I having a lot of trouble with the beginning portion of my fantasy WIP. I have the ending and portions of the middle planned out, but the beginning just isn't coming together. The biggest problem I am facing is that the call to adventure isn't reaching my MC in a believable manner. The general idea is that the MC accidentally gets the call to adventure and the powers that come with it instead of the actual chosen one, his brother. But I seriously cannot get the MC to the call without some major PIS (plot induced stupidity) on the part of several characters that are meant to be professionals. For example, one of my very first ideas was to have the call in the form of a sacred scroll given to two soldiers to deliver to the village elder who would then give it to the MC's brother. The soldiers are attacked and the scroll falls in the river where the MC opens it and gets the power. Problem with that is while I was writing it I couldn't help but think: "Why don't they have decoys for the scroll in case something like this happens?" and also "Why can't they just ask a priest for another scroll?" So that kind derailed that idea Then I thought that maybe a priestess with a special necklace is being escorted by the soldiers only to get separate during the attack. She escapes with the help of the MC and during their escape the necklace gives the MC the call. Then I thought: "Ok...why would the necklace react to the MC when it was only meant for his brother?" I had other stuff but you get the idea. What can I do to adjust this? Any ideas would be most welcome.
As to why it would react to the MC, perhaps it is tuned in to the blood lineage of the brother, and the MC being a sibling is close enough to that that the necklace, scroll &c unexpectedly reacts. As for other questions, like decoys and the like, it is always possible to come up with those alternatives, particularly after the fact. If you just look around at the real world and professional agencies, you can see all kinds of blunders where people, afterward, say "Why the hell didn't they just do X?" You could always make it so that the call could go to anyone, or at least anyone with a given family bloodline, but the brother has been specially prepared to receive it and maybe the village elder has the scroll or necklace or whatever and is keeping it safely hidden for a ritual or ceremony where the brother will receive it. Along comes the mischievous MC who is snooping around to see what is so special about the upcoming ceremony, &c. He goes into the elder's dwelling, finds the item, and screws everything up when the call goes to him
That actually goes really well with my character since part of his character arc is trying to get out of his older brother's shadow and become his own man. Plus he is a curious and impulse kid.
