Master or Apprentice?

First off, some background. I'm working on an Urban Fantasy novel set in New Orleans. It's narrated in a third person limited style, and I'm looking to have two, maybe three point-of-view characters. One is a twenty-something female paramedic, who was the accidental witness to murder via regenerating phoenix, but now I'm in a bit of a fix for the next one. It's either going to be, surprise surprise, a crotchety, 175 year old southern wizard, or his fifteen year old apprentice.

No matter which I choose they'll be a part of more or less the same events. I just can't quite decide which perspective would work best.

Any input would be much appreciated!

You havent given us enough information. What's the plot? What role do the three characters play in it?

And perhaps more importantly, what mood and knowledge do you want the readers to have?

I concur with everything previously said. Also, I think more information about the characters is warranted.

I would say that the decision comes down to a couple of factors:

1-Other than age, and the cultural baggage that comes with that, what are the "differences" between master and apprentice? The master would be more powerful/skilled/knowledgeable, but to what degree? How long has the apprentice been studying under the master? What does the apprentice know how/is able to do? (This one isn't directly involved, but affects the answers to the following questions)

2-How much information do you want the character to convey to the audience. The apprentice would probably be just another viewpoint, albeit with extra knowledge dependent on how long he's been an apprentice wizard. This could range from "If there's a vampire around, we should hide in a church to be safe" to "Seeing the black char marks, he opened his second sight and sensed a blaze of power. Magic had caused this!" The master would probably more of an info-dump character, as in "Ah, the smell of burning cinnamon! You never forget that smell, the smell of a phoenix regenerating".

3-What limitations are on the wizard's magic? The apprentice's? The apprentice, especially if he's new, is fine, but the master could completely break the story without some. Ritual magic? Alchemy? Maybe he specializes in healing magic, which is how he's lived this long, or illusions, which limit his direct power. Maybe you magic system is Vancian (which I generally dislike, personally), and he limited by that. Is there a masquerade? If so, who enforces it, how and why? The master must know how the magic system works, and so if you use him, so do you. The apprentice, by contrast, especially if he's new, can know that these things(system, limitations, masquerade) exist, but not know the answers, which means the readers don't know, and you don't have to. Also, without limitations, the master could easily break the story, so if he's not limited, you have to make him pull a Gandalf, of either the Lord of the Rings(death) or the Hobbit(away and busy) styles.

Also, some other things you might want to think about, with your wizard:

-Where in the "South" is he from? Nowadays, its not so important, but since he's 175, that puts his birthdate in the 1830's or 40's, and he would come of age during/right before the Civil War. He most probably fought in it, and so location (and social class) would play an important part of his characterization: Was he a Southern plantation owner in Virginia, or Louisiana? A poor farmer a la Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn? Did he work his way up on a riverboat? Was he from the "Unionized" South, such as Kentucky or the western counties of Virginia (now West Virginia)?

-Does he still have racist attitudes or hangups?

-How about sexist ones? Above I referred to the apprentice as male, as I feel it's unlikely that a man of that era would take a female apprentice, unless they were family, and even then its iffy, although this could change.

edited 11th Jun '13 12:20:46 AM by sharur