Spear

So I was watching a trailer for Capcom’s 2015 game, Deep Down. I thought it looked pretty nice, and if it was somehow a spiritual successor to Dragon’s Dogma, all the more awesome. I loved Dragon’s Dogma and really, it was the perfect action rpg game in my opinion. There were some quirks but those were easily overlooked.

Anyway, I got myself thinking about a new story idea… chances are, this will never see the light of day if I did not write this.

So the story woould lie with a single spear. A spear that had seen wars, bloodshed, strife and suffering. This spear is special in that its origins are unknown and it has never dulled nor been shattered. It also grants its users the memories of its previous users. Kind of like Soul Sacrifice… but not a talking book.

Each person who picked up the spear had used its power for their own purposes, be it for revenge, for power, for self-defence. There are some who believe that the spear is a cursed item and there are some who believe it is a holy relic.

The story would begin with the protagonist (who isn’t shown or named), reaching out and grabbing onto spear. For what reason the current protagonist wants to use the spear is not known, but the memories for the previous users are revealed to the current protagonist.

Each memory shows a different era in history and different parts of the World. Each user having different views on what the spear is (whether it is a holy relic or a curse item), however they each wanted the power of the spear to fulfil their own goals. Most of the users would die after accomplishing their goals so some would see it as a curse. However the spear, once picked up by a user, can never be used by another until the chosen user at the time has either died or accomplished their goal, in such a sense it also empowers its users to ensure they have a better chance to accomplish what they sought to achieve.

Some who gain the spear for power, to lead and forge a nation. Before being betrayed

Some who gain the spear for revenge, to right the wrongs done. Then they shall succumb to their wounds

Some who take on the spear to defend themselves from the pain and the hardships of life. They will be driven mad by what they see

Some taken on the spear for the sake of others, to protect the one they swore to defend. They would die upon their feet, standing between their foe and their charge.

Some use the spear for the sake of the corrupted. They would then turn that spear upon their own masters and then themselves.

Some covet the spear. Others fear it.

In the end, the spear is only a spear. Through the eyes of those who once wielded it, the protagonist can see that through the actions of the wielders, the spear can be a holy relic that brought peace and justice. Or a cursed object that brought suffering and destruction. It is both sacred and cursed. It depends on who wields it, for what purpose, and in what historical and cultural context they use it in.

It is still not known who the current user is or what his/her goals are with the spear, but in the end it all does not matter, because what makes it right or wrong, what determines if it is justice or a crime is up to the user and what actions would be taken.

Demon King will save the World? 魔王が世界を救う？

So an idea I had for a story was something like what you would find in most light novels in Japan these days. The Hero vs Demon Lord story has been told over and over again and while there are many variations of the stories, I had found myself enjoying each and everyone of them. I don’t know, maybe it’s simply the child in me bouncing up and down each time I read these fantasy stories.

So I had been thinking, what if I tried to write one myself? Of course, going along the lines of most Japanese light Novels since they are my inspiration for this story anyway.

でもなんかこゆう話はちょと難し。いや、ほら、こんなヒーローバサス魔王の話てもう使いすぎじゃない？もっとこう。。。新なストーリー探さないとまずいかも。魔王が世界を救う？なんかどこかで聞いたよっうなしますね。やべーピント来ね。

Anyway, the main story is simple. It starts AFTER the demon lord is defeated. Say what? After? How can that be the story? Yeah yeah, I hear you. But this is where it gets interesting. Okay, let’s begin.

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The Hero and his comrades have defeated the great Demon Lord. They celebrate and the Hero takes a dark crystal artefact that the Demon Lord had on his armour as a prize. The Hero and his party return to the human Kingdom and are given a Hero’s welcome with celebrations everywhere. Usual stuff.

The Hero takes the dark crystal and puts it into his holy sword, however this causes the Hero to be corrupted as the Holy sword amplifies whatever power it holds into its user and the Holy sword can only be used by the Hero (Just hero stuff). The Hero forcibly took control of the Kingdom and the Hero’s former party members all ran for their lives as the Kingdom is plunged into darkness.

