???

I'm not sure what to call this yet. This will probably be a story about the struggles of a family trying to find shelter during what was then-called The Final War in Tesuliyani in an effort to bring the overly general and broad description of Tesuliyani into a more detailed and individualized light.

 

There will be 3 main issues present in the story:

1. The underground bunkers made for world-wide catastrophe were designed many years ago (50? 100? 1000+?) and are not equipped for the population of the Tdaldoik Peninsula present during The Final War. The unlucky few who were not eligible for reserved slots or lived close enough to a big city to be transported in time have been put on a waiting list and will be randomly selected for entrance to a nearby bunker. Those who are not selected will be supplied with tools to make their own make-shift bunker, a map showing places to dig away from civilization, and optionally enough food and water to last a few months in case they were not self-sufficient enough before the news of the war to use their own supply. While most people will know if they are accepted or not within a day, our story will take place with one particular family who have their acceptance/denial letter delayed for up to a week due to the possibility of renovation in a nearby bunker, hopefully to room it up enough for a few hundred more visitors. During their wait they will preemptively be sent supplies for self-bunkering and will dig on their own. Their week long wait will quickly get to them, everyday feeling more and more hopeless as the existential threat of the Beast grows nearer. Argims, a Tesuli equivalent of a teenager and the youngest daughter of the family, will eventually be thrown into despair as she proclaims, "Face it! We've been sentenced to death!"

2. As the family's waiting period draws to a close, the Fafdoik will make a sudden ambush on their town. They seek to force the town to submit to their will and join their ranks on a threat of death. The family will join due to their decaying reliance on the acceptance letter and their consequential loss of Tdaldoik pride (not to mention the existential threat of the Beast wiping out all life on Tesuliyani makes it difficult to care for contributing to a few deaths before the fact). They figure this new force will make them better off than if they faced the war on their own. However, this makes them unable to make it to the bunker even if they're accepted unless they find a way to escape the Fafdoik. I've yet to decide whether they're eventually accepted or not after the ambush takes place.

3. Argims will be the main protagonist. She was the only one who's yet to finish the Tdaldoik equivalent of grade school in the family, and as such was the most full of teen-like angst and wonder for what the future holds before news of the war was heard. She was heavily inspired by Tdaldoik propaganda seen in her school and wanted to be a part of the Tdaldoik army, particularly to defend the southern border of Kerk to Byinhol. However, she has faced harsh criticism at school when voicing this desire. I've yet to decide exactly what her affliction is, but something such as being short, having a less effective scrain, or perhaps having a mental disorder (which magic can't fix, if that's possible) are possibilities for her peers' criticism. She will be told shortly before graduating that she is recommended for less attractive job opportunities, and being enlisted in the army is likely to not be a possibility but depends on the army's needs upon graduation. She will become spiteful of some of her peers who are guaranteed a position in the army right out of graduation, one of whom being Kurentol. Kurentol has been known in her class for having a very poor work ethic; however, because he has the perfect body type, was born with a gifted scrain, and his father works closely with the third Commander, he was most recommended for the army. She would regularly scoff at him for ever considering such an important job up until graduation day. After graduation, Argims struggled with coming to terms with her job options and with facing adulthood as a blank slate-- devoid of motivation or any dreams. Shortly after graduating, news of the war broke out, but the town Argims was in was too far away to immediately be sent a divolting bus, resulting in them missing their chance at a bunker. After the Fafdoik ambush of their town, Argims would be forced to work with Kurentol making food, armor, and assorted weaponry. Argims, full of angst, hatred, and a little nihilism, felt that she was working for the enemy right before their inevitable destruction-- she wanted to live a little before she's gone. She settled her differences with Kurentol and together they forged a plan to escape and, with both of them no longer fearing the possibility of death, wanted to run far away to face the Beast head-on as warriors. She eventually tells her family about this plan close to its completion, but her family forbids her from going through with it. However, Argims knows that there's nothing her family can do to stop her while under Fafdoik control, and will have to mentally battle between the supposed safety of working for the enemy and making a near-impossible escape to achieve another near-impossible and definitely impulsive goal. This tertiary dynamic will serve as a narrative about how to deal with growing up during a seemingly hopeless world-wide scenario while also believing the one thing you've always wanted to be is now only a venture towards your own destruction.

