Story idea: 30 years before the open of the story, a well respected and intelligent man dies young, leaving no direct descendent. He is buried in a small town in the northeast. 10 years later, what would have been his nephew is born, bearing a striking resemblence in appearance and mannerisms.
The nephew is curious about his deceased uncle, but rarely even sees pictures of him, and stories are sparse. It is not until he turns 21 that he finally sees a picture and realizes just how alike they appear. Curious, he visits the grave of his uncle, whom he had never visited before. As he arrives, the earth shakes, and a jewel rises through the ground at the grave of his uncle. Picking up the gem, curious, the young man is hit by a wave of overwhelming energy that sends him reeling. He stumbles from the gravesite, unable to drop the gem, and ultimately blacks out.
As he is unconscious, he is visited by his dead uncle, who explains that they are in fact part of an ancient being, imprisoned millenia before by a vengeful force. Every few generations, the being was able to release a portion of its essence, allowing it to “hitch a ride” with a soul bound for the physical plane. When that being died, that essence would remain dormant with the body until it was found by another essence-carrying soul. When enough of these dormant essences had been awakened, they would be able to finally free the rest of the being.
When the young man awakens, he discovers that he has gained the knowledge and memories of his uncle, distinct and seperate from his own, but crystal clear. Additionally, he realizes that his own memories have become perfectly clear and accessible. The jewel he’d been holding in his hand had disappeared. Over the following weeks, he begins to search through his mind, and discovers that if he concentrates, he is able to re-create the jewel, though it has now become attached to a quarterstaff. He cannot give the staff to anyone, however: it is bound to him, a physical manifestation of his uncle’s essence, and thus cannot be dropped, merely drawn back inside of him. He also finds that he can sense the general direction of the next buried essence. (This become more exact and pronounced as he collects more essences.)
Slowly, as he collects more essences, he gains more abilities, more knowledge and memories,and develops psychokinetic abilities (levitation, pyrokinesis, electrokinesis, telekinesis, telepathy, and even teleportation). Each essence also manifests itself in a different physical form, first the quarterstaff, then armor, a helmet, boots, bracers, a cloak, and a sword.
As he travels around, he finds that whatever force had originally locked the ancient one up had begun to notice his actions. They begin to send beasts and demonic creatures against him, and even slowly begin to show up themselves. They fail to stop him, however, and finally he has found all the remnant essences. He defeats the guardians who where imprisoning the ancient one, and it is then that he realizes that the ancient one means to be the dominant being, and bring destruction to the universe that had bound him. He must then fight this being for dominance. Ultimately it proves the strength of the human soul, who defeats the ancient one and gains full control of the essences, bringing nigh-godlike abilities to make and shape reality.
Game or Novel? Doesn’t matter. Maybe both.