Experiments in Fiction
Written 17 Jun 2004
One delightful benefit of particpating in Interactive fiction is the ability to experiment with concepts, test with uncontrolled (uncontrolled by the author of the concept) characters and understand how the concept affects different people. Expecially when such concepts are impossible in reality, for any of numerous reasons. Consider three concepts, two of which are under play in the ever exciting Araulmor game.
Concept 1: a person enacts a horrendous tragedy against loved ones and is tormented forever more about it. Although this is commonly used in story-telling, even from ancient times, group authoring offers some unique opportunities to explore many aspects of such. Often we find such characters have blanked these events from the mind. A character is aware something terrible happened, perhaps even feel guilt because a lingering sense of contribution, but details are masked. Usually something triggers a recollection, partial or full. In turn the recollection inflicts a trauma on the person, the perpetrator.
Introducing such a character in a Sci-Fi or Fantasy genre widens the field for possibilities. For example, a character named Sirak in the Araulmor series recently began suffering such flashbacks. A loner, bounty hunter by trade, his encounter with the soldier Rozenn has triggered the recall. Before, he had the dim nagging guilt, not fully realizing what he hid from himself. Dealing with people pained him, thus the solitary lifestyle.
Sirak is usually the main character in the flashbacks, the recollections, following the usual tradition. Let us however, fully explore some possibilities of the Fantasy genre. What if some of the flashbacks involved him as a different character, reliving the tragedy as someone else. How might that alter what he knows? How might that affect his dealings with others? Especially, how might such knowledge affect those who try to help him?
Already the recollections have altered his perception of the people around him. He begins to cling to Rozenn, seeing her as a reminder of something deeper, although he doesn't know what. The others in his group see him as disturbed. To this point he has confessed none of the flashbacks, hence they have nothing to suspect. As usual, a time will come when the flashbacks cannot be stopped or pushed aside, all will be known.
Until then it is enjoyable to see how his mood and view of others changes as the recollections slowly alter him.
Tomorrow I will write about the second concept.