomes a 'fully-fledged' vampire, going by the name of Rächenzahn (avenging fang).' The red-backgrounded 'many pictures of Oskar's dark form' page on the Gallery page was actually initial concepts for this form, which eventually became his normal darker-dark-form.
  
  
• Mother Joyce was supposed to secretly be a witch, and the last of a lineage that could transform into gryphons. I deemed this too wild for the story. Since dragons are long dead (or sealed into weak forms in orbs) I figured it'd be the same case for gryphons (don't tell that to the Annorin family). Would have been cool but couldn't find a way to work it in.
  
  
• Originally, Oskar was going to want to become a spellcaster. He would have cured his vampirism, and Áine would have performed the first ascension on him (which would have been VERY controversial among witches and bloodlines alike). This is why he mentions an interest in arcane history in his introductory side chapter, and why it doesn't really go anywhere despite the few things he knows about magic.
  
  
• A scrapped character, Samuel Annorin's wife. Description from my story plan:
  'Temperance Blackwood: It seems that she is not a fan of her husband's business outlooks, and suggests to him that he is no better than San Myshuno medical professionals for gatekeeping his cures for the very rich. She loves him, but does not love his selfishness. She stops Samuel trying to go after Katlego for her herbal remedies.'
  
  In the actual story as is released, his wife is named Elizabeth and is long dead from illness.
  
  
• Two other vampires were meant to appear alongside Oskar and Violeta: A vampire from Mt. Komorebi and a jiāngshī from Shang Simla. I couldn't find a way to fit them into the storyline, so they were scrapped, though there's a possibility I might write something with them at some point. The vampire from Mt. Komorebi was going to be a character who decided to take up art and ignore fighting in a local conflict, and the jiāngshī was going to be a cute and friendly young woman, who was absolutely terrifying when she'd go hopping after people and feeding off their life force.
  
  
•  Julian's protest against the Jacoban cathedral was a scrapped plotline and was going to involve him trying to destroy part of it somehow, but I decided not to bother as this was way too controversial given the actual protests going on in France at the time I was writing that scene. It seemed in really bad taste, so I didn't bother.  

Now onto the timeskip makeovers and teasers!

 The start of Act 4 will leave off very close to where Act 3 finished, so there won't be a timeskip right away. However, eventually there will be a timeskip. I may have to split it into two, or cover the years fairly fast...since act 4 will cover eight years. There may be things that seem nonsensical in the sense of 'how has X gone THIS long without Y being an issue?' I will try to avoid this, but there may be some points of inexplicable downtime in terms of what happens between timeskips. 

• Kat isn't here because I didn't change her at all- she's already perfect. The plan is for Kat to come moreso back into the picture in Act 4, with her and Ellie's herbalist / cunningwoman business going pretty well, but also the fact that Kat will likely be faced with the struggle between her pacifism and the necessity that she may have to harm people somehow with magic to keep her and Ellie alive.
  

 

Violeta, in what my friend has jokingly dubbed her 'redemption dress'. XD She sports a different hairstyle as well as a slightly brighter and more 'soft' palette than some of her previous outfits. Things are going to be terrible for Violeta this arc with the death of Oskar. I don't really know exactly how bad things are going to get, but eventually, she's going to try and be more like him, and attempt to be more 'human' towards others. She may never fully recover from this.

Some of early Act 4 will be a lot of characters eventually finding out about Oskar's death, I have plans for Reynold to hold a funeral for him, and a few commemmorations to his life. Violeta is going to have to try and find Áine and Róisín, but how easy will that be, and Áine hasn't forgotten what happened back in Nebelstadt when she was pregnant. With Oskar gone, is there any chance of them overcoming the past to work together to deal with the present threats?

We will also learn of her backstory much like we learned about Oskar's. I didn't know until sometime in Act 2 that Romanian naming conventions changed in I think about early 1900s, so now her name Violeta Vasilescu is just the name she uses in Henford. Her real full name is Violeta Vasile Nicolae.

Volpe, Juniper and the witchfinders are going to have to work hard to avoid Violeta's wrath.

And we have Dan into his early to mid-twenties, looking very much like his father. He has a slightly more muscular build from all his sword practice. I don't know how much of my plan I'm going to stick to, but things are going to be incredibly rough for him. Will Volpe keep his promise to Gideon to free his son from his work as a witchfinder? And Oskar's words about Dan being brainwashed by it all subconsciously...Does any of it ring true? After all he's seen and put up with, how easy is it to go back to fishing with his father for a much lower wage than what Volpe gives to his witchfinders?

And of course we can't forget...Is he going to tell Eli the truth like Oskar told him to? With Oskar dead, who's there to see if he will or not? How exactly is he going to tell Eli that he attacked his father?

