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Tournament of Champions! (The game has begun)
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"Sir, your fight with lady Radhe will start in a little more than 3 hours in the central arena. Please don't get lost or be late."
Hans nervously bowed to the soldier and then reached him a candystick or what it was.
"Thank you, ehm, eh do you want to have a passion-fruit rod, ehm, they taste great!"
"I only bring messages sir" said the soldier.
"oh ehm ok" Hans responded as he ran back towards the contestants' residential buildings.
@KalamMekhar & @East2West
"..." After minutes of that history lesson, Neerayne stayed silent while was still standing. Hands folded.
"If you really want it, I can give it for you. But since you're currently don't have any sort of currency, there's a thing you can do for me." The shady merchant smirked beneath the covering of his mouth.
"Then state it." Frowned the female dark elf.
"Just give me your hand." The merchant stretched his arm in a 'trying to give a handshake manner'.
The dark elf cautiosly accepted it.
And at the moment her hand touched his, she felt a surge of something flowed inside her very soul. Her eyes widened. Besides that, a rush of memories about the mission she had to do went inside her head. A mission to retrieve some certain items to be exact. She closed her eyes for a moment and grimaced.
"Stay calm, that's only the contracting process." Added the merchant, then he let the connection loose and put his right hand on his back. "You know." He stroked his chin. "There's actually no time limit in this mission, but I believe you still have a certain tournament to do, right?" Stated the merchant with a hidden devilish smirk.
"What about the enforcer-"
"Do not worry about it." Interrupted the merchant. "Time flows differently in every universe. It will be appeared that you only go for a few moments here in this world."
The merchant stretched his arm, and the ring that ornated with a large purple gemstone he wore glowed for a moment.
An oval-shaped portal was then appeared from the thin air. Inside of it, Neerayne could see another lush landscape and a large castle that literally stood besides a mountain from her position.
"You'll notice some changes after your arrival. Again, do not worry about it. It's only the 'naturalization' process. You'll revert back to your normal form when you eventually back in here. And before you go, here." The ominous black sword, now with its scabbard, materialized in the merchant's hands, then he handed it to her.
The dark elf took the sword and examined it for a brief moment, and a surge of dark mana flowed into her. She closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled.
'It feels so... weightless, and so natural.' She thought. Then put the sword back in its scabbard.
"Now go, child." Commanded the merchant with a calm tone.
She glanced at the merchant, and just nodded.
'Here goes nothing.' And with an unwavering determination, she stepped inside the portal.
Maybe I don't have to kill him, she thought. Like Mishra's match.
She ran her hands over the gritty, dirt-covered surface of the plants. She wished Karni were with her now. She took one last look at them, before heading for the door. Her fingers went to her pockets. She could feel her tiny orb for the plant network, but also a few seeds and satchels. She felt guilty about stealing from Sir Wardnan, but she needed any advantage she could get. She paused. Henric was right. There is a certain beauty in everything.
With that thought she strode out into the morning light, ready to face anything that came her way.
This was not good. How would she be able to plant the seed when he was there looking at here? "The fight won't start for another three hours at least."
"Ehm I just wanted to, I just wanted to prepare myself for the upcoming fight." She responded with a nervous voice. Henric looked at her. "You want prepare better by standing in the arena and putting all your thoughts into it. Come! I have something I want to show you as we don't have anything better to do before the fight."
Radhe wanted to decline but she did not want to disappoint sir Wardnan so she went with him.
After more than half an hour they came to a rather large house on a farm. "You see, this is where I live." Henric said with proud in his voice. The house were not the most fancy or fit for someone of his status but it looked really cozy. Radhe could see a small lake dowhill and the Trogon forest just less than a mile away. They went around the corner to a stable where he got all kinds of animals but it was one in particular he wanted to show. "This is Dust, she may be a little old but she is still the fastest in all of Legorna" Henric said as he was patted a large brown horse. "See, she wants you to pet her too." Radhe did not get much of a chance to answer before Henric took her hand and laid it on Dust. She was very warm and soft. "Isn't she beautiful.""Yes, she is very beautiful."
