The Way of Unyielding Hope by Anthony Clay

Dramatic Premise: For this story, I'm postulating that the civilizations of the world were founded, and

continue to be ruled by, warrior philosophers. They are called different titles by their respective

cultures, but all agree upon the term “masters.” The masters are all experts in different fields, but the

martial arts are paramount among them all. No matter the nation, those highly skilled in the arts are

granted a great amount of respect.

Setting: The story takes place entirely in a secondary world. Avatar: the Last Airbender is a key

influence of mine. I practice the martial arts, Kung Fu specifically, and I like the idea of their study

being not only more prominent but also more respected on a global level. Being in a secondary world,

though, not only can I have society conform to my idealized form but I can also have fantastical

elements that are there but can only be found by those who know where and how to look.

Description of the Setting: The world is called Saggaun. It was created by a divinity called the

Sephirot. It/They wanted other beings to reach the state of Enlightenment, but on their own terms, to

see how else such a state could be attained. The first inhabitants of the world were the Promethosaurs,

and though gifted by the divine with great strength and tools to shape the world itself, they were mere

beasts. So the Sephirot sent one of their lesser Archons, an egg falling from the sky and hatching as a

new kind of being. Embodied as he was, the demigod took the name Archonyx. He had the body and

power of the Promethosaurs, but also the spark of soul within him. Archonyx had a beautiful plumage

that signified his divine purpose as a leader and guide. Though the Promethosaurs could not truly

understand him, Archonyx could herd them using fire and his own feathers as crude instructions or

incentive. Archonyx was charged with educating the Promethosaurs, for uplifting them to sapience.

The demigod though, betrayed his purpose. Learning, teaching, leading through wisdom, these

things were hard. Hurting, leading through strength, that was easy. Archonyx drove the Promethosaurs

to slave labor, finding the divine devices and building Archonyx a temple to himself he named Dinosia.

The Sephirot tried to correct this, raising new forms of life from the primordial soup, but Archonyx

would not allow himself to be challenged, the Promethosaurs wiped out all other competing lifeforms

at the behest of their master. Their servant forsaken them, their world stagnating under his talons, their

innocent creations suffering for his pride and lethargy, the Sephirot had no choice but to blast

Archonyx from the face of Saggaun. How Archonyx was brought to the world, echoed how he would

exit it. A great meteorite fell from the heavens, the hammer of the god's judgment. It's target? Dinosia.

The testament to Archonyx's self worship was driven into the abyss like a nail, remembered

now as the city of Dis, the seat of Hell. The rest of the Promethosaurs though were innocent. They were

forced to do evil's bidding but nor did they rise up to oppose him, for they had no capacity to choose

good or ill. So, the souls of the Promethosaurs could not ascend to Heaven nor be dammed to Hell.

Instead, their souls flowed into the very instruments they had been gifted and locked away. If all of the

devices were brought together at the site of where the Meteorite crashed though, the Promethosaurs

would return, Dis would rise from the depths, and Archonyx would reclaim the Earth for his own.

Enter humanity. Though physically weaker than the Promethosaurs, man had something that

they did not. They could think and aspire beyond instinct and survival; they could create, not only

fashioning tools and shaping the physical world, but also pondering and speculating on philosophy and

religion. Humans could aspire to become greater. The world was dangerous for humans, though, and

they had neither the strength of the Promethosaurs nor their divinely granted tools, hence the reason

why they made their own. Still, dire beasts and animals of all varieties but in monstrous sizes plagued

and attacked human settlements. Worse even than them, though, were the giants. These brutes appeared

close enough to human, but were more akin to the Promethosaurs, both in their lack of true thought and

in their monstrous strength. Humans could make weapons to fight them, but their strikes were

uncoordinated and ineffective against such brutes. Pained as They/It were/was to see the creations

suffer again, the Sephirot deemed it too dangerous to risk history repeating itself for them to overtly

intervene. The Sephirot could though, point the right humans in the right direction.

Three men and one woman convened, and decided that they must find a way for humanity to

defend itself against those that meant them harm. It was said the four shared a dream where a wizened

figure told them all to seek out the sacred beasts. Deciding that their shared dream was a vision, they

agreed to venture into their respective homeland's wild parts and seek these beasts.

Remulus found the eagle, which bade him build a city and taught him nobility, discipline, and

precision. Oten found the wolf, and at the cost of his eye it taught him honor, loyalty, and ferocity.

