Thread: I'm thinking of dwelling into fantasy now.

Well, this would make it my 4th parallel project; I might not write it, but I'm thinking of the possibilities right now. I've been thinking of writing a fantasy action/drama story about a guild of assassins, and how a small boy that kills two men out of desperation is found and brought to the Scarlet Brotherhood, a brutal sect that gathers potential recruits and forces them to slowly kill each other until one or two remain.

Basically, along with Joshua, my main character, another 40 children are brought into a dark room. Twenty are given a dagger's handle and twenty are given naked blades. The rules: only twenty can get out. This is the first part of the story, but I'm not sure of how to approach it.

I want to give the reader a very gritty and brutal story, where there insanity becomes common place, but I also want to make my main character remain sympathetic without looking too much like a hero, just someone that never wanted to become what he did. After the first part, he will become an assassin, and eventually give up and carry out murders as ordered. However, I want him to get out of the vicious cycle; there will be some turning point that will make him say "I won't do this anymore" and systematically destroy the assassins guild from the inside, freeing those who sided with him along the way.

Thing is I'm not really sure on how to approach my main character. I think his personality will play a crucial part in how the story plays out, but I don't want it to feel like he's just following my orders and saying what I want him to say. But I find it difficult to write an innocent twelve year old that doesn't go insane in the first few "trainings." What kind of personality do you think would fit the most?

How do you feel about flashbacks? This kind of story might do well to begin with the event that sparked the "turning point" for your character in which he "can't do this anymore". The event could be exceptionally gruesome, this would begin your "gritty and brutal" story effectively, and it would cause the character to reflect, so that he starts to appraise how he got into the situation he is in. Then you might take the reader back to the very start, describing the scene with the 40 children, etc. It could be a mixture of present and past scenes until it climaxes into the main character's ultimate defeat or surrender to the system.As to what type of character he should be, I see him as intelligent enough to realise what he has to do to survive is to put his emotions aside (which he would have done from a very young age), but he would have an 'undercurrent' of sympathy for others, but he keeps this in control (until the turning point). I think there would have to be something very different about him, that sets him apart from the others. I also see him as being aloof, which could be difficult given that he is the main character.

I like the idea. You could do flash backs but you could also start a series of stories about the selection, training, and work of assasins. Maybe set up a whole new world that expands. You might be able to do what Tamora Pierce did and create more stories off her first world.

Originally Posted by Aderyn

How do you feel about flashbacks? This kind of story might do well to begin with the event that sparked the "turning point" for your character in which he "can't do this anymore". The event could be exceptionally gruesome, this would begin your "gritty and brutal" story effectively, and it would cause the character to reflect, so that he starts to appraise how he got into the situation he is in.

I love this idea, I hadn't thought of that before. I think this is how I'm going to begin my story then.

As to what type of character he should be, I see him as intelligent enough to realize what he has to do to survive is to put his emotions aside (which he would have done from a very young age), but he would have an 'undercurrent' of sympathy for others, but he keeps this in control (until the turning point).

I thought of something similar. I wanted him (or her, I haven't decided) to be a kind person, overall, but with a strong desire to keep on living. I think the way you put it fits very well into my story.

I think there would have to be something very different about him, that sets him apart from the others.

I was thinking of making the main character specially fit to be an assassin, with a powerful killing instinct that surges when threatened or excited, but more like the desire to "live" at all costs. This will probably have it's roots on some kind of powerful magic, but I'm not sure of what to make of it.

I also see him as being aloof, which could be difficult given that he is the main character.

Hmm... I think that at first the main character would be rather needy of friendship, but would grow aloof as he or she realizes the kind of world he's in. Kind of like the transition from hero to villain and then to antihero.