andphi's Journal: Novel Update: 200 pages

Last time I updated, I said the end was in sight. It still is, but it doesn't seem to have gotten much closer, even after another 10 or 12 Kwords written. The trouble is that the core plot involves the protagonist coming to his own healing so that he can build himself a new family while he rescues what remains of the old family. He keeps getting, for lack of any better word, sojourned in various situations as he works, stumbles, and backtracks toward and from healing.

Malad finds itself confined to an inn for three nights. His way is barred by a magical barrier designed to keep inside those within who would find the streets outside unsafe. In the course of his confinement, he finds some of the tools needed to move forward and to restore his family. However, he finds the confinement chafing, for obvious reasons. His guides - an Elven linguist and anthropologist and a Dwarven priest and whitesmith - try to explain the barrier's purpose to him and so take him to a dedicated 'house of healing'. The side trip seems to have lengthened his stay in the inn. As a side note, I need to include something about someone paying for Malad's stay in the inn with a pair of silver coins.