BRAND THE WANDERER
All that deserves a name
The Companion: Brand always has a companion. Sometimes a friend in arms, sometimes a trusty hound or steed or hawk. Sometimes a girl. One by one they are taken away.
Feats heroic
Jovial: Gleaming sword to heart of foe, Brand invokes a word of doom.
Glum: Brand pronounces the whorling word of heart; the companion departs, obedient. They shall not fail.
Trick
Inevitable Foe: Shaodon the Man-Ape. More cunning than man, more brutal than beast. Uttering words of fell sorcery he murders Brand’s companions one by one.
Notes:
Ignorant of sorcery, Brand swings at shadows on a rudderless quest for vengeance. Simple and direct, Brand loves the open plain, the rich dark wine, the embrace of a girl, the drums of battle.
Brand swears that victory over the man-ape is his singular quest, but it is likely the quest itself that drives him, rather than its ending. Deep down perhaps he doesn’t want to succeed.
You had me at Man-Ape. I dig the Companion as your "All which deserves a name". It reminds me of the old Marvel Savage Swords when Conan always had a companion, often different with each tale, and not always surviving the tale.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Clint! I had "Sooth," Brand's trusty steed in the first adventure, but when he died I began to imagine that maybe this is what happens to all his companions.
ReplyDeleteBrand begins as a mash-up of stuff like:
- Thak from Rogues in the House
- Conan's companions
- Roland the Gunslinger's companions' fates
- Elric's companions' fates
- Cugel's companions' fates
- Frazetta, Frazetta, Frazetta
- Trying to play a more subdued SWoM character that emphasizes sword over sorcery. A guy that might team up with Conan or Fahfrd and Mouser, hell, even Cugel.
Hopefully the incidents of Brand's stories will transform him from a handful of archetypes into his own distinct character. We shall see!
Looking forward to more!
ReplyDelete