One big problem that has leapt out at me in the course of plotting the MK2K story arc is that I have no idea who my villain is.
Oh, sure, ultimately the villain is Nasoj, but he's little more than a particularly badass ghost. Without the right body he can't do jack, and that's where the Vessel comes in.
Here's what I do know about the Vessel:
- He's an ordinary guy, not heroic but basically likeable in the beginning. Our readers won't have any inkling of what he's going to become until sometime in Book III (see the Storybuilding page); he's just another protagonist among a fairly large cast.
- Something really tragic happens to him. People don't just wake up one day and decide to be evil, or to take insane risks for the sake of amassing supernatural power; there has to be a motivation, a reason why he is tempted by the power that the cultists of Nasoj offer him. Either he's trying to set right something in the world that he sees as having gone terribly wrong, or he's out for revenge against the people (or creatures) who wrecked his life.
- He is kidnapped and "tested" by the cultists of Nasoj. That in itself is not extraordinary; there are a lot of people out there whose bloodlines indicate that they have the potential to be either the Key or the Vessel, and the cultists intend to kidnap and test each of them until they find the true Vessel (while executing any potential Keys who "fail" their tests).
- He "passes" the test, proving himself to be the Vessel to the satisfaction of the cultists. I'm not sure quite how this happens, but it's likely that it involves him killing some of the cultists and beating some more of them into submission in his attempt to escape. Before he makes good on his exit, though, something or someone convinces him of the potential power at his disposal if he learns what the cultists have to teach him. He begins to see that he can use this power to either make things right or settle the score on whatever caused the tragedy in his recent past (see above).
- The Vessel doesn't know that he's being prepared to eventually be possessed by the spirit of Nasoj. All he knows for certain is that the cultists (the "Brotherhood of the Sepulcher") worship some kind of ancient god who will give him power in exchange for performing certain actions and rituals. He slowly slips into doing more and more at Nasoj's behest, loosening the bonds that imprison him until he finally breaks loose and takes complete control of the Vessel. At this point Nasoj is in charge, and our tragic antihero/villain has been consumed by the dark wizard and his schemes.
The key thing in all of this is that the Vessel has to be a sympathetic character for as long as possible. Even when he is using the power of Nasoj (unwittingly) to accomplish his personal agenda, he should come across as a sort of antihero: maybe some of his tactics are questionable, but his aims are totally understandable and reasonable. Slowly, that sense of reasonability slips away, until finally he does something absolutely horrifying in his quest for power (probably sacrificing an innocent person). It is at that point that the readers see that he has gone off the deep end, and the power that is flowing through him is something inherently dark and evil.
I'd like to hear some ideas about what the Vessel's back-story might be and what drives him to the extreme measures he takes in his journey of self-destruction. My initial thought is to play him against the Vampire Syndicate in some way; they have their fingers in a lot of different pies, and a war against the bloodsucker crime bosses by a man whose life they wrecked would certainly gain the sympathy of the audience. It would also give us a way to rope Morgan into the plot, since the vamps might decide to put some pressure on her to help them find out who this new guy is that's terrorizing their organization — and the Vessel might then target Morgan and her loved ones, on the grounds that she is a vampire and a collaborator with the Syndicate. If anyone else has some better ideas to offer, though — or ways to flesh out this one — I'd love to hear them.