Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

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Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Mon Oct 17, 2016 6:22 pm

Yet another fanfic concept I've been thinking up. Again, not exactly a full story, hence the title. I may or may not develop this concept into a full story. For now, time to visit Azsare Desert and its surroundings.

This one is more about the fall of Alric's tribe, and how he got his vengeance. There will still be shipping, though.

Story summary:

Part 1 - The rise and fall of Ishtar
Long ago, there once was a kingdom in Azsare Desert named Nas'de Kingdom. In this kingdom, there lived Ishtar, a sorcerer so powerful he had his own cult. However, being the most powerful sorcerer in the kingdom wasn't enough for him. He wanted to be the most powerful person in the kingdom. And so, he killed the king and usurped the throne. He soon proved to be a bad king. People lived in poverty and famine, while he was too busy living in luxury.

Looking at this, a warrior named Al-Tahir and his wife Miriam decided to take action. They decided that Ishtar had become too powerful, and they had to kill him. After a long time of planning, they struck out one night. Al-Tahir drew out all the guards in the palace, while Miriam snuck in once the palace was empty. While the palace guards were busy fighting outside, Miriam found Ishtar sleeping in his room and quickly killed him. However, when she exited the palace, she found her husband bleeding heavily on the ground with all the palace guards dead around him. After a tearful goodbye, Miriam left the kingdom. She would later found the Assassin's guild in her husband's honor.

Part 2 - Bloodstained sand
Centuries later, Nas'de Kingdom was no more, with its only remnant being the palace ruins. However, Ishtar's cult still remained throughout the generations, building up power and number. Enter the Saraze tribe, a nomadic warrior tribe. They were rumored to be able to resurrect the dead. This made them the primary target for Ishtar's cult, especially after a failed persuasion to let them share their secrets.

One night, the tribe was attacked by the cult. Taken by surprise and sheer number, the spellbook of the dead was stolen, and the tribe was completely slaughtered. Or so the cult thought. With his dying breath, Balthazar, the chief, revived his only son Alric and transferred his power to him. On the other side of the camp, a girl named Meela barely survived by hiding away and playing dead. The two would go on their separate paths not knowing about each other's fates. Alric wandered the desert hunting bandits, while Meela came across the desert assassins and joined them.

Part 3 - War on the frontiers
Fast forward a few years. Alric, having been a Linirean citizen and champion, was requested to defend Hammerhold from Malagar's assault. Hammerhold stood still, but Malagar got what he came for, which is the Hammer of Ages. Along with the corrupted Tear, he planned to free the imprisoned God of Darkness, Umbra. Alric would then lead the chase for Malagar, and be reunited with Meela, having risen through the ranks of the desert assassins and was their best agent at the moment. Along the way feelings happened, and the two became an item.

A scrape from the corrupted Tear during Alric's clash with Malagar unlocked the full potential of his power, while a botched resealing attempt of Umbra saw a little part of him fusing with Meela, granting her the power to manipulate shadows. In the end, Linirea triumphed once again. Malagar and Umbra was slain, The Hammer of Ages was retrieved, while the corrupted Tear fell deep into the chasms of Emberspike Mountains. However, there was no time for Alric and Meela to celebrate as another ancient evil reappeared.

Part 4 - Blood red sandstorm
After years of rebuilding his lost powers, Ishtar was back with his full power and then some. With Linirea having just finished a war, Ishtar planned to strike Hammerhold, before taking over the capital of Linirea. Hearing this, Alric and Meela sprung into action to stop Ishtar once and for all. They, along with volunteers from the Linirean army, confronted him at the palace ruins where he built up his army with the backing of the underworld itself.

The battle was fierce. Swarms of desert bandits and cult members would fall, only to rise back up again. Not to mention, Ishtar had full control of the underworld's Anubis warriors. Seeing this, Alric and Meela hatched a plan. Alric would draw the attention of the enemies, while Meela would sneak around to retrieve the spellbook. After a deadly encounter with the high priest, Meela returned with the spellbook to a barely holding on Alric. With the spellbook and his own power, Alric resurrected the entire tribe to aid him. With their numbers bolstered, Linirea pushed back Ishtar's army back to the underworld, along with Ishtar himself.

After the battle, the older members of the tribe chose to return to the afterlife, while the younger members chose to live on and rebuild the tribe. Before joining the older members, Balthazar gave Alric the blessing to become the next tribe chief, as well as Meela the blessing to become his son's wife. With Alric leading the tribe, they would settle down near the ruins to watch over it in case Ishtar or his cult would return again, as well as becoming a port town to open safe trade routes between Hammerhold and the southern continent.


