Plot Outline (in a non-outline form!)
12,000 BC – CT-Alternate Dimension:
In the normal CT dimension, about this time, Zeal ordered the Gurus to build the Ocean Palace, to help bring them closer to the powerful Lavos, in hopes of sapping more and more energy from it. In this dimension, they declined the order, meeting in secret to decide what move they should make. They all felt the same unease when dealing with the power from Lavos, and they saw the madness seeping into their Queen. They were afraid it would destroy Zeal (which it did in the CT timeline). In response, they decided to pool their collective talents together and create another place to live for those wishing to escape the coming madness. Belthasar had witnessed signs of the existence of alternate dimensions, and had an idea of making their own.
So the three of them took flight, hiding away on the small island mass of the Sun Keep, where the Moon Stone was found fully charged many many years ago. Using their knowledge of Elemental power, they raised the island, much like Zeal was raised, and added movement features to help remain hidden from Zeal's police. They immediately started building their facilities to work on creating a dimension of their own, one where peace and freedom would reign.
15 years pass. Their development is complete, and now they faced the dangerous task of gathering those who would populate their brilliant creation. Disguising themselves, they went to the snow-covered ground underneath the freezing clouds and made the offer to enter their dimension to the banished Earthbound Ones. Every one of them gladly accepted the offer, and they quickly made way.
Not desiring to mourn over lost friends, the three delved even deeper into danger and sought out those who they knew would keep a sane head, even when facing the madness of Lavos' power. Each of the Zealians they spoke with nearly sank into tears at the mention of being free of Zeal's zeal for Lavos.
Their mission wasn't done, not to Melchior. He cared for Schala and Janus, almost as if they were his children. He sought to protect them from their crazy mother, and went into the castle itself to find them. They had grown, it had been 15 years and they were quite adult, especially Janus. Schala was a beautiful woman who hadn't changed, still pure of heart as always. Janus, tall and frightening, was unfortunately transformed by overuse of the Black Wind. Schala was excited by their plan, though saddened to leave her mother. Janus was outraged, and nearly called out for the guards if it weren't for Schala's pleadings. He gave them a headstart, but it wasn't enough to give the Gurus time to enter the dimenion, themselves.
As Schala disappeared through the portal into the new dimension, which they had named Aeos, Zealian officers burst through the doors and captured the three most wanted men in 15 years. Zeal and Janus walked in and were taken with delight when they realized what the computers in front of them controlled: a whole dimension for them to play with!
The Gurus were locked away, and Zeal and Janus spent countless hours each day toying with the machinery until they had a decent idea of how much of it worked and affected Aeos. At this point, they decided to harvest the land of it's resources, leading the people to believe they were offering them to some God of some sort. If the citizens of Aeos disobeyed, or misbehaved, they'd simply punish them with natural disasters or other “accidents,” some of which were horrifying and heartbreaking to the recipients.
At some point, Zealian researchers discovered longevity using a combination of Elemental and Lavos' powers combined. With this new knowledge, Zeal and Janus lived forever as reigning mother and son Queen and King of Zeal; not just Zeal, but the world itself. There was plenty of space on the planet to live and multiply, now that the Earthbound Ones and many Zealians had left them all that room to themselves, and they never worried about resources disappearing, for it was so easy to create them in Aeos, a simply push of a button.
Meanwhile, in Aeos, after Schala arrived and the Gurus never came through, they become worried as they started to move into the dwellings that had been built for them. In less than a day, they felt the physical effects of Zeal and Janus' meddlings (though they didn't know it was them) in the form of outrageous natural disasters, which came and went in a split-second's notice. On and off, their originally conjoined continent was rampaged by tsunamis, earthquakes, erupting volcanos, hurricanes, tornados, and many combinations of them all. They came at random times of unpredictable lengths of time.
Once the storms started, the people realized what had happened, and were about to beg Schala to find a way back into the original dimension to free them. Janus foresaw this, however, and sent the Black Wind inside Aeos and wiped the memories of all the people, creating new lives according to his whim. Schala, however, was strong enough to resist. He gave her a physical beating, though, and put her in a coma, though not before she surrounded her mind with a magical shield, protecting her from anything he threw at her.
His love for Schala still burned deep within, regardless of who he was now, and he decided to give her a little present as payment for her suffering: as part of their new memories, and alongside the belief of some God that was actually he and his mother, he made her a Goddess, a person of respect, and everyone in Aeos knew her name and loved her, as he did.
Once the storms finally settled down and normal climates formed everywhere, the people began building anew on the now seperated continents. Schala was held enshrined in the largest room in the world, with the light shining down on her every day. People came from all over to kneel before her and offer their condolences to her in hopes that she may someday awake.
