Comprehensive Outline

I. Title: The Reluctant Cleric

II. Author: Vixey Todd

III. Characters - Sketches/Synopsis

         A. Central Character: Stephanie James
                   1. Character Sketch Profile

                             Name: Stephanie James
                             Age: 25
                             Location: Where ever there is a rumor of a haunted place
                             Family History: Unknown
                             Career aspirations: Travel the country and host a successful YouTube channel for haunted locations.
                             Race: Caucasian Human
                             Features: Organized, Resourceful, Logical, Grounded in the physical world.
                             Appearance: Medium height, blond hair braided in a rope down her back, expressive blue eyes, aquiline nose.
                             Likes: Travel, Exploration, and the old Scooby-Doo cartoons where it was always a man in a mask.
                             Dislikes: Staying in one place
                             Physical condition: Healthy and athletic
                             Ailments: None
                             Education: High School Diploma
                             Socioeconomic background: Lower Middle Class
                             Parents: Biological parents unknown. Lived in various foster homes until she graduated high school.
                             Siblings: None
                             Ambition: Making a living off YouTube
                             Hobbies: Seeing small tourist attractions such as the largest..., exploring supposed haunted areas, and researching location histories.
                             Significant Others: Lee Han, has been her best friend since high school. He drug her to every social event claiming she needed to live in the now. He was her first everything.
                             Intelligence: High School Education, and knowledge of the continental U. S. through her travels and researching various supposed haunted locations.
                             Emotional Stability: Hard exterior with soft insecure inside
                             Flaws: Tendency to push people away to avoid being hurt when they do the same to her.
                             Pivotal events in life: Each time she was moved from one foster home to another. Graduating high school.
                             Favorite foods: Twenty-Four Hour Diner food
                             Favorite music: Hard Rock
                             Favorite reading material: Historical documents, mysteries, and horror
                             Religion: Atheist
                             Personality: Self-Centered
                             Habits: Maps out routes for each location, drags Lee on a run after parking the RV, takes a nap during the day before exploring a haunted location at night
                             Favorite thing to do: Disprove a suspected haunting
                                                           Comfort with the opposite sex: Though they are not in a serious committed relationship she and Lee engage in sex for the purposes of pleasure and release.
                             Things he/she takes pride in: The YouTube channel.
                             Things that bother him/her: People who pretend they know her because they watch her channel. Lee's attempts to make their relationship more than what it is.
                             Things that make him/her laugh: Humorous videos

                   3. Prose Synopsis

                             Stephanie spent most of her young life moving from one foster home to another. After graduating high school, she used the money she saved to purchase a used RV big enough for two. She and her best friend, Lee Han, from high school travel to supposed haunted locations throughout the United States. After researching the locations' history, they take a private and not always legal tour. Lee records while she goes through explaining how each place may or may not be haunted. As they travel to the next location, Lee uses his AV equipment to edit the recording. Once he feels it's worthy of public viewing, it's posted to their You Tube channel. Though Stephanie doesn't believe in the supernatural, she leaves it to her audience to decide whether or not what they are seeing is real.