Josiah! He hasn't changed at all bar some glasses and facial hair. The current plan is that Josiah will play a somewhat bigger part in this act, and that his relationship with his brother will become tested. Tired of not being able to work until the spring and still looking for a job, Josiah does find work with one of the other characters looking to hire help and people who are willing to learn. It's going to be a lot of hard work over a fair few years, but who could he possibly be working alongside? A clue- it's someone he doesn't have a huge heap of respect for, and it isn't Lord Volpe.

Clem! I will be changing her hair since that one is a bit poorly-made and the mesh seems to dissolve as you zoom away from it. I will be honest I don't know entirely what to do with Clem just yet. Julian is getting old now, she's pissed off at Juniper, and after what happened to Reynold in Act 3, everything is going pretty wrong.

Dinah- She won't have a big role and is still a side character, but she's too pretty not to be included. < 3 I changed her hair and gave her some more relaxed outfits. I do have a certain scene planned between her and another character, but I'll choose not to share anything about that ; ) She might come to play more of a role in offing witchfinders behind the scenes.

Eli! Not much has changed bar a bit of facial hair, though he has a more muscular build now due to his work. His woodwork business is difficult to do by himself and it's tough without Oskar to help him, and he's going to be devasted when he finds out about Oskar's death...so devastated, in fact, that he may not question exactly why it's been so long since Dan last spoke to him. In his grief, he might welcome his company again anyway. Hopefully he and Owen will have more bonding time this act.

I feel like Eli needs someone to help him, with his work. I do have an idea for that but I'm not sure yet. I also have an idea for Violeta to try and get closer to him and to try and help him out as best as she can, but it's safe to say Eli is going to have a very rough time this act, with the loss of his father, as well as the murder of his birth father will probably come as a big shock to him initially. And on top of that, all the drama with Dan...Poor Eli.

Ellie! She won't be any more prominent, but I just had to show off her amazing new hair. She and Kat are still wildly in love with one another, though I think Ellie worries about her a lot.

Reynold, rocking his usual dadbod and some even longer hair! By the end of Act 4 he's going to be in his late 30s, so I'll eventually add some more age detail. As we know, he had a pretty bad overcharge reaction last chapter. I'm still not entirely sure if it will affect him in the long term or how, but I will spoil one thing to you all since I think we need ONE point of comfort after last chapter- he is still alive after the overcharge happened. However, his daughter and partner are both far away from him once again, and this is going to give him a lot of anxiety. If the pressure wasn't on already, it definitely is now. How much more until it breaks him entirely?

I'll also let you in on something else. My previous plan was that he was going to admit to the Peterans in early Act 4 that it was him who was the werewolf. The trouble is- they all saw the black wolf outside next to him, so they're not going to suspect Reynold is a werewolf right away. However, they're going to be incredibly shocked that he's a witch- except Susana, who already knew back in Act 1. Trouble is, 90% of Reynold's plot is him telling people things far too late than he should have- something he might have learned his lesson from at his point. Maybe he'll eventually have to open up about his true form, even with all the risks that come with such a thing.

Remember Iris from Act One? She's going to have a bigger part here. We will find out what her real name is, as Iris was a name she chose for herself upon arriving in Glimmerbrook (which is technically a part of Henford, but people in-universe want it to be considered separate due to its association with witchcraft). 

I will reveal her ORIGINAL true name now since it's not a spoiler in any way really and I had to change it anyway... her real name was Takeda Ikue... up until about an hour ago when I found out Japanese naming culture before 1868 was very different. So I've changed it now.

Though she mostly calls herself a witch, she is actually an obake (shapeshifter) who came to Henford from Yukimatsu, a rural mountain village near Mt. Komorebi. She has seen a certain mystical creature from Mt. Komorebi that those of you who've read Vitriol will know of, a wise creature of ice that, according to myth, has its entire body wrapped around the mountain. There's also far more to her that meets the eye that I've written just a few minutes ago- a backstory carved from doing some research on Japanese mythology, and a backstory that, unsurprisingly, is depressing, but I think you'll all find her quite interesting once you come to learn more about her.

I don't know if and when we'll see her much in her traditional clothing in-story, but here she is in a furisode, wearing kanzashi in her hair in the hopes of warding off evil.

And of course we have Áine, who will have a much bigger part in this act...STOP LAUGHING! I MEAN IT THIS TIME! HONEST! Those of you who have read The Sun and her Fire will know a few bits about Áine's life in Glimmerbrook, and we now get to see it real-time as she solidifies herself as the figure we knew from the modern day stories, a protector of Glimmerbrook and of witches, a teacher, and an immensely-powerful witch. Surrounded almost entirely by people like her, we will see Áine really grow into the feared and respected woman we know her as from TSAHF. 

I can't say much without spoiling things, but let's just say her actions will risk straining certain relationships...and events that will completely change her life forever. 

(These pictures below with the black backgrounds are just the pictures from the Act 4 banner.)

