Need help

[PilgrimDan]

So, here's the thing... I want to write a sword and sorcery/heroic fantasy story. The setting is kind of toward the end of the Viking era; there's an awareness that things are changing, in particularly war fighting (ie: the rise of the mounted warrior over Germanic modes of battle). My central character is this warrior modeled on an Anglo-Saxon/Scandinavian huskarl and a member of the Cult of the Bear, an elite order of warriors. His background is that, in one battle, he failed to save his king, and then failed to avenge his death. This leads to his exile, his search for redemption in his own eyes and a new place in the world.

Only, here's the thing.... his failure was not his fault, and his exile was unjust. So, I'm trying to figure out what exactly happened, even if it never gets revealed in the story itself.

So, how can such a man be perceived as failing so badly?

Help is appreciated.

[Blaze]

He fails to save the King, because the King has commanded him to protect someone else (Perhaps one of the Kings children, or a beloved younger warrior) and when the King falls, for whatever reason, he orders the warrior to not seek revenge. 

Bound by the King's orders, and his fealty, he must obey, but not knowing the King's reasoning he is certainly not going to be able to say:  He told me to!

[Quantus]

When you say that "His Failure was not his fault", do you mean the first time (failed to save the King), the second (failed to avenge the King) or Both?

I think it would come down to how the Secret was kept.  Secret Orders from the king would explain the first failure, but why then was he Avenging it? Why does he need tofind out what happened if he already knows?  Secret plans he was unaware of (being more a footsoldier not privy to the broader tactics) might work better easier, but then the story likely becomes about him Finding Out and then trying to Prove it.  Secret Schemes that even the King did not know would take it deeper, but that might not be the story you are after.

Maybe attack it backwards? Start with where you want the secret to get him to End Up, adn figure out what would best push him toward that?  Sounds like you dont want the secret to actually be revealed and/or be central to the current arc, so it's going to be more of a side plot.  With that the question becomes how to do want it to shape the main events?  Is it the abstract reason for his travels, as he collects information? Is he hunting a culprit?  Is he living an aimless mercenary/ronin life until he trips over a secret to put him on a broader Investigative track?

For that matter, what is the main arc? Or are you aiming for "Part 1" with a Cliffhanger?

[Griffyn612]

I'd lean on the sorcery aspect.  Have the King be possessed, or brain-washed, or replaced (method unknown to the hero), and thus acting out of character.  Have the hero realize something's wrong, and the King has to be stopped, but is unable to do it himself. 

Then a mysterious assassin arrives in the middle of the battle, and the hero watches as the King is slain.  Others witness his inaction, as he lets the assassin escape, and word spreads of his cowardice/betrayal. 

The next in line doesn't believe the hero capable of either, but can't refute the testimony of the others.  None of the clan's enemies ever claimed the kill for themselves, so the mystery remains.  With no other alternative, the hero is banished.

After a period of time where he questions his own sanity and sense of guilt, the hero realizes he needs closure, and sets out to find the one person that might have the answers he needs: the mysterious assassin.

[knnn]

Hero decides to do decoy mission guarding the "king" while the real king sneaks out the back, but it goes wrong and king gets killed.   Turns out that King's trusted companion was a traitor who leaked the details.

[Koskian]

I feel like if your character is prevented in protecting and then again in avenging his king, you run the risk of him looking incompetent, stupid, or pushing a series of events that could come off as awkward. It feels more natural to me if there are unknown circumstances to the king's death which cause him to not pursue vengeance or leave him with no clue of who was responsible.  As someone else mentioned in this thread, maybe he saw a reason for the king's death to be necessary, maybe the king killed himself and everyone just assumed an assassin got to him. Perhaps the king's death was someone else's fault and he was trying to protect them.

What if instead of being pushed into exile for failing to avenge his king, what if it is a self imposed exile. He is expected to get revenge, so he sets out on his journey, but knowing that vengeance can't be attained he vows to never return.

[Rasins]

During the Battle, he was charged (with others) to protect the king.  However one of his fellow guards fell, and he dashed to pull him back.  While doing that, the enemy got to the king and killed him.  He was the last guard to survive, so no one else was able to tell the others what happened, branding him a coward.  The Heir denies his pleas to seek vengeance against the enemy, due to his obvious cowardice.  The Heir banishes him beyond the reach and ability to seek to avenge his King's death.

[TheJrade]

You might look into the historical story of the Spartan Dilios, whom you may remember as the eyepatched storyteller of the movie 300.

If you are not setting your character up to have as tragic an end as Dilios, you should be sure to write in a reason as to why he does not commit suicide-by-headlong charge.