Okay, so my novel The Tales of the Winter King is just getting larger as I write for the first main character. I noticed, though, that it requires more than one PoV. I present to you the hunter of a religious order. Who does he hunt? He hunts anything his lordly leaders command him to. He is quite revered and an amazing hunter, the big conflict is when he has to hunt the other PoV! (huehuee so fun) Now, my question is: As of now he got two lynxes as his companions. Cliche or? AND would a lynx even be useful in a fight? I know they aren't nearly as strong as wolves, but I don't mean them to be taking on one person each. The three are like a pack, helping and defending each other. Another side question, is hunter the right term when he hunts people (and kills them) for his order? It doesn't sound right. I'm pretty sure I had another for word it, but right now I've lost it.
I'm wondering if the word you're meaning is 'assassin.' I'm also not sure about lynx. They are not pack animals, in fact they are very very LONE animals. You never see lynx together except at mating time, or a mother with cubs. Also, being cats, they're probably not out to help anybody much but themselves either. I know it's a cliche, but maybe a wolf would be a better choice as companion/companions? They ARE pack animals, can certainly scent-track, are pretty good in a fight. Your man could travel with a whole bunch of them, as long as he maintains his status as pack leader.
This is a fantasy tales, so I could just pull a few strings for the lynx part (about helping the MC and the other lynx) I don't think it was assassin I was looking for. Perhaps more the term of a bounty hunter, except he is not paid, he is just doing as ordered by his Order. Oh, and I would rather have him all alone than with a wolf. I don't know, a wolf is just...ugh, way too used. Typical winter with a wolf as pet, hunting together, it just ..no. Edit: It's like... a wolf can easily rip a person apart by himself, but by having a much weaker animal. The lynx for example, means that they won't be good for just that. Teamwork is essential for the MC and his two lynxes. They help each other survive. They depend on each other and need each other. They fight together against bigger foes. They fight synchronized as if heart and soul was one. Didn't that sound just beautiful? lol maybe I'm a bit sentimental or something. Perhaps the thought inside my head was more beautiful than what I wrote. Well I'm tired. A night without sleep does not help with my writing.
Yeah, I know what you mean. Wolf is a cliche. Well, if this is a fantasy, I reckon you can create any sort of big cat you want to! Maybe call it something other than a lynx, though ...even if when you describe it, it seems to be a lynx. That way nobody can say you got it 'wrong.' Bounty hunter? Hmm. Webster's defines that term as : a person who pursues wild animals or outlaws for whose capture a bounty is offered. Bounty hunters are essentially 'self employed' and don't follow anyone's orders. They simply produce the goods and get paid for it. Nothing happens to them if they DON'T produce the goods. They just don't get paid! Since you're writing a fantasy, I'd suggest you come up with a new term for the kind of person you're creating here. Come up with an original name that defines his position.
In Snow White, the hunter who was ordered by the Queen to kill Snow White was referred to as the huntsman. According to the dictionary, it is just another term for hunter, but you may like the sound of it better in your novel.
Hmm. I always assumed that he was just some guy who had weapons and usually hunted animals, not that he made his living killing people most of the time.
Chicken Freak, you are correct. I just thought it might be another term for hunter that Albirich could use.
It's Fantasy, do what you like. Create a new big cat, which fit perfectly into the role required by your novel. Create a new term, which refers to these people who are employed by their Order to hunt certain people down. Sorted.
I think I'll just create a subspecies of the Lynx, so people will have some familiarity and a good idea of how they look. I also think I might use "Hunstman" as brought up by @L.T. I don't know, I'll have to figure out his name and hear the ring of it, but I really do like the word "Hunstman"
Cats tend to be solitary hunters. Canines tend to be pack hunters. But what about something which is neither? A flightless predator bird, a reptilian creature with colorful plumage, an adorable plump furball with big soulful eyes and two rows of razor-sharp teeth... As someone said, "It's fantasy." Unleash your imagination!
If the purpose of the MC is to kill folks for employer X (with or without compensation), isn't the proper term 'assassin'? Religious zealots can carry out assassinations too even if their assassins don't get paid anything more than a promise of eternal glory and so and so many virgins in the afterlife when they die? The problem with cats is that it's in their nature to do exactly the opposite of what you'd like them to do. Or if they truly, honestly want to do it, they first have to pretend they don't give a shit, usually until you give up, and then they do it, pretending it was their idea all along. That being said, instead of a lynx, how about one of these?
