ri902

Hero

The hero of my story is Erik. He does some of his "heroic deeds" through his character, Cindella, a beautiful swashbuckler character in Epic. However, his friends (Injeborg, Bjorn, Sigrid, and B.E.) are also important in the story. Together they are the Osterfjord Players.

Plot Summary

This story takes place in the future on another planet which had originally been populated by a people that had left Earth to make a new non-violent society. Over time the government and conflicts have become controlled by a game, Epic, such that the lives of the people are based on their standing in the game. Most people do hard labor, such as farming or mining, but the elite live in a city with technology, a university, and the seat of government (Central Allocations). The story revolves around the life of Erik, a boy who is naturally gifted at Epic and whose family tries to correct an injustice done to them, which leads to the family being separated. Erik is supported by his friends from his community: Injeborg, Bjorn, Sigrid, and B. E. (Big Erik). Together they form a team, The Osterfjord Players, whose characters battle together in a tournament to gain a spot at university, and kill a dragon. Through their characters, they attempt to defeat Central Allocations to bring Erik's family back together, and succeed by gathering the human players and the "good" non-player characters (NPCs) and battling the evil NPCs, but including Ragnok, a villainous member of Central Allocations. With many casualties, some of only the characters and a couple actual deaths, Erik and his band successfully destroy Epic and move to set up a new democratic government.

Departure

The "Call to Adventure" stage of Epic is when Erik's father is exiled. In the beginning, Erik's mother's character, Freya, "dies" in the arena. As a result, the family may need to be reallocated (moved). The neighbors decide to join forces in an attempt to bring more solar panels to the community and possibly keep them from being moved. This requires fighting against the best members of Central Allocations. To actually have a chance, Erik's father must use his character to fight. Erik's father had been a part of the university and had been expelled and exiled for "violence." However, as Erik learns much later, he had done so to protect Freya from a drunk man in their year, Ragnok (who later went on to becoming part of Central Allocations). Therefore, Erik's father has a strong character that can do well in the arena. After the fight in the arena, which resulted in a tie, Erik's father is taken back into exile. After all, his identity was discovered and he could no longer hide from the authorities. Thus, Erik has his "Call to Adventure." This stage is not exactly in order, but is the beginning of the story, the plot, and Erik's journey.

The "Refusal of the Call" is when Erik refuses to believe that his father really is going to be exiled for "violence." After all, everyone knows that "no violence" is the main law of the world. His father does not seem like the type that would participate in violent activities. Those that need to resolve conflicts go into Epic to do so. Therefore, in a way, this is Erik's refusal.

There is no "Supernatural Aid" that I can see in Erik's story.

The "Crossing of the First Threshold" occurs when Erik creates his new character, Cindella, and decides to give her many different attributes than one usually would. For example, he makes her a Swashbuckler, a character type he had not known existed before. He did not know what her abilities would be. He also gave her only attributes of beauty at the beginning, something unheard of in Epic. Beauty does not help a character win battles, and, therefore, Erik's friends are horrified to find him now having a character they believe is doomed to failure. It is rare enough that Erik chose a female character (most players use their own gender) with a name different from his own.

The "Belly of the Whale" stage is when Erik starts talking to NPCs and gets a quest to find a buried treasure on an island. Most players did not talk to NPCs because it took time that could be used battling creatures for their money. But Erik's new persona brings him to do things he would not have before. In fact, the quest he is given had never been undertaken before. Also, his character's beauty helps him because some of the shop owners treat him differently and respond to him better than other characters. In fact, one jeweler gives Cindella a necklace as a gift.

Initiation

The "Road of Trials" stage is when Erik and his friends battle various creatures in attempts to become stronger and richer in the world of Epic. They battle kobolds and various other creatures. He also has to convince his friends that they can beat the Red Dragon, a powerful creature that had been around since the beginning of Epic. Only one other dragon had been defeated before, and by students at the elite university. Erik also has to deal with his mother who has become incredibly angry at herself for letting her husband fight and thus be discovered and exiled. The mother supports Erik in that she doesn't believe they can win, but has run out of hope. She is no longer doing work on their farm because she has resigned herself to the fact that their family (minus Harald, the father who is in exile) will be reallocated (moved to another community to do other jobs). The completion of this stage is when the Ostefjord Players defeat the dragon.

There is no "Meeting with the Goddess" stage apparent in Epic. Erik does love another character and likely will go on to marry her in the future (beyond the book), but that is not truly brought up until later. Not to mention, this character is Injeborg, a close friend from childhood. She has always been passionate and supported him.

The "Woman as a Temptress" is not as much the temptation of a woman as it is the temptation of money and riches. After having defeated the Red Dragon, the children are all extremely rich, perhaps even more rich than Central Allocations. Only Bjorn does not seem tempted by all the money, whereas B.E., Erik, Sigrid, and Injeborg start spending lots of money to get better equipment. B.E. especially loves his new hero status and becomes more arrogant. In addition, they all receive petitions for funding from people in their community and neighboring communities. However, they do not answer a single one. Although this isn't entirely because of selfishness, it does reflect that they have somewhat forgotten their lowly beginnings.