         B. First Supporting Character

                   1. Character Sketch Profile

                             Name: Tomas Crichton
                             Age: Looks 30 real age 100+
                             Location: A small cottage in Crieff, Scotland
                             Family History: Descended from a family of dragon shifters
                             Career aspirations: Sells the wool he sheers from his sheep
                             Race: Scottish Human Dragon-shifter
                             Features: Strong, patient, and protective
                             Appearance: 6’1”, blond spiky hair, light blue eyes, clean shaven.
                             Likes: Whole food grown in his own garden or bought from a farmers’ market, classic literature, Traditional Scottish music
                             Dislikes: Processed food, Television, Darkness
                             Physical condition: Athletic, muscular
                             Ailments: None
                             Education: Secondary Education
                             Socioeconomic background: Upper-lower class
                             Parents: Dragon shifters who died in battle with the Necromancer
                             Siblings: Liam Crichton
                             Ambition: Protect his brother and Stephanie from the man who took their parents
                             Hobbies: Cooking, reading, sewing, knitting
                             Significant Others: None
                             Intelligence: Well versed in both light and dark divine magic
                             Emotional Stability: Feels guilty for the loss of Stephanie’s parents, his inability to protect Liam, and his attraction to Stephanie. Her disbelief and rejection of what she is frustrates him but he persists in convincing her.
                             Flaws: Stubborn, set in his ways, keeps his emotions to himself
                             Pivotal events in life: Losing his parents and brother to the Necromancer creates a desire for revenge. After Stephanie’s parents die during the raid in which he is able to free Liam, Tomas vows to keep Stephanie safe. When he learns of Stephanie’s plans to visit the Necromancer he follows and rescues her from a trap meant to ensure her death.
                             Favorite foods: Anything he can by at a farmer’s market
                             Favorite music: Traditional Scottish/Celtic music
                             Favorite reading material: Ancient and classic literature. The older the better
                             Religion: Prays to and worships old gods not known to most men
                             Personality: Role-model
                             Habits: Rises with the son no matter how late he goes to bed. Sings while he works.
                             Favorite thing to do: Take care of his family, and soar through the sky on his own wings
                             Comfort level with opposite sex: Is very capable of wooing a woman for as long as he wishes to keep her. Becomes uncomfortable around Stephani due to his attraction.
                             Things he/she takes pride in: The care of his flock and quality of the wool he sells
                             Things that bother him/her: His brother rejection of drinking animal blood in lieu of human.
                             Things that make him/her laugh: Not much of a laugher until Stephanie comes along
                             Speech patterns: Sophisticated, avoids contractions and slang when he can. Slips into Scots Gaelic when he is impassioned.

                   3. Prose Synopsis:

                             After witnessing the death of two of his closest friends at the hands of the Necromancer Osisris, Tomas took their infant daughter Stephanie to America. In order to put distance between them for her own protection he placed her in the foster system. He and his brother Liam kept tabs on Stephanie as she grew up. When they learned of her going to England to visit Osiris at his invitation, they made sure to be there to rescue her from the trap he was setting. After rescuing her, he must find a way to convince her of what she is and what she can do before Osiris rebuilds his un-dead army.

V. Synopsis of Overall Story

         A. Synopsis

                   Stephanie James has been exploring possible haunted locations since she was eighteen. She and her partner Lee Han are looking for another location when she receives an email in her private inbox from a self proclaimed Necromancer. Unable to resist their curiosity Stephanie and Lee accept Osiris’s invitation and prepaid plane tickets to England. Once there they meet the Necromancer Osiris. He leads him on a tour through his home which ends in a basement with a dirt floor. They are attacked by a small horde of zombies. Lee is taken down first. When they advance on Stephanie, she uses a power she doesn’t know she has to hold them off. As she weakens a figure dives through one of the basement window and uses fire breath to drive off the zombies. Once outside he hands her off to another man who carries her away from the mansion faster than any normal human can run.

                   After a night of fitful dreams Stephanie awakes to find herself in a strange bedroom. She explores the place and finds a blonde man in the kitchen making breakfast. He introduces himself as Tomas Crichton, and explains to her how he and his brother Liam were able to find her the night before. He goes on further to explain who her birth parents are and how she must become a Cleric like her parents and defeat Osiris. While Stephanie struggles with the choice of staying with Tomas or striking out on her own she discovers she is pregnant with Lee’s child. After her pregnancy is confirmed by the absence of her period and a second home test she leaves Tomas’s home in search of somewhere safe to hid and raise her child. Tomas catches up with her and convinces her to remain with him.

                   They travel back to her birth parents’ home in London and meet Alice. She was close friends with Stephanie’s mother and a strong Cleric. She agrees to teach Stephanie spells Tomas and reading her parents books are not able to teach. She also acts as Stephanie’s midwife. While assisting her with training and getting ready for the arrival of her child, Tomas finds himself falling in love. After attempting to resist his he feelings he decides to accept them and asks Stephanie to marry him. He disguises it as being best for the child to have two parents and hopes it will parlay into a romantic relationship. Their wedding is crashed by Osiris and Lee. While Tomas, Liam, and Alice battle some of Osiris’s new zombies, he and Lee abduct Stephanie. The stress forces her into premature labor. Osiris holds the life of her unborn child hostage until she agrees to join with Lee in a dark union. This union will turn her into a vampire so she convinces them to hold off until the baby is six months old. Now that she has bought herself time she appeals to Lee’s paternal nature and convinces him to lead Tomas and Liam to where they are to rescue her and the baby. After making sure Stephanie and the baby are safe, Tomas torches Osiris’s new layer with his fire breath. Once there are back at her birth parents’ home, Alice performs the hand binding ceremony to unite Stephanie and Tomas as husband and wife.