Characters:

Alric
The only son of Chief Balthazar, and is the reincarnation of the great warrior Al-Tahir. A warrior of the nomadic Saraze tribe. One night, his tribe was attacked by bandits. He got mortally wounded and was left for dead. When he woke up, he saw everyone on the tribe dead on the ground, including his three friends and his father. Armed with the power to call upon the the dead, he sought for revenge by hunting down bandits in the desert.

Meela
A girl of the nomadic Saraze tribe who has a crush on Alric, and is the reincarnation of the founder of the Assassin's Guild, Miriam. She was wounded during the genocide, but ultimately survived by hiding away and playing dead. Believing everybody was dead, she wandered the desert in despair until she came upon the desert assassins. She joined them and quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the best assassins out there. After accidentally absorbing the power of one of Umbra's minions, she gained the power to manipulate shadows. From there, she gained the nickname "Mirage".

Note: Her skillset before getting shadow powers is slightly different. To list:
Before Shadow Dance, she threw 2 knives each to 4 enemies max. They dealt the same damage as Shadow Dance.
Before Shadow Dodge, she kicked up sand to an enemy's face as she backflipped away and threw a knife. The sand stunned them for a bit.
Before Lethal Strike, she kicked up sand to an enemy's face and quickly stabbed them in the back. Worked only in melee.

Her reliance on sand may also helped her bond with Alric during the fights in the jungle and cave. She would collect the sand from Alric's depleted sand warriors as ammo.

Chief Balthazar
The head of the nomadic Saraze tribe, and Alric's father. He got mortally wounded during the attack, and was unable to prevent the bandits to steal the spellbook that contained the spell to resurrect the dead, nor was he unable to prevent the death of his son. With his dying breath, he called upon his son's soul to re-inhabit his body, used his remaining life force to heal the wound, and performed a blood ritual to transfer his power to his son.

Ishtar the Ancient God King
Once a sorcerer so powerful he had his own cult. He killed the king of Nas'de kingdom and usurped the throne. However, his glory was short lived as he was assassinated mere weeks after his ascension. Centuries later, he was resurrected by his cult. However, due to the imperfect nature of the resurrection, his soul had to be bound to the gold necklace he wore all the time. With the backing of the underworld itself, he sought to rebuild Nas'de kingdom and expand it even further than before.

Note: I based his name on several thoughts. The God King is clearly based on Xerxes. In the bible, Xerxes' wife is Esther. I flipped the name, and I got Ishtar. Also, I'm basing his backstory on Imhotep from The Mummy films.

High Priest Amon
The current leader of Ishtar's cult. He staged the genocide of the Saraze tribe in order to retrieve the spellbook of the dead. Once Ishtar was resurrected, he serves as his second-in-command.

Haroun, Ardeth, and Layla
Alric's three closest friends and fellow warriors. They died in the genocide together. However, with Alric's newfound power, they're able to be revived, though having a sand body means they can't talk.

Note: I took their names from the Arabic spelling of the biblical Aaron, The Mummy, and The Scorpion King respectively.

Al-Tahir
A great warrior who opposed the God King centuries ago. Together with his wife Miriam, they sought to end the God King's reign. He stormed the palace as a distraction while his wife sneaked in to kill the God King. The mission was a success, but he died shortly after due to his injuries. He later reincarnated into Alric.

Note: The name's similarity to "Altair" is purely coincidental.

Miriam
Al-Tahir's wife who also opposed the God King centuries ago, and sought to end his reign. She sneaked into the palace while her husband drew the attention of the palace guards, and she killed the God King without too much trouble. However, her husband died shortly afterwards due to his injuries. In honor of his sacrifice, she founded the Assassin's Guild. She later reincarnated into Meela.


General Notes:

The spell to resurrect the dead is split into two parts. The first part is the written part, which is in the spellbook. This part allows the caster to create flesh out of earth, but it will be soulless, and unless the caster could maintain control over it, it will crumble shortly after. The second part is the unwritten part, which is carried within the chief's blood, and can only be passed via blood ritual. This part allows the caster to call upon the souls of the dead and make an impromptu vessel out of earth. If one spell is cast without the other, the result will be botched. No other spells are compatible, meaning people can't use a different soul resurrection spell after performing the body recreation spell and vice versa.
Note: This is inspired by the end of Bulletproof Monk, where the monk copied a magical scripture, but left out a few words, whispering them to the new guardians to remember instead, so if someone stole the scripture, it would be incomplete. A little bit of The Mummy's books of life and death is also thrown in.

In KRF, Saraze is a town near Hammerhold. It still is here in my concept, but it's gonna be formed much later, after the battle against the God King.

Not really related to anything, but I decided to look at The Mummy and The Scorpion King films because of the Anubis mini boss in Endless mode, and the idea just snowballs from there.

