Not to be confused with the 5th part to this story series.
Aeon of the Champion (referred to as AoC, or the AoC Universe in the context of a story series or other fanfiction works), is a new story series created by Smurf Manian. The Universe is divided into five individual Acts, or chapters, detailing aspects of the Champion and his quest against the dark forces terrorising Middle-Earth (Acts IV and V) as well as old-time lore for contextual purposes (Acts I-III).
It is a story series that unites classical high fantasy writing with the fairytale fantasy setting of the Smurfs, and its narration avoids giving them major attention for a large degree of the work (exceptions exist in Acts II and III).
Plot[]
In the beginning, the ancient Pantheon watched over the Universe, forming and ordering the Creation. The Aesir and Vanir, children of the Light, helped to protect these machinations for thousands of years. One day, dark minions of Tartarus emerged with the intention of throwing the entirety of the Pantheon's work into chaos, leading to the Eternal Conflict. The Aesir led the charge against Hell's efforts for millenia, until they were betrayed by one of their own...the rebellious Lucithel who defected to Tartarus, becoming known as the Dark Angel Sargamon - and, uniting the forces of hell, he invaded Elysium and slaughtered the Pantheon. He was only stopped by the elusive Fusion Staff, the crystals of which were scattered across the entire dimension. Assembling the demonic Marching Horde, an army of corrupted races from across realities, Sargamon has sundered world after world in his mad quest to capture the crystals for himself - and put an end to all creation, before it is corrupted by a danger only he can see.
Now that the Eternal Conflict has moved to the homeworld, Middle-Earth, the Horde's attacks have been relentless. With a world in perpetual crisis, the Aeon of the Champion is nigh, and they are the only hope against an otherwise-unstoppable hellish onslaught.
Division of the lore[]
The story series is divided into five distinct ages. Note that actual story-writing is mostly limited to acts IV and V, given that acts I-III primarily deal with lore and series history.
ACT I: Antiquity - includes the Formation, details on the Eternal Conflict, the War of theGaror and the Fall of the Pantheon, which brought an end to the High Heavens as we knew it.
ACT II: Mythos - includes "old-time" lore such as the reign of the Demon Princes in Hell on Earth, the attempt at reinstalling them as lords over the planet, information on the rise of the Troll empires, the imperalist wars between the Arachni and the Trolls, the rise of the Smurfs, and War of the Ancients (which brought down the Smurf Empire).
ACT III: Middle Age - the mid-section of AoC, including the founding of the first human and elven kingdoms, the secret war between human magi and demons of the Marching Horde, the subsequent clashes between orcs and humans after the Dark Portal, Tiamat's return and Malicia's revenge against the night elves.
ACT IV: Latter Days - the fourth part of the story, where dark clouds settle over Middle-Earth as the end of all things appears to be on its way. The mortal champion makes his first appearance here.
ACT V: Age of the Champion - the fifth (and main) age of the AoC Universe, where the Smurf champion comes into play as foretold by the Zodiacs.
ACT VI: New Dawn - the sixth age of the AoC Universe. Contents? A top, top, TOP secret!
Division of the stories[]
As previously mentioned, story writing is mostly limited to events in Act IV onwards, as Acts I-III are mostly background details. The stories are written with a greater emphasis on the smurfs than the story universe as a whole.
Stories are usually canon to some place in the timeline, which will be detailed where appropriate. Mini-stories? Not so much. These tend to explore either alternate timelines, or non-canon events of interest to the author.
Mini-stories[]
Main article: To be added!
In addition to the main storyline, a number of mini-stories are also in the works. These represent instances within the lore that the author wishes to focus on.
1. Evil Voices
3. To be uploaded
4. To be uploaded
Desired Animation Style[]
If this series were to be animated, it would be done in 2D-style, in order to keep the actual production simple. The philosophy behind this is that less is more - less attention should be paid to details like protruding objects, and more attention to the storyline and how it is executed. It also keeps the drawing style more natural, as the author has an aversion towards 3D due to its perceived 'cringiness' (exaggerating features like eyes, noses etc. sometimes hurts.)
Desired Soundtrack Style[]
A combination of licensed and unlicensed music would be used in an animated version of the story series, from various games including Sonic Adventure 2, Mario Smash Brothers, Chicken Invaders and Pacman. Obviously music should fit the scene of each story, as the idea is to evoke strong emotions while reading.
Trivia[]
- AoC takes inspiration from several sources including World of Warcraft, Magic: The Gathering, Lovecraft and Diablo. For instance, Sargamon is inspired by Sargeras from Warcraft, as both of them are fallen celestials who betrayed their fellow gods and later destroyed them. The story also features an ongoing clash between Heaven and Hell, the main theme of Diablo (with Sargamon again representing the Prime Evil - both Tathamet and Diablo.) The Chaos Gods and their masters, the insidious Dark Cosmics, are based on both the Void from Warcraft as well as the Outer Gods and Great Old Ones from Lovecraftian literature.
- The story series is one of the few on the Wiki without a major emphasis on the Smurfs, instead focusing on a worldwide view of the ongoing struggle.
- The series' main timeline is called Iroth. The bronze dragonflight and the Time Guardians aboard the Time Ship are responsible for keeping the timeways clear of any irregularities.
- Expect to see characters from other story series occasionally, as the timelines are not ironed-out flat nor are they parallel; they may cross every now and again.
- The term "Aeon of the Champion" is actually a misnomer given that the entirety of the story series is divided up into many aeons. The present aeon is that of the Champion.