                   After a few months of peace, Lee shows up in the baby’s nursery. He grabs her out of the crib and whisks her out the window. Stephanie convinces Liam to take her on his back as he pursues Lee. Alice and Tomas follow them in Alice’s car. Lee leads them to a cemetery outside of London. Liam deposits Stephanie outside of the cemetery and runs up to the house to investigate. He returns and tells her there is no one on the first floor of the caretakers house and he is not able to get up to the top to see inside the second floor. After Tomas and Alice arrive, they make their way through the grave yard together. Osiris raises the dead in the graves to block them. Tomas and Alice fend them off while Liam and Stephanie race into the house. Lee is waiting for them at the top of the stairs holding the baby at the top of the stairs. They hurry after him and enter the room where Osiris is waiting. After setting the baby in a makeshift wooden crib Lee attacks Liam. Stephanie faces down Osiris and they become dead locked in a dark energy vs. light energy show down. Stephanie puts everything she has into her attack and is certain she will destroy herself in the process.

                   She awakes in the bed she shares with Tomas to find him sitting in a chair beside it holding the baby in his lap. He hands her over and Stephanie snuggles her close. He explains how she destroyed Osiris and they all managed to escape. Once she is strong enough to leave their bedroom, she finds Lee and Liam sitting at the kitchen table. Liam explains how after Osiris was destroyed his hold on Lee was gone. Lee is now Liam’s student in the ways of the vampire. Before striking out on their own, they say farewell to Stephanie, Tomas, Alice, and the baby. Lee entrusts Tomas to be the father he cannot to his child.

VI. List the Dramatic Ingredients

         A. Life Changing Event: Lees death at the hands of Osiris’s zombie horde.
         B. CC's Want-Need-Desire: Stephanie wants to return to her life, she needs to learn the magic her parents once used to fight Osiris, she desires to live a safe and happy life with her baby and Tomas.
         C. The Dramatic Premise: Changing direction in life
         D. The Themes: Good triumphs over evil; preservation of life
         E. Crisis #1: Stephanie is pregnant with her dead lover’s child
         F. Crisis #2: Stephanie is captured by Osiris and goes into premature labor
         G. Crisis #3: Lee kidnaps the baby and leads them into a final confrontation with Osiris
         H. Foreshadowing: Chapter 7: Stephanie must decide what to do if she turns out to be pregnant. Chapter 17: Stephanie must make a plan to escape for the sake of her child and intends to appeal to Lee’s paternal nature. Chapter 27: Stephanie does not believe she will make it through the final confrontation with Osiris.
         I. Symbols: The Celtic Cross Stephanie wears is her holy symbol. She can use it to repel evil and enhance her divine power.
         J. Repitition: There are three confrontations with Osiris
         K. Humor: Liam referring to his nightly interludes with women and F&Fs (read chapter 7 for translation).
         L. Anguish: In chapter four Stephanie must come to terms with losing Lee and her life as she knows it.
In chapter eighteen Tomas must deal with the fact that he has lost the woman he loves and her unborn child.
In chapter 26 Stephanie must come to terms with the possibility that she has lost her daughter forever.

VII. If a novel, show the chapters from 1 to however many you are going to have. (At least twenty.) If a screen or stage play, show the Acts and Scenes. In a One Act Play there will be at least three scenes
         A. Chapter 1: Behind the Scenes
                   1. Stephanie awakes from a recurring nightmare and is comforted by Lee
                   2. They spend the morning getting ready to move on to another haunted location
                   3. While at the diner Stephanie receives an email from a self-proclaimed necromancer
                   4. His second email includes two one way tickets to England
                   5. She convinces Lee to go on the adventure by agreeing to marry him when its over

         B. Chapter 2: Changing Scenes
                   1. Stephanie sells the RV that has been their home for the past seven years
                   2. After grabbing lunch, they take an uber to the airport
                   3. Stephanie notices some odd physical features about the driver
                   4. As they make their way to the gate, Stephanie notices a blonde stranger following them
                   5. When they land in England they are driven to a brown stone mansion in the middle of nowhere and left to wait the pleasure of their host