Tutan-Kangxi found the dragon, which asked him to solve its riddle, and if he succeeded it would teach

him wisdom, patience, and power. The three men returned, but the one woman never did. Managewea

ventured the furthest and never came back from the horizon.

Nevertheless, the three returning had become masters and were marked by their journeys.

Remulus had bronze twinged skin and a great mane, Oten had grown stag antlers and was almost a

giant himself in build, and Tutan-Kangxi had grown long whiskers and claws extended from his

fingers. Their time with their own teachers had taught them not only their new ideals, but to mimic

their movements and channel the power of the beasts. With the masters’ training, the humans’ weapons

became effective against the giants. Even without weapons they could now fight them; and with each

generation, the giants shrank in size. The dire beasts no longer attacked humanity either, because

humanity mimicked the movements of animals and the dire beasts saw them as being like themselves.

With humanity's early extinction averted, their nations were founded. The Leone Empire,

Nordheim No Kuni, and the Wu-Khet Empire. The first is a combination of the Roman Empire and

England, the second of Viking Norway and feudal Japan, and the third of ancient Egypt and ancient

China. Every three years, the masters would meet each other and discuss the affairs of their respective

protectorates. When one was in trouble, the others would offer their skills and resources. The meeting

also was the perfect time for students wanting to learn from them to present themselves as disciples.

The attendees would often compete against each other in friendly competition. The tradition cemented

itself over the years, and even after the founding members died, their successors continued as the

Masters’ Council and the tricentennial convening became the host to a grand tournament of fighters.

In modern times, it's thought that many of the more fantastical elements of the master's stories

were fabricated. Their animal aspects particularly were called into question. Nevertheless, they are the

truth, and following in the master's footsteps can allow anyone to take on the superhuman aspects of

the animals and other aspects of nature, the training though is closely guarded by the original master's

disciples.

The last nation, the one Managewea never returned from, was discovered relatively recently.

For being the continent that “lost the last master” it was deemed a damned place and the other nations

turned it into a penal colony, particularly the Leone Empire. In it's recent years though, the continent

started to gain some respectability and became known as the Columbian Commonwealth. The

Commonwealth even produced its own master named Chuck Kelly. Before he could even make it his

petition to join though, he was murdered after a duel, his opponent shooting him in the back.

• Hoop snake is a local creature along with the jackalope.

• http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FearsomeCrittersOfAmericanFolklore

• http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YowiesAndBunyipsAndDropBearsOhMy

4. Protagonist/Protagonists: Druh Hesher and Ted Bull. The hero and the mentor. Druh is a troubled

young boy. The world treats him like junk and he has grown callous because of it. This is mainly due to

his own fault, but the fact that his father, Ned Hesher, was the one who killed Kelly has made many

despise Druh by proxy. The fact that Ned abandoned Druh didn't help. Ted Bull presents himself as a

simple martial arts teacher when he takes Druh under his wing as a kind of juvenile correction offer.

Druh agreeing simply to avoid being landed in juvy. In reality, Ted is actually the next prospective

representative for the Commonwealth. In his heart of hearts, Druh wants to live down his father's sin

and show himself not to be like the man who murdered a hero. Ted meanwhile wants to show the world

that the Columbian Commonwealth is a great nation and not a den of criminals.

Antagonist/Antagonists: The story has two villains. The immediate adversary is Admiral Arthur

Creswell, the more looming threat is the cult of the Promethosaurs. Creswell does not want the

Commonwealth to be under the stewardship of the Council. He feels their way of ruling by wisdom is

merely a facade. That all the masters are themselves the world's best fighters reveals they rule by

strength. Creswell plans to launch a naval raid upon a Wu-Ket region, essentially convincing the world

that the Commonwealth are a bunch of violent ner-do-wells. The source of Creswell's rage comes

largely from his daughter Ruth. She is bound to a wheelchair and he feels that the cultures the masters

cultivate would treat her like an outcast for her lack of physical ability. He's wrong, but can't see it.

Meanwhile the cult of the Promethosaurs is a secret society dedicated to unearthing the remains

of the primordial beasts, and finding the tools that the Sephirot left them. The cult reveres the

Promethosaurs for their power and lack of intelligence. They believe nothing matters, ethics,

philosophy, science, ideals of any kind are just projections of man upon a random universe. That the

true insult is humanity's striving to achieve and build anything of itself. They are nihilistic

misanthropes with the zeal of terrorists. The cult's operations are kept hidden for they know they would

not be able to fight the Council and its fighters on even terms, they work through shadows, spies,

assassins, and cutthroats. Their aims are to demolish cities and monuments and sabotage scientific

discoveries but their ultimate goal is to resurrect the Promethosaurs and usher in the extinction of

humanity. Archonyx is playing them from beyond, they don't know of his existence. The irony is that

the closest thing to their deity does indeed want civilization, just one singularly devoted to him rather

than ideals and excellence of the self.