There will be 6 main characters:

1. Blutdont Magurn - The father of the Magurn family. Very insecure and unsure of himself, but he masked this before the war by being overly prideful of Tdaldoik culture and government despite not contributing to either. He was a part of a local strip mining organization, he used to have to use streaming magic to directly mine land in search of minerals but after many years was promoted to a manager position a little under two years before the war began. Before the promotion his family was afforded enough credit to have basic necessities and a better than average house, but afterwards some low-tier luxury items became accessible for purchase every other doulm (Tesuli equivalent of a month-- about ~22 days).

2. Darkat Magurn - The mother of the Magurn family. In contrast to Blutdont she is quite sure of herself and puts less emphasis on Tdaldoik pride over Magurn pride. She was a devoted housewife but was not ashamed of it, her job options out of grade school were less than optimal in her eyes. The school's cumulative assessment marked her as having a low attention span and anger issues, two things Darkat admittedly had but felt they weren't serious enough to warrant the complete removal of all care opportunities, the one thing she felt she needed to do. She tried fighting the school's ranking of her to get better job prospects, but the process was long and arduous. Blutdont, her loving boyfriend at the time, hated seeing Darkat so stressed everyday and decided to take matters into his own hands by asking Darkat if she'd like to marry him and file for being a housewife so the government would afford them an extra half-credit income (the economic system of most of the Tdaldoik Peninsula and the Bahwhon works quite differently from Earth's). Darkat was skeptical at first, thinking it was only taking the easy way out of a difficult situation, but after many long talks they both came to realize that she's always loved taking care of children, and with the slow progress her town was making to reassess her personality traits she began to lose hope in waiting for better job opportunities. Ever since then, she's been at home taking care of their two kids with pride.

3. Roubak Magurn - The eldest of the Magurn children. He was born four years before Argims, the youngest child, and as a result had already held a highly respectable job for years before the war started. He was assessed as highly intelligent and motivated at graduation, and was able to try out and then succeed at holding down a job as a Mana Pool Technician. He was sad that he had to move away from his family to the center of town where the mana pool was located, but promised to visit them whenever he had the time. He was the first person in the family for many generations to have held such a successful career, and was quickly provided a house, quality food and drinks, and many high-class luxuries the rest of the Magurns could only dream of having. Although Roubak would have loved to share his newfound success with his family on a regular basis, because of the economic system present at the time wealth was not something one could freely spend on anything for any purpose, but something one was lent by the government (usually with the stipulation of one's personal needs, or desire in relation to one's achievements) in exchange for the level of production one serves to the Tdaldoik people. As a result, he was officially not allowed to offer his family any of the fruits of his labor, but unofficially during certain nights in the week he'd sneak over to the outskirts of town with his family to give them luxury items for free. Roubak never married as he prioritized his job and family, but planned to one day.

4. Argims Magurn - The youngest of the Magurn family. She was much more free spirited and creative than Roubak-- perhaps in another life she would have become a great artist, but in her case she became enamored with being in the army since she was a small child. Unfortunately, she was never as good with spellcasting as her fellow classmates, and it wasn't until she was 3/4 of the way through her schooling before she was diagnosed with a faulty scrain. She was determined to push through her disability however, believing that she could be what was called a "raw warrior", or a soldier who focuses on grunt work and hand-to-hand combat over spellcasting. However, before she graduated she was warned by her teachers that her cumulative assessment's current prediction wasn't looking great for the army lifestyle. She was told her temperament, work ethic, and body type were sub-par for army recommendation at best. Argims tried not to let this get to her either for many reasons; perhaps it was to prove them all wrong, perhaps it was out of a fear of having to start her journey of self-discovery all over again, maybe it was due to her seeing her brother's great success and wanting to mirror it, perhaps it was her parent's subtle and unintentional pressuring to have a better life than the ones they lived, and maybe it was all of these at once. As graduation day drew nearer, the warning signs grew. Her teachers tried to tell her that her assessment was now drawing to completion, and it was even worse for the army than it was initially predicted to be. At this point she was told that the only way she'd be allowed in is if some niche lower ranking job, such as being a cleaner, in charge of laundry, or a fry cook, was desperately looking for candidates. She still didn't listen. 

