Background story behind the project
Now this is quite important because it might be a major dealbreaker for most in the western Fate fandom. The original idea for this game/story came from really wanting to see some Arturia/Gilgamesh interaction with Gilgamesh's personality being like it was during life and not messed up due to humanity being messed up during the time he was summoned. Gilgamesh being like he was in Fate/Extra CCC. We wanted to create a scenario that would fit into canon and would allow us to explore the dynamics between both characters, their personalities and their backstories. Of course, we don't want to romanticize it. We are fully aware of how problematic their relationship is due to Fate/Stay Night- we want to take all of this into account- but going further into the exploration of their relationship.
Now that that has been taken out of the way, this is obviously not a fanwork solely made to have Gil and Arturia interact, we created a plot that would allow us to explore and create many other characters beyond that. We want to explore the stories of servants in the three first holy grail wars, their lives and legends.
Plot
During the events of the Fifth Holy Grail War, Ilyasviel von Einzbern, as the embodiment of the Holy Grail, sacrificed herself to close the pathway opened by a corrupted grail. The Greater Grail was destroyed, bringing the ritual of Fuyuki to a conclusion. However, the Grail had been in place for far too long, it held far too much concentrated magical energy; the sudden dismantlement of such a structure, which after 200 years, had almost become a natural part in the mana flow within the region, was bound to fail. The ritual ended, yet the mangled structure slowly begun to regenerate.
After a couple decades had passed, the Magic Association began to become increasingly more desperate to reach Akasha. They turned their eyes to the previous ritual held in Fuyuki - and sought to recreate it. The Magic Association took their own path, straying from the knowledge of the three founding families. With the complete eradication of the Makiri/Matou line after Fifth War and the Tohsaka family head, Rin, refusing to help in any way with the recreation of the ritual, the Magic Association followed their own crooked path. The Association’s mixture of stubbornness and desperation led them to take a dangerous shortcut in their new establishment. Due to lack of planification and information, the site where the mangled grail stood was revisited and used as the centre for the newly established ritual. This reestablished Greater Grail was a source of great instability - forcing it to work like a properly built structure ignited the unstable magical energy engulfing it, resulted in the opening of a leak into Akasha.
The leak led to the creation of a spiritual reality - a massive reality marble - a realm of spirits and magic with no physical manifestation, close to The Root.
This realm, much like Akasha, is a place based on energy and magic, holding no connection to Gaia whatsoever. It is a place brimming with an aura of unfulfilled wishes, hatred and despair. Being influenced by the guidelines of the Grail War, the leak into Akasha serves as a way of summoning Heroic Spirits recorded within the Throne of Heroes. Due not being connected to the world in any direct way, true heroic spirits are summoned rather than emanations, as there is no need to worry for inconsistencies within the world in a spiritual realm. Similarly, the souls of magi are forcibly summoned into this realm to take part as "masters".
-Except there is no Holy Grail to fight for.
There is no point to the summoning. Any human with at least one working magic circuit is eligible for being summoned into this realm. Their soul will escape their body, leaving it in a coma like state. This results in many inexperienced and confused magi trapped in the place. A magus with enough magic circuits and great skill should be good enough to handle themselves and even be able to communicate with the outside world - but those with poor circuits are bound to get their minds twisted by the place, going so far into believing there actually is an omnipotent wishing granting device to fight for.
While Heroic Spirits have no reason to fight each other, magi who find themselves in the realm need to fight for the existence of their soul. Upon the magic association noticing the great swirl of mana at the moment of the summoning of a master, they were able to investigate the potential of the leak in terms of reaching Akasha, and would continue to seek the exploitation of the system.
If a soul - let it be heroic spirit or magus - is to perish within the realm, it will be collected by the faulty grail. The more souls the grail collects, the more power it gains to open a proper route into Akasha. Even if one does not wish to reach Akasha - they will still have to fight in order to survive against the vile attacks of the members of the Magic Association. Besides, if one wishes to escape the realm and return to Gaia, they will have to see the war through to the end.
Screenshots
Characters
Aaaand that's what we have at the moment! I hope to update soon with more information! Opinions appreciated!
