Description
The year is 2236, political tension was unsurmountable, large nations of older days were unable to cooperate peacefully and sentenced the planet to certain doom by enacting a nuclear holocaust of proportions unimaginable. This major catastrophe led to a nuclear winter, which not only re-shaped the land once known to all, but made most of the land available permanently inhospitable for most life forms due to extreme cold temperatures.



Yet with some unimaginable luck, humans still prevailed. 5 isolated nations (or maybe better referred to as clans, as that's what they are) strive for dominance over the newly formed continent of Novi Bersak. All clans are of differing origins, and of differing mindsets. Some want to peacefully unite the continent to rebuild the world they once lived in, others want to impose their reign onto the other clans, as supreme leader of the continent. And then there's The Crater. A location that has become sacrilegious, and a key point in control over the continent.



The Neverending Winter is a game concept, similar to the story driven games of The Witcher, with a more modern setting. This concept was created for the OST Composing Jam #3, and will (most likely) not be transformed into a real game!

1. Guardians of the Valley


The Guardians of the Valley, also recognized as the Zealots, are a splinter group of humans who have inhabited the largest nuclear impact crater zone in the whole continent. Due to the severe irradiated land, they have acquired mutations of unknown cause and effect, and could be arguably considered different from humans. They have a perfect night vision, which gives them a large advantage, despite being at odds from all sides of the continent.

They worship 'The Crater' religiously, in a new form of paganism, and will defend their land no matter the cost. They aren't necessarily interested in controlling the entire continent, they just want to be left in peace, but if someone dares to impede their values, they will launch a holy war of epic proportions, and destroy their foes.

2. Rommir Soviet Republic


The Rommir Soviet Republic (or RSR) was a fringe group of humans who still held on to the old values of former ideologies that once ruled countries on this husk of a planet. They are a decentralized collection of guerilla partisans, who fight in unconventional means, and therefore own prowess in their turf. They have mastered the elements to be one with nature, and real tricksters at that!

They strongly believe in their core ideology, and wish to impose it on the entire continent, whether that be peaceful or not. Their long-time rivals are the Zenal'ka Legion, whom they consider to be imperialists to the core.

3. Zenal'ka Legion


The Zenal'ka Legion are almost one on one with the former glorious Roman Empire. Lavish towns (or at least, as lavish as they can be given the scenario), incredibly well organized battalions who strike fear in their enemies, and most of all, Zyranikilos, their capital is considered to be the epicenter of arts on Novi Bersak, which gives them important clout in the cultural sphere.

The Zenal'ka Atheneum believe in order with rule of an iron fist, and will stop at nothing to control the entire continent. Their first target, of course, being the Rommir.

4. Kharik Raiders


The Kharik Raiders are barely recognizable as a nation, more of a large collection of mercenaries and bandit kingdoms under the rule of one king. This near feudal system is incredibly difficult to manage, so the land sees its fair share of political turmoil and overthrowings.

What the Kharik do have going for them, however, is the fact that they own many incredibly essential resources which they trade in limited amounts with other nations, keeping them in check. They have no interest to take over the continent, they do as they please. They infiltrate rival governments and get favors for their own benefit, and hence can cause quite the disturbance when the time is right.

5. Coalition of the Tri-Star


The Coalition of the Tri-Star is the last shining beacon of pure democracy on Earth. That's what they consider themselves to be, at least. They are the most diplomatic and docile nation, yet that entails things like mass corruption, and it is disputed whether it truly grasps democracy anymore, or if it's a big show to give to the other nations.

The Tri-Star believes in peace, and are usually the host nation of declarations, treaties, peace conferences and more on the entire continent. However, they are at risk of dying out from the People of the Valley, as they have been deemed a threat to the sovereignty of The Crater, and a threat to the religious values which the People of the Valley hold. The Tri-Star coalition has been heavily entrenched for many years, and will probably remain that way for many more years to come.

SOUNDTRACK CONTEXT:
National Anthems:
-Valley Anthem: Religious chanting, incantations and prayers, the deranged anthem of the people of the Valley sends shivers down the spines of the people unlucky enough to hear it.

-Rommir Anthem: A slow, melodic, and dark orchestra, to express the whirlwind of pain and suffering the people of the RSV have gone through before, and how much they'll sacrifice to go through more of it.

-Zenal'ka Anthem: An illustrious, almost royal composition, which brings a tear to the eye of every 'Kan in the nation.

