Friday, May 24, 2013

Seeking Corruption - A script for a creative writing class based on World of Warcraft

EXCERPT FROM A LARGER SCRIPT

SCROLLING TEXT WITH V.O.

After madness consumed the aspect of earth he scorched the planet in what is known as the Cataclysm. Unfortunately, no brave heroes were able to defeat the corrupted guardian and save the lands from his fury. Entire areas were sundered and scorched leaving them barren and inhabitable. Many died before the aspect succumbed to the insanity that plagued him which drove him to his grave. In the wake of the devastation several dark necromancers came out of hiding to reclaim the world for the undead. In the confusion of the Cataclysm none of the survivors realized what darkness was about to befall them. Those that remained shed old allegiances and hatreds to fight the newly risen undead, however, they were vastly outnumbered. They were forced back until the only safe haven they had left was the lands in the east. Brave heroes fought against the undead as they crossed the Great Sea in an attempt to overtake the remaining continent. Heroes rose who had unparalleled strength and skills and carried an ancient relic back to the land in the north, the home of the undead. They took the relic deep into the frozen continent where it and all recorded history was lost. All that is known is that those brave heroes stopped the merciless onslaught from the undead and that the relic they used to save the planet was lost in the ice of the north.

ACT I: THE ROAD NOT TRAVELED

EXT. ANCIENT DEAD FOREST – DUSK

The camera tracks slowly through the forest gliding around trees. The forest appears ominous in the dark shadows of the dusk.

After a short track through the forest we find our two main characters LEAF and APP, short for Apollo, trekking through the growing mists. The blue-purple sky above them casts shadows through the trees.




LEAF
(sighing)
Why are we out here? I mean I know why you are out here, but WHY are WE out HERE?

APP
(annoyed)
You know damn well why we are out here. We’re exploring, we’re excavating. No one has been here since the great Cataclysm.

LEAF
So you dragged me out here for a treasure hunt? Seriously? Why couldn’t you go by yourself?

APP
Well I don’t know what the hell is lurking out here. No one has been here for hundreds of years what did you want me to do?

LEAF
Oh I don’t know maybe come out here by yourself? After all, you’re the one who likes to say he’s such a badass.

APP
Well I wanted the company.

LEAF
(angrily)
WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE ME!




APP
(mockingly)
Uhhh, isn’t that obvious? You’re like my bro and stuff who else would I bring? Besides you’re good with a bow, I’m good with a sword; together we’re like good.

LEAF
I hate you.

APP
I’m sure you do


LEAF
No… I really do

Leaf and App continue to trudge through the forest. They see the edge of the tree line causing their pace to quicken. They rush to the edge to find that the ground slopes down and beneath them lays a field strewn with skeletons. They both stand shocked at what they found.

INT. VILLAGE HOUSE – NIGHT

Here we find a quaint table in a quaint house. Seated at the table are LEAF’S aged parents, his DAD and his MOM. They have just finished their dinner.

DAD
Where the hell is our son? He’s been gone all day.

MOM
I don’t know. He left with Apollo early this morning, but he never said where he was going or when he would be coming back.

DAD
Well isn’t that just fantastic. He leaves and doesn’t tell us when he’s coming back.
    
MOM
I’m not sure he knew.

DAD
It’s that damn Apollo. The son of that damned elf. It’s in his family’s bloodline you know, to just run off on an adventure. He’s a bad influence and he’s going to get our son into trouble or killed.

MOM
You’re overreacting. I’m sure he will be fine.





DAD
I am going to see that elf’s parents and then I will decide if he is fine or not. Lousy elves, if only the Cataclysm never brought us together.

LEAF’S dad mounts his trusty ram and rides off to go find APP’S father, an elf named ILLID. We follow as he passes through the snowy mountains on his way to the Loch where ILLID lives.

INT. FANCY HOUSE BY THE LOCH – NIGHT

LEAF’S dad walks into to find ILLID arguing with the parents of an elf girl named CELIANE.  ILLID and the girl’s mother, CRYSTALE, are going back and forth whether or not he took CELIANE with him on his adventure. He interjects himself into the conversation.

DAD
So Illid I see your boy has kidnapped two people today. Wonderful son you have there.

ILLID
(snidely)
My “boy” is plenty old enough to be venturing off on his own, as is your son, and your daughter Crystale. And no he did not kidnap anyone. He told me he was leaving and he said he was asking Leaf to go with him. He said nothing about Celiane, but knowing you Crystale and how your daughter is attached to my son, she probably followed him.