Radhe responded as she completely into the petting. "I was speaking to Dust you know." Henric said lauthing and Radhe joined him.
Later within the house Radhe was looking at a large sword that was hanging on the wall.
"You said earlier that you were a warror before all this, what did you do and who did you fight for?" Radhe asked. "I was a hunter knight under the godess Friyena. I searched up people and,.. ended them. Bad people and monster. I hunted one here to Legorna when I met the mother of my daughter. She made me realize what I had lost since I swore loyalty to Friyena so I pleaded her to let me go. She accepted my request. Ever since then I have never picked up my sword again." It is almost time for your fight.
lets go back to the arena."
Round 8, part 1
The arena looked rather similar to how it had been during Neerayne and Dakkarum's fight as there was no water this time either. The arena was almost full now and the other hosts had already appeared, except for Clementia. Radhe was looking into her spygrass network as she held the seeds in her other hand. She had to find a good place to plant them but it would be almost imposible now to grow them when fighting Hans.
However it was something strange about the network, as if something had infiltrated it.
She looked around the arena to see if she could find the source. Hans started to speak with a very shaking and nervous voice "Radhe, ehm whatever happens during this fight. Do you think that we could still be friends afterwards?"
Radhe looked at him as if the question was stupid.
"Yes, yes of course we will remain friends after this." She said as she continued to search for the source. Hans smiled.
Henric stood up and presented the two contestants and his usual speech. He and the audience all ended with "Our heroes will never die as long as we have faith in them." Radhe finally found what she was seeking for. "It makes me happy beyond words that we can be friends after this, As I must become stronger to protect my friends, I must defeat you today." Hans said.
"Let the eight match of this tournament begin!"
Radhe jumped down from the ring and ran towards one of the large pillars. Hans shouted "I'm sorry Radhe!" as he went after her with his sword in his hands.
As Radhe approached the pillar she tripped. Hans approached her with the sword high in the air. The audience witnessed in astonishment.
Radhe stood up over Hans' body. She looked around and down at him again.
She kicked him lightly. "Get up!
Hans did not respond as he continued to snore.
Radhe had to take extreme actions. She turned around and picked up something.
She held a bunch of Rainbow sky towards Hans' face who woke up in shock. "AHHH! smells like old eggs!" he shouted.
"Cow farts actually" Radhe responded
Hans looked around himself. He sat in some bed of grey flowers.
"They have already declared the winner. Our fight is over." She said.
"What?... did i win? Hans asked confused. Radhe chuckled as she hugged him.
As they both went out at the arena Radhe looked back at Henric who smiled at her with that gentle smile he had.
She fought that he would have ruined the fight for her but he had planned it before her even and planted one single grey flower in the arena. One single Grey Peacemaker.
It was like Henric had said. "It might be ugly but it is the most powerful flower because in the right hands, it can provide a moment of peace and maybe even prevent death."
Winner
@ KalamMekhar
Radhe later asked Henric if Hans could stay a little longer. Because Hans had been so kind. Henric promised that he could stay for a week or two if he wanted. Maybe even longer.
@East2West I thank you and Hans very much for you participation in this tournament!
You will be rewarded with one favorite of your choice for each step in Hans' evolution that you post including his first.
In the rules it is stated that contestant are only allowed access their room for one day after they lost.
However, Henric have offered a bed in his house to Hans if he would accept it.
(So I am not personally breaking any rules as organizer, mohahaha)
Another thing. My desk is starting to overflow with complaints from the Legornians about some goblins that are making a hazard. Some kind of head has been mentioned. Do any of you know anything about this??
So now we have our 8 champions for the next round of matches.
Lorewise the next round of games will be in something like 2 months.
This gives your characters time to do more or less what they want.
In real life thoug the "deadline" for the evolutions will be in say 7 days so 14 of February. If you would get problems just contact me and I can probably change the match order or just postpone the deadline, or some other solution.
I have some loose ends that I will fix until the 14th. For example Tiamats letter to Nathan and Leandra's investigation about that god she saw.
