Ren0Zero
Prologues are a good place to introduce the mood, that I agree. However, if you're using it to, say, give us an overview of the character's personality, character, habits, life story, etc, I don't recommend it. Its a bit... tactless and flavorless. Those sorts of things can be—and often better off—woven into the storyline itself! "Introduction", however, is too vague for me to understand what you're truly trying to introduce, so therefore I can't say much about this. Introducing a character that will appear in Chapter 85 is still and introduction, much less an introduction of the main character.
The pacing itself, doesn't matter as much in the beginning. What you need is to create tension (refer to here for an example). Build up. As good old Dr. Watson said, "Foreplay, Sherlock, foreplay." Wait, maybe he didn't say that. But you get my point. Set the mood. Build up tension. Don't be afraid to tease some details. Remember when writing, sometimes, less is more.
Regardless on what you decide to write about your story, don't forget your hook! Set the tone you want, but don't forget the hook!
Consider this prologue from one of my favorite books, with what I feel to have a slow pace and a slow start:
There's two major hooks prevalent here. First one is the silence of three parts. When we reach to that point, most would wonder what those three parts are, and/or how could silence ever be possibly split into three parts!
Then, to reel us in, the author starts to describe the three different parts. You can see here, in his second paragraph, a glimpse of descriptive writing. He didn't just say, "The first silence is the lack of everyday noises, that stillness. Nothing would be heard."
Instead, he talked of everyday mundane things that, while we don't necessarily pay attention to, would create and generate these noise that are currently not there. With the emphasis on "silence", the author choose words that would be associated with noises, the inn's sign creaking on its hook, clatter and clamor, etc.
Once we understood the first silence, one that we can relate to and imagine, we're introduced to the second, then third. While being introduced to the three parts of a silence, the tone of the story gives off a "dark and somber" atmosphere.
Upon reaching the end of the prologue, we can see that this dark and somber atmosphere is paired with the sound of a man who is waiting to die, causing the readers to understand the reason for the focus of this silence: someone is waiting for death.
With that, this becomes our final hook: Why would he ever be waiting to die? He moves so confidently, as a knowledgeable person would. Does he know that his death is coming soon? Why is he waiting? Does he feel guilty about something? Does he feel like life isn't worth living anymore?
We become hooked by what the three parts of a silence are, we were reeled in by the descriptions of each silence. As we read past the first part of a silence, the second, and upon reached the last leg of our journey (where our original hook would've been capable of bringing us to only), we came to find that there was another hook there, waiting for us, waiting to ensnare us. We were lead by the nose, drawn into another hook, the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die. Pray tell, did you wonder why the man was waiting to die? If you did, you were intrigued and possibly invested.
And that causes us to jump into the story with curiosity after passing through this dark and somber period.
I've taken the liberty to highlight some words that I feel helps create this atmosphere. Of course, there could be more subtle things that I've missed, but meh, it is what it is. I can only find and explain so much :S
- Yellow = image-invoking words/phrases (Edit: Ack, my yellows aren't yellow anymore :S Oh well)
- Pink = words/phrases that helps set the tone of the story
- Green = auditory-invoking words/phrases
Okay, I've blabbered for too long low. I'll stop :S
