I'm wondering about whether or not this is, in a way, a so-called info dump? Should I split it up? Any other suggestions?
It's (probably) during the first real encounter the reader gets to Damek, when Renel (an old friend and the POV character) asks him about his children.
A few details:
His son is an important character. I plan a twist to show the familial relationship. The son is a mage, and Damek doesn't like mages. It's the equivalent, in this case, of having a gay son.
The Unification War brought the continent under a single empire.
Korsek is the southernmost region of the continent. The Northern Provinces are… well, north.
The Lethos are the natives, basically. I live in Canada, where Native issues pop up every now and again. I wanted to reflect that in my fantasy, and to explore their fictional culture.
The smile, however, quickly faded. "My daughters? Let's see… I don't know. I think one of 'em is over in New Gardoth. My son…," Damek winced, "he's somewhere in the Provinces, no doubt."
Renel nodded. Damek had his first two children before he left for war. That was after the Unification, and all that was left for a soldier to do was quelling riots and putting the Lethos in place. Damek held quite a few prejudices after his service, to Korseki, Northmen, and- most deeply- to those Lethos. His children had grown up detached from their father, and his third was born into a family with a drunkard father. That was far from bad, everything considered. Damek never beat his wife or his children; he found such behaviour altogether too "savage".
It's (probably) during the first real encounter the reader gets to Damek, when Renel (an old friend and the POV character) asks him about his children.
A few details:
His son is an important character. I plan a twist to show the familial relationship. The son is a mage, and Damek doesn't like mages. It's the equivalent, in this case, of having a gay son.
The Unification War brought the continent under a single empire.
Korsek is the southernmost region of the continent. The Northern Provinces are… well, north.
The Lethos are the natives, basically. I live in Canada, where Native issues pop up every now and again. I wanted to reflect that in my fantasy, and to explore their fictional culture.
The smile, however, quickly faded. "My daughters? Let's see… I don't know. I think one of 'em is over in New Gardoth. My son…," Damek winced, "he's somewhere in the Provinces, no doubt."
Renel nodded. Damek had his first two children before he left for war. That was after the Unification, and all that was left for a soldier to do was quelling riots and putting the Lethos in place. Damek held quite a few prejudices after his service, to Korseki, Northmen, and- most deeply- to those Lethos. His children had grown up detached from their father, and his third was born into a family with a drunkard father. That was far from bad, everything considered. Damek never beat his wife or his children; he found such behaviour altogether too "savage".