CRYSTALE
How dare you imply that I…

DAD
(Speaking over Crystale as though she wasn’t there)
Now, now, calm down. I didn’t mean to imply anything about your boy. It just seemed like the thing to say under the circumstances. I know my son is old enough to go wandering. I just don’t want him coming home hurt and I’d at least like to know when he plans on coming home.



ILLID
All Apollo told me was that he was coming home when the adventure was over. Wherever it takes him and however long it takes him is how long he’ll be gone for.

DAD
So you don’t even know then?

ILLID
No I don’t. But I trust my son and you should trust yours. They’re both two great men, very skilled at what they do. Mine is a born warrior and yours is an expert hunter and at their young ages that is saying something.

DAD
Aye, you’re right, I may have overreacted a tad bit.

CRYSTALE
But what about my baby girl? What about her safety?

ILLID
If she is with Apollo and Leaf then there is nothing to worry about. If she isn’t then you still have nothing to fear. The light walks with her in ways that have not been seen since the years after the Cataclysm.

CRYSTALE
I swear if anything happens to my daughter I’ll…

ILLID
She’ll be fine.

DAD
Do you at least know where they’re going?

ILLID
I did not ask, but I did overhear Apollo planning. He wants to uncover the history of the war that followed the Cataclysm. He is obsessed with that war and I assume he just wants to see the battlefield and acquire some kind of artifact.

DAD
(shocked and angered)
The ancient battlefield? There’s no telling what danger lurks there.

ILLID
There is no danger. No one has set foot there for ages. Trust me; they’ll be fine.

EXT. BATTLEFIELD RIDGE – NIGHT
LEAF and APP have set up a camp for the night at the top of the ridge. They made a campfire, which is burning warm and bright. They hear a noise behind them in the woods. APP grabs his sword and whirls around to see what emerges from the trees. What emerges from the darkness is CELIANE. APP lowers his sword and rubs his head

APP
What the hell are you doing here Cell?

CELIANE
I followed you; I wanted to be with yo… I mean go with you on your adventure.

APP
Yeah I know that, but it’s dangerous and I don’t want you getting hurt. How old are you now Cell? 12?

CELIANE
(indignant)
Same as you and Leaf you dyslexic jerk.

LEAF
Leave the girl be App. She’ll be fine with us right?

APP
Yeah she will. Fine I won’t send you home yet, but you stay close with me and you don’t wander off. Got it?

CELIANE
(excited)
Got it!

LEAF, APP, and CELIANE go to sleep for the night. They lie down on the blankets they each brought with them. It is cold on the ridge and for safety they extinguished their campfire. Throughout the night CELIANE inches he way closer to APP until she is right up against him. His warmth makes her smile as she dreams in the cold dark.
    
EXT. BATTLEFIELD RIDGE – DAY

APP wakes up and goes to stretch when he notices that CELIANE has wrapped herself around him. He gently pushes her off so he can move. He stands and looks out over the field. CELIANE wakes soon after and comes up behind him.

CELIANE
What are you thinking about App?

APP
What I might find when we go down there. You know my great great-great-great-great-great, kinda awesome, grandfather Apollonious fought and died in this battle?

CELIANE
No, I didn’t know that.

APP
He fought right alongside the legends of his day. Supposedly he was one of the best, but not many of the records from that battle survived, only stories that were passed down.

CELIANE
That’s so cool!

APP
That’s really the reason I came here, I was hoping that I could find something of his, something that I could hold on to. I’m named after him and supposedly I’m a warrior just like he was. I just wanted some memento.

CELIANE
Well I hope you find it! In fact, I’m sure you will. You’re the best after all!

LEAF wakes up after hearing the two elves talk

LEAF
Laying it on a little thick aren’t you Cell?

CELIANE
Huh?

APP
Don’t pay attention to him; you can keep laying it on.

CELIANE
I’m confused.

LEAF
No surprise there.
APP
Be nice.

LEAF
Yeah, yeah. So let’s get moving so we can get going home.

APP
All right, let’s pack up and move out then.

LEAF, APP, and CELIANE pack up the camp and head down the ridge. They carefully step through the field of bones and discarded weapons. Tattered flags of the old world flap in the gentle morning breeze.

APP
Now if the old stories are correct, Apollonious fought on the front line with Tirion, Thrall, and Varian.

LEAF
(annoyed)
Really? Now we have to find the front lines? Wasn’t enough that we came out here to see this waste.

CELIANE
Be nice Leaf, who knows maybe something of your ancestor is out here.


LEAF
It probably is. He was a legend just like App’s. Leafy-Erick. The greatest hunter to ever live. He was way more famous than…

APP
(interjecting, anxious)
Shhh. Do you hear that?

LEAF
Hear what?