Upon graduation, her mother immediately pressured her to challenge the assessment, but the old story she had heard as a child about the flawed challenge system in their town as well as the constant doubt she heard in school got to her. She didn't think she could mentally handle putting in the effort just for it to go no where, but also didn't know how to accept her current job options. The government only allowed an 8 doulm window between graduation and finding a job before you're legally declared an adult who cannot rely on their parents' credit for income, after that Argims would officially become homeless until she finally accepted herself. Although 8 doulms was a decently long time, she didn't know how long it'd take for her to realize who she really was. She was caught up in the delusion of being a Tdaldoik soldier for too long. Little did she know her time was about to get cut even shorter, as only a few anxiety-filled weeks passed before the news and every electronic device blared out the phrase, "THE FINAL WAR HAS BEGUN!"

5. Kurentol Ongentri - The ex-arch-nemesis and soon-to-be best friend of Argims. He was an only child in a highly privileged family. He was pretty careless and acted like a class-clown throughout his schooling years as he was guaranteed a position in the army practically from birth. His father worked closely with Shypu Sandr, the third Commander, in New Fwak, hundreds of miles from Katels-raw where they all grew up. This left Kurentol with many undeserved riches and locally he and his family were quite well known. However, this came at the cost of being without a father figure for most of his life. When The Final War was announced to be imminent it was the first time in Kurentol's life that anything bad (let alone catastrophic) had happened. He panicked harder than most others, the franticness getting to his mom when she called his dad to try and get him to order the Commanders to send a divolting bus to their town quicker for Kurentol. His dad was able to get a bunker near the town currently in renovation to speed up the process and make room for one more town, but due to his job and social obligations he was unable to fly down to join them. He was already stationed at the biggest and most secure Tdaldoik bunker and was being tasked with assisting the Commanders in the tri-poin coordinated defense against the Beast. When the Fafdoik ambush occurred, Kurentol was told by his mother not to reveal his true name in case they recognize it for his strong anti-traditionalist, pro-Tdaldoik father. He went by Tdurenk Selgont, the last name being his mother's maiden name.

6. Tdalargoun Gesentri - The head of the raid on Katels-raw. He was born into a vehemently traditionalist household, and as most Tdaldoik traditionalists were extremely anti-Tdaldoik. These specific type of traditionalists call themselves "Tdiredoik", a Blundak-ification of the ancient traditionalist word "chireh" meaning higher, godly. 

They lived in a hidden village on Daka, an ex-Bahwhon island to the west of the Tdaldoik peninsula which recently went under Kelvel rule. It's been known for having a high population of traditionalists, mostly Bahwhon but with a sizeable minority of Tdaldoik extremists. The village Tdalargoun grew up in was named Tdirejen-raw, which planned to relocate sometime soon due to the Kelvel originating from secret Bahwhon raids on run-away Tdaldoik extremists which the Tdiredoik only just discovered after the Kelvel takeover. However, The Final War made these plans unnecessary as well as made it much easier to sneak back to the Tdaldoik Peninsula for raiding since most of the Tdaldoik army was camping out in bunkers. 