Years and years pass, until it is 1000 AD according to the Zeal timeline, which is kept in Aeos as well. A boy whose longed to see the famed Schala finally gets his chance for his 19th birthday. He travels alone for weeks, crossing oceans and large chunks of land to reach the great holy city of Athendale, into the temple of Thale and the chamber of Goddesses, and was given his five minutes to pray for Schala.
As he knelt, the young man named Guile Rentry silently wondered about her. How did you end up this way? What kind of person were you? Will you ever wake up? Then started to ask deeper questions. Where did we come from? Is there a purpose to this life? Can we ever find the answers to the strange things that happen in life?
Somehow her still-awake conscious heard his thoughts, and she attempted to communicate with him. Guile...Guile you must help the people of Aeos. You're all being tricked! You're all being used!
She felt a shift in focus and realized Janus must be aware of her telepathic activity, so she reached desperation. I have no time, he'll know that I've spoken with you soon. You must find a way to awaken me, it is the only chance Aeos has. Please, seek the sun stone, and find a way to harness it's powers. It's possible you can wake me up with that, but that may be the only way. And act quickly, he is ruthless and smart, you won't be able to avoid him for long. Go, Guile. Go!!
And with that final thought, Janus raised a barrier around her, visible to the naked eye. No longer could Guile communicate with her, but he knew that he hadn't just been hearing voices. With a combination of exasperation and fear and wonder, he stumbled to his feet and bolted out of the chamber and looked for the library, historians, anyone who could help give him the answer he sought.
This journey to find the sun stone takes about 1/3 the gameplay, and Guile meets a few friends along the way. Once the sun stone is found, he approaches the temple of Thale again and consults the books on how to possibly use it's powers. It is at this time that he comes across the tale of a mysterious portal at the top of the Mystic Mountain southwest of Athendale. When they go there, they find a strange place floating in darkness, with a standlamp in the center of a pebbled floor. A creature of random shape stands underneath the light, sleeping. When approached, the creature wakes up and offers them his assistance in teaching them the power of Elemental magic. The party members unlock the powers within, each a certain element, and Guile finally learns what is necessary to awaken Schala. As they leave, they ask the creature's name. He cracks a smile and says: “Spekkio.”
When they reenter the chamber of Goddesses and approach Schala, a figure shimmers out of the light that's descending from a window in the roof. He is cloaked, face covered, but speaks with a strength that chills the party to the bone. He warns them not to awaken her, for they will face incredible pain if they do. Guile refuses to listen, and the cloaked figure fights them. After a battle that leaves them exhausted, Guile desperately casts the spell that will awaken Schala, and with her opening eyes came the disappearance of the mysterious figure, who left with a mere “Hmph.”
When she wakes, she first thanks Guile and his friends for helping wake her up. She is more prepared for an attack by “the mysterious figure” now and won't be put into another coma. She struggles with what to reveal to them at that point, and decides to explain everything later. She tells them they need to find the place of entrance, a circle of strangely organized stones in a field of green grass (this was where people entered this dimension, but only she knows that now). Guile and the others recognize the description as the Stairway to Heaven (which is exactly the same as our Stonehendge), but it's a perilous journey to get there.
This is the 2/3 of the game. The Stairway to Heaven is surrounded by the tallest mountains in the world, and strange creatures of violent nature inhabit the forests outside, inside, and on those mountains. This is located on the southernmost continent, the smallest of them all, and they have a chore finding someone willing to sail them to the island (it ends up being a one-way trip). When they get there, Schala closes her eyes and starts to chant random incantations, trying to figure out a way to use both the Black Wind and Elemental powers to access the computers back in the real dimension to bring them back home. During this process, the cloaked figure appears again, less transparent and clearer sounding. This fight is much harder than before, but Schala uses the Black Wind this time, a power she had always feared and didn't want to use much, but knew she needed, now and later too. As he disappears, he smirks and tells Schala: “You finally decided to trust the Black Wind? There's a lot I could teach you. But you already knew that.” He disappears, and Schala, frowning heavily, throws her hand into the air and the stones react. Light fills them, along with shadow, and beams flow into the center of the circle, where a strange portal is formed. They step through, with a word from Schala: “Be careful, we may face certain death on the other side.”
(By Mystik3eb)
Schala Update!
- I have an updated version of this but I'm to lazy to upload it now xd
- The hair is ugly as hell on it but oh well! Here's a super sprite of our schala with and without hair change!
Little Boy NPC
Unknown NPC or Hero?
Guile (Updated)
- Beta Side Walk
Areashttp://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5727/schalachurchyd0.pnghttp://img77.imageshack.us/img77/8589/worldmapbetaaz9.pngThis is some of the stuff that we've done over a period of about 3 months due to school issues and stuff. We are in dire need of:
Plotters/Dialogue
Spriters
Mappers
Music Changer(or importer)
Possibly a Coder?
Anyone care to help?
Or any comments at all? Constructive criticism?
