Once They Walked Among Us

A world where the original “Gods” or “Heroes” were imprisoned/exiled/humiliated long ago.

Because, well, they were too strong, people hated that, people fought them and won or something. But people have mostly forgotten this now.

Someone remembers and wants to bring them back—maybe it’s two really good friends, and one wants to bring them back for JUSTICE (they shouldn’t be imprisoned/this is THEIR world), while another wants to bring them back for POWER. This is obviously only revealed in a later twist that puts their whole plan on its head, just as it was about to succeed.

TWIST: One of the old gods/heroes has been hiding among the people all along as some cute sidekick here. Probably hint at the fact one of them was a shapeshifter and hard to catch, but they finally managed it—turns out they didn’t manage it at all and it just shapeshifted into a human and lived among them.
WORLDBUILDING: Heroes can be “out of sight, out of mind”. But it’s much more interesting if very specific locations were created for them (mountain prisons, magically locked gardens, etcetera) with very specific spells that worked against the god’s/hero’s specific power/magic. This allows putting them on display, having one “walk among them” without being able to interact or present a danger anymore, having an immortal hero turned into a stone or something as that’s the best they could do, etcetera.
(Every region has its own god/hero?)
“No good deed goes unpunished. That doesn’t make it any less of a good deed.”

@IDEA (STORY BIT):

“Evil never dies. It merely sleeps, waiting to strike again. It merely slumbers until the good people grow too comfortable to notice its return. It merely waits in the shadows until everyone hasn’t seen evil in so long they start to ignore the blatant signs. Evil never dies; it merely sleeps. And that’s why we, the Family of Forgotheroes, will never stop fighting.”

This is really about how life will NEVER be comfortable/forever peaceful. We regress. Evil returns. Everyone has to always be actively fighting the bad and supporting the good, or we’ll go in these endless cycles of “hard men create soft times, soft times create soft men, soft men create hard times” (All those old gods/heroes need to be actively fought or they’ll break free/be released.)

Also, the title is really nice because it has double meaning. Does it mean “once upon a time, the gods/heroes walked among us”? Or does it mean “they walked among us only ONCE, never again”?

A world where **the original "Gods" or "Heroes" were imprisoned/exiled/humiliated long ago**. Because, well, they were too strong, people hated that, people fought them and won or something. But people have mostly forgotten this now. Someone remembers and wants to bring them back---maybe it's two really good friends, and one wants to bring them back for JUSTICE (they shouldn't be imprisoned/this is THEIR world), while another wants to bring them back for POWER. This is obviously only revealed in a later twist that puts their whole plan on its head, just as it was about to succeed. * TWIST: One of the old gods/heroes has been hiding among the people all along as some cute sidekick here. Probably hint at the fact one of them was a shapeshifter and hard to catch, but they finally managed it---turns out they didn't manage it at all and it just shapeshifted into a human and lived among them. * WORLDBUILDING: Heroes can be "out of sight, out of mind". But it's much more interesting if very **specific locations were created for them** (mountain prisons, magically locked gardens, etcetera) with very specific spells that worked against the god's/hero's _specific_ power/magic. This allows putting them on display, having one "walk among them" without being able to interact or present a danger anymore, having an immortal hero turned into a stone or something as that's the best they could do, etcetera. * (Every region has its own god/hero?) * "No good deed goes unpunished. That doesn't make it any less of a good deed." @IDEA (STORY BIT): * "Evil never dies. It merely sleeps, waiting to strike again. It merely slumbers until the good people grow too comfortable to notice its return. It merely waits in the shadows until everyone hasn't seen evil in so long they start to ignore the blatant signs. Evil never dies; it merely sleeps. And that's why we, the Family of Forgotheroes, will never stop fighting." **This is really about how life will NEVER be comfortable/forever peaceful.** We regress. Evil returns. Everyone has to always be actively fighting the bad and supporting the good, or we'll go in these _endless cycles_ of "hard men create soft times, soft times create soft men, soft men create hard times" (All those old gods/heroes need to be _actively fought_ or they'll break free/be released.) Also, the title is really nice because it has **double meaning**. Does it mean "once upon a time, the gods/heroes walked among us"? Or does it mean "they walked among us only ONCE, never again"?