Extracts from the Journal of India as held in the archive of the Mage Guild.
After a period of relative quiet the huge events of Ordination and Warfare activation draw ever closer. With the Mages being such a large and active guild I propose on our guild board that we should claim a candidate and make our stand as a team. However sounding out the senior mages it becomes apparent feelings are split, Fistandantilus is leaning towards Xandamere though playing his cards close to his chest, and Qrick is swinging between Threap and Orinoko, Tinuviel very much anti Orinoko but like me the thought of fighting for Threap leaving a bad taste in the mouth. Things would be much simpler if Edgtho were contending but he has declared for Orinoko. The mages agree to choose as individuals.
Emerald Quest
Edgtho has requested that I donate my eggs to him but I’m still uncomfortable with directing my support to Orinoko at this stage. I tell our Prince I’m looking to earn some cash to support myself and he’s not impressed. I earned 12k from Plaman and Zenichiro in the last egg quest which was more than enough message money for many Avalon years. There’s a long way to go in the quest and I respond to all who are looking to gain from my eggs that I’m after a fee. I decide not to get rid of my eggs until the end to see who is a realistic choice for contendership and/or is offering coin.
Initial phase of egg collecting goes badly for me and I watch the elimination rounds for a while. Orinoko as joint favourite beats Mohrion though there is some problem with Mohrion’s crystal heart and the last 5 minutes of their bout are rerun. The result is the same and Orinoko storms into the next round. Surprisingly Edgtho does contend, fighting the other favourite Threap but he loses to the sorcerer. I drift off to search for more eggs as Kodiak beats Plaman. I return to see Orinoko fight Kodiak and I’m watching on the edge of my seat as I starbeam Orinoko in his stronghold of weight traps. The first upset occurs with the Orinoko losing, and I realise the eliminations are not so much about firepower as knowledge of the land and ability to run and defend holding the sands. After an abysmal showing in the Quiz I continue to scour the land for eggs until it gets late.
The next morning I return to the land fresh and raise my collection of eggs to 15 and my number of mines to 3 over the course of the day. Egg collecting is interspaced with farming as young Jered ploughs and ploughs. I begin negotiations with Threap and Aerian for the final contest assuming Threap will qualify. In the end we agree on a price to be paid at the beginning of the challenge with a final payment at the end if I can persuade Tinuviel to join us. It’s a hard decision to hire myself as a mercenary but the remaining contenders hold none of my loyalty, and removing the Prince of Thakria to godhood is of most benefit to Mercinae. In addition its clear Threap himself obviously wants the Amethyst badly. I laugh when I consider the potential benefit to our state fund; my enemies will be funding the downfall of their own army!
Towards the end of the Emerald quest Xandamere approaches me once more for my eggs (the guy is persistent!), at this stage the other large collectors I’m aware of are Edgtho and Galadriel, both members of Apollo’s order with me. A difficult decision. In the end I give my eggs to Xandamere for an IOU trusting he is an honourable man. My belief is he will make a stronger contender than Galadriel and I believe Edgtho is already out of the final contest.
Xandamere wins the Emerald of Life then fights Keldor, who he beats in his first elimination bout. I ready myself for the coming final with new armour and sword.
The Threap vs. Xandamere elimination round must go down in history as one of the most thrilling of this ordination. I recharge my items and have my potions filled as the contest unfolds. Threap wins grabbing the sands at the last moment from a slippery Xandamere who time and time again has fled from the force of Threap’s demons. Aerian begins to confirm our arrangement. However controversy once again rears its head as it becomes apparent that the location that caused Xandamere to lose the sand was not supposed to be indoors. The last 5 minutes of the challenge are run again and the tension is high. Then the second upset of the tournament – the contest completes and Xandamere is left holding the sands therefore becoming the one to face Kodiak in the final. Threap departs into darkness and I feel a pang of sympathy for him (despite my lost swords and potions!) for losing in his second Ordination quest.
