the Colaverse
My Paper Mario × B3313 project... Here's the basics:
- Takes place after Super Paper Mario. Sticker Star and games after it are not canon to this universe (I haven't played them...)
- Mario has been isekai'd against his will again, this time to a dimension known as the Eternal Kingdom. He's not the first, as many people have been sent there, but he's part of the latest group of 'heroes'.
- The Prince of the Eternal Kingdom has been summoning people from other dimensions to help protect the Kingdom from destruction, as an evil faction known as STORY4D has recently risen to power...
- Time is running out. If STORY4D is able to obtain all seven P★W, and shatter the core of the Eternal Kingdom... No matter what happens next, the universe will be irreversibly changed.
Setting
The Eternal Kingdom, a dimension above normal reality, has existed since the dawn of life. Its native residents represent abstract concepts, while the Kingdom as a whole is a manifestation of dreams.
The Kingdom is alive in a sense. The center of it, home to the Eternal Castle, is unchanging; the rest of the Kingdom is made up of blurry concepts that change and morph over time. These areas always have the same general theme, but their layouts and inhabitants are not static. The farther you get from the Castle in any direction, the more dreamlike and nonsensical the Kingdom becomes; a town near the center of the world might be similar to ones you've visited in the past, while one much farther away may not resemble a town under any definition (for example, a field with drawings of houses carved in the ground).
The Eternal Castle holds seven P★W in it - powerful magical artifacts that appear different to each observer - that serve as protection for the Eternal Kingdom. If the balance of eternity and chaos were to shift too much in one direction, the P★W are able to correct this shift without any lasting effects on the world.
In the Castle's basement is a door leading to the underground portion of the Eternal Kingdom, which is chaotic and nonsensical no matter how close you are to the world's center. At the deepest point of the underground is the core of the Eternal Kingdom, which can be linked into by the Kingdom's unchanging residents. This lets them commune with the Kingdom itself; however, this is rarely done, as the underground section of the Kingdom rapidly shifts when nobody is there - thus, it's impossible to take the same path and end up at the same destination twice.. and only those with the seven P★W know where the core lies.
Visitors to the Eternal Kingdom have odd experiences while there. Their presence heavily slows the chaotic shifting of the area they're in, and they become unable to decay naturally (aging or dying). A dying visitor to the Kingdom will stay alive but in pain unless they either leave the Kingdom or have their soul manually removed.
Story
Once upon a time, the Eternal Kingdom was peaceful. The first Prince and his two Archivists, a pair of cat-shaped beings named Lufian and Sontem, lived in peace and kept the Kingdom in pristine condition, following the laws imprinted on their souls: they were to uphold order and not stray from their roles.
The two Archivists fulfilled their roles, watching and recording the lives of those in dimensions outside the Kingdom, for a long time. But one day, Lufian began to question his duty and existence. Why was he born to watch others live out their lives? Why was he so unwilling to try and live out his own life? Was he even capable of such a thing? Over time, he began conversing with Sontem, who was more devoted to the duo's job, and the two began developing their own feelings about it all.
Lufian's records began becoming more personal as he started realizing his own feelings towards those he watched. He wanted to live like they did. He wanted to have any purpose, any purpose at all other than staying in the Kingdom, far away from the rest of reality. He wanted to be real, more than anything else - he wanted to discard eternity and become everchanging, like the subjects of his records. Said records drifted farther and farther away from the absolute truth as he delved further into trying to become 'real'.
At the same time, Sontem's thoughts began drifting towards envy as well, but not as extreme as Lufian's. She began experimenting in her free time, even bringing the first visitors to the Eternal Kingdom, though she never said a word about it to anyone.
One day, Lufian disappeared, having told Sontem he was going to the depths of the Eternal Castle. Days passed. Sontem noticed - she never had any reason to think of time until now - and she began worrying. Had something happened to her counterpart..? Going against the laws whispered to her upon her birth, she tried to follow the path he took into the depths of the world, and eventually found him on his way back to the surface.
He had changed. Lufian had taken the chance to get as close to the core of the Eternal Kingdom as he could, then linked into its mind and communed with it. He did not elaborate on the conversation, but he wasn't happy. He wanted to be alive, he wanted to be free from his role, he wanted.. He wanted Sontem to join him and take over the Eternal Kingdom, collect the seven P★W, and mold the Eternal Kingdom into a world where they could both choose who they wanted to be.
Sontem eventually agreed, and the two set out to collect the P★W. As they were making their way to the second P★W after collecting the first, the Prince intercepted them; after a brief conversation, he kicked the two out of the Castle and hid the rest of the P★W around the Eternal Kingdom.
While searching for the relocated P★W, Sontem taught Lufian how to summon people to the Kingdom, and they began using the ritual to try and gather allies. At the same time, the Prince began summoning people to the Kingdom as well, trying to find someone who could stop the Archivists before it was too late.