Some of you have been given some special contacts in Legorna and even Crastine.
These are yours to use in lore purpose so don't be afraid to play around with them a little.
Most characters are living rather normal lives so you could put them into your stories if you would like that. Exceptions to this is in particular Clementia and Vincent.
The hosts are having normal jobs at the side of their host status and federation employment. (Except Nathan wich refuses to work within the federation but is a host on Clementia's wishes.)
Sir Henric Wardnan is partly a farmer in his normal life who loves flowers. He also works as a deliveryman for Clementia now and then.
Nathan is a wizard performer of sorts. He creates illusions and can use other minor spells. He also looks after Clementia quite often.
Bristana is a chaplain of the church and has the highest rank of the priests in Legorna.
Clementia does not have any other life beside her position within the federation. She could be seen as the leader of Legorna as she has alot of power. However as you saw in Radhe's earlier story segment. She is not the highest in the federation.
The last host has not been introduced yet but this person is mainly a scholar and teacher.
If any of you would want something more extensive to happen you could send a private message to me. Like if you want to go on a date with Nathan or something.
I will post another comment probably tomorrow with some questions and other stuff.
Thanks to the work of Izmagnus Inventor Thibble and her twin assistant Bibble, we have made great strides in developing Mizzium technology. For example:
Note R5-T4's versatile metamorphic qualities. After studying the mysterious Mizzium Transreliquats, Thibble was able to replicate the amorphous metal with none of its fragility. Thibble and her assistants were also able to reduce the constant breakdowns of R5-T4. But in true Izzet spirit, we were able to preserve the unpredictability of R5-T4 to surprise those who aren't ready!
Here is a list of R5-T4's traits:
WEAPONRY: Reality torches, plasmodermic plaxcasters, amorphous arms that can change to any tool necessary.
ARMOR: Tempered Mizzium (our signature fireproof and lightweight metal) treated to change shape as needed, theft-proof head.
OPERATION: Powered by Thibble's very own Fathom Engine, controlled by wireless mizzium-sphere arrays, thought-thread circuitry, joints oiled with the tears of competitors about to be smashed.
(Just kidding. We use Blue Juice.)
During her second month, however, with the exception of a "small" bag of books she'd brought along with her, she spent most of her time training and surviving in the Trogon Forest, wary of how close she'd come to being outmatched in the previous round. In the last week before the rounds started, she came back into town, not only stronger than before, but also quicker to think on her feet.
Since we are finished with the first 8 games I think it is a good time for me to express some self-critic and what I have learned from this game so far. (For others to learn from if need.)
The out-of-nowhere story: There were no plans in the beginning to make a DnD-like story for this tournament. I planned on having two hosts that would present the games. Then I wanted to include something that prevented contestants from dying and then it just continued. This gave the tournament more personality and experience. It did also make it take way more time to do anything. I can also include here that since this was not planned. None of you had created characters with the intent to role-play them. This cost some characters more than others.
I let my personal preferences influence the games: I have always preferred noble warriors and intelligent philosophers to brutish barbarians and cunning rogues. These preferences however should not be present as a tool of judging when I am a game organizer. The games that may have been influenced by this was game 3 and 6. I'm not saying that the result became as they did because of my preferences but I should have taken it into consideration.
Lack of initiative information: This is my far greatest mistake. When I saw that the role-playing was starting to go somewhat out of hand for one person. I should not have waited for the avalanche to fall by itself and trying to justify it by a 4 part battle. I should have stepped in as soon as I saw trouble. I should have described how role-playing should be made, especially for this tournament but I did not. I thus created a completely unnecessary awkward and maybe even a little painful discussion. I am sorry for this.
Randomized matches: When I decieded the matches I did put them into a randomizer on a website for tournaments. I did notice that the matches look rather pseudo-random instead of completely random. The algoritm I used might not have been as good as I hoped. I should have used classic simple DnD randomizers. Dice and pen.
