Wilted Memory

Wilted Memory is a multimedia alternate universe series based on the game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, authored by Corgipon. 
This series takes on an even darker tone than the game it is based on, giving more detail to the events that happened one thousand years prior to the events of the game albeit with some changes from the canon.
==Characters==
TBD
==Setting ==
*Briarthorne - A large, ancient kingdom that was once prosperous and advanced for its time. It was once inhabited by enchanted creatures that lived throughout the continent, mainly Bloomsprites. The capital city has been destroyed a thousand years ago and sunk underground, with Rogueport taking its place on the surface, while its outer reaches were either left in ruins or repurposed.
**Belrose Palace - A massive royal estate, taking up a quarter of Greater Briarthorne. It was once home to the House of Belrose, the royal family who ruled Briarthorne a thousand years ago and took care of the Opal Star. It has now been dubbed the “Palace of Shadow” due to its association with Queen Demonica, the demoness who stole the crown and took control of the kingdom in their place.
*Primavale - A grassy valley full of colorful flowers that is northeast of the capital. It is called “Petal Meadows” by the modern-day folk, and was once ruled by the House of Cielle, noble Bloomsprites who once guarded the Diamond Star.
*Radiante Grove - A lush grove full of Radiante Trees, which are known for their unique striped bark and metallic leaves. It was often considered part of Florwood, which once surrounded the capital city, and had once been ruled by the House of Bonnaire, Bloomsprites who guarded the Emerald Star. It is now referred to as the “Boggly Woods”.
*Violet Forest - A forest full of trees with leaves ranging from violet to magenta. It was once ruled by the House of Dubois, who guarded the Ruby Star. It is now where Twilight Town is located.
*Evernorth - A wintry valley far north of the capital, once ruled by the house of Ladorée, Bloomsprites who held the Topaz Star. It is now where Fahr Outpost is situated.
*Ile de Soleil - An island off the southern coast of Greater Briarthorne near Keelhaul Key. It was once ruled by the House of Solaire, who guarded the Sapphire Star.
*Ville d'Aurore - A town located east of the capital, once ruled by the house of Dejardin, Bloomsprites who guarded the Garnet Star. Poshley Heights was built near its ruins.
==Plot==
The series focuses on the events that would take place one thousand years before the events of the game itself, but with some notable changes from the lore that canon NPCs have said.
The series takes place in the queendom of Briarthorne, a magical and prosperous nation, once advanced for its time and mostly inhabited by enchanted creatures. Over the years it had saw the reigns of well-loved queens of the House of Belrose, one of many noble houses who have sworn to protect the Crystal Stars, seven sacred star-shaped jewels holding immense divine power and granting it to those who touch them, to ensure harmony in the queendom for millennia to come. One of these queens was Floribunda, an intelligent young lady whom many have believed to be born with a secret and ethereal blessing from the gods.
===Demonica’s Arrival===
However, without warning, a demoness arrived in their world, curious of how the realm of the mortals is like, and secretly hid within the walls of Belrose Palace with three imps by her side. She took on many disguises so that none could be suspicious of her, and eventually began to study certain royal artifacts around the palace to see how much power they contained. Over time she became more and more corrupted by the miasma she was exposed to, which eventually influenced her to become all the more devious and greedy. She would steal powerful artifacts and use their powers to her advantage, alongside her already strengthened innate abilities. She would often use these to deter the Royal Guards from ever trying to capture her, especially as she was a being who was often underestimated.
The demoness, named Demonica, coming from a noble demon house who did many things including the taming of dragons, would eventually find one of the many dragon steeds the House of Belrose took care of, and took him as her own. Using her dark mind-control techniques, she would hypnotize this dragon, renaming him Gloomtail, and even used her own magic to make him grow to a gigantic size to intimidate those around him even more. She would eventually do the same with a stray dragon she finds during her conquests to search for the very jewels the seven major houses of Briarthorne swore to protect, and names her Hooktail. These two dragons and the three imps who came with Demonica to the mortal world would be tasked with helping her find all seven of those jewels. Once the Royal Guards were getting to their goal of seizing the supposed “phantom thief” whom they and Queen Floribunda had suspected roamed all over the palace for precious items to steal, it was too late, for Demonica had stolen all seven of the Crystal Stars.
