Are You Writing Serious Fantasy?

[Thenamir]

One thing that moves me when it is thrown away is something intangible -- a desire. In the Rohan RPG, I play my namesake character Thenamir of Gondor. One of his motivations is to exact revenge on the band of Dunlendings that once killed his wife (shades of Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG-1). He has lately been thrust into the leadership role of the band of warriors he has travelled with for so long, and is in a position to take that revenge now if he desires. But there is a greater goal, one upon which the fates of many more people in Middle-Earth may turn, though he himself does not know what it is...yet. He has to willingly cast away that desire for revenge, even though it might be completely justified, in order to do his honorable duty. The struggle which he goes through (and continues to go through) to subordinate his desires for the greater good is one of the conflicts that makes his character more interesting. (At least, I hope the stuff int hat RP is interesting to SOMEONE other than myself...)