Here's a short example of what I mean by "perspective".  I'm also giving
away a little of what I have in mind for the setting.

Like, will the real authors of this fic please stand up?  Er, or at least
send me email.  ;)

				*	*	*

	The Shiraba clan were a very secretive group.  Living, for the
most part, in the mountains north of Tokyo village, they were rarely seen
elsewhere.  The thought of them commingling with the common folk was
unthinkable.
	But Kou's eyes were not taken with the dimness of age.  The hooded
cloak and the careful step of the gaunt, ascetic figure drifting towards
his tiny shop, oblivious to and unmoved by the press of the Jiyuu 
Booekigyoosha, hawking their meager wares in the dusty street, were
unmistakable.
	The clansman stopped several feet away, gazing upward at the
setting sun, slowly sinking in a crimson blaze of brilliance towards the
horizon.  Kou saw him whisper something into the wind, no doubt the
ancient sun's prayer.  'May I be constant as the sun's circuit, and may
the good I do return to me.'
	Making the sign of the circle to purify himself, he finally
approached and greeted Kou with a forced smile.  "Blacksmith," he
murmured, "might I ask of you?"  Kou, nervous, nodded stiffly.  How does
one show respect to a figure of legend?
	"I pray, do not refuse what I ask of you, though it be precious
indeed.  I desire to apprentice."  The clansman eyed him carefully,
letting his words hang heavy in the air.
	"I--I...uh...why do you--" he stuttered.  "I am persuaded that I
must know this," came the ritual reply.  Kou forced down the lump in his
throat and composed himself.  "I would be honored to teach you," he
whispered.

	So it was that the Shiraba clan learned metalworking.

				*	*	*

	Three hundred years later, the clan was little more than memory.
No one had seen a clansman for decades.  Still, it was rumored that they
yet journeyed on their quest for enlightenment, and that one day, they
would return...

				-----------------

First, I decided that I'd want a group out of which the "Knight Sabers"
would eventually spring.  A clan was the most natural choice, for me at
least.  So I picked an appropriate name:  Shiraba, from Shiraberu (?),
to find out.  All I did was pick up an English to Japanese dictionary
and look up "know" to get this.  The I reasoned that they'd be rather
aloof from the rest of the populace, to make things appropriately
mysterious.

Now I start into the scene proper.  I chose a Japanese name at random
(Kou), and showed him seeing a clansmen walk towards him.  But in doing
so, I fleshed out some cultural references and idioms that will be
peculiar to this "world".  "But Kou's eyes were not taken with the
dimness of age" is one example of this.  It's not merely Kou's way of
thinking about it, although that's part of it.  It's also that that is
how loss of sight is thought of in this setting, as happening as a
result of age.

I described the clansman a bit, with a hooded cloak (again, mystery
factor here) and a careful step, indicating he's not given to hasty
actions.  I describe him as a gaunt and ascetic figure, trying to depict
a rigid mastery over his body, as another way of setting him over and
apart from the general populace.

Then I gave a bit of pseudo-religious culture next.  I painted the
clansmen as sun worshippers, looking to it for "enlightenment".  It
makes sense in a less modern, more superstitious age as this.

I didn't really give the clansman a reason for wanting to learn
metalworking, instead choosing to say merely that he felt like he should
learn it.  Since I also wanted to say that clansmen feel this way often
about different things, I made it a "ritual reply".

And then, of course, I end the scene and draw the mists of time over the
clansmen, so that I can bring the Knight Sabers out of obscurity.  ;)  I
don't know if I'll use this as is, but at least something along these
lines.

As I said, it's not all that *difficult* to write with "perspective",
but you need to really know what setting you'll be using beforehand, as
well as knowing your characters.

Damon Casale, damoo@carmelnet.com
Spam, spam!  WONDERFUL spam!  ^_^