In today’s world of fantasy and heroes, their weapons and items can take on a life of their own. Green Lantern’s ring, Thor’s hammer, all of the oversized crazy weapons in anime and cartoons, and so on. King Arthur had Excalibur, Bilbo had the one ring, and so on. So when building a fantasy adventure I asked myself what was the weapon of choice for my hero, what would it do, and how could I ensure it wasn’t the key to the protagonist’s success.
Let’s start with that last statement. If the protagonist has an item or weapon of great power and it is the actual item that is the key to the success of the story plots, then the reader will lose their drive to cheer for the actual character. Heck, the next character could pick the item up and do just as well with all that magical power embedded in the weapon. So, the item needed to have power, but not a power that would key to the overall success. Usually the item is in the form of a weapon or able to help do battle with their opponents. However, some are more passive, such as Bilbo’s ring allowed him to hide in plain sight, and I decided to go this route.
I wanted to have my protagonist, Thorik, use his brains and moral compass to outwit his opponents and overcome his challenges. His weapon of choice was a sack of various Runestones, each having a different passive play to manipulate physics, see what others cannot, clear the air, and so on. In a way, it would be up to Thorik to determine if any of his Runestones could help, and if so, which one?
These specially crafted ancient stones have a mystical history of their own. Few know where they came from and fewer yet know why they were created in the first place. Thorik knows neither. However, he does know that his parents died in a mudslide while finding them for him. Thorik’s grandmother, Gluic, knows more than she is letting on, and has been training him how to tap into their powers.
The abilities of these Runestones are divulged to the reader one or two per book. So each story you learn a bit more and get closer to understanding what they truly are and why it was more than just destiny that they fell into Thorik’s hands.
Anthony G. Wedgeworth 