FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Nearly nothing resides in the stark white expanse in which our story begins. There are no walls, and the area is well illuminated although there seems to be no source of light. The sole creature which this white space might be able to claim as its own stood erect. The creature was calm, and it was unassuming. The story had not yet happened to it, and so the creature suspected nothing.

According to the seventh contributor to this story, the creature was a meerkat. That contributor also confirmed to us that the meerkat was a male.

It was the third contributor, however, who decided that our main character was a baker. Fantastic at his craft, he had entered into a tournament to become the Royal Baker. Here was his chance to grow out of his life of squalor, to rise into the ranks of nobility itself! But it was not meant to be, and instead a terrible accident would curse him to life as an outcast. So was it dictated by contributors one and two.

It was the fifteenth contributor to ultimately give our character a name. He was to become Liam, the son of George. Liam, much like his father, was a nobody. His mother, however, was unique. Liam's mother was cherished by all, and every loaf of bread Liam baked, he baked it in memory of her. In fact, baking is all that our character knows. Why, even after being expelled from the kingdom he _still_carries the urge to bake, and so offers his services to the first caravan crew he sees. At least, that's what contributor number six had to say.

Now, the leader of the caravan crew, well, she's something else. Imagine a medieval _Devil Wears Prada,_and although heels don't exist in this world you can sure as shit expect that she'd wear them if she could. According to contributor number thirteen, she brings young Liam onto her caravan for "reasons of her own," although _young_is a relative term, because it so happens our character is in his early twenties. A good age for an adventure, I think.

The more time Liam spends with this caravan, though, the more he comes to understand that something isn't quite exactly right. Contributor number eight gives us that. The parent company itself is perfectly legitimate. Why, respected, even! But the individual members and caravans themselves... well, there just can't be a guarantee. Contributors nine through twelve all seem to agree. And the fourteenth contributor gave us a primary secondary character, a double agent fox named Ridinger who is on to the caravan's troublesome deeds.

What plot does our hero uncover, as he unwittingly bakes bread for the wrong group of travelers? Contributor twelve suggests foul play, a conspiracy between kingdoms, with our hero placed squarely in the middle. But, these are only the first fifteen contributors of many. With so much left untold, why, _anything_could happen to young Liam and his bread - absolutely anything at all.

And_that_, dear reader, is the story of The Bread Also Rises. It is written not by me, but by the community as a whole. Together we can uncover this story, and take Liam to places unforetold, as each update I ask for contributors like yourself to share with us what happens next, and where it is that Liam next goes.

And as for me? My name is Finn. And I believe that we have some writing to do.

National Novel Writing Month is upon us. The object is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, and this year the community is writing a novel together. Facilitated by me, I'll be asking for prompts and suggestions as to what happens next in our hero's journey. Each day's upload will begin with that day's list of contributors, as well as the suggestions which made it to the final cut and helped to influence the story along its way.

At the end of each upload I'll ask a few questions I need the answers to - and feel free to contribute however you can. Just be sure to do it quickly, because tomorrow the story rolls forward regardless, and you wouldn't want to miss your chance. Does our hero meet Mako, the Vegetarian Shark? Literally only you can make that happen, because I'm certainly not going to write that in myself.

Tomorrow the story begins. I hope you all enjoy it, and I hope you stay tuned for more. You'll hear more from Finn soon, and I hope to hear from you too.

Happy writing, everyone, and above all: good luck. We're going to need it.

-Finn