War as an Employer
This post has little to do with today's world, but since my new main character in this story I'm writing (Sorry no title yet) is a mercenary, I've been thinking hard about what it must be like to depend on war to put food on the table, a roof over the family's head, and of course, to pay the taxes and keep everyone out of jail.
I started wondering about this as I was writing and had to put myself in this character's (Jareth's) place, and in the time and situation he lives which is mostly fantasy but fashioned somewhere in the middle ages. Back then, mercenaries didn't have a good reputation. And when there wasn't a war to fight, many of them resorted to thievery and extortion. Jareth, having a family and being the protagonist in this story, wavers in his attempt to live a normal life in time of peace, but it's nothing he's cut out to do. He's a warrior. I had to play with this idea in the opening chapter while he's talking with his wife and children.
You think you’ll find work that quickly?” Lorica asked as she set the cast iron pot back on the coals.
“There’s been rumor of war in Ogress,” Jareth answered as he chewed. “If I get there soon enough, the baron’s militia will hire me.”
“I thought you were against the baron,” Crispin (his son) commented.
“I’m against his taxes, but I have to think of my family first. Joining an army who pays will put food on our table.” He smiled at his son. “By doing so I pay the tax and have a measure more to live on. It works out for us in the end.”
“But the common folk?”
“Son, So long as the baron has money to buy an army, the common folk will lose.”
“Father, if the war came to Tulva, would you still fight for the baron--against our friends?” Kandi asked.
“The war will come to Tulva. It’s just a matter of time. I hope to have our finances in order by then. Perhaps I will be rich enough to pay my own army.”
I guess the moral question here is, how far will you go to help the ones you love?
Having mapped out this story loosely, there are still some questions I'll have to answer for Jareth's sake, and discover exactly what his character arc will be. Because there's pressure on him not only to pay his taxes, but to pursue the deviltry that is haunting his son. This story is going to take us on an extensive trip through a mysterious empire and the abyss of the Underworld. I'm looking forward to the journey!
The joys of writing. I hope I can entice you to come along for the ride!