The "Atonement with the Father" stage is when Erik is contacted by Anonemuss, a wealthy exile that has a portable set that allows him to access Epic and who has plans for the downfall of Central Allocations. Erik pays Anonemuss to be able to speak to his father for a period of time, and his father is proud of him. Together they plan Harald's return, and Erik is spoken to as though he were his father's equal. This transition from Erik being treated as a child to being an individual in both the real world and in Epic, is this stage. His father has incredible power because he had been at the university and his character was a master assasin. Thus, Harald is one of the few that can beat any of the members of Central Allocations. Not to mention, Harald holds power as an authority figure by being a father.

The "Apotheosis" stage is when Erik and his friends gather people for a ship in order to escape Central Allocations before challenging them in an arena. However, in gathering their crew, they allow an untrustworthy NPC, a vampyre named Count Illystivostich, aboard. This vampyre joins up with a pirate named Duke Raymond, so that they can capture the Osterfjord Players and thus stop them from discovering the treasure. The Count does not want Erik to find and use the key that unlocks the destruction of the world, which is a part of the treasure. In the sea battle, Erik and his friends are captured. Some of his friends' characters are nearly killed or seem to die (they are later revived) and Cindella is captured. Cindella is stripped of her armor and belongings, and thus is no longer wealthy. Thus, she has lost everything. Through this experience, Erik learns about the end of Epic and that his fight is not just for the freedom of his father, but for the entire world.

The "Ultimate Boon" stage is when Erik and his friends find the treasure and the key to the Epicus Ultima. This key allows for him to not have to challenge the Central Allocations in Epic, but to end Epic all together. Thus, Central Allocations will fall because the government will no longer have a basis. Erik and his friends are saved by Bjorn, who with the help of a underwater-breathing-enabling helmet, trekked the bottom of the ocean until he met up with the King of the Mermen. Thus, he is able to revive and save the others' characters. After all, Duke Raymond does not want to make an enemy of the King. Then, the King brings them to their intended destination to find the treasure, which they find.

Return

The "Refusal of the Return" stage is when Erik sees the riches of the treasure chest and for a bit doubts leaving Epic when he is at the top. Although he only thinks of this briefly, B.E. particularly laments this, and this influences Erik. I do think that there is a bit more of a "Refusal of Return" later in the story, when again, Erik realizes how much of Epic was never explored and hestitates to destroy it. But, then I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, but it shows that Erik does spend some time debating his decision.

The "Magic Flight" stage is not exactly that the boon being stolen as much as, the roadblocks in Erik's way. When they come to the place of the tower that holds the final lock, in which the key fits, the area is guarded by evil forces. Led by Count Illystivostich and the "Executioner" (a player-controlled character with maximum stats that CAN kill other players, which was once shared by Central Allocations and now only controlled by Ragnok Strongarm), these forces are a part of Epic, trying to stop its own destruction. Anyway, they are willing to do anything to take the key back and Erik must make sure that he can succeed, and thus sets about to make an army to combat the evil. This requires him to truly become a leader of masses.

The "Rescue from Without" is how Erik's friends help him and gather an army of human players, along with keeping him believing that it is not impossible to succeed. Erik is doubting himself, and this is an emotional weakness that he has obtained. With the help of his friends and father, he becomes more confident and works on his leadership and strategy.

The "Crossing of the Return Threshold" is when Erik leads the massive army of players and "good" NPCs against their opponents. He, with his friends, has had to explain to the players that this battle can result in an end to their hard work in trying to rise up in the real world through Epic, even if they do not succeed at ending Epic. However, he also convinces them to fight because an end to Epic would result in a better government in which the people would vote for decisions through an interface. The differences between the poor and the few elite at Mikelgard (the city where the university, etc. is) would be eliminated. Erik then leads the army into battle. Although his side was losing and the characters of his friends die, he does get into the tower.

The "Master of Two Worlds" stage is when Erik is in the tower and has the final power to destroy the world of Epic in his hands. He realizes that there are all different aspects of Epic to travel, and so he goes through his second "Refusal of the Return." He is also the master of his home world because with the power to destroy Epic, he has the power to create a new government for his real world.

The "Freedom to Live" stage is after Erik turns the key in the lock and then leaves Epic for good. He and his friends are free to work together to make the world better and set up the government. They all can live happily and work to make it possible to achieve their dreams. Erik and Injeborg share a cute little moment at a party and it shows that with Central Allocations gone, everyone is happy. Yay.

Final Thoughts

My final thoughts on this project are that it was a wonderful experience to truly delve into a story. I don't think that this story follows Joseph Campbell's Hero Quest that closely, although quite well. Some of the stages in his Hero Quest did not apply to Epic, although most did. It seemed that there was a lot of introduction to the plot before Eric's heroic journey started. Also, some of the different stages were out of order, especially at the beginning. I'm really glad I chose the story I did.  It was interesting to break up the story into its components, then sew it back together.

I see elements of the Monomyth in other stories, such as Metagame by Sam Landstrom, which is very similar to the story I chose. I also see it in Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier and Beastly by Alex Flinn (which is probably because of its basis in Beauty of the Beast.)  I also see a couple elements in Akira Kurosawa's Ran, with the exception of the end (I don't really find a return).