-Kharik Anthem: An upbeat, fast paced ensemble of drums, flutes and horns, that make it similar to the old songs from the Land of the Free.

-TriStar Anthem: An homage to freedom, to democracy! Horns blaring, Strings swelling, this anthem represents the values of Peace and Justice the Tri-Star Republic upholds.

Main Soundtrack:
-The Collapse of Peace: After an era of relative peace and stalemate, the clans are mobilizing once more in the wake of one of the worst, if not THE biggest war to come. The winter has only gotten harsher, and mistrust is forming in all ranks of each nation.

-The Gears of War: The final diplomatic congress was held in Tri-Star territory on August 3rd, 2236, attendees included the Rommir Soviet Republic, the Zenal'ka Legion and the Kharik Raiders. The situation is dire. The Rommir are expecting a complete invasion from the Zenal'ka battalions, the Kharik have just gotten on the bad side of the Valley in an attempt to steal a sacrilegious artefact from The Crater, and the Republic is gearing up for a full assault on the Valley, to finally destroy their monopoly of the continent, and bring an end to centuries of bloodshed.

-Cold Dark Hell: August 17th, 2:03 in the morning. Kharik militias make a pre-emptive strike into the territory of the Valley. The defense team of the Valley were well aware before-hand, however. The militias were quickly outnumbered and forced to retreat, however the Valley didn't back down, they drove straight into Kharik territory, more specifically into the eastern-most region of Vla'dur, led by Baron Serin Gilaris. It was a massacre, the zealots had burned down villages, executed civilians, and committed atrocities never before seen, screams were resonating that day. All drowned out from the gentle chime of the blizzards.

The war had already been brought to the Rommir by the Zenal'ka, so far, they're standing their ground against the legionaries. Rommir's 3rd Assault Army saw the Valley's tough situation as an opportunity to reclaim previously lost land, and started an offensive. The Tri-Star had finally mustered their entire army up to formation, and they begin clashing with Valley militias along the entire border, even enacting covert operations to make a naval landing from the eastern side. It's all-out war.

-The Crater Under Siege: September 29th, the Rommir have pushed the Valley from the north until they were able to reach the Kharik's former borders, the Zenal'ka have taken major losses but have indeed taken control over many of the western realms of the Rommir Republic. The Kharik have been nearly completely wiped out by the onslaught of the Valley's forces, innumerable deaths have been reported. Mass waves of immigration are going to all other nations, either to seek asylum or to continue their crime empires elsewhere. The snowfall and overall bad weather has put a hold on most of the fighting for now, but unbeknownst to the Valley, the Tri-Star have a few tricks up their sleeves. The Crater has been infiltrated.

-The Valley Has Fallen: The Valley has been encircled from all ends, their grasp over the Kharik land is practically meaningless as their supplies dwindle. This could truly be the end of a dark era, the Tri-Star could finally unite the continent and form the republic of the future! But something's amiss...

The truth this whole time, was that The Crater held something that nobody knew of except for the great shamans of The Valley. A 150 Megaton Hydrogen bomb which had never exploded on impact, lay there dormant... until now. It's told in the prophecies of the Snowy Valley that one day, their notion of daily life would collapse, they would be hunted by the swarms of evil, corrupt humans and incarnations of devils themselves. The "Mervasis", the bomb, 'bringer of sunlight and of green fields' would be the solution, it would bring the salvation of all people of the Valley. And so as the legions of the Zenal'ka retreat the Rommir Partisans, as the Kharik bandits fill up their boats with refugees, as the Tri-Star armies enter the gates of The Crater...



It all went boom.

Message from the artist:
I had an amazing time creating this imagined world, story and soundtrack. I hope you will too!

Theme:

How does it fit the theme?
The fictional world of Novi Bersak is the aftermath of an extensive nuclear war from the world that we know today. The setting is in 2236, centuries after, the landscape has completely changed into something unrecognizable, the nuclear fallout has blocked the sun off for years at a time and the sunlight is rarely seen. This in turn has caused the entire world to freeze over, leaving it in a permanent winter state with harsh blizzards, large ice patches and glaciers in the oceans, terrible conditions overall.

Link(s) of the submission on streaming services
https://soundcloud.com/sanctussynth/sets/the-neverending-winter/s-t7ui54ZSKGf?si=ccd158e3e77e40df925fe29dcf018ad3&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing