Anchorman
As I was outlining the final battle, I realized there was a problem. The Baron was going to have an army of monsters at one point, which seemed rather ridiculous in a way. It meant the champions could have simply been overrun and that’s the game. There’s only so much 6 heroes can do if faced by a former god, demons, undead, and other monsters. It’s around this time that a supporting character’s voice popped into my head with an interesting phrase:
“Just because the champions are destined to fight the Baron, it doesn’t mean they have to fight alone.”
I realize that I had all of the non-champions sidelined and acting as either spectators or people caught in the crossfire. This included characters like Fizzle, Trinity, Kira, and all of the leaders who could march armies into the area. Why would these characters stay out of the fray? Because destiny didn’t pick them? Well, I’d already established that free will is a factor and most prophecies are vague to allow for this. Not to mention, they’d see the opposing army and attack to help the champions focus on the Baron. Some of the supporting characters have even been hinting that they want a shot at the big guy because of what his agents put them through. So, I had to factor in more people than I originally planned because that voice was right. There was absolutely no reason for the champions to fight alone.
Another aspect of the champion powers came from here too, which is a sudden revelation in the book. A simple explanation is that they take strength from those around them. Not surprising since they are supposed to function as leaders as well. People do tend to fight harder when they’re protecting someone or something, which is another source of this twist that they stumble onto. This helps to explain so much of the previous books too because the champions have been creating friendships and relationships. It even goes back to Kevin Masterson talking to Luke Callindor about regrets in Beginning of a Hero. He mentions that a true warrior holds things to his heart like they are his spirit and it can be more than one. So, this idea of the supporting cast leaping into the fray alongside the champions was probably in me from the beginning.
This didn’t mean it was easy either because I had to include them without taking too much attention away from the main heroes. I didn’t like the idea of having the supporting characters attack the Baron as one then be decimated like you see in other stories. Their focus was that army, which was turning out to be even bigger because now they had a more interesting adversary. The trick I used was giving an occasional scene to the supporting characters once the battle began. As you saw their side of the battle, the Baron and champions would be noticed in the background or come crashing through. Go back to the big fight and you start seeing the supporting characters getting involved when you see an opening. There’s a scene where a badly injured champion is found by 3 old friends and helped to find the strength to continue. Another has one who gets into too much trouble and needs to be rescued. So, you can see that there is good and bad here.
I didn’t include all of the supporting cast though. A few didn’t make any sense or would bring other problems with them. Not to mention there was all the killing in Ritual of the Lost Lamb. Still, I found enough to keep things busy and exciting. Once you throw characters like this into the mix, you open the doors for heroes and villains to do certain actions. The Baron could take a hostage or the champions could use the special ability of a friend to gain an advantage. Either way, it really opened the door for more fun.
Last minute thought: Adding these friends and supportive army sets up for a resistance if the Baron wins too. Instead of having 6 chosen heroes stand against him, he has others who would otherwise be his enslaved citizens. It makes his job much harder since an army has risen up from the beginning. That’s just asking for splinter cells of rebels in his new kingdom.
Legends of Windemere 
Shades of LotR, Charles – when Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Ents and other entities unite against the common foe in several instances 😃
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Yup. Happens a lot in fantasy too. Narnia had a similar war.
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Did this come up during the writing? That’s something I’ve noticed in my own efforts. I don’t plan it, but it comes together in a way that’s better than I planned.
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It was something that was always there, but I didn’t realize how important it would be. The secondary, non-champions had roles in the final battle, so I got the idea of one of them announcing that the Baron has more than his destined enemies to worry about. I can’t really say more than that though. 😦
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Gives a kind of world war flavor to things.
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I can see that. At the very least, it shows how feared the Baron is.
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Good thoughts for sure. Is natural to have help when the help have things to lose as well.
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Yup. Not wise to stay on the sidelines in this one.
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🙂
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I also thought of LoTR. I’m revising a middle grade book that has a team of people fighting the final battle. I have trouble writing scenes with multiple characters who have to act in some way. It sounds like you had a lot of fun writing your team battle.
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Multiple characters are tough, but it’s easy with practice. You just have to plan out what their role in the scene is. Guess it might be harder than I remember though.
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Very logical solution to the problem, I’m sure the supporting characters and armies proved themselves formidable.
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They will add a fun dimension to the overall battle. Ups the scale and size as well.
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It sounds like a great way to remind your readers of the scope of Windermere. And people should enjoy cameos by their favorite side characters.
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Thanks. Scope is definitely something to consider. Not only with how big Windemere is, but how big the Baron’s threat is.
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I always find offputting stories that have a bunch of heroes fighting against hordes of darkness while the rest of the world seems to shrug the whole thing off. Thanks for not going down that road!
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Thanks, but a band of heroes does make some sense. Average citizens won’t go on these types of adventures due to fear, thinking someone else will handle it, being focused more on daily survival, or plain apathy. Heroes typically have that strong desire to help others beyond normal levels, which is why they step into such danger. I compare it a lot to a civilian letting police fight crime and soldiers fight wars. Seems to be the majority of a Society stays out of such things if given the choice.
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True. In the case of an all-consuming threat such as the Baron, though, wouldn’t people band together to fight?
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I think it boils down to the fight and flight mentality. Some people will stand up and fight, especially if they’ve already been involved in battles. Others will try to escape because they don’t believe they have the strength to fight. You also have those who will focus solely on protecting their family either by running away or hunkering down in the house. Personally, I think if people united and rose up so easily then the Baron, or any warlord, probably wouldn’t get very far in the first place. Those types of villains succeed almost exclusively because the masses refuse to rise up.
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I’m biting my tongue now…
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Okay. Sounds painful.
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It ith. But do you really want me to get into politicths?
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Oh! I didn’t even realize I’d gone there. Was still working in fiction.
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It had all started sounding painfully familiar.
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I see it now. Human nature is kind of ugly.
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I see it now. Human nature is pretty ugly at times.
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