Secondary Characters: Ingrid Hisikawa is a “Samu-Thegn” of Nordheim No Kuni. She is a friend of

Ted and one of his biggest sponsors for getting on the Master's Council. While female Samu-Thegn

were never unheard of, she's the first to reach a prominent position of authority. Apart from her fighting

skills, she's also a beautiful singer. She has been trying to find the cult in her own country with no luck,

as such, she can't join Ted and Druh on their journey lest she leave her people defenseless.

Ruth Creswell is the Admiral's daughter, and despite her legs not working properly, she is in

remarkable spirits. Unlike her father, she doesn't hold those of great physical ability in disdain. In fact,

it's in part what attracts her to Druh. Despite her disability, she is accomplished in other areas of

intellect. Chief among her talents is mechanical engineering. She built many of her own toys as a child

and even knows the inner workings of her father's ships better than he does as far as the nuts and bolts

are concerned.

Tutan-Kangxi: Yes, one of the original masters, still the Pharaoh of the Wu-Khet empire. Tutan

achieved a state of such enlightened self-perfection that he had achieved immortality. As he aged

though, his animal aspects became more and more pronounced until fully transforming into a dragon

himself, just like his master. He rules his empire unseen, a mock funeral and unseen coronation passing

his many names along. Only he knows the truth of the cult, them having attempted to assassinate him

but falling to their knees upon seeing him in the likeness of their own terrible lizard idols. In penance,

Tutan turned them into jade soldiers and sealed them in sarcophagi, now serving as his personal guard.

Plot Development: The story is meant to be a journey of redemption and self empowerment for Druh.

As he steps out of his father's shadow, learns to fight and live from Ted, defeats Creswell, and

discovers a purpose in stopping the cult from summoning Archonyx and destroying civilization.

Resolution: Druh succeeds in stopping Creswell but his mentor must remain on the Council as he

ventures into the shadows of the world alone to find the true enemy.

discoveries but their ultimate goal is to resurrect the Promethosaurs and usher in the extinction of

humanity. Archonyx is playing them from beyond, they don't know of his existence. The irony is that

the closest thing to their deity does indeed want civilization, just one singularly devoted to him rather

than ideals and excellence of the self.

Secondary Characters: Ingrid Hisikawa is a “Samu-Thegn” of Nordheim No Kuni. She is a friend of

Ted and one of his biggest sponsors for getting on the Master's Council. While female Samu-Thegn

were never unheard of, she's the first to reach a prominent position of authority. Apart from her fighting

skills, she's also a beautiful singer. She has been trying to find the cult in her own country with no luck,

as such, she can't join Ted and Druh on their journey lest she leave her people defenseless.

Ruth Creswell is the Admiral's daughter, and despite her legs not working properly, she is in

remarkable spirits. Unlike her father, she doesn't hold those of great physical ability in disdain. In fact,

it's in part what attracts her to Druh. Despite her disability, she is accomplished in other areas of

intellect. Chief among her talents is mechanical engineering. She built many of her own toys as a child

and even knows the inner workings of her father's ships better than he does as far as the nuts and bolts

are concerned.

Tutan-Kangxi: Yes, one of the original masters, still the Pharaoh of the Wu-Khet empire. Tutan

achieved a state of such enlightened self-perfection that he had achieved immortality. As he aged

though, his animal aspects became more and more pronounced until fully transforming into a dragon

himself, just like his master. He rules his empire unseen, a mock funeral and unseen coronation passing

his many names along. Only he knows the truth of the cult, them having attempted to assassinate him

but falling to their knees upon seeing him in the likeness of their own terrible lizard idols. In penance,

Tutan turned them into jade soldiers and sealed them in sarcophagi, now serving as his personal guard.

Plot Development: The story is meant to be a journey of redemption and self empowerment for Druh.

As he steps out of his father's shadow, learns to fight and live from Ted, defeats Creswell, and

discovers a purpose in stopping the cult from summoning Archonyx and destroying civilization.

Resolution: Druh succeeds in stopping Creswell but his mentor must remain on the Council as he

ventures into the shadows of the world alone to find the true enemy.