The Mage of the group surmised that the crystal must be the one that corrupted the Hero and that only the Demon Lord can handle it properly. Reluctantly, the group decides that the Demon Lord must be found to retrieve the crystal before the dark Hero can corrupt and destroy the World (Cause why not?). With their objective in mind, the group splits apart to find the Demon Lord.

Meanwhile, the new Demon Lord has only been recently born. The Demon Lord will always reincarnate after their demise and would require hundreds of years before they can emerge at full strength. After that they would spend years gathering the different Demon tribes under them before being able to to wage war. The new Demon Lord, however, was born prematurely due to the absence of the dark crystal (which holds onto the dark powers and memories of the Demon Lords and it allows the new Demon Lords to grow in strength quickly).

The new Demon Lord, due to being born prematurely, is unable to determine its own gender and switches from a male human form and a female human form. The reason behind the human form is that the crystal holds onto the past memories of the Demon Lord, and with the crystal stolen, the Demon Lord’s reincarnation uses the form of the last being it remembered seeing (Which is the hero who is human). Weak and clueless, the new Demon Lord is found sleeping under a tree by the first of the Hero’s party members, the heavy warrior.

The heavy warrior explains that they need the Demon Lord to stop the corruption of the crystal though the new Demon Lord does not really understand anything. The two are forced to leave when some Demons arrive to kill the Demon Lord in order to gain the title for themselves (someone also started a silly rumour that eating the flesh of the demon lord will grant them immense strength).

As the two run out, they run into more rogue Demons and it is revealed that without the crystal, the Demon Lord is really useless and cannot control any Demons save for the small ones that are REALLY useless. The dual are then saved by another one of Hero’s party members, the Paladin. The Paladin, unlike the heavy warrior, does not trust the new Demon Lord as is part of the Paladin Code, but understands the need for the Demon Lord and protects the new Demon Lord.

The trio escapes from the Demon realm only to find that the Hero’s madness is spreading rapidly. With time running short, the heavy warrior and the paladin decide that they must protect the Demon Lord until the Demon Lord is able to gain back his/her strength. In order to understand how to increase the power of the Demon Lord, they need to find the mage of the Hero’s party. For some reason, the Mage had gone missing from the Mage’s tower.

In order to find the Mage, they decide that it would be best to find the other members of the group. Starting with the priest, who went back to the Church to try to find a way to evacuate people away from the dark corruption. When they find the priest, they notice that the priest was taking in the darkness from others and attempting to contain it within himself, however the priest is unable to contain the large amount of corruption from those who come to seek help and is at the breaking point. The demon lord, sensing the imminent danger, forcibly takes the darkness from the priest into herself (at this point the demon lord is using the female form). The demon lord manages to extract all of the darkness and frees the priest. However taking in the darkness begins to awaken the demon lord’s dark memories and darker nature.

With the priest joining them, the group set off to find to find the mage, whom the priest saw running towards the forest where the Archer of the Hero’s party stayed. The Archer, however, was captured by the corrupted soldiers of the Hero and brought to a stronghold. The party decided that the Archer would know where the Mage went and head to rescue the Archer (who is one of the last Elves after the previous Demon Lord wiped them out). The Paladin starts to notice the Demon Lord’s strange behaviour but said nothing of it. As for the Demon Lord, due to the absorbtion of the darkness, the previous selves and memories of the Demon Lord were starting to force itself to take over the current Demon Lord’s personality but the current Demon Lord manages to suppress it.

The group heads to the stronghold where the Archer is held and find that the last member of the Hero’s party, the Assassin, was waiting for them. The Assassin was planning to break in and rescue the Archer but with the group’s appearance, the Assassin believed the chances of a rescue would be higher. The group get into the stronghold and find the Archer, who was corrupted by the darkness that was forced onto her. The demon lord did the same thing as he/she did to the priest and took all of the darkness out of the Archer. This resulted in the Demon Lord suddenly bursting out in madness for a short moment, but it was enough to drain the Demon Lord of energy and alert the guards. The group then forces their way out to escape.

