Prompt 11 - Incentives

Other than a reward that has some monetary value, or a payment for services, hire, etc., what would motivate your protagonist to get involved in solving a problem or dealing with a situation that does not directly impact them?

This prompt is all about what gets your main character / NPC / protagonist worked up enough to get involved in something that, at first glance, doesn't seem to have anything to do with them directly. We're not talking about being offered a reward of any kind - whether money, or a magical item, or some other physical payment - and we're not talking about being hired for a service that the character would routinely provide. We're trying to get to know what sorts of situations or conditions tug at the character's heart-strings... or annoys them to the point of action. And we're talking about situations that do not really have a direct impact on the character... situations where simply walking away is an option (and may even be the option that most others would take in similar circumstances.)

Some thoughts that may help:

• Is somebody in trouble, but the sort of trouble that brings back bad memories?
• Is the character "paying foward" a good deed done by somebody else in the past? If so, elaborate!
• Is the character forced to act because of some promise made to a deity? Or some organization they belong to? Or simply to oneself?
• Is the character soft-hearted or empathetic enough that anybody in serious trouble ends up being helped? Has this gotten the character into trouble in the past?

Suggested Template

You probably don't want to create a new article for this prompt. Instead, go to the Character/Person article for the protagonist, and provide your prompt responses in one or more of the following sections:

• Under the Mental tab, there are lots of potential places, depending on the motivation you're writing about. (Failures & Embarrassments, Mental Trauma, Morality & Philosophy, or just Personal History)
• Under the Personal tab, there's Motivation, Likes & Dislikes, and maybe even VIrtues & Perks or Vices & Flaws

You could optionally create a second "person" article for the character, but if you do this, don't forget to cross-reference the two so you can find everything where you need it.

The Rules

The only rule in Synergasia is that your worldbuilding is restricted to your area unless you are actively collaborating with a neighbor. If you are collaborating, let us know and we'll make an entry in the Canon articles to notate it.
Other than that, your region is your world. Go for it!
There are no prizes... no judging. An article with 300 words is probably the low end of "enough to be useful", and more than 1500-2000 becomes a "wall of text" that will frighten people off. But there are no hard restrictions on minimum or maximum word count.
We will review your article and will, from time to time, extract certain facts to be included in your region's "Canon" article. These articles will be guides for you in the future, and for anyone you wish to collaborate with. ("Canon" will include things like capital cities... names of rivers, settlements, deities... major past or present events... wars... conquests... You get the idea.)