With even more immense power in her demonic hands, Demonica stole the monarchical role of queen behind the backs of the Belrose House, first by masquerading as Queen Floribunda during certain royal duties. But as she was caught by the real Floribunda, she had no other choice but to reveal herself. As she had the seven jewels with her and had already used the magical properties they had to offer, there was nothing they could do to take the royal role of Queen from her. She indeed became the new Queen of Briarthorne.
The eldest of the three imps, whom those around her called her “Beldam” for her nasty personality, believing that what she was doing would help Demonica out a lot in her quest for power in the mortal queendom, even used her own dark magic to create a dungeon that came to be known as the Pit of One Hundred Trials, where she’d throw denizens she believed to be “traitors to the New Queen”, as well as a third dragon made up entirely of bones, whom she dubbed Bonetail. However, Demonica was not at all amused by what the imp had made, nor was she fond of her either.
===The Four Heroes and the Fall of Briarthorne===
At first, the Briarthornians believed that their beloved Queen Floribunda was starting to become a puppet of an even more powerful force. But as word of mouth spread, they came to know that she and her family were overthrown, as evident by cryptic letters sent around the city.
One day, four individuals, who all came from reaches far beyond the capital and were all of different species from much of the Briarthornians, arrived in the queendom, after having received these letters. They were escorted to a secret area of Belrose Palace where they met with Floribunda and her courtiers, who all gathered in secret to create a plan to take down Demonica and her accomplices. Knowing the dire times that they were in and with the help of the four beings explaining how they had gotten there, Floribunda had made all four of them her knights, and from there they would help her in taking down Demonica once and for all.
What the demoness queen had not known about the Crystal Stars was that they had the capabilities of slaying even the most powerful immortal beings. The four heroes and the once-queen Floribunda used these sacred jewels to strike down Demonica, thus killing her, ridding her of the immortality she once had. Then, using both her magic and intuition, Floribunda knew that Demonica’s influence would not dissipate after she had been killed off. So, she casted Demonica’s charred remains and her soul into the depths of the palace and used exactly one thousand talismans to seal her away, far away from the crypts her ancestors had made their resting place, where she would be trapped in for a thousand years.
But as the four heroes and Floribunda set off to place the Crystal Stars back where they belonged and created a map for those who may need them in case Demonica’s spirit returns from her prison, the heroes had fell into traps that Beldam had placed them in as revenge for the demoness’s death, and their souls ended up in chests placed around the land where they were doomed to “curse” those who opened them. Floribunda had gotten away for a while, until she was placed under a mysterious spell; she herself would be trapped in a spiritual limbo for a millennium, between the threads of life and death.
===Aftermath ===
The surviving Briarthornians, knowing that the demoness queen was vanquished but their true queen had disappeared, had no other choice but to flee to other lands. Without their knowledge, their old home had sunk into the depths of the earth. Their queendom had completely fallen.
Over time, the history of Briarthorne, their houses of nobility, and even their last Queen fell into legend, and unfortunately, were lost to time. Those events and details that were saved from the sands of time would be unintentionally rewritten, with some credits given to the wrong individuals. One such example included the belief that Demonica herself created the Crystal Stars to further extend her influence, rather than these jewels having existed long before her arrival and had served a different purpose beforehand. These changed events of legend would eventually draw groups of thieves and crooks in to settle in the land that the once great nation once stood upon, believing there to be a treasure underneath. But due to fear, be it from gut feeling or the remnants of magical influence in the ruins of the fallen queendom, would make them stay clear of the entrance to the nation’s palace, where it eventually became known as the famed Thousand-Year Door, with the palace itself eventually dubbed the Palace of Shadow.
That was, until a curious young Bloomsprite named Primula arrived and began extensive research into the ruins underground, hoping to spread the true history of Briarthorne to the modern world.
===The Modern Age===
TBD
Category:Fan Fiction
Category:Stories
Category:Alternate Universe
Category:Wilted Memory