The Eternal: Fallout

STORY

✧ STORY ✧

Preview

How did this story came to be? (aka introductory author's notes before the real meat of the bun) skip to the current story if you only wanna know about what goes on in the real deal, tho having this extra background knowledge is probably helpful to knowing bonus meta development concepts leading up to this point if that sounds tasty to you:

TEF is arguably my magnum opus, having roots all the way back from 2018 with its original premise simply being about a couple of orphan children who tried to seek belonging in a world that deemed them outcasts, before stumbling upon dimensions created by an pathetic loser immortal that tried to separate them, then successfully escaping and being recruited as explorers by a lone explorer lead that became a mentor figure to them, throw aliens from the moon, a mysterious ass mountain, long lost siblings, family beef, trapped souls in necklaces, time travel and intergalactic war into the mix then you'll get the base idea of how much of a wack ass mess it was lmao

Initially it was a series of oddly connected and disconnected tales with no set protagonist, though seeking belonging has always been the main reoccuring theme throughout the years that it eventually solidified into the current thing, the whole thing spanned around five stories by 2020 with several renditions, before the ultimate revamp around 2021 - 2022 that lead to what we have today which I'm pretty proud of to say the least

A lot of the og shit are not exactly scrapped but rather repurposed into the current story (aside from the time travelling unfortunately... we'll get back to that eventually when I find somewhere that fits lol) with the cast no longer being orphans but still remaining as troubled childhood friends that found comfort from each other, whatever aliens and intergalactic shitshows are now just an ancient empire that is sealed away underneath the aforementioned mountain, now with ten times more explorer shenanigans and family beef, and said immortal remains pathetic (ha)

Like the rest of my stories, TEF is meant to be a multimedia storytelling project where I dump all the lore shenanigans via artwork + written snippets + playlists + moodboards + edits + animatics + the occasional memes as a peek into these characters' lives, though in my head I watch it as a show spanning five seasons (or more realistically, an illustrated novel, though that will take forever now huh) so for now enjoy the fun scraps

So What is the Current Story About Anyway?

The Eternal: Fallout follows the aftermath of The Eternal, a failed mountain expedition that caused the disappearance of a group of explorers. Seven years prior to the events of the story, the explorer agency's youngest sublead has sent an explorer crew to Mount. Eden, in an attempt to solve the outbreak of magically corrupted creatures across the land, rumoured to have originated from the mountain. The plan was purposefully hidden from anyone who was not involved in the expedition, as the mountain has been off-limits for centuries due to its presumed dangerous nature. However, he eventually comes clean about the tragedy with guilt after said expedition backfired and caused the explorer crew to go missing. He has since been kicked out of the agency and is presumed dead.

The tragedy has since been known as "The Eternal", with every victim to have never returned from the incident. The truth reveals that the ancient fallen empire of Corondale has been trying to recruit mortals for a grand plan to take over the immortal realm, by tricking and manipulating the missing victims into believing the mortal realm is at stake and will be destroyed by the immortals if they don't comply. Even then, the general public is not aware of the truth and greatly blames it on the explorer agency of O.R.C.A (Odukora's Recruitment of Certified Adventurers), tainting it's previously prestigious reputation, and leading to the creation of an opposing alliance by the name of O.W.L (Odukora's Wanderers League) that aims to solve this mystery once and for all, a mission that the agency greatly dismisses as too dangerous and risky to take part in. This causes a nearly decade long rivalry between the agency and the alliance, though some would consider the rivalry in later years to have died down a tad bit as both sides come down to have one common goal: to keep the mortal realm of Naru at peace and away from threats, even if said objective has to be carried out in differing means.

Notably that the agency operates on the law and takes responsibility to ensure safety of all explorers (The Eternal becomes an outlier in this regard, hence the disappointment and distrust by certain citizens after said tragedy), whilst the alliance has zero to no concern towards said limits and goes further lengths that involve the use of illegal wild magic. This becomes one of the core conflicts within the main plot, as our protagonist navigate from one side to the other, questioning their own morality and motifs after the loss of a close friend that was involved in the tragedy itself.

The main story follows Helio, a humble farm kid turned determined explorer as they attempt to seek for an old friend, Jingle who has since disappeared in the Eternal. Helio and Jingle are close friends since childhood, having been met through Jingle's younger sister Lyrin, whom Helio befriended during summer camp. The siblings dreamed of becoming explorers to defend their hometown from corrupted creatures that have posing a danger to the villagers' livelihoods for decades. While Lio admires the two's ambition, they deem themself more well fit to a humble life on their family's farm, and would much prefer staying away from any dangerous explorer related pursuits. That is until Jingle went missing in The Eternal.

