Entered on 23 Nov.

When does Sebastian actually collapse?

• Right after the injured are taken to the hospital
  • Why wouldn’t they take him to the hospital, too, especially if Diane thinks it’s a heart attack?
• In the evening, when people start debating whether to stay or press on
  • Same as above, there’s no way in hell Diane wouldn’t take him to an available and fully functioning hospital.
• In the night, during shared dreams
  • Can’t collapse when you’re already lying down.
  • Could collapse in Diane’s dream, and resist waking up in the morning.
• In the morning, during debate
  • Would influence the decision, probably.
• In the morning, during the Homeland excommunicating them
  • Would steal the spotlight, make the scene feel crowded.
• In the morning, after they leave the Homeland
  • People would wonder if it was leaving the Homeland that sapped the last of his strength.
• When the group enters Dragon City
  • Will express the immediacy of the situation.
  • Possibly too similar to the old version of events.
• Decision
  • Have him get violently ill in the Homeland, the morning before everyone leaves. He will write it off as bad food, but will have a mild fever as well.
  • Fever will get worse as they progress to Detroit, and he will collapse when the Caravan is being welcomed to the city by Jason.

Worldbuilding for Chapter 3, entered in the journal on 24 and 26 August.

What happened to all of the people?

The Locusts killed most of them. East Lansing didn’t get its own meteor; Lansing’s was big enough for both. There was no concerted resistance like in Detroit, nor guerrilla warfare like in Flint. Several groups fled, like the caravans had from their respective cities. The Green grew the campus of MSU into an impenetrable fortress against them without really knowing what she was doing. At first.

How did the Squirrel King avoid the Locusts?

He did what a squirrel would do. He hid, and then stood very, very still. So still that the Locusts could not discern him from his surroundings. He stayed where he was until they were gone, or until the probability that they were gone raised to a near-certain level. The above hiding trick is the first time that he changes reality through expression of his will. It is also the point at which he discovers the Formulae. Once the Locusts have gone, he hones his skills and understanding through practice. He chooses survivors that are too weak to fight back, stragglers that haven’t yet either left Lansing or started to rebuild. He becomes quite adept at picking off lone and unsuspecting victims from places of hiding.

What happens when the Green and the Locusts clash?

After triggering a growth spurt (and reveling in it), the Green becomes aware of the Locusts. A force of them gathered at the edge of the forest, and are being pushed back as the plant life pushes outward. She feels that her new home is being threatened, and goes to meet them.

When she comes to the edge of the forest, they are trying to enter, but are stopped as if by an invisible barrier. They seem reluctant to touch or be touched by the plant life that is expanding and reaching out even as she watches. They flinch and cringe when a branch or vine nears them, though they lash out and attack when touched.

Many have gathered, and more are arriving. If all of the Locusts gather, she feels that they will be able to enter and overpower the forest, and her with it. No longer saddled with a human mindset, she makes her decision quickly. The Green spreads her arms and her wings wide, and she calls to the roots underneath the ground. She calls to everything growing that is pressed away from the light of the sun by the concrete. Churn, she bids them. Crack the walls of the prison above them. Burst forth, and feast upon her enemies. Bring them down into the soil, and use their remains to nurture growth for years to come. They did her bidding, and made short work of the Locusts. More would come, and more would feed the earth. The forest grew and grew, until the last of hem was lost forever under the soil.