Anke through the Ages - Storybeats

To help progress this project I have created some rough storybeats of how the story could happen. I have been quietly developing the style of the characters as I think this is something that should be developed. So in the meantime I have separated the story into three chapters.

Chapter 1: The Quest

1. Pre-Mission

• Chronus, the last god, sees a photo of young Anke (held by Duke) and believes she resembles his late daughter, Hestia.

• Chronus, who ran out of ambrosia years ago, can no longer intervene like gods once did. He sends a subconscious "brain wave" to Duke asking to bring Anke to him someday.

• Years later, Duke, now suffering from early dementia, misremembers this divine vision as a quest for a powerful artifact.

• Duke sends Anke, Brielle, and Orso to retrieve it.

• Orso believes he is being sidelined from fighting on the front line and despises working on such a frivolous adventure

• The trio journeys into forbidden lands to find Elysium, Chronus’ hidden sanctuary.

2. Parallel Storylines

• Cecil and Azrael, robotic engineers, are working on their robots .

• Azrael is injured; Cecil saves her life with unauthorized cyber-surgery.

• Cecil hides his guilt as he is too ashamed

• Azrael begins a descent into obsession with power, building robotic enhancements and blaming her mentor.

• She fears losing her autonomy and later becomes obsessed with control, creating a robotic/mire experiments secretly.

• Azrael and Serge enter a volatile romance.

  
  

3. Amirah’s Army

• Serge becomes Amirah’s top soldier.

• Amirah outmaneuvers Duke politically and plans her believed decisive final strike against The Mire

4. The Quest

• Instead of an artifact, the trio find a forgotten god, Chronus.

• Chronus gives Anke time manipulation powers — but warns they are unstable and will age her body over time.

  
  

5. Chronus and Time Distortion

• The trio is thrown into a distorted timeline — past and present blur.

• War between Humans vs. The Mire appears both lost and still ongoing.

  
  
  
  

Chapter 2: Altered Present

Act I: Awakening & Discovery

• Anke wakes up alone on an island with limited time-reversal powers.

• Rescued by a pirate ship captained by a younger Brielle.

• Brielle reveals she found the Necklace of Harmonia, unaware it brings tragic loss to the wearer.

• Anke and Brielle return home — finds Duke insane and posters showing Cecil searching for Azrael.

  
  

Act II: Loss & Alliance

• Amirah is presumed dead (her tombstone is shown).

• Anke, Brielle find Orso — now a hermit and Mire hunter in the woods by their home city

• Orso believes Serge is still alive and wants to settle one more score with him.

• They form a team and set out to find their friend.

  
  

Act III: Growing Power & Journey

• Anke's time powers grow stronger, but grey her hair and cause fatigue.

• The trio reunites fully and journeys across the Mire seas to Serge’s last known location.

  
  

Act IV: Confrontation & Revelation

• Discover fragments of the battlefield and evidence of Azrael’s secret empire.

• Azrael has built a Mire/robotic army.

• The group is defeated, but Anke receives a glimpse into the past and what happened during the last battle

• Serge died there but was revived by Azrael at the battlefield by her robotic surgery

  
  

Act V: First Battle & Aftermath

• Azrael attacks; Anke reverses her powers.

• Worried Azrael floods the field in retaliation.

• Orso glimpses a robotic Serge.

  
  

Chapter 3: Ascension

Act I: Escape and Recovery

• Rescued by Brielle’s ship.

• Anke rejuvenates Orso using time magic.

  
  

Act II: Azrael Strikes

• Azrael sends zombified Amirah as a general.

• Anke restores Amirah’s mind/body — but collapses from overuse.

• Amirah joins the party, distrusted by all but Anke.

  
  

Act III: Duke’s Descent

• Party battles second general (aquatic monster), defeated by zombified Amirah.

• Find Duke in asylum; mental state partially restored.

• Zombified Amirah reveals she exploited Duke’s dementia to rise in power.

• Duke joins the party despite limited lucidity.

• Anke wants to fully restore Duke but is stopped by Zombified Amirah

• Says they don't fully understand her powers and need to as she is too important to lose

• Brielle agrees and cools Anke down

  
  

Act IV: The Frontiers and Cecil

• Brielle suggests seeking Cecil, hiding in a ruined lab.

• Flashback to old war days shows Cecil, Amirah, and Duke as comrades.

• Lab is overrun by feral robots — Cecil helps them escape.

• Reveals guilt over Azrael’s transformation.

• Gives party Azrael’s bandana that he couldn't let go of.

• Sacrifices himself disabling the robots.

  
  

Act V: Chronus and Time’s Burden

• Party returns to Chronus’ island.

• Serge (cybernetic) returns — Orso defeats and destroys his mind.

• Azrael appears and vows to resurrect Serge via Mire energy and washes him away with herself.

• Anke duels Chronus; wins — gains full divine power, but learns it will consume her lifespan.

• Chronus dies

• Rejuvenates the party, except herself — gaining time, but not immortality.

• Brielle breaks her Necklace of Harmonia, unknowingly triggering the death curse.

  
  

Act VI: Final Confrontation

• Battle through Azrael’s palace; fight last general and cyber-Serge.

• Orso & Amirah try to redeem Serge — he almost switches sides, but refuses.

• Dies again, loyal to Azrael.

• Azrael floods the palace.

• Anke shows her Serge’s bandana from Cecil — Azrael hesitates.

• Final battle:

  • Azrael resurrects Serge again.

  • Anke strips her of Mire power.

  • Azrael resists — Anke travels back in time to stop Cecil from altering Azrael.

Epilogue

• Anke dies from power exhaustion.

• A new timeline emerges — peaceful world where humans, robots, and Mire live in harmony.

• No one remembers Anke — but statues stand in her honor.

• Title: Anke Through the Ages.