I have a moral question for the readers of Game World. One element of Game World is the fact that living on the planet for any length of time dehumanizes the person. Kola who was born on the world sees Charles' actions through eyes of a person who lost her first husband within months of mating with him and her parents shortly after that event, all before she was even sixteen. Caitlin and Rory are outworlders who spent five years and some on Game World as slaves. They saw their parents die when then were but ten years old and while their time as slaves wasn't as bad as it could have been, it certainly wasn't pleasant. They see Charles' actions as normal and necessary and even heroic. The same could be said about Nimue and Tagus. Both have lived in environments that were cruel and at times humiliating. All are on Charles' side and are hoping that he succeeds in his mission and many are hoping for revenge.
The question is how should Game World affect Charles? So far he has been detached and indifferent to having to kill people on a regular basis. He absolves himself of any guilt by reminding himself that he didn't throw these people into his path and make them attack him. In his eyes the success of his mission outweighs the collateral damage that occurs along the way. His shift to diplomacy with Lord Tailem and Lord Barnabas happened because he had become tired of the slaughter and wondered if another course of action could be followed.
Now to be honest, I'm currently writing Chapter Twenty-Seven of the story so I'm much further along in things following Charles' visit to Oak Hall and in the events that have unfolded after that stay, Charles ends up killing a lot of people from all three groups of antagonists. During these events, I've been tempt to make Charles a little crueller in his behaviour towards others. I don't want him becoming villainous but there have been times where I've felt torture or rape might be employed. I haven't resorted to any changes as of yet but I was wondering how far should I go and how would such a change in personality affect the readers of Game World. So I'm open to thoughts and comments. As I've said, Charles hasn't changed in the chapters that I've written and haven't posted yet, but the temptation has been there to make him a little edgier.
Thanks