History Ideas for WindsMARE, part Two

Well, on this part of my history, I again try to come up with something so
ingenious, so intelligent, and so awesome, it'll blow your socks off!
Well, that's the general idea, anyway. Enjoy. :)

Millenia ago, eight wisemen entered into the land of wind. These wisemen
were to be the guardians of the planet, to use their powers of good to aid
all who may need their assistance. Although for many years, they were able
to keep the planet in relative bliss, even influencing the development of
a civilization advanced beyond anything the world has ever seen, a force
always seemed to be against them, undermining their very efforts.
Establishing the shrines of the world as a tribute to peace and
tranquility that embodied the very powers of the wisemen themselves, the
shrines were to keep the planet in balance and to make people's lives
easier by their magical presence (each wiseman established one of each
type of shrine). Yet, one dark day, an experiment went awry. The espers, a
race of beings embued with strong magical powers, conducted an experiment
on their central island. Using the techniques they learned to make the
warp portals linking each shrine together, they drew on the power of the
shrines and focused the power to the central mezame shrine through which
all shrines are linked together. This power they attempted to infuse into
a magical relic, one that would be the key to unlocking the secrets of the
universe itself. It was the hope of the wisemen that such a relic would be
used for the good of Arda as a whole, yet something went drastically
wrong.

For a while, the enfusement of magic seemed to be working. Yet, as if it
was the will of one of those present, the magical energy fed back on
itself causing an overload. Suddenly, a rift opened behind one of the
wisemen, sucking her inside. The rift closed behind her, throwing the
channel of magical energy off balance. The three shrines of the woman,
since they were without her presence, overloaded which caused a explosion
of magical energy, completely destroying them. Without the balancing force
of her shrines, the power from the remaining 21 shrines of the wisemen in
the central mezame shrine sank the very island of the espers to the bottom
of the sea. The seven remaining wisemen were able to get away, taking a
few of the espers with them, yet, most sank to their death that day.

In the immediate time that followed, the wisemen realized the danger of
the shrines on the world. Although they were intended for good, it was
apparent that if used for evil, the shrines could inflict unlimited
damage. The relic, a single dragonfly statue, held what little of the
power the shrines had bestowed on it. Presumed lost with the sinking of
the island, the wisemen mourned the loss of one of their own and that dark
day in history was quickly forgotten. The world now suffered from its
pains. The shrines were shutdown completely by the wisemen and quickly
fell into disrepair. The portals joining the shrines were completely
sealed so nobody would ever be able to enter. The shrines of the lost
wiseman were never repaired and even today it is rumored that they sit in
ruins, consumed by vegetation and forever lost. The powers of evil
abounded now that they were no longer banished by the shrines and the
people grew miserable. The little magical power that existed in the world
came as a result of the explosion of the 3 shrines and almost everyone
possessed some form of magical power as the magic from the shrines
dispersed around the world.

60 years ago, however, a new, more powerful evil appeared intent on
destruction. Annihilating Hatar and storming Garunda, an undead force
crushed the kingdom of the elves on the continent of Endor. Yet, through
the powers of the elves combined with the assistance of Ramuh/Rasha, one
of the seven remaining wisemen, the evil was temporarily vanquished. The
tower was sealed with a powerful chime, and only with that chime would the
tower ever be unlocked again. Yet, the chime itself was lost or stolen
soon afterward. The location of the chime is unknown to everyone, even
Ramuh/Rasha himself. Over the years that followed, barely noticable
changes have occured in the world. The stars are changing position, and
powerful monsters surrounding the various villages keep people from
venturing too far. Only the bravest adventurers dare to step outside the
town gates anymore. The wisemen mostly keep to themselves these days,
sometimes only arriving to stop a threat at the last second if then.
Separated, each is oblivious to the other's actions. The eighth wiseman's
location is unknown. The portal could have led anywhere and all hope has
been lost over the long aeons. Evil slowly is consuming the world and so
far, nobody has stepped forward to do anything about it.

-Personal ideas with this quest idea.

1) One of the wisemen is responsible for the evil going on. Although all
outward appearances are noble and just, the wiseman is consumed by hatred
and pride. He (or she) thinks they deserve to rule the world themselves
and are in the process of gathering power (hense garunda 60 years ago).
Although the power he or she has is strong, it's not enough to take on the
other wisemen. The shrines are the key to this. By reactivating the
shrines, including the ones of the eighth wiseman, this corrupt wiseman
hopes to reactivate the mezame shrine at the center of the world through
which, he or she can steal the powers of all of the wisemen for himself
and thus rule the world with an iron fist. The dragonfly statue remains,
however, and almost possessing a will of its own, it is trying to find a
person who can wield it justly. Since the dragonfly statue was created for
good, it itself is not evil and possesses only admirable qualities. Yet,
because of its power, if an evil person manages to get it, it could spell
certain doom.

2) The eighth wiseman has actually returned from her imprisonment in the
portal. Kept for years within a prison designed by the corrupt wiseman,
she was the first to notice the corruptness and hatred this person
displayed. Yet, she was discovered and thus, conveniently disposed of when
the unstability occured at the mesame shrine. Realizing the plans of this
corrupt wiseman, she seeks to destroy the dragonfly statue to keep it from
getting into the wrong hands. In addition, she can see the future courses
of time and realizes the time to prevent disaster is short. Also realizing
the position the remaining wisemen are in and how they have no clue as to
what's going on, she decides to remain hidden from them to keep the
corrupt wiseman's knowledge of her return from being discovered as long as
possible. Her first confrontation with you will probably be at the top of
the Garunda Tower where you beat her, indirectly causing an earthquake
that activates the first shrine in Dalamar (I like the idea of her having
a perception of time especially an ability to see future events before
they occur).

3) If we could, I'd like to change the wisemen from being wisemen. I feel
this name isn't accurate enough as these people are more like wizards. In
addition, since we plan to have female members, I don't think wiseman
would be an appropriate term for them. If wizard isn't an appropriate term
(Probably too close to Lord of the Rings), I'd like suggestions.

4) The white tree was planted by Zargoth. It's the descendant of a world
tree planted by the wisemen before the destruction of the shrines. The
original tree was destroyed in the cataclysm following the destruction of
three of the shrines. The tree holds some key to the puzzle surrounding
the corrupt wiseman. Perhaps a way to destroy him/her or it keeps evil at
bay, something like that. Any ideas? :)

One final note: If this plan isn't acceptable at all, I'd really like
additional ideas. This idea probably isn't the most original idea
possible, but I definately think this is one of my better ideas and I
really think it could work. I tried to keep science fiction out of this as
much as a possibly could, only having the teleportation portals we already
have established within the current storyline. It also provides us with a
huge plot twist we can exploit near the halfway point in the game like the
wiseman betrays you or something like that. But, again, if any of you
don't like this idea at all, I'm really starting to come to the end of
possible plots and so forth that make sense with the given information
we've already established. I really need additional ideas if you have
them.

I hope this looks promising as a background plot. If it is, I can create a
prologue of some kind before you begin chapter one but before I do, I
await reactions.  -Zythis