And, this month, our lucky victim is ... Rin!
To those of you from Protagonize - or have read my blogposts griping on the subject - you will doubtless be familiar with my brain-breaking fantasy, the Aeserion trilogy (the original draft of Warrior, the first book, was once thought to be the longest solo work on Protagonize, before I took it down and edited it to half the length. Links to each of the stories can be found in The Plots!). Well, of late, I have finally decided that it needs a rewrite - for obvious reasons, if you know the stories, and not in the least because the characters are awfully generic. So the unfortunate Rin (formerly Gwythryn, thought technically he still is ... long story) has kindly "volunteered" to be put through this first round of questions!
Heeeeeeere we go!
1. If your character’s house burned down, and they were left with nothing but the clothes on their back, what would they do? Where would they go?
Well, as Rin doesn't own a house, he wouldn't really have that problem. However, if such a situation did arise, I reckon he'd probably end up salvaging what he could from the wreckage and moving in with the local warlord - heck knows he hires him often enough. If that didn't work, he'd probably head to the nearest tavern and invade the cheapest rooms they had on offer.
2. Are they happy with where they are in life, or would they like to move on?
At the start of the trilogy, Rin's a happy man - he's the leader of a band of well-trained (and very expensive) mercenaries, and up in their native northern lands, they're much liked. His men love him, despite his eccentricities, and his best friend's sister, and his longtime sweetheart, has decided it's time they were properly engaged.
But, as often happens in stories like this, it all goes down the drain ...
3. Are they well-paid?
Very. Rin's very particular about hiring himself and his company out only to those he's sure will pay their price, and if they won't, he'll take them off somewhere else without a backward glance. His second-in-command has a quick mind for figures too, so they're rarely ripped off!
4. Can they read?
Not terribly well, but he can plough through simple prose. Shakespeare might be a wee bit beyond him though!
5. What languages do they speak?
Just his native Errion, though he does manage to become passable in a second through the course of the second and third books of the trilogy.
6. What is their biggest mistake?
Errr ... there's a very big list. Good thing he has the devil's own luck really - bit prone to misadventure is Rin.
7. What did they play with most as a child?
He and his best friend Florien would often play at fighting with long sticks, but as they grew up in a working village I'd reckon they spent most of their time helping their parents. Though they probably found enough time for messing about with whatever they could get their hands on.
8. What are their thoughts on politics?
Rin's from a fairly rustic background, so his knowledge of politics is pretty sparse. Not that it really matters - there's a war on, and he knows which way to point the sword. Leave the plotting and wheedling to the people who have time for it.
9. What is their expected life time?
As the story's a medieval fantasy, I'd say the average life expectancy for a fit, healthy man like Rin would be somewhere between fifty and sixty. Though, as there's a war on and, as mercenaries, he and his men could be dead at any time they're fighting, either from disease or infected wounds or the ever-deadly axe to the skull. It all depends if Rin's uncanny luck and speed with a sword hold out.
10. If they were falsely accused of murder, what would they do? How would they react?
Not well. Never one to take a slight against him lightly, Rin would probably demand to know who had the nerve to accuse him, then find them and kick them into the middle of next week. Especially as it's likely he could be proved innocent by his men - you'd have to be a bit of a fool to accuse him, unless he actually DID kill someone. And that is a whole different kettle of fish...
***
I'll be back again soon with more posts on writerly tips, exciting news on the publishing front, snippets from my non-writerly life, complete with all the daftness you've come to expect of me.
In the meantime, have a go at the Beautiful People challenge yourself, and feel free to leave me a link to your post in the comments and tell everyone how you found it! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)
- Charley R
