OK, I am currently replaying PhS4, and it reminded me of why I liked Alys so much - nothing against Chaz, but she was better overall.
This, along with me buying some new Planar Chaos cards, got me thinking - what if things had gone differently - what if Alys did not die, and instead Chaz did?
Wanting to see what I could come up with, I started writing a rough storyline, but I never seemed to do things as I wanted, so I scrapped it. Then, it hit me:
A Time Egg device. (those of you who played CT know what I mean.
As I wrote the new storyboard, another idea came up, and the result is the plot that follows. Let me know what you think.
----
It all starts when Chaz is called in to clear a very ancient ruin of monsters. He proceeds to head there along with a team of Biomonster Hunters, as well as Hahn, and in the process of clearing the location out, he stumbles across what seems to be a secret room with a book written in VERY ancient language.
While he doesn't understand a word of what's written on the book, hahn does, and comments that it appears to be an old book of Motavian legends. He adds that Rune or Kyra may be able to translate it, and the two take it away.
Later on, they manage to get ahold of either of the two espers, and they manage, just barely, to translate the book (which, given its age, is amazingly well preserved). One particular section of the book attracts Chaz's attention - the section detailing an old legend titled 'The Call of Twilight'.
According to the book, the Call of Twilight was originally an ancient Dezolian ritual which was capable of 'returning that which was taken from oneself'. It also warned that the ritual required payment of a price, and the payment was to be adequate in relation to what the ritual would return.
Hahn doesn't seem convinced, and whichever esper translated that passage dismisses the section as just a myth, since not even the Esper Mansion's records detail anything about such a ritual.
However, Chaz isn't so sure. Fighting Dark Force and the Profound Darkness itself made him much less inclined to dismiss old legends as hogwash, and as much as he'd like to think he's moved on, the truth is, he still misses Alys terribly.
Determined to get to the bottom of the matter, and unconcerned about the warning about the price matching that wich is returned, Chaz decides to pay a visit to the one person he knows who's most likely to know anything about the Call of Twilight - Raja. Rika tags along for the trip, predictably enough.
Upon finding Raja on Dezolis, Chaz hits a nasty roadblock - as soon as he mentions the Call of Twilight, Raja's expression clouds over and he clams up tighter than a nuclear bomb shelter's blast doors. The old priest's reaction makes it obvious he KNOWS something, but he stubbornly refuses to tell Chaz anything.
Being unable to get anything worthwhile out of Raja, Chaz begins to inqure around. Unfortunately, the action appears to bring the wrath of the Dezolian clergy upon him - he and Rika barely escape with their lives, and only thanks to Raja butting in.
After fruitlessly trying to scare Chaz off with Doom And Gloom?, Raja gives up, seeing that Chaz wouldn't be swayed, and reluctantly tells him avout the Call of Twilight.
According to the old priest, it is indeed a ritual capable of bringing the dead back by striking a deal with an entity known only as 'The Deathbringer', but the price is heavy indeed - the one performing the Call will have to take the place of the person who lost their life originally, and on top of that the entire timeline of the person performing the Call will be put in jeopardy, as often the deal involves retroactively rewriting history.
Of course, Raja advises against doing it - Chaz was instrumental in the Profound Darkness's defeat, and Raja isn't convinced that Alys would have fared as well as he did. Chaz, however, believes otherwise, and forces Raja to cough up the details of everything.
At this point, a distraught Rika tries to talk some sense into Chaz. Insert cliche sappy stuff here, as well as Chaz being a mule-headed fool. Rika then refuses to come along with him, saying she'd rather stay there with Raja and wait for whatever event following Chaz's actions to happen rather than be witness to his throwing his life away, as she puts it. Chaz isnt pleased by that, but leaves anyway.
The rest... is still up to debate. Of course, he's going to meet the entity and ask to strike a deal with it, but what will the consequences be?
My personal idea is that he's given the chance to change things by being allowed to pilot his own body in that fateful moment when Zio attacked Alys, thus taking the hit she originally shielded him from and dying in her place. What happens afterwards... is anyone's guess. It could bring ruin to the whole universe, or Alys could be even MORE successful than Chaz was... or something completely different.
