Pardon the Longer Silence

Here's what I'm up against- my "creative time" is much more scarce than it used to be- free time at work really doesn't exist anymore. But that's a good thing- it means I'm actually contributing to productive society. But it's also not as fun :(

On a more creative line of thought, I'm having difficulty seeing past the first few paragraphs, so to speak. In some ways, I know where I want this story, the story of Nicholas Redpath (who will possibly be undergoing a name change soon), to end up, where I want it to go. At the same time, there's so many places I want to go that I can't see how to get to all of them.

One big block right now is the question of who Nicholas is? Okay, by way of explanation, his "character template," if you will, is that of a Rogue from World of Warcraft. Rogues are a class of thieves, assassins and spies, people skilled at hiding in the shadows, sneaking around without being seen, and striking from the darkness at their opponents.

In Azeroth, there are a number of "rogues organizations," some of which are quite nefarious, like the evil Defias Brotherhood or the criminally-centered Syndicate; others strive for the betterment of their respective societies. Such groups can be found on both sides of the war in Azeroth, like the Shattered Hand for the Horde, or SI:7 for the Alliance.

So there are a number of places a rogue looking for work might seek out. A lot of rogues you'd meet in Azeroth are probably like Samwise Gamgee's first impression of Strider in the movie "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" - the kind of guy who looks tough and mean from whom everyone steers clear. But I don't want Nicholas to be a typical rogue. He's not evil, he's not menacing, and he's not cruel and malicious- he's dedicated, loyal, and happens to be really good at not being seen/detected. He's approachable, even nice, and won't hesitate to smile or go out of his way to help someone, as long as he's not undercover or something.

There's another organization to which I plan on having Nicholas belong, in part because of his nature. It's a guild of thieves and assassins called Ravenholdt; Blizzard hasn't done a whole lot with Ravenholdt from a lore standpoint, so maybe that's why I like it- I can sort of treat it with some freedom. I picture Ravenholdt as an independent body, free from obligation to any government or military body- basically a bunch of rogues doing what they do because it makes good money. WoWWiki says that Ravenholdt is "diametrically" opposed to the Syndicate, making me see (and treat) Ravenholdt as a kind of foil to the evil produced by the Syndicate. Maybe Lord Jorach Ravenholdt started his guild to answer the Syndicate- I don't know for sure. But this is where I think I want Nicholas to be.

GAH! There's so much I want to tell about him, but I don't want to bore you. Okay, I'll stop this for now and put more in the next post, coming very soon.