As a child, his parents would frequently bring up the subject of "The Great Revolution". According to Tdiredoik legend, The Great Revolution is this mythical event where a massive civil war will end the current Tdaldoik regime and a new age of Tdiredoik rule would finally be ushered in. Their ideas stem from the same ancient origin as Bahwhon traditionalism, but many thousands of years ago when the Tdaldoik first learned of traditionalism some people interpreted it not as a Bahwhon-centric delusion as most Tdaldoik did, but instead as the truth-- that this ancient culture found in space really did stem from the gods. Because the unbelieving Bahwhon didn't have such a strong distaste for the belief as the unbelieving Tdaldoik, the extremism was mostly isolated to the Tdaldoik branch of traditionalism. 

Tdalargoun's parents knew a lot of old army tactics and were very knowledgeable in the art of combat in general. They passed down their knowledge of war to Tdalargoun before he even entered school; however, because most Tdiredoik refuse to serve in the army, most of their combat knowledge stems from pre-class magic teachings from over a thousand years ago, making them more or less like raw-warriors than the advanced Tdaldoik soldiers of today (some ultra-extreme Tdaldoik traditionalists reject all magic past basic magic simply because their combat teachings and source info on traditionalism-- the space signal-- came from pre-class magic times, but the village of Tdirejen-raw did not especially believe in traditionalism this strictly).

Tdalargoun was raised in a Tdirejen-raw household and went to Tdirejen-raw schools with Tdirejen-raw classmates and teachers-- there was no chance for him to ever question the traditionalist framework. Unlike most Tdaldoik schools, school in this village was organized and treated like a military camp. Combat training and war strategy took precedence over math or science. When Tdalargoun graduated, there was no highly technical cumulative assessment, everyone was either a hunter/gatherer for the village or a Tdiredoik soldier based purely upon their obedience and strength. Tdalargoun was selected as a soldier, and with his quick reflexes and naturally strong figure he quickly rose through the ranks.

When The Final War was announced, Tdirejen-raw as well as many other hidden extremist villages on islands surrounding the Tdaldoik Peninsula sprung immediately into action. They geared themselves up for war and fled to the southern region of Kerk, where they figured many towns would be too far from a bunker to be immediately driven to safety, a perfect breeding ground for new Tdiredoik cadets. Their ultimate mission is to stop as many people as possible from reaching safety and potentially helping to defend against the Beast. Their view of The Final War was very much like a kind of Christian Armageddon, where the Beast would either kill off the evils of Tesuliyani (Tdaldoiks, Pouklonpae, Kelvel, pretty much everyone except Bahwhons and traditionalists, or just traditionalists) or would kill off all Tesuli in order to rebirth them as a better people. (Unlike the Bahwhon traditionalists, the Tdiredoik's ideology is much less consistent among their population-- to continue the Christianity analogy, the Tdaldoik branch can be thought of as a conglomerate of many protestant beliefs while the Bahwhon's branch could be thought of as a mostly-singular Catholicism.)

The setting:

Katels-raw, a small town in the middle of Kerk, Tdaldoik Peninsula. Mostly flat grassland with surrounding forests. The town was used as one of the central mana excavation mining facilities for Kerk's mana crystal supplement supply (extra class magic storage usually used for war) up until a few decades ago when most of Kerk's population moved northwards with the dying down of the war on New Ponyok. The town became oversaturated in mines, and hoped to continue its mana suppliment business by selling its supply to the western Bahwhons, now known as the Kelvel. The town's business has been kept afloat by this transition ever since but it can't last, the continuing dying of the war on New Ponyok will eventually make the Kelvel less needy for mana supplements, and selling their supply to the force trying to end the war only speeds up this process. If the town cannot adapt to a changing economy, it may become a ghost town with all its previous residents being forced to move northward. 

Although the end of this seemingly eternal war would be a monumental moral achievement, the crux of the southern Tdaldoik and northern Pouklonpae economies rely heavily on the survival of the war. Both governments have been working tirelessly with the Bahwhon and now newly-created Kelvel to give these dying economies new life, but all attempts have been futile. Up until The Final War, efforts were only just being given to try and instead find a new place for the displaced Tdaldoik and Pouklonpae townspeople to live. One idea was to radically demilitarize Byinhol and quickly turn it into the extremely productive region the Pouklonpae and Tdaldoik have been fighting for to begin with. However, such radical change without first verifying the tensions between the two races are majoritively calmed would be a recipe for reinstigation. Katels-raw has therefore remained extremely vulnerable to both economic and physical collapse should the war either suddenly vanish or reignite respectively, making it especially unprepared for Fafdoik invasion as well.