The tragedy has since caused a rift between Helio and Lyrin, with the latter resorting to her own methods to seek out Jingle as she flees the village, leaving Helio with no choice but to step up as the "new hero" of their hometown, starting off their journey as a recruit of the agency. Despite the distrust it has gained since the tragedy, Helio firmly believed that the agency will make an effort to find the victims someday. Much to their dismay, though, after several years of training, Helio is deemed especially incompetent by the agency, cowardly even. Truth be told, they're not even that bad, the agency is just overly prestigious and deems anyone not up to their level a "bad one". Even then, Helio remains dedicated and believes that their hardwork will lead to fruition. It simply hasn't dawned on them yet that they can't always expect change with fear ridden obedience. Eventually, Helio runs into the alliance, one that the agency is publicly known to have "massive beef" with ever since The Eternal. The alliance in return deems Lio a exceptional fighter with wasted potential, something they themself has trouble even comprehending.

Where the Story Begins

The prologue starts off with the last conversation between Helio and Jingle before he left to join the mountain expedition. Whilst the first chapter reveals that Helio isn't all that competent as an explorer, at least that's what the agency lead, Oak deems them to be anyway, as Helio fumbles over the risk of losing their position as an explorer, which in their head, inevitably means they will never find Jingle again. Though Oak has high standards, he isn't heartless, and attempts giving Helio a second chance by assigning them a mission to retrieve an ancient artifact, partnering them up with the bubbly and excitable Truffle.

Helio had hoped that nothing will go wrong, yet the two stumbled upon a mysterious masked figure who attempted to steal the artifact. Fortunately for them, the alliance was there to save the day, as it's infamous leader, Orion offers the two to join them instead. The free spirited Truffle had no hesitance in switching sides, yet it took a bit of convincing for Helio to consider abandoning everything they've built in the agency up to that point. The two eventually get to stay the night at the alliance's underground hideout before subsequently introduced to Orion's niece, the feisty and mischievous Sereina, forming the main trio with a tight knit dynamic for the majority of the story, but members of said crew will continue to expand as they meet new allies along their journey. Though, it doesn't come easy for them as leaving behind the agency has led Helio to less than favoured encounters with recruits from their former affiliation.

Helio eventually finds out that Jingle, along with the rest of the victims have been recruited by Corondale under the false promise to "save the mortal realm". Despite countless attempts at convincing Jingle to return, Jingle refuses and remains firm in his stance to affiliate with Corondale. The two continue to be at odds with each other throughout the story, with their conflicting beliefs becoming the core of the narrative.

TIMELINE

✧ TIMELINE ✧

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Ancient Ties

Corondale

The Eternal

SETTING

✧ SETTING ✧

Like most of my stories, The Eternal: Fallout will mostly be set in the mortal realm, though the immortal realm does indirectly influence the narrative due to it's long historical connections with the mortal realm itself, notably sealing the ancient empire of Corondale into what one would consider The Deep Realm, a realm of darkness that resides right beneath Mount. Eden.

Corondale was the sovereign empire of the Polaris bloodline back in the mid Medieval Era. It reigned over the mortal realm, and had plans to expand their power further by taking over the immortal realm. The plan is known to have backfired as the rulers of the immortal realm (one might consider as gods) saw them as a threat towards the realms, before subsequently sealing them away as an attempt to reverse the effects of said threat, and they were successful in doing so. Corondale has since fallen from the face of the mortal realm, with it's innocent citizens free from the brainwashing that said kingdom has succumbed them to.

Though, Corondale is not known to surrender as it's long reigned emperor aims to seek revenge, but first, he must break free from the deep realm by building a portal, and what better way to receive help for it, than by collaborating with a banished magic prodigy from the immortal realm. The shared hatred towards the immortal realm has sparked an unlikely partnership that involves the Soul Crystal, an ancient essence of power once wielded by one of the two first goddesses in the early Genesis Era but has since stolen by the magic prodigy, temporarily sealing away any direct contact between the mortal realm and the immortal realm.

The Soul Crystal was once shattered and has dwindled in ability ever since an ancient tragedy involving the two goddesses, yet with enough supplies of wild magic, it shall be used to break open the magic border between the deep realm and the mortal realm through a portal. Said wild magic will be supplied through collecting ancient artifacts that are mostly scattered through Naru ever since the Truce of Peace, an agreement that banned the usage of wild magic after the War Era ended to ensure safety, with the agency especially abiding to the agreement and deems the alliance especially dangerous for not doing so.

Hence, most of the story involves Helio and their new-found allies from the alliance attempting to stop said artifacts from being stolen by Corondale, while occasionally running into agency recruits that deem their course of action too much of a threat even if it was for the betterment of the mortal realm. The story at large takes place across several regions as the crew of misfits go around to retrieve each of the artifacts across the land.

LORE

PLOT