Thoughts?
This, along with me buying some new Planar Chaos cards, got me thinking - what if things had gone differently - what if Alys did not die, and instead Chaz did?
Wanting to see what I could come up with, I started writing a rough storyline, but I never seemed to do things as I wanted, so I scrapped it. Then, it hit me:
A Time Egg device. (those of you who played CT know what I mean.
As I wrote the new storyboard, another idea came up, and the result is the plot that follows. Let me know what you think.
----
It all starts when Chaz is called in to clear a very ancient ruin of monsters. He proceeds to head there along with a team of Biomonster Hunters, as well as Hahn, and in the process of clearing the location out, he stumbles across what seems to be a secret room with a book written in VERY ancient language.
While he doesn't understand a word of what's written on the book, hahn does, and comments that it appears to be an old book of Motavian legends. He adds that Rune or Kyra may be able to translate it, and the two take it away.
Later on, they manage to get ahold of either of the two espers, and they manage, just barely, to translate the book (which, given its age, is amazingly well preserved). One particular section of the book attracts Chaz's attention - the section detailing an old legend titled 'The Call of Twilight'.
According to the book, the Call of Twilight was originally an ancient Dezolian ritual which was capable of 'returning that which was taken from oneself'. It also warned that the ritual required payment of a price, and the payment was to be adequate in relation to what the ritual would return.
Hahn doesn't seem convinced, and whichever esper translated that passage dismisses the section as just a myth, since not even the Esper Mansion's records detail anything about such a ritual.
However, Chaz isn't so sure. Fighting Dark Force and the Profound Darkness itself made him much less inclined to dismiss old legends as hogwash, and as much as he'd like to think he's moved on, the truth is, he still misses Alys terribly.
Determined to get to the bottom of the matter, and unconcerned about the warning about the price matching that wich is returned, Chaz decides to pay a visit to the one person he knows who's most likely to know anything about the Call of Twilight - Raja. Rika tags along for the trip, predictably enough.
Upon finding Raja on Dezolis, Chaz hits a nasty roadblock - as soon as he mentions the Call of Twilight, Raja's expression clouds over and he clams up tighter than a nuclear bomb shelter's blast doors. The old priest's reaction makes it obvious he KNOWS something, but he stubbornly refuses to tell Chaz anything.
Being unable to get anything worthwhile out of Raja, Chaz begins to inqure around. Unfortunately, the action appears to bring the wrath of the Dezolian clergy upon him - he and Rika barely escape with their lives, and only thanks to Raja butting in.
After fruitlessly trying to scare Chaz off with Doom And Gloom?, Raja gives up, seeing that Chaz wouldn't be swayed, and reluctantly tells him avout the Call of Twilight.
According to the old priest, it is indeed a ritual capable of bringing the dead back by striking a deal with an entity known only as 'The Deathbringer', but the price is heavy indeed - the one performing the Call will have to take the place of the person who lost their life originally, and on top of that the entire timeline of the person performing the Call will be put in jeopardy, as often the deal involves retroactively rewriting history.
Of course, Raja advises against doing it - Chaz was instrumental in the Profound Darkness's defeat, and Raja isn't convinced that Alys would have fared as well as he did. Chaz, however, believes otherwise, and forces Raja to cough up the details of everything.
At this point, a distraught Rika tries to talk some sense into Chaz. Insert cliche sappy stuff here, as well as Chaz being a mule-headed fool. Rika then refuses to come along with him, saying she'd rather stay there with Raja and wait for whatever event following Chaz's actions to happen rather than be witness to his throwing his life away, as she puts it. Chaz isnt pleased by that, but leaves anyway.
The rest... is still up to debate. Of course, he's going to meet the entity and ask to strike a deal with it, but what will the consequences be?
My personal idea is that he's given the chance to change things by being allowed to pilot his own body in that fateful moment when Zio attacked Alys, thus taking the hit she originally shielded him from and dying in her place. What happens afterwards... is anyone's guess. It could bring ruin to the whole universe, or Alys could be even MORE successful than Chaz was... or something completely different.
Thoughts?