Freedom after loss: This is one mistake which I fixed a bit through but it should have been trivial from the start. People role-play their characters well and then leave them to me for a match, and then I don't even give them back. Or well I don't say that I will give them back. This is not a good approach towards those that have put alot of time into their characters. Everyone deserves to say good bye at their own terms.
Character influence > Card design This is something I'm not sure if it really is true but I do not doubt it either. I think that I let the characters' role-play influence games more than their cards, and this is a card creating site. The same could be said about skills. those with role-play skills wins over those with card creation skills & creativity.
Like I wrote, I don't know if it really is like this but I can't deny it either as there must be a reason that I feel this have been a problem.
I also have some questions towards you guys:
*Do you agree with the points above? Do you think there is something else I have done poorly or something I did good but seems to have forgot? Is it something you think I should change? etc.
*Should I give more general information about the places and the world to provide a safer exploring experience for you?
*I'm planning on including something I call signature cards. these will be cards that the champion uses. Such as sorceries, instants, enchantments or artifacts. Should I try to include these for the next round or should I wait until the semi finals as I had planned?
One last thing. I want to remind you once again that if you want your character to do something significant or do something in the background or anything that is not really possible with open eyes. The most important thing for me is that you have fun so I rather see you break some minor rules than that you feel that this is just some kind ofobligation.
I am totally satisfied with the results, but I feel that my main problem was developing a character that appeared arrogant and brutish without making him unlikable or stereotypical.
Still, don't be too hard on yourself. This tournament was an incredible idea, and I applaud you for following it through and dedicating so much time to it. If you did a second one of these, I would join it above any other contest. Despite losing, this is some of the most fun I've had with MTGCS since i started.
@Jonteman93
You've been absolutely amazing when it comes to this, dedicating as much time as you have to this, establishing a world, writing incredible and immersive stories, it's just been amazing. I want to express thanks for giving me the inspiration and motivation to begin writing my first book, (under a similar premise, which I have everyone in this thread to thank,) and that I can't wait to see what's to come in the tournament.
Thank you both for your feedback. I should have stopped as soon as the matches were made or before and asked the players if you wanted to continue and if you would like to change characters as the conditions had changed so drastically.
I confess that the match between Leandra and Maern was a draw but I gave the victory to Leandra for the simple reason that she was into books so I wanted to use her for lore telling. Besides that, Leandra helped Radhe which gave her a bonus but Maern has a slightly better card in my opinion.
I can put the match as a draw and then let you two decide who should take the win.
If you let Maern win I could give Leandra the same treatment as Hans and let her stay free from the tournament as a librarian or what you would like her to be. You will still be allowed to tell her story.
If you let Leandra win I could let Maern travel the sea and meet up with the champions in a later stage before they get to Crastine.
I'll answer your question from my perspective first: wait on "signature cards." I don't know how well they'll work at all unless you allow the creator of the character they're designed for to help you with them. This is not really a reflection on you, it is just very difficult to do and it will be easier if you wait until there are few people involved.
Now, I wish to congratulate you. You've done very well so far with all of this discussion and its many moving pieces. I don't think you've had any significant problems/errors at all. Also, you are completely within your rights to exercise a little extra control (it actually helps the flow of the discussion as a whole), and a little bias really isn't an issue. It should have some general rules and guidelines to help in judging, which you have, but, it is totally fine for you to sway the outcome a little one way or another based on preference. We are trying to "impress" you after all.
"Character influence > Cards" is up to you. Cards should certainly be taken into consideration, but, just because I say Mishra has an indestructible activated ability doesn't mean you should totally ignore whoever he's up against. You can weight your decision however you like. Character influence can be the biggest determiner for you, or cards, or an equal share of both. As long as you don't totally neglect the designs or the characters, you're good. ]
It's the player that is supposed to create or choose a signature card for his/her champion. Sorry if I miss explained this. I'll need to think of a good balanced cost compared to the champion, especially equipments.
I want players to have fun and have the feeling that they are being well treated. I can't give that feeling if I let someone who has a little better card design lose to just because I want someone to read some books for me. I can create the best world ever but if no one thinks it's fun to be in it, it will be more or less worthless.