The conclusion:

In the end, the Beast was mysteriously defeated by unknown means, and the Fafdoik's leader was hunted for and then beheaded by none other than Grouvin. The Fafdoik was no longer a threat and all their prisoners from before The Final War were freed. If Argims and Kurentol stayed with the Fafdoik and waited out the war they would still be alive today; however, if they escaped and tried to face the Beast on their own, they'll have finally gotten what they wanted most in life: a taste of honor, living and dying for what they believe is right. It'll be up to the reader to decide which ending is the better choice, but I guess we'll find out what really happens. Or maybe not?

If I make the story seem more like a documentary where the ending is definite and clear, it would be consistent with the idea that Tesuliyani as a story is a known reality as real as our ambiguous reality, adding to its realism and drama as well as furthering the detail of The Final War's victims. I could also make the title something like "Escaping Katels-Raw", or "The Final Trek".

If I make the story seem more fictional where the ending isn't told and there are two opposing possibilities for what happens after the story ends, it would contrast heavily with the old idea of realism in Tesuliyani. However, this could be interpreted as a pretty important event as I no longer believe in Tesuliyani, this story could finally highlight this big transition in my life. It would also make it a lot more personal for the reader, where they could relate with the struggle for growing up in a world-wide pandemic as well as perhaps having trouble coming to terms with who they are as a person. In this case I could make the title something like "The Final Assessment". I don't like that title though. I can't think f anything good for this scenario.

The introduction:

I could start chronologically, beginning either while Argims is still in school or right on graduation day, the story progressing naturally.

I could start at the rising action of the story, beginning during the announcement of The Final War or even during the Fafdoik ambush. The story would progress both naturally and through backtracking at the same time. Perhaps flashbacks, metaphors, or conveniently placed symbols of a past life could be interspersed throughout the action. It's also an option to pull the old "you're probably wondering how I got here" gimmick in some much more subtle fashion, but even if nuanced it doesn't seem like an especially attractive opening to me.

I could start right at the climax of the story, beginning around the time Argims tells her family about her plan, while she's still coming up with it, or while she's about to decide whether to actually go through with the plan after telling her family. This could be done through a documentary-styled narration, the past events being told afterward and the various reasons as to how and why she lived the way she did. Another option would be to build the story into a more psychological approach-- at the point where Argims has to decide what to do, she could reexamine her entire life leading up to this point (intermittently, either before she goes to sleep each night or while she's being forced to work) to try and figure out which choice will be best for her. One last option would be to tell the climax in the perspective of someone else, such as the parents or a random Fafdoik guard. For the parents' case, they are the ones recalling their daughter's past until one day she goes missing. For the guard's, something could trigger a sudden hesitation when he tries to recapture Argims, such as previously having heard her parents struggling to keep their daughter levelheaded, which in the moment of running after her could make him realize the immorality of running to recapture or even kill children-- this could  help explain how Argims and Kurentol managed to escape, and even help build additional drama (realism) while also being able to simultaneously keep a psychological focus (personal use). However, it should be obvious that this option would only work if I were to keep the conclusion definite.

 

Decisions:

For the basic form of introduction, I think I liked the idea of the guard's perspective being used as psychological/ethical exploration; however, if the story was purely in the perspective of this guard it would be terribly awkward to try and explain Argims' life as well. Therefore, I think I should give this story two introductions. The first will take place in the perspective of Argims and her family (this could be done with any one of the above introduction methods, or some combination if necessary), and then halfway through (or 3/4ths through if I decide to write chronologically) the story will be completely reintroduced in the perspective of one of the Tdiredoik guards overlooking the containment of the Katels-raw prisoners.