Assassin is the right term, and also, if you dont want to use wolves, you could look at breeds of dog such as the akita. which were originally bred for bear hunting. two of those can take down a fully grown male brown bear... i mean, thats just one, but you can look into others
In Brent Weeks's The Night Angel, the assassins were not called assassins but wetboys (the former term existed but was verboten for some stupid reason). You could come up with some term of your own (like, I dunno, 'Blades'), though of course he could also be a 'hunter' too, since it's fantasy and you make the rules. OMG, that'd be so awesome. Or a flying stingray. Hell yes.
I guess assassin is the right term, but it just doesn't fit his profile. He's a big sinewy guy that lives mostly isolated (except for his dead drops or if the message is sent by a courier or such) and usually, he hunts them down. Like literally, as predator and a prey. For usually, those he kills are in hiding etc. He is not a religious zealot though, he's just loyal to his friend, and well, enjoys hunting and killing. hahaha, do you have a cat? Well no killer rabbits, that is for sure. I'll stick with a lynx and just do it that way. I doubt people will be like "eeeey he got a lynx! I won't read this book!" + I got a nice origin story for how he in a way connected with the two lynxes. "It's like... a wolf can easily rip a person apart by himself, but by having a much weaker animal. The lynx for example, means that they won't be good for just that. Teamwork is essential for the MC and his two lynxes. They help each other survive. They depend on each other and need each other. They fight together against bigger foes. They fight synchronized as if heart and soul was one." --what I wrote earlier.
ok, i was just suggesting it, and i didn't say my suggestion was concrete either, i used an akita as an example, but im sure you could use something else... what about lions? they are pack hunters and a bit closer to what you were looking at...
If you really want to have fun with this lynx thing, why not incorporate what everybody says here, that cats aren't pack animals and do what they damn well please most of the time. To discipline a cat, you don't try to appeal to its better nature or its non-existent desire to please you. Instead you make it sorry it was born ...squirts of water in the face, molasses on its paws, citrus smells—they HATE the smell of citrus—turn the vacuum cleaner on, etc. You could make this guy and his lynx at odds with each other a lot ...maybe make him have to come up with all sorts of devious tricks to keep the lynx working on the same page as him. It could inject some humour into the story, which is never a bad thing. He could spend the whole book dreaming about having a dog or wolf as a 'familiar' instead of this damn, wayward cat! BTW, I'm a cat lover. Just don't expect them to be dogs.
Wolves weigh around 40-50 kilos average. Lions weigh around 180-200 kilos average. I'm pretty sure two lion companions would decimate any humans that they were to come in contact with, eliminating the purpose of the two, though I like lions a lot As I have said, its fantasy, I care for realistic events but when it doesn't seem to work I have no choice but to ignore it. It comes down to a Eurasian lynx or a snow leopard. (then I'll just buff them a bit up and give them some other ...something) Sadly these two choices are of the felinae, and do not hunt in pack. Then again, having wolves as hunting partners and pets as seen in (well the fantasy novels that use them) is unrealistic. That's why its fantasy I guess. Therefore it won't be much a difference for me to pull the string for these two lynxes. I just came to think of wanting a black bear, lol. Well that won't work! Seems like a fun idea, but it would defeat the purpose of his professionalism. He is supposed to be a renowned huntsman / assassin / whatever. Well, if I made the lynx don't give a shit then that would be a cat. If he did anything else then he would not behave like a cat, so it is hard to have them behave as cats if the story is to be told correctly. Look at my earlier post about how the three are supposed to be "teamplayers" in everything
Okay, it's your story. Just don't blame me if the lynx takes a notion to bugger off and go play with some twitchy piece of rope instead of dutifully following your guy to the next assignment!
