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I really want to write a villain that starts to doubt his beliefs because of what he's seen the protagonist do. And then in their final conflict, a clash between truths, they both come out of it believing in something together.

So the first order of business was making the character- whom I've decided to be Ulric, leader of the cheesy World Government. I'll make him enigmatic, and give him an ability in this world that suits him. That's when I decided on giving him (pretty limited) time manipulation, and maybe I'll give him something else as well. He'll be honest, but he won't always mention everything.

In the final fight against him, the player will make their way through the crumbling military headquarters of the World Government, as fights break out between the many disguised groups that had infiltrated the World Government's ranks. At the head of the base, Ulric would be seen watching from his office. Flames pillaring up to the sky while the earth pulses from the constant skirmishes. A glimmer in Ulric's eyes as he sees you enter the room. Behold! Monologue. He swiftly pummels you with his time manipulation until your body regenerates. Maybe here Ulric begins to have faith in your determination, as he picks up his sword with the intention of beating you fairly. Rain patters against the window while the music stirs to life.

Here the first phase of Ulric's fight would begin. He'll be a swift and agile opponent, deflecting attacks and countering without delay. I may have plans for him to have an offhand weapon or some other abilities, but for now this simple back and forth is enough.

After Ulric's first phase is dealt with, an explosion will cause the fortress to collapse. Depending on how things go, it'll either be an arena that constantly shifts because of the destruction, or a floating platform conjured by the both of you to protect one another from falling down onto the beach. As the arena stabilizes, Ulric pulls out all of the tools at his disposal. (Hopefully the player does too, the first phase shouldn't be hard enough to force them to use everything.) Narratively speaking, both you and Ulric should be at the same level. By the end of this phase, you and Ulric trade a fatal blow.

Both of your stamina and abilities are all dried up as you suffer a massive fall onto the beach behind the crumbling fortress. Your weapons are unusable, and your magic is equally useless. The game is reduced to its most bare bones mechanics as you're forced into a fist fight. Losing in this phase doesn't end in a game over, and instead grants an ending. Winning leads to a choice between sparing or killing Ulric. And alternate endings based on previous choices are being considered.

Again, the main things I want to display in this fight are admiration and internal conflict. I don't really want it to be a "ouhhh you're stronger bleh". And I also want to emphasize flow in the battle. okay yeah so this isn't really written to get every point down (especially about Ulric's character) but it's just some random thought I had for the ending of this story

Okay bye bye!

[keyatboard]

Sometimes I get a little carried away with thinking about world ideas rather than writing things down. Hopefully this is a step out of that habit!

For nearly a thousand years, countless empires and governments would rise and fall in their endless struggle for the resources of the continent. The reason for the wars? Magic. The reason why the wars never stated a winner? Magic. The wars boosted the potency and complexity of magic to such a degree that it became second nature to most. What started as a simple fire starter would lead to the creation of the world's deadliest weapons. All was not lost for the people in this constant war, as the research into magic would present beautiful results of creation. ... Yeah so anyway throw that all aside because one of those governments led a breakthrough and everything went exponential. It would occur to them when using proficient mages in the war that they would contract an awful madness. The frenzy wouldn't be the same for any single person- and for most it would appear to simply exist to extremify one's qualities and goals.

The Gilded Armies, before rebranding into the World Government, suggested that the madness would aid in productivity! Before promptly being proven wrong by having a mage go on a massacre regardless of which banner their targets fell under. This was awful news. Their previous strategy of claiming the continent through a pure contest of arms could be negligible if they lose their advantage now. Higher ranking mages can easily fall victim to the madness, causing most to throw away their allegiances. Some random, unimportant Colonel would then go on to suggest a new strategy.

Taking what they have learned about magic- still in its unofficial state-The Gilded Armies mass produced soldiers to blitz the competing kingdoms. None of these soldiers were trained particularly well, but they were all bestowed relatively decent knowledge on destructive magic. The best thing about them was that they were disposable! And unlike the high ranks, they were much less susceptible to madness. Unfortunately for the Gilded Armies, there were many battles where high ranks were needed, and many of those mages have yet to be captured or executed! It was noted by Ulric that the madness would eventually be overcome by the soul as the user returns to normal- if the madness had not piqued their interest.

As more and more soldiers were needed, more and more young men and children would be drafted. Paranoia swept across the empire as news of “brutal automatons” would spread like wildfire. The research was rushed and those automatons backfired on their creators. Only one would have ever been used in combat. Regardless, the army would blitz through the remaining kingdoms. Tales of demons and the likes would spread, yet they would remain myths.

In just a few years, the thousand year war would end with Ulric receiving two promotions in this time. To distract from the mass graves, the Gilded Armies rebranded into the World Government. A series of unfortunate events land Ulric at the highest chain in command.

Yeah uh… God came down and she decided that heaven was full so she tore a hole between Heaven, Earth, and Hell. A crazy spooky pandemic of souls repossessing their rotting corpses would promptly lead to YET ANOTHER damned conflict on the continent- don't even mention to Ulric that there are demons now. There are even angels- crap is not funny. It might just be a universal law that some kind of conflict needs to happen.

I actually have more in depth things planned, but it's probably best for me to write the main ideas down.

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