I thought about this concept when I watched ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ and they brought up the Harpers. This is a special group of people who protect the Forgotten Realms from various enemies. They’re kind of political, but the members come from all walks of life. Very different from the Rangers in the above series, which are specially trained for their group. So, why are these types of groups so popular and useful in fantasy stories?
I think it really comes down to the mystery and intrigue that comes from their existence, which works for the genre. Fantasy already has that mystical appeal due to having magic and unearthly creatures. Any organization that works in the shadows or has a mysterious reputation fits the atmosphere. It isn’t that different than the Illumanti theories that relate to our own world, but we don’t always see the fictional groups as evil. Probably because we see their inner workings and know more about them than the groups people believe are pulling the strings here.
These groups tend to be found in one of three categories:
- Evil organization that the heroes have to defeat or get around to reach their goals.
- Heroic organization that the heroes either work with or join to reach their goals.
- An organization that is in the heroes’ way due to a misunderstanding, having something they need, or a slight against them. This one covers a lot of ground, which is why it’s become increasingly popular.
I do find it interesting that these groups tend to be associated with a political entity. Even those that claim to be neutral have a habit of getting involved to save a good-natured kingdom from a blatant evil one. Many have nobles as members, so they are connected to some political entity. Though, I have noticed a trend for these nobles to be there in secret and not on talking terms with their families. Still, authors rarely have these groups be anything other than political on some level.
Of course, that would make sense because why else would you have some kind of special group in the shadows. Some could exist to protect certain areas like rangers defending a herd of unicorn. Others might be more into spying and gather information for their own benefit, which really is more like a thieves guild. That kind of leans these organizations further to the political arena in order to justify their existence. I find that rather limiting though, but I haven’t been able to much else when I consider these kinds of groups. I think this is because they need a lot of resources and influence in order to be effective, which again puts us closer to politics.
Personally, I do like the idea and I do want to tinker with a few Windemere groups. I keep going back to adventurers though, but that doesn’t really change anything. A few ideas can work as well, but my limited writing time keeps them on the backburner. Maybe one day I’ll get to outline them, which could flush out more of the world’s political landscape. I guess that’s another benefit of such groups. They expand on the inner workings of the kingdoms and other parts of society. Something for me and other authors to possibly keep in mind.
Legends of Windemere 
A good topic! 😊 My friends and I enjoyed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Their son really loves the Rangers Apprentice series.
I really like the exploration of groups. I’m reminded of all of the guilds Terry Pratchett has in Discworld. I also think of Paladins also. I like the use of a policing type of group. Garth Nix uses right-handed and left-handed librarians in one of his series. I’ve seen other series where librarians are the magic police force. The only evil type groups I can think of are like the James Bond variety (SPECTRE) or Get Smart’s KAOS.
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I do enjoy stories that delve into groups. Not sure I can pull it off since I lean more towards quests and adventures. Evil groups are fun though. Old cartoons used to have them like Cobra and the Decepticons.
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Yes! Inspector Gadget had MAD and Dr. Claw.
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An interesting topic, Charles, and one I’ve not considered using. It’s odd, that, since the idea is fairly common. I think I’ll put my mind to that.
What do you think about trying it in a current world where it’s not been mentioned before, or do you think it should be a completely new one?
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It can work in an established world. These groups tend to be secret. They can also operate in areas the author hasn’t used much. I have a few secret groups that are regional, which I hope to introduce one day.
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Yes, I suppose because they’re secret they wouldn’t be known about by the majority, so the protagonist(s) discovering them would be a possibility.
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I really like this idea. I read a series many years ago about the Harpers and loved it. It naturally builds reader curiosity by having things be secretive.
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Same here. The was a fun series with different authors.
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Often these groups seem to have special attributes, so that only they can confront something evil. So in the Dragonriders of Pern, only dragons could defeat Thread and only the riders could understand the dragons. Or in the Dragon Age games, Gray Wardens had many allies to fight against darkspawn but only a Warden could truly destroy the archdemon leading the darkspawn. Witcher comes to mind also as having unusual powers, but I’m not as versed in that story’s lore.
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Good points. Some groups aren’t that special, but they create unique items and spells for their people. One of the secret groups I’m hoping to design in Windermere will have six-shooters with Tom’s of limitations on them.
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