Confusion reigns as new alliances must be struck. I call a meeting of the mages as Hero and Eilan drop their pacifist status to compete. We have 7 mages who could sketch 8 plus youngsters Aveline and Hennet and are a force to reckon with. As I make my way to the stable I am summoned into an order meeting - Apollo’s order also want to make a joint stand. Lancelot makes his approach to request I fight for Kodiak. The mages and Apollo’s order both discuss their options and decide on their candidates. The mages choose Xandamere and Apollo’s order Kodiak. I’m torn in two, my natural and strongest feeling is to stand with my guild but to fight against my united order seems wrong. In the end I choose my order, the mages as a team are enough without me to make a difference to Xandamere and I am unsure on what mage support Kodiak will have.
The Final
We are set up at the top of Sapience Mountain. Aerian takes the lead mage role with Kiarn, Taen and I as sketchers for his Avalon ritual. Lancelot remarks that it’s a strange day I stand side-by-side with the two witches. We are joined by Lamron and Rikki and the mage forces are equal for both candidates. I set up rituals below as reserve.
The first race for the Amethyst becomes pure pandemonium. No one knows what’s happening and targets are called at random for the Avalon ritual. Our knights including Edgtho, Finbar and Giliad, with the cavaliers Gaar, Zakath and Lancelot, together with the loremasters are on the ground harrying the enemy forces. I notice Gaizka getting some good kills. Things settle into a pattern of brilliancing targets and waiting.
I do not have much visibility of where the gem sits and focus on working in the team to kill. Suddenly our rituals are dropping and one of the enemy mystics has focus. Everyone starts checking for owl runes and the formation starts to fail. The enemy seize the initiative and Aerian falls losing his rituals. I converge and we quickly put up our 2 mans and second Avalon ritual to continue the bombardment. The enemy responds fast and I am webbed and brillianced and die several times losing my rituals.
With our stronghold breached we regroup near an indoor location part way up the mountain under Lamron and set up full rituals again. Aerian takes his warlocks, now including Sirwin and moves in on the enemy with the mobile fighters to harass them close up. I realise Xandamere must have the gem. Rajj, Zwartia, Galladriel, Maverick and I remain with Lamron’s Avalon ritual. We have our most successful period. Galadriel is draining the enemy rituals and we call mage after mage as target in a bid to keep down the enemy Avalon ritual whilst Kodiak and the rest of the team go on the offensive. I suspect the rituals to be held by Fistandantilus, Qrick and Gandalph so they become our major targets, though Tinuviel, Sinda, Eilan and Hero get hit too. Lizzys makes some brave attacks far-throwing a brazier (!) so we focus on mystic brilliancing for a while, slaying Lizzys and trying for Esprii and Tristian.
Most of the team regroup to the summit of Sapience as Kodiak regains the gem, the Warlocks, Wizards and Mages fortify the whole mountain as we dig in for the quest end. Our fighters on the ground who now include Orinoko and a returned Zenchiro call targets and we gain several kills on Xandamere himself. Mistakes are made though and we kill Gaizka and Rikki by accident. However it seems we are gaining the upper hand with most of the opposite team dead and running. I dare to relax.
I then spot Tetsuo climbing the mountain and holing up in our previous cave stronghold. He’s joined by Qrick and the rest of the enemy. There’s 5 minutes to go and all hell breaks lose. Gravity rituals start pulling us and the enemy attack our locations in force. Its chaos, truly Damocles’ realm. Lamron and I keep sketching and dancing trying to keep our locations covered, the activity is horrendous and it’s impossible to tell friend from foe.
Suddenly the contest ends and, after a moment of quiet Xandamere’s supporters let out a huge cheer. It turns out Plaman entered the melee late and on behalf of his brother bandit stole the gem from Kodiak in the last moments.
I am gutted yet elated at the same time, what a contest! What a fight! I’ve not seen anything like it in all my years. We make our way to the pinnacle and watch in awe as Xandamere throws the amethyst into the pool and ascends to Godhood.