They hear the faint rustle of bones off to their right. They turn to look and find a skeletal warrior climbing from under a pile. APP draws his sword and readies himself. He prepares to charge, but a bright light whizzes past him. The light strikes the bones and makes them collapse back into the pile. LEAF and APP turn to look at CELIANE.


CELIANE
What? My ancestor fought here too. He wasn’t a legend but he was strong with the light and so am I. STOP LOOKING SO SHOCKED!

The group continues on to find the front line of the battlefield. They hear another noise, but this time it is just the wind. They are on edge, but confidant. They come to the beachhead where they find icy waters lapping at the ground. They spread out and begin searching for some clue as to who is who.

LEAF
I found something over here! Wait… never mind, it’s just a battered hilt.
    
LEAF tosses the hilt aside. CELIANE senses something at her feet. She bends down to examine what it is. It is a quiver with the word “LEAFY” branded into the leather.

CELIANE
Uh, guys? I really did find something.

APP and LEAF rush over to examine her find



LEAF
I don’t believe it. My ancestor, his quiver… I must take this back.

LEAF takes the quiver and a silver scroll cases falls out of a leather satchel attached to LEAFY’S belt. APP picks it up, unfurls the scroll and begins reading.

APP
(shocked)
Holy crap!

CELIANE
What?

APP
It’s a letter written by Leafy. He knew Apollonious! But that’s not all. Apparently they were enemies but became close friends when the war started. Something about shadows of anger bringing them together after the Cataclysm. It says that they were overwhelmed by the undead.

FLASHBACK – EXT. BATTLEFIELD – NIGHT

APOLLONIOUS and LEAFY are fighting side by side along with TIRION, THRALL, and VARIAN. Waves of undead pour in from their forsaken vessels along the coast. Some undead are skeletal, others still have rotting flesh hanging from their yellow bones. Cannons are not fast enough to sink the undead ships. Slowly the army around them falls. One friendly airship remains. LEAFY is struck by an undead blade and mortally wounded. APOLLONIOUS tries to help him but he resists.

LEAFY
Take my bow lad. Take it and get out over here.

APOLLONIOUS
I will not leave you my friend.

LEAFY
(struggling)
You must. I’m done’fir. Take it and get out of here, get them to safety!

Begrudgingly APOLLONIOUS takes the bow from LEAFY and rushes to the three, still fighting.

APOLLONIOUS
(somber)
Leafy has fallen. We must go, we cannot win. We must get you and the sword to safety Tirion.

VARIAN
Agreed. That is of the utmost importance. Not this battle, but the war itself

THRALL
Lok’tar, we must flee to the north.

APOLLONIOUS
To the north are you sure? That is where they come from.

TIRION
Thrall is right. The west has already fallen, the south is consumed in shadow and we are not welcome in the underground, the north is the only place left to go.

APOLLONIOUS
Yes you are right. I only wish Leafy was with us, he knew the north, not I.

TIRION
We will find hiding. We must have faith in the light. Now quickly let us depart.

APOLLONIOUS, TIRION, THRALL, VARIAN, and a few other survivors all board a boat and set sail for the frozen wastes in the north. With the undead hot on their trail they disappear into the mists covering the great sea.

EXT. BATTLEFIELD – DAY

APP
That’s where the letter stops. I can’t believe it. My ancestor accompanied Tirion to the lands in the north to escape the grip of the scourge.



LEAF
Yeah I can’t believe our ancestors were friends and that yours left mine to die.

APP
(angrily)
Oh holy shit he did not leave him to die!

LEAF
I know I’m just messing with you.

APP
Whatever.

CELIANE
So what now App?

APP
Now? Now you two go back home. Me? I’m going to the north.

LEAF
And how exactly do you plan on doing that? I don’t see a boat.

CELIANE
(indignant)
Uhm EXCUSE me, you are not going without me!

LEAF
Or me for that matter. It’s been said my ancestor had a bow that made its own arrows with arcane energy and if I can find that, I’m bringing it back.

APP
Fine then you can both come, but this will be dangerous. The undead may have been pushed back and we may have secured the east, but who knows how many of them are lurking there.

LEAF
We’ll deal with it. With my bow, Cell’s light, and your sword, we’ll defeat anything that comes our way.


APP
Then it’s settled, we head for the north.

CELIANE
Uh, hey, yeah, how are we getting there? We don’t have a boat do we?

APP
Nope, we have something better! I have a pet turtle.

CELIANE
A what?

APP
A turtle and he’s going to carry us to the north.

LEAF
Seriously? The turtle? Damn it dude we can’t all fit on that.

APP
I was joking anyway. There are plenty of boats here. Let’s find one that’s seaworthy and set sail.

CELIANE
Let’s do it!

LEAF
We’re all gonna die.


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