Me again, with more logic issues from "Alaidia." This time, I am wondering how some young boys can get in enough trouble that one of them ends up with a scar - without the accident being too gruesome.

The set-up is thus. My three MCs - Nathan, Peter, and Mark, all royalbloods - are gathered at the palace for a ceremony. They are either in the range of 5-9 years or 9-11 (still undecided at this point). Before the night is out, Nathan's royal parents will be killed and the three boys will separate for 9+ years. Before that happens, however, I would like them to get into an accident while playing that leaves Nathan with a rather large scar on his wrist.

I think this could happen easily enough, especially since poor medical care of the era can make a scar worse. But I haven't the foggiest idea what kind of trouble the young boys could get into. I don't want it to be horribly graphic, whatever it is.

Ideally, the accident would be Peter's fault. Even better - Mark could be picking on Nathan, and Peter, while attempting to rectify the situation, makes it worse. That will foreshadow the boys' relationship as adults. It would also be appropriate if the accident tied into the chaos following the murder and revolt.

So the ultimate question is - how can my young protagonist hurt himself? The society is colonial with medieval politics, if that helps.

Possibly, Mark could be doing a stunt (and you can have the cautious or level-headed boy try to discourage him). He bumps/trips/throws something that goes off course for Nathan's hand (or, if Nathan is the heroic type, Nathan could be hurt saving Mark from hurting himself by doing the stunt). If the boys were very loyal, especially Nathan, they may try to cover up the accident to keep Mark out of trouble. Peter could try to wrap the wound, but does it incorrectly so that it can't heal properly. . .

My brain isn't entirely in brainstorming mood. That was the first thing I thought of. Shall post again if I come up with more ideas!

I sat up into a strand of barbwire when I was younger, and I had a scar on my forehead for a while (it went away with the acne in that spot later, somehow). It wasn't gruesome at all, I just was laying on the ground overlooking a creek and didn't realize it was that close to my head when I sat up. A little blood, but it didn't even need stitches.

There's probably no barbwire in your world, but maybe you could use something like that. Maybe they were having a sword fight with sharp sticks and got too rough? Or simply jumping off a rock and scraping your shin across another rock as you land leaves a scar. My scar mostly disappeared after a year or so, though, so unless he cut his wrist pretty deep, I don't know if something like that would work.

My brother Jacob is highly accident prone. We have (beware, long unrelated explanation ahead) these things called Stor-Mor panels. What they are is basically: when you cut a window out of a storm door, the metal panel that's left over. (horribly pathetic grammar, I can't begin to figure out how to structure it.) The edges are unfinished, and they have nasty metal shards curling off them, etc. Anyway, we build stuff out of them. They're insulated, so we put them on the house, subfloors, build mini barns, pig pens, etc. My brother Jacob has, no less than three times, cut his leg open on one of these things. Like, two-three inch long gash. He has the biggest, nastiest scars you've ever seen. But the actual accident wasn't that bad. A little blood, a couple of stitches, whatever.

Anyway, all that to say, small boys can get very badly scarred just by being in the same room with a sharp object. Ceremonial weapons that they pull down off the wall. A brick hearth with corners. The armoury. It doesn't have to be gory, depending on where it is. Even I have scars on my legs, because it's impossible to not move it as much as your mother tells you too. If it's on his face just a scratch will scar. Not difficult, IMO.

And you're working on Alaida! Good! Now i don't have to come after you with an angry group of characters to scold.

Thank you so much for the suggestions!

Droid, I like the idea of Nathan being heroic. Typically he’s pretty non-confrontational, so that would be something interesting for him to do.

Ouch, Arias. Actually, I’m not sure if my era has barbed wire. I’d have to research that.

Jaynin, that was incredibly helpful! A hearthstone would work excellently. And, yes, I’ve been working on Alaidia! Actually, I need to send you an update… I drafted yesterday. So, yeah, rein in the cavalry – you don’t need to send them on my trail just yet!

Eh, it wasn't horrible, I guess.
I didn't figure it had, but I thought it might give you an idea at least.

What about a burn? When I was younger I burned my wrist on a walnut we'd been playing with in the fire. The scar did eventually fade, but then, it wasn't a bad burn. A worse burn could leave a scar for longer. And if they'd been told not to get too close to the fire, or play with it, and Mark does it anyway, there's a chance for Nathan to push him back or something... and then get burned himself.

I've been rearranging my backstory (as usual), and it looks like Nathan will only need to keep his scar for about a year. That opens up my options significantly. I think a burn scar is what I will end up doing, because of some other plot points. Thanks for the help, everyone!

You're welcome, Phila! May the scar subplot of your story run as smooth as butter! OK, let's hear it for humorous analogies.

Good one, Amanda. I hadn't even though of burn scars! Outside the box!

I still have a scar under my eyebrow from rolling of the couch and banging my head on the coffee table as a baby.

If you want to injure his wrist, I would suggest pocket knives or a medieval equivalent. Especially a poorly sharpened one.

He could be cut by a jagged edge. To ensure scarring, he could develop a minor infection. If the boy hides the wound and attempts to deal with it himself, it will probably scar.

Those are very helpful suggestions. Thanks, Neil!

I fell off the top bunk of a bed on to a hardwood floor when I was five or six--I still have the scar on the back of my head =P Maybe the guy could fall from something? Or, fall on to something? I liked the hearth-stone idea suggested earlier.

eruheran

I find this thread funny...

Makes my propensity to run into things seem a lot less embarrassing -- at least I don't have any (permanent) scars (yet).

I guess, when I asked for suggestions on how to give a character a scar, I wasn't looking to know how y'all got your scars... but it works, in a morbid and ridiculous sort of way!

The story is morphing, and it looks like Nathan will contract his scar while fleeing from a burning building/city. So it will probably be a cross between a burn scar and a cut on broken glass/wood.

Well, I can tell you most injuries that include a gash will scar, however they are not always noticeable. I have a scare in my hairline that most people don't notice, unless they know the story behind my head wound. Even though it was bad enough to require stitching. And my brother still has his scar in his eyebrow from his childhood.

As a side note, scars do affect hair growth, so make sure to take that into consideration.

Thanks for the suggestions, Airianna, and for the note about hair growth. On a wrist I don't think hair will be highly noticeable either way, but it's good to note.

Right. I couldn't remember where the scar was going to be.