@Homer Potvin Oh and I'll definitely be doing research on the most resourceful and replenishable ways to "make" fire that would fit the narrative. Gasoline won't last forever - 100% with you there.
I'd tread carefully there. The gasoline plot hole is an obvious one... even the aloof readers will ask that question. It's the subtler ones you have to look for (and this is where the editors will slit your throat), like the motivation behind why burning everything in sight would make sense for a cult unless they were completely nihilist or something, which it doesn't sound like, since they're trying to rebuild a world for their king. Those plot-holes are the ones that get books thrown across the room or rejected. One way to avoid doing that is to hand-wave the explanation before somebody has a chance to pose the question. Or to avoid asking questions that aren't in your benefit to have answered. Like if I were to ask my wife why she puts up with me... do I really want her to think that one all the way through? Okay, good to know!
Yep. Going to mind-map the entire cult. Everything needs to be accounted for for them to make complete sense. Thanks mate!
they could do like the romans and use pitch - there's probably plenty of pine trees around the place if agriculture has come to a screeching halt
If they didn't have fuel or didn't want to burn it because its too valuable (given its a finite resource and there won't be any more) they could use Pitch (boiled pine sap basically) as an accelerant
Cults usually come about because there is a charismatic leader, who convinces their followers that the only way to heaven or enlightenment or transcendence is by killing oneself and shedding thy impure body. Perhaps a name for said cult would be something like "Brotherhood of Hephaestus" rather than Ares. Hephaestus was the greek god of fire! Whatever you call it, the cult needs a charismatic leader, someone who can turn psychosis and nonsensical ideals into a doctrine or a belief system.
Okay, while some others here have criticized your cult's shallow motives, I don't think it's 100% critical to have your cult be developed or not shallow. Shallow works, if the tone of the book and the severity of the story allow it. Just don't have a shallow bad guy you attempt to make look deep or otherwise have a greater meaning, or else you'll enter into the realm of pretentiousness. Yes, some people may criticize your cult as being shallow, but so what? There are lots of egregious and shallow bad guys that people love. Sometimes a bad guy can get away with just being "the bad guy", but then that wholly depends on the level of seriousness your story is using. If you're setting out to write a serious adventure-drama-thriller and you have a shallow bad guy with an unclear/confused motive, people will complain about it and everyone will probably notice how shallow the bad guys are. If you're writing a less serious action-adventure story, the complaints of "shallow bad dudes" will be fewer and farther between and come mostly from nitpickers. So it all comes down to what kind of story you're writing. As a random idea, if you wanted to flesh out this cult's mechanics and motives a little bit: if they need gasoline and other flammable agents, maybe the cult's leadership works in more diplomatic and trade-friendly ways to procure large volumes of gasoline that they store in guarded facilities, and gas/other flammables are treated almost like a currency within the cult (with higher ranking/those who prove themselves worthy allotted more rations of fuel). This also could make these storage facilities important targets for other people (perhaps some of the story's heroes, even) as they fight to raid the facilities in order to take back the incredibly important fuel. Perhaps eventually, the cult begins running low on fuel and starts using different tactics to destroy land while conserving gas supplies. There's a lot you can do with this concept, you should work with it a little more.
My goodness... Wow mate, thanks. I do actually plan on a mostly serious plot-line, which means, as you stated, that I'll need to shape the antagonist to ensure he's not taken for a fool. As for that "random idea", I will definitely implement it as a major drive for the antagonists, as this could help fuel some essential scenes. Thank you
No problem, my friend. Cults are fun to work with (at least for me) because it's interesting to come up with motives for what the cult does, what they stand for and how the leadership controls the cult's lower castes. I'm extremely interested in subjects like Scientology and different Multi-Level Marketing Companies (which are basically the marketing world's version of cults). If you wanted to gather inspiration for a good 'ultra leader' of your cult, you should seriously study the current leader of Scientology a little bit. He's a man named David Miscavige and he's an incredibly interesting case study for villains. His story, and how he aggressively took over the cult after L Ron Hubbard died, makes for incredibly good brainstorm fodder. Maybe your cult had an original leader who had a more stable (yet still deranged) vision and goal, but then when he fell ill and died, a more unstable and violent guy took over who has his own strange goals and makes the cult more self-suppressing and violent than ever.