 

Lord Volpe's reign over the witchfinders still goes strong, but we have to wonder if the decimation of a good amount of his workforce is going to set him back at all. We DO know that he's going to get quite the kick out of finding out that Oskar is dead, and less of a kick out of finding out another vampire, much more brutal, is still alive. He does know that Samuel Annorin cured one vampire, so he could cure another...couldn't he? Perhaps...if he weren't dead.

As we know, this man is devoted to ending all magic life in Henford in retaliation for the murder of his family back in Tartosa, when his father, wife and children by witches. They burned down his mansion with his entire family in it after his father was falsely accused of hunting them. Trouble is, Volpe's not willing to get his hands dirty- but then why should he when he has an army of brainwashed men under his command? Those who aren't brainwashed by him are too terrified of him to disagree. Will he keep his promise to Gideon when he finds out that 'Gideon killed him' ?

 

Here we have Owen. I can't actually remember how old Owen is, but I think at this point in the story (start of Act 4) he's somewhere in his mid-thirties, probably about 33 or 34. Things for the most part will actually be good for Owen now that he doesn't have his asshole father hanging about him...Part of you has to wonder just how much of the events of Act 4 were actually clever foreplanning on his part. Did he hope that the witchfinders would kill Annorin for his magic in his weakened state, or did he know that Violeta would be scouring the skies, with a chance for her to notice him outside on his own, unguarded?

With Samuel out of the way, Owen can finally start properly getting on with his work, his plans to improve things, and also- I forgot if I ever mentioned he found love back in San Myshuno, but he did, and with his father gone, he can finally offer her to come and live with him in Henford. I imagine they still feel strongly for each other, but both haven't had much time though they do keep in touch when they can through letters. He also wants to redecorate the mansion, and he plans to eventually respond to Róisín's letter. He's going to frame her gryphon drawing and put it on the wall somewhere. I'm also going to reveal that I have plans in mind for a wedding, so that might be fun! 

I'll reveal the little I've got on his partner- I have designed her but haven't pictured her here. Her name is  Lydia Xiang and although her specialty is in traditional medicine and preserving the knowledge passed down over generations of natural medicine and its importance despite in-universe scientific advances, she also works as a surgeon back in San Myshuno and she and Owen worked on a lot of research together, which is how they fell in love with one another. Hopefully she'll love the relatively more redeemed Owen just as much. Also with her knowing a lot about traditional medicine, maybe she and Kat can learn some things from each other. We'll see. 

I plan for Owen and Reynold to have more communication given Reynold's healing powers and both of them being overworked men on the verge of a breakdown. XD I also plan for Volpe and him to have a growing distance from each other. Volpe will no doubt scold him for various things, mainly being nothing like Samuel, but remember what Volpe said to Samuel? That he only excuses them having magic because they 'know to behave'? And what good is a world-renowned physician, actively trying to improve the state of Henford, if he's targeted by witchfinders? Owen may have sworn an oath, but as we already know, he has a habit of being lucky enough to be surrounded by vampires, werewolves and other murderous types willing to do the dirty work for him- or perhaps that's all part of his plan. Doesn't have to lift a finger when there's plenty of people who will do what he wants without him having to say anything in the first place. 

Much like Kat, we'll have to see if he sticks with his relative pacifism. The interesting part of Owen is the impartiality expected of him because of his profession- but that could possibly give him an advantage if he can play both sides for long enough to try and help the witches out. 

I also plan for Owen to eventually hire some people to help him- the death of Samuel Annorin will no doubt bring some medical knowledge back to Henford, and maybe he'll catch a break as a result. 

 

You might remember this character was on the Act 3 banner before being replaced with Róisín. This is still Róisín, but as a teenager! I decided I didn't want Act 3 to be way longer than Act 1 and 2, which is why it stopped where it did. She's sixteen in this image. 

I admit I am not entirely sure where she will go personality-wise. Whether she will be more like her mother or her father- I'm guessing her mother since she will be away from her father for some time. Then there's the combo of the teenage years plus full moon bad tempers. Fun times ahead! 

Hopefully she can make new friends at the little coven she's now a part of. As a child, she is incredibly frightened at first, but hopefully she will come to grow up into a wise young woman among them. Of course, once she's old enough, we also might come to see her discovering her own wolf form... What lies in store for her?

At the moment, Act 4 will end on a very dramatic note much like Act 3 did. The eve of something terrible, of close bonds torn apart by a devastating event (or many). Of people who were once friends becoming parted. Maybe Reynold's moon-sight visions and Katlego's divination card readings might have actually been warning them of something incredibly important...Reynold's sensations of incredible anger during the scrying on the river, and Katlego's card pull of the sun, moon and sword...

And if you're wondering 'how many characters will die in this chapter?' My current plan? About 3 or 4. Maybe less. We'll see. Remember, Oskar died, and you call jokingly accused me of favouritism there- that's your warning that absolutely anyone can die in this story...So who's next?