Conan the Barbarian

This is another major character from The Elysium Saga and has an odd origin.  For those who forgot, this is the series based off the D&D game I ran in college and it’s currently get a major plot overhaul.  This guy seems to be the only one that is remaining relatively untouched because his story was simple.  Retake his clan’s island from the trolls and then help his new friends in their quest.  He’s entirely about loyalty and honor, which was a big influence on the barbarian culture and mentality.  I’ll be writing more about that during the Hype Week for Family of the Tri-Rune.

People are probably already wondering about the name because it’s rather ridiculous.  It is and there’s a story behind it, which means I don’t care how odd the name is.  I was playing Heroes of Might & Magic II after finishing a paper.  My roommate was resting on the other side of the room after class.  I was playing as the barbarians and this one general of mine kept having moral problems or running into trouble.  His name was Thundax and he eventually lost my main castle, so I yelled at him.  Totally rational gamer behavior.  Anyway, my roommate thought I was yelling at thumbtacks and Thumtax the Barbarian was born.  When my roomie joined the game a few weeks later, he remembered this and created our dear Thumtax.

I loved how this character came out in the game because my roommate didn’t take it very seriously all the time.  He complained for one game about never being taught to read and write then demanded better education for barbarians.  His pet ferret, Gunther, stole nearly every shiny object that the group had.  Thumtax was a force of destruction, but he wasn’t an idiot.  So his attacks had some finesse and thought to them beyond hack until that thing is dead.  Though he did that too at times.  All around it was a fun character to work with and I’m still uncertain that I’ll do him justice.

One of the most interesting things about Thumtax was that he acted like an eye on the storm of chaos.  All of the other characters had gotten into trouble with powerful forces of Elysium.  He was also the only local in the group with the rest being visitors from the outer world, so he had a different perspective.  What they found amazing, he barely noticed.  So there are moments where a reader might wonder why he sticks around these people who get into so much trouble.  Well, that’s where the honor and loyalty comes in and I think that’s going to be a core of her personality.  Along with a wicked sense of humor, which I’ll need to practice.  That’s going to be something to help differentiate him from Timoran Wrath of Legends of Windemere.  Surprisingly tough to make a variety of barbarians while retaining their similarities.