Not twisting your arm here, just wondering outloud: isn't that, too, what many assassins do? There are plenty of stories about big, gruff, solitary assassins who have their own ways of doing things. Ghost Dog is one example where the guy has no phone, doesn't give out his address etc, but instead uses carrier pigeons to communicate with his employer. Even in contemporary urban settings, it turns into a hunt-like situation if the mark spots the assassin and tries to escape unless you count sniping as hunting (as some hunters do hunt like that too: they have set up some location where they wait for hours, ready to fire at the animal when it finally enters the range of their rifle). Then again, that usually means the assassin has already made some serious mistakes which isn't really all that professional. From what I've read about IRL assassinations, the real pros are almost impossible to avoid unless you're some big shot who can afford living in a safehouse with a dozen bodyguards, security cams, barbwire-topped fences etc. For instance, Richard Kuklinski's two favorite ways to kill his marks was to walk past them like any random passer-by and just as he was passing the unsuspecting mark, he'd pull his tiny Derringer and empty both rounds into the mark's head. The second way was to use a cyanide solution in a spray bottle: a squirt or two and the mark suffocated to death within seconds, unable to make a sound as the cyanide closed their airways so fast. I'd imagine a similar tactic would be favored even in medieval settings: just when he passes his mark, the assassin sinks a knife into the mark's throat / neck / heart, or he could use cyanide (or the fantasy world's equivalent of it), or he could lie in wait in concealment with a bow + arrow / crossbow and pick his shot when the mark passes him, unaware of his presence. That's still assassin stuff, not so much hunting, as assassination in itself often requires tracking, e.g, just like hunting. My folks had a few cats when I was growing up, my sis has two, and my mother-in-law... three? Five? Something like that, so yeah, I'm quite familiar with kitty antics. They take their independence way too seriously. So are the lynxes special, i.e. more dog-like or intelligent in comparison to those of our reality? Or does the hunter/assassin have some special powers that allow him to control or communicate with the cats?
Leopards and cougars weigh closer to wolves. As for the lynxes, you could go the dark/evil route and have them show some kind of higher, demented intelligence. The lynxes might be more loyal to the people the assassin works for than the assassin himself. If it's an order, then the assassin could be called a: cleanser scythe trimmer slayer
My huntsman gets a dead drop with his next target, there is not always e a name in the drop, might even just be characteristics, and last known whereabouts. Then he searches and kills them. The people he searches for his for a secret cult of sorts and everytime the Order gets information about another individual in this cult, the invididual gets to know of it too. (bambambam) I will have him kill people in the proer, silent way. But I'll not dwelve further in to that. The thing is, there is already some demented dark stuff about the MC. (he's not evil though) but the idea of the lynxes being allied to the Order did seem like a nice idea. And yes, the lynxes are more dog-like intelligent, I suppose... The story about the lynxes is that the MC killed their mother by accidentwhen they were but small cubs.. (won't tell whyyy) And well, he felt obliged to take care of them, even though they were afraid of him in the first couple of days. After he had taken care of them for a decent amount of time they sort of connected and well, he became their mother, at least in their eyes. BUT, the MC connects well with all animals, and he's not sure why, but I got a feeling the Order does. (dundundunduuuh) I don't know, this is just one idea that I had written down for him, I'm really in a beta-ish phase with his characters story.
Thank you for asking a question and telling everyone you're just going to use your own idea because nothing else works. I'm sure that conclusion could have reached much sooner.
That is not true? I've called him Huntsman as suggested by @L.T. and I will have that title unless there was something better. (But I've pretty much settled to that title) And the question was not whether to use a lynx or not, but it derailed. @Okon also gave me a nice idea, or well, he gave me inspiration for an idea. @T.Trian also gave me some interesting stuff about assasinations. Which I will most likely have use of later. If you were to look at my questions and all that has been written, the subject clearly derailed partly. (Not that I mind) So don't be snide. And as an aspiring writer I should not bend to every suggestion, when it is not what I was looking for.
I'm really just thinking out loud. I'm seeing way too many posts asking for things that really could be answered on one's own with just a bit more thought or a couple of Google searches. I've made a couple of those before, so I don't judge. But I'm also seeing a rising number of posts asking basically "help, how can I make this work?" and when suggestions come up the response is in effect, "thanks, but no thanks. I really know what I want to do but I can't/won't/haven't told you certain things, so your suggestion won't work." Which leaves me thinking, Well why bother asking? What do you really want to know? Did you even search the forums for similar threads. But that's just me thinking out loud. I'd say criticism is not intended, but I'd think that is pretty insulting to you considering what I've just said wreaks of criticism in the very language and context. So I'll just say I'm sorry for it. Carry on in your imaginings. Do ignore my inciting pessimism, I'm not like this all the time. I promise!