When I described the score system earlier I stated that the card design and the character influence would have the same distribution of points and should thus weight the same. If I break this statement before giving any other information than I'm misleading the players and thus decreasing my reliability as organizer. This in turns affects the player's trust and fun.
All fair points, but keep in mind, cards/characters are entirely subjective when it comes to rating. We, the players, expect you to rate them in whatever way you choose. If there are obvious flaws in a card, we'll notice, but even then we'll most likely be fine with how you handled it (I know I will).
You are treating everyone well, perhaps better than they could hope for (deserve). XD
Anyway, keep it up! ]
There were also a couple of times she made contacts with the shady interdimensional merchant in her current world where she underwent her mission, said world called Equus or something like that. And she finally retrieved the items that merchant demanded. Those were six same-sized hexagonal gemstones of different colors with harmonious magical properties.
She was currently standing in a sort of ruined castle under the afternoon sun. A moment passed, then she sighed. Then she stretched her right arm and muttered a sort of incantation the merchant grafted inside her consciousness. She felt something flowed from her very soul towards the direction of her arm and a familiar oval-shaped portal then appeared in front of her.
'It actually saddens me a bit to just outright steal those things from them in answer of their hospitality. But the merchant is a force that can't be trifled with.' She closed her eyes and pondered for a moment.
'Why are such trivial things even matter anyway.' She steeled herself, and stepped inside a particular portal again for the second time, now with addition of several particular items in her leather bag aside of her standard equipments, namely her enchanted black sword and her current clothes and boots, along with another enchanted azure pendant. A familiar rush of colors here and there, then she finally stepped inside a particular artifacts shop. She also noticed that not much had changed inside that place, then the portal collapsed, leaving no trace or whatsoever about its existence.
The ominous merchant materialized himself again from a dark corner.
"I suppose there were no complications." Stated the merchant while slowly walking towards her, hands in his back. He also noticed that the dark elf had changed her current attire a bit, although very much is the same, such as the gray colouring of her clothes, although she no longer had her cloak now.
"It's fine. Those were only trivial matters." Responded Neerayne as a matter of fact with a straight face. Her leather bag still rested in her hand.
"How long was it?" She also asked.
"Only 2 days." Responded the merchant while was walking. "And just drop it on the table."
"You know" Added him. "I also already got a confirmation from the federation that you're free to roam around." Arrived at the table, he opened the bag and examined its contents.
The dark elf didn't really sure how to react about it. In the end, she just frowned instead.
"And no, you can't go back to the Underdark with that portal. It's now only usable to connect this world with that world." Stated the merchant rather flatly without bothering to see her in the eyes.
'Just as I thought. But there is also no point to go back in the Underdark. They may have declared me to be killed in a mission anyway. But still...' One thing she really despised was the current state of the drows who live in there. Their actions and reactions could be described as 'very unpleasant' for a normal person with a common sense, and unluckily, Neerayne could also describe herself just as like that, a normal person with a common sense, for a human standard of course.
Finally finished the examination part, the merchant looked at her eyes.
"You can go now. If you need me again, worry not. You can always find me here." The hooded merchant smirked beneath his covering.
Just as Neerayne about to go...
"Oh, and this." He swiftly pulled a handful bag of gold coins and many kind of jewels from his cloak. Correction, twice handful. "Consider it as a bonus for your diligence." Then he threw the said bag at the dark elf.
She caught it and opened it. Then closed it again. 'Seems to be a bit much, but why should I complain.'
"...Thanks." She answered and put it inside her grey leather coat.
She looked at the merchant for a moment. "See you again then."
He only gave a small salute to her.
She walked away to the street outside, still wondering about what to do next.
'Hunting for bounties seems to be fine for now.' She creaked a small smile. 'And a seemingly well paid job.' She inhaled a deep breath while seemingly prepared for another day.
(Here's my second entry.)
I am glad you are being transparent about your decisions and self-critique, but honestly this contest went incredibly and I am satisfied with what happened. I may write a small story about what happens to Maern later if I get around to it, but in truth I really do have a lot on my plate now.]