         C. Chapter 3: On Location
                   1. Lee seduces Stephanie in the shower and makes- love to her in the large king-sized bed
                   2. After they dress, the enter the sitting room of the guest suite to find their host waiting for them with a steak dinner.
                   3. He introduces himself as Osiris and answers questions while they eat.
                   4. After they finish eating, he takes them on a tour of his mansion, which ends in a basement with a dirt floor.
                   5. A horde of zombies rises up from beneath the floor and attacks Lee.
                   6. Stephanie uses a power she didn’t know she had to repel the horde.
                   7. She is rescued by a man with a dragon’s head and a man who can run at inhuman speed
                   8. The man with the dragon’s head takes time to set the brown stone ablaze before leaving through the roof in full dragon form.

         D. Chapter 4: Tomas and Liam Crichton
                   1. Stephanie explores her new surroundings and encounters the blonde stranger who followed her in the airport.
                   2. He introduces himself over breakfast and explains his connection to her and Osiris.

         E. Chapter 5: The Story of Their Lives
                   1. Tomas recounts the story of how Stephanie’s parents died.
                   2. He gives her a silver Celtic Cross that belonged to her mother and advises her to wear it at all times.


         F. Chapter 6: Baby on Board
                   1. Liam awakes and informs them he will be going out for the evening
                   2. When he turns his nose up at the pigs’ blood Tomas offers him Tomas vents his frustration to Stephanie.
                   3. She defends Liam’s desire to hunt as a natural process of vampire existance
                   4. Her defense of his behavior and the removal of the holy symbol lead Liam to believe she is willing to be his meal for the evening.
                   5. She tries to fight him but he overpowers her with compulsion.
                   6. One taste of her blood has him withdrawing his fangs and hissing something about her being with child.
                   7. Tomas pulls him off her and hauls him out of the room before she can question him further.

         G. Chapter 7: Fight or Flight
                   1. After breakfast Tomas leaves Stephanie to make a list of things she will need from the store.
                   2. Instead of making the list, she makes a list of pros and cons regarding whether or not to stay with Tomas.
                   3. She wrestles with the notion of being pregnant
                   4. Rather than place a pregnancy test on the list for Tomas she enlists Liam to pick it up for her.
                   5. He brings it home after sunset and leaves her to take it on her own.
                   6. The test comes back positive.
                   7. She is still staring at it when Tomas calls her name from down stairs
                   8. She throws away the used test and hides the unused one in her nightstand.
                   9. Tomas urges her to come down and see the surprise he bought for her.
                   10. She unwraps a new phone, tablet, and laptop.

         H. Chapter 8: Run Away Cleric
                   1. When her period does not come on schedule Stephanie uses the second pregnancy test.
                   2. When it comes back positive she decides to leave.
                   3. She does not make it far before Tomas and Liam catch up with her.
                   4. Tomas convinces her to come back home with him by promising protection for the unborn child.

         I. Chapter 9: Adjusting to a New Life
                   1. Tomas teaches Stephanie how to work on his farm.
                   2. He also teaches her basic magic known to both Paladins and Clerics

         J. Chapter 10: Dragon’s Kiss
                   1. As he works side by side with Stephanie he begins to feel more than just platonic affection for her.
                   2. Though he attempts to fight the feeling it seems to grow as he continues to teach and care for her.
                   3. One night he can no longer resist and kisses her

         K. Chapter 11 Back to Her Roots
                   1. In an effort to remind himself of his place in her life and find Stephanie a better teacher Tomas suggests returning to London and living in the home of her deceased birth parents.
                   2. When they arrive the meet Alice Murphy a former friend of Stephanie’s parents

         L. Chapter 12 A New Teacher for Stephanie
                   1. Alice takes over Stephanie’s training, offers to be her midwife, and becomes a close friend and confidant
                   2. She encourages Stephanie to pursue a relationship with Tomas

         M. Chapter 13 Tomas’s Proposal
                   1. After indulging in several passionate moments, Tomas proposes he and Stephanie marry.
                   2. Stephanie asks for time to think before giving him an answer.

