Astral Ashes | July 2022

Inspired by my own antics in a collaborative tabletop roleplaying campaign, I envisioned this sequence where the half-demon Wynnie finds themselves in an astral plane, watching a giant dissolve out of existence and finally forced to confront their own mortality in the process.

Transcript

2. A party of heroes observes the preparation for an execution, the camera moving towards the people below. 1A/B
3. An anonymous city soldier picks up a sword. 2A
4. 2B
5. The soldier prepares to strike. 2C
6. The camera focuses on the sword the soldier holds, 3A
7. Then the camera shifts focus to the giant glowing crystal. 3B
8. Back to the foreground. The camera quickly pans leftward as the giant is stabbed in the back. 3C
9. The giant roars in pain as the crystal glows brighter behind him, silhouetting him. 3D
10. Wynnie watches the scene worriedly, as waves of the crystal’s magic fly past. 4A
11. Wynnie unexpectedly interfaces with the magic as the camera moves in closer. 4B
12. 4C
13. 4D
14. The world and noise fades away as Wynnie is transported to another realm. 4E
15. Wynnie is shocked to discover that she is someplace else. 4F
16. Wynnie floats far above her world, viewing it flatly from the astral plane. 5A
17. Hearing a familiar roar, Wynnie turns over her shoulder to find its source. 5B
18. Wynnie and the giant float together in the astral plane, the giant screaming as its spirit slowly dissolves. 6A
19. 7A
20. Wynnie starts floating towards the giant with the hopes of comforting or healing him. 7B
21. Wynnie gently holds onto the giant’s hand. 8A
22. The giant seems unaffected, 9A
23. Crying out one final time 9B
24. And slumping over, now dead. 9C
25. Wynnie watches as the giant fully dissolves in front of her, 10A
26. 10B
27. 10C
28. 10D
29. Rolling together into an abstract ball of spiritual energy 11A
30. 11B
31. And exploding like a firework to disperse itself, shifting where Wynnie floats in the process. 11C
32. The astral plane grows darker in the giant’s absence. 11D
33. Wynnie is alone. 12A
34. Wynnie (V.O.): “That’s how I’m going to die too, isn’t it?” 13A
35. Wynnie begins to cry in existential despair as particles of energy float past, 13B
36. 13C
37. Physically and emotionally spiraling in isolation. 14A
38. 14B