When they reach safety, the Demon Lord is confronted by the Archer, who still harbours hatred for the Demon Lord and was the only one who was outright against the original idea of using the Demon Lord. However Elves are honourable people and thus would not strike the one who saved her. However the Paladin was concerned about what the Demon Lord was hiding and upon confrontation, the Demon Lord told the group that he/she was losing control of their own mind. The group decides that it is best to find the Mage as soon as possible and the Archer tells them that the Mage fled to a cave under a water fall in the forest, guarded by fairies.

Upon reaching the cave, the Demon Lord realises that the corruption seemed to pause when close to the waters of the waterfall. Inside the cave, the group finds the Mage, who had been researching with texts from the fairies inside the cave. The Mage then explains to the group that the more the Demon Lord absorbs the corruption, the faster he/she can grow back to full strength to combat the Hero, however at the same time it will increase the chance that the old Demon Lord will return and try to rule all. The corruption is, in fact, a part of the ancient system of continuous cycles. The Demon Lord will take in all of the darkness and corruption of the land and contain it within themselves via the crystal. The problem arose when the first Demon Lord was unable to contain the darkness and became corrupted, thus leading to war. In order to balance it out, the humans were given the power to banish this darkness and by killing the Demon Lord, the system will reset. However when the Demon Lord revived, the previous memories came when the corrupted crystal, which led to the new Demon Lord being corrupted as well, and a repeat of the current cycle.

The Mage suggests that it would be best for the group to find certain ancient artefacts to help stabilise the Demon Lord’s corruption, all of which were distributed throughout the land and were entrusted to the leaders of the different tribes of the Demon and Human Worlds. The first artefact was in the cave, a small glass flask that was the source of the purity in the water. By taking the flask, the corruption would run rampant in the fairy domain, but the fairies willingly give up the artefact and allow the Demon Lord to drink from the water to further surpress the corruption. The group then head out to find more artefacts.

While the group continues on their journey, the group members becoming closer to the Demon Lord, who in turn becomes more afraid of what will happen should he/she lose their mind to the corruption. The Demon Lord also starts to regain more power and be able to control more demons than before.

The climax would be the the Demon Lord and the group amassing an army and attacking the corrupted forces of the Hero, and finally storming into the castle, the Demon Lord and Hero fight one another until the Demon Lord takes the crystal back. By taking back the crystal, the Demon Lord is able to use his/her power at full strength and takes in all of the corruption in the land. However in doing so, the Demon Lord takes in more corruption than what the artefacts can protect the Demon Lord from, leading to the Demon Lord’s corruption. But using the last bit of his/her strength, the Demon Lord forces him/herself into stasis to protect the group.

The conclusion would see the group going their separate ways, though they vowed that one day they will free the Demon Lord from his/her self exile and save his/her. I guess as a bonus they did find a way and would be waiting for the Demon Lord after he/her became free from the stasis.

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Characters:

Each character (except for the Demon Lord who has no name as of yet) is named after a prominant figure either in history or myth.

New Demon Lord, (name?)

• Due to being just born as well as having the cursed artefact taken away, the new demon lord is weak
• Also, the demon lord has yet to define a gender
  • Switches between a young man and a young woman
• Is confused about everything
  • Innocent
  • Clueless
  • Weak
  • lazy
• Due to being weak and not having the artefact, very few demons still follow the demon lord

Heavy Warrior, Volf

• Male
• Strong arm, heavy bastard sword
• Understands the need for the demon lord
• Friendly, protective

Paladin magic knight, Joan

• Female
• Strong defence, sword and kite shield
• Does not like teaming up with the demon lord but knows of no other alternative
• Believes in justice and protecting the weak

Wizard, Selene

• Female
• Offensive spells
• Quiet and often keeps to herself

Priest, Ascle

• Male
• Healing and group barrier spells
• Cheerful and kind hearted

Archer, Robyn

• Female, elf
• Long bow with twin short swords
• Has a grudge against the demon lord for killing her people
• Dislikes the demon lord.

Assassin/thief, Jud

• Male
• Assassin blades (arm blades)
• Joker of the group