Mirage will be getting a wardrobe change. Instead of her in-game costume, she will be wearing the garb that is worn by the assassin barracks, only with a cape and the hood down. I'm not really trying to be conservative, I just think that for an assassin, her costume is too different from the actual assassins, not to mention the sheer impracticality of showing so much skin in a scorching desert.

The reason why Meela thought everybody was dead even though Alric survived is because Alric wakes up much later.


Early Draft:

Alric was supposed to start at level 10
Note: At first I want to get right away to the awesomeness, but I remembered character development is a thing.

There was supposed to be a Soul Gauntlet
Note: This is the very first draft of the Sand Warriors idea. I had the bandits wipe out the tribe to retrieve the soul gauntlet, which grants the wearer the power to raise the dead. Once the dust clears, the dying chief was supposed to tell Alric that they stole a fake one, with the real one still strapped on his arm, and that's what Alric used. I later decided to use the spellbook and blood instead.

Mirage had different names
Note: At first, I called her Mira in my shipping thread. Then I went for a more middle eastern feel to it, so I called her Miriam. However, after a bit of enlightenment, I decided to call her Meela instead, and repurposed Miriam for another character.

Alric's tribe had a different name
Note: I first named Alric's tribe the Sahra tribe, with Sahra being the Arabic word for desert. However, I looked at KRF's map on mobile, and I noticed Saraze town. An idea popped in my head, and I chose Saraze instead.

Mirage's backstory was different
Note: At first I used the backstory from the shipping thread as a placeholder. Then I came up with a better one.


Inspirations:
The Mummy movies
The Scorpion King movies
300
Conan the Barbarian
Bulletproof Monk
The Bible


Not sure if I'm done with this one, but I'm wrapping up for now.
Last edited by GeminiSparkSP on Tue Jan 10, 2017 5:56 pm, edited 13 times in total.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by Ruby_Hex » Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:35 am

:mrgreen: Looking forward to it!
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Tue Oct 18, 2016 4:28 am

Added the bare bones. I will definitely add more in the future.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Tue Oct 18, 2016 5:04 pm

Double post. Added more details, Alric's friends, and early drafts.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by RaZoR LeAf » Wed Oct 19, 2016 9:15 am

I said before it would be much better if you were to write a proper fix. Writing notes for characters and details of the history is easy. Heck, if you saw the kind of background notes I have for Zelda fics I've never written you'd have a fit. Likewise, the notes I have for my own KR fic (which I am currently adding to) are long and detailed, but the skill comes from putting them together and making them work in a story. Imagine Origins without the level introductions, but just a series of notes that sort of explain what's going on. It's not as interactive or imagination provoking as being able to see the story unfold.

You have great ideas, but they're just ideas in this format. Write them into a story, transport us to the desert, into the battle. Tell a tale, rather than explaining history.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Wed Oct 19, 2016 2:25 pm

RaZoR LeAf wrote:I said before it would be much better if you were to write a proper fix.

And I said before read the topic title.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by RaZoR LeAf » Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:30 pm

GeminiSparkSP wrote:
RaZoR LeAf wrote:I said before it would be much better if you were to write a proper fix.

And I said before read the topic title.


No comment on everything else I said?
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Wed Oct 19, 2016 5:14 pm

RaZoR LeAf wrote:No comment on everything else I said?

Nothing more than "I get headaches trying to write a story". I mean, I have ideas, it's just difficult for me to express them. This is the easiest way yet.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:32 pm

Double post. Added more stuff, and explained Saraze.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Mon Oct 24, 2016 2:12 am

Triple post. Changed a few details, Mirage's wardrobe, and added Grawl.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Sun Oct 30, 2016 3:01 pm

Quad post. Changed Mirage's placeholder backstory and added some more details.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:01 am

Quint post. Added more stuff and new characters.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Sat Dec 31, 2016 4:20 pm

Hexa post. Wrote part of the story summary, and removed Grawl.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Thu Jan 05, 2017 6:59 pm

Septa post. Finished the story summary.

Not sure if I'm done with this one, but I'm wrapping up for now.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by Big Bad Bug » Sun Jan 08, 2017 5:53 pm

So far, I really like it. There's a lot of good ideas and explains some things that never got any explanations in the game. Sometimes, I'm left wanting more out of it, like when "along the way, feelings happened," between Alric and Mirage, but the fact that I want more shows that I'm enjoying it. :)
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by Ruby_Hex » Mon Jan 09, 2017 12:28 am

This is really good! I like the idea of using the already existing kingdom rush game and info to make this story.
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Re: Fanfic Concept #2: Blood Red Sandstorm

by GeminiSparkSP » Tue Jan 10, 2017 5:57 pm

Added Mirage's pre-shadow skillset.
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