         N. Chapter 14 Stephanie’s Acceptance
                   1. Stephanie talks over her choices with Alice
                   2. Alice gives her many good reasons to marry Tomas and very few not to.
                   3. Stephanie accepts Tomas’s proposal

         O. Chapter 15 Planning for the Big Day
                   1. Alice helps Stephanie plan her wedding

         P. Chapter 16 Wedding Crashers
                   1. Osiris and Lee crash the wedding
                   2. While the other three fight off Osiris’s skeleton warriors Lee and Osiris abduct Stephanie.
                   3. The stress sends Stephanie into premature labor.

         Q. Chapter 17 Delivered by Evil
                   1. Stephanie wakes to find herself laying on a stone slab in a torch lit chamber.
                   2. Osiris rises from his place at the base of the slab and informs her she is about to give birth.
                   3. He agrees to assist in the birth as long as Stephanie will join with Lee in a dark union.
                   4. Stephanie agrees, but convinces them to push it off until the child is able to survive without being breast fed.

         R. Chapter 18 Stephanie’s Appeal
                   1. Stephanie appeals to Lee to help her and the baby escape from Osiris.
                   2. He leaves to bring Tomas, Liam, and Alice to rescue them.

         S. Chapter 19 A Father’s Love
                   1. Lee leads Tomas, Liam, and Alice to Osiris’s new hide out
                   2. They fight off Osiris’s skeleton army and Lee leads them to where Osiris is holding Stephanie and the baby.
                   3. Lee prevents Osiris from pursuing the escapees.
                   4. Tomas takes time to set Osiris’s new lair ablaze.

         T. Chapter 20 Hand Fast Redo
                   1. Once back home, Alice finishes the ceremony uniting Tomas and Stephanie as husband and wife.
                   2. After putting the baby to bed, Tomas and Stephanie consummate their union.

         U. Chapter 21 Something to Pay the Bills
                   1. Tomas and Stephanie help Alice run her apothecary
                   2. Stephanie convinces Tomas to assist her in exploring haunted locations in the United Kingdom and gets her YouTube channel up and running again.

         V. Chapter 22 Desire to Rescue A Friend
                   1. Stephanie encounters Lee in one of the haunted locations.
                   2. She tries to convince him to break free from Osiris.
                   3. When she fails she begins reading through her parents notes on how they intended to free Liam.

         W. Chapter 23 A Green-Eyed Dragon
                   1. Tomas expresses his displeasure with Stephanie’s desire to rescue Lee
                   2. Stephanie assures him she will not be leaving him for Lee.

         X. Chapter 24 Planning the Rescue Mission
                   1. They make plans to follow Stephanie on her explorations of haunted locations.
                   2. Alice and Stephanie practice the ritual her parents used to unbind Liam from Osiris

         Y. Chapter 25 Liam Tests Stephanie’s Skills
                   1. Liam attempts to attack Stephanie
                   2. She is able to repel him and resist his compulsion

         Z. Chapter 26 Cradle Robber
                   1. One evening, Lee slips into the nursery and abducts the baby.
                   2. Liam volunteers to track him down, and Stephanie insists on going with him.
                   3. Tomas objects but Alice volunteers to follow them in her car

         AA. Chapter 27 It’s A Trap!
                   1. Stephanie and Liam arrive at a cemetery outside of London.
                   2. Liam jumps over the wall and scouts the area.
                   3. Stephanie attempts to open the gate but there is a dark curse on them.
                   4. When Alice and Tomas arrive Alice assists Stephanie in opening the gates.
                   5. As they proceed through the graveyard, Osiris wakes the dead to stop them
                   6. Tomas and Alice agree to hold them off while Liam and Stephanie make their way into the house of the care-taker.
                   7. Lee is waiting for them at the top of the stairs and bates them to follow him
                   8. They follow him to Osiris’s chamber.
                   9. Liam and Lee get into a fight while Stephanie and Osiris pit their energy against each other

         BB. Chapter 28 Osiris is Defeated
                   1. Stephanie wakes in the bed she shares with Tomas
                   2. Tomas sits beside the bed with the baby in his lap
                   3. He tells Stephanie how Osiris was destroyed and Lee is now free
                   4. Alice did not make it through the battle

         CC. Chapter 29 A Cleric’s Funeral
                   1. They lay Alice to rest beside Stephanie’s birth parents

         DD. Chapter 30 Liam and Lee Say Good-bye
                   1. After Alice’s funeral, Liam and Lee say good-bye to Tomas, Stephanie, and the baby.