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ToC 4 Kaigan Workshop
Hey, so a little bit about my story!
1. Anyone who is really, really dedicated to Dominaria lore will know that I did a bit of... artistic license to make this work out. A brief summary of changes
2. I'm writing these bits as excerpts from a book because I would love to end up making this into even a short, novella type situation. Or even longer. I won't go ahead and try to type up the book now, but these will be termed into chapters to tell you roughly where I expect them to wind up in the book. If I do make it into a book, I might change some things up, especially if anyone specifically does not want me to take some artistic license with their characters.
3. Yes I'm kinda writing this wierd. It's not just following Kaigan but the situations around him and all the compicated, annoying stuff you get from a birds-eye view. Please feel free to post questions if you have any; they not only are important for your clarity, but they help identify things that I might not have put in.
4. Feel free to post suggestions about what else I should use this for.
1. Anyone who is really, really dedicated to Dominaria lore will know that I did a bit of... artistic license to make this work out. A brief summary of changes
- There is no confirmed base of the Infinite Consortium on Dominaria at the time that Jace breaks Tezzeret's hold on it. I have installed one on there.
- The Mending was supposed to remove all other forms of travel. I'm claiming it was imperfect and that there are still tiny bits that do things, most importantly, the spell to get me here.
- Prossh is the dragon who is worshipped as a god by the kobolds. I'm doing the best I can to portray him, but it's kinda hard.
- Rograhh was originally king of the kobolds. Due to his blasphemies about being worshipped in the same manner of Prossh himself, Rograhk leads an underground rebellion against him. I've gone past that, having Prossh depose Rograhh and put Rograhk in charge as more of a high priest than a a king figure.
2. I'm writing these bits as excerpts from a book because I would love to end up making this into even a short, novella type situation. Or even longer. I won't go ahead and try to type up the book now, but these will be termed into chapters to tell you roughly where I expect them to wind up in the book. If I do make it into a book, I might change some things up, especially if anyone specifically does not want me to take some artistic license with their characters.
3. Yes I'm kinda writing this wierd. It's not just following Kaigan but the situations around him and all the compicated, annoying stuff you get from a birds-eye view. Please feel free to post questions if you have any; they not only are important for your clarity, but they help identify things that I might not have put in.
4. Feel free to post suggestions about what else I should use this for.
Comments
Avelaide is a world created by Jonteman93, which he uses for a book project, though many things are different in the project when compared to the world we know from earlier Tournaments of Champions. (Names and history, mostly.)
This world is very much the same as in the earlier tournaments. Avelaide consists of warring kingdoms, honorable knights, wise wizards, mighty beasts, ferocious dragons, godlike caretakers, and of course, abysmal monsters and the greatest of them all that rivals the gods: Septhis, who is imprisoned in the abyss.
The abyss is a realm of ever-increasing, violent power that's sealed off behind a gate to the afterlife and guarded by a godlike caretaker of death. Souls which are sent to the abyss are doomed for an eternal torment. Neither living or dead, these souls sometimes overflow and tear a rift to the world of mortals. Some external forces also help causing these rifts around the world more often. Souls enter the world through these rifts as frenzied dark creatures. Most of the time they're undead; skeletons, zombies, spirits, but souls that have absorbed an enormous amount of the abyss's energy for a long time become horrifying monsters that have shed all resemblance to any living thing on Avelaide. These monsters are sometimes powerful enough to decay the land and corrupt creatures around them with mere presence alone. There are some groups and armies around the world whose sole purpose is to seek out rifts of the abyss, heal them, and slay any monsters that have escaped.
Now, the place where the new tournament will be held...
Welcome to Eviera!
Lisakdonia's history is filled with wars against Stelladorans, conspirators, and the abyss. Long time ago, a mighty abyss-risen dragon, the greatest that had ever lived in the world, emerged from the east and flew across the ocean to attack Lisakdonia's capital. When it seemed that Lisakdonia's end was nigh, the most powerful of the godlike caretakers, goddess of love and war, ascended from the sea, and fought the dark dragon until her spear penetrated the monster, destroying it and earning the reverence of the whole kingdom of Lisakdonia. Since then, the goddess has lived in Lisakdonia's capital. She hasn't been involved in the politics of the kingdom or its wars, but she has offered advice for the leaders and established her own order of knights, whose main mission is to search for rifts of the abyss and destroy its monsters whenever they appear in Eviera.
At some point, the first tournament was arranged in honor for the goddess and her knights. Its contenders came from all around the world, and some even arrived from completely different worlds. During the course of the tournament, countless fighters entered many harsh battles until only one remained. This lone warrior had become the most powerful fighter in the land, and he was named as the first champion. Since then, these tournaments have become a tradition that bring people entertainment, hope, and a chance to find yet another powerful champion.
Now, sixteen different tournaments have been held, and sixteen different champions have been named in Lisakdonia. The time for the seventeenth tournament arrived three years ago, but it was stopped by an army of abysmal monsters. The contenders met different ends, and the tournament was no more. The war against the abyss has weighed heavily upon the people of Lisakdonia, as the dark creatures of the abyss have become a commonplace. The number of champions has decreased, the war against Stelladorans presses on, and now there are those who seem to be leading the monsters of the abyss.
The dangers of Eviera are greater than ever before, and the people's hopes are crumbling. But there are some who plan to reignite the seventeenth tournament again...
So that a new champion may rise.
The Infinite Consortium member's screams trailed off into a irregular, gasping cough, and he collapsed in his shackles. His inquisitor lowered the glowing brand that had been pressed against the man's chest. A small, scaled hand pushes the head up.
"Ready to talk yet, intruder?"
Even tortured like he had been, the man was still as alert and observant as a member of the Consortium would have to be. Looking at the small, hooded creature tormenting him, he let out a wheeze.
"Why? Afraid to admit failure to your master like the last one had to? The dragon shows you no mercy I bet. You probably chafe-"
His attempts at coercive talk got him nothing but a furious lash from a whip. Comparatively nothing to the practical tortures he had already been through, but painful nontheless. He actually had the nerve to laugh at it. The covered figure spat on him and went to reheat the brand.
"You will never understand the glory that it is to serve Master! He is the greatest! All your secrets will be his!"
The man in shackles sighed and settles back in for another round of torture. This made four inquisitors, none of whom had cracked him yet. No matter their techniques, he told himself, he would take the importance of what he carried to the grave. The best he could hope for is for them to destroy it in their stupidity and anger...
Well, that's not quite true. The best he could hope for would be to escape with his stuff and make it to the point and send his message to the Infinite Consortium... with even more luck he'd be picked up and rewarded for this. Perhaps he'd even get to retire off this alone....
This train of thought was cut off as his body, mostly broken already, was inflicted with yet another massive burn from the iron. The screams echoed inside the cave as flesh sizzled, but no one came to the rescue. No one comes to Kolios. After almost another hour of this, darkness crossed the poor man's eyes and he welcomed it. With unconsciousness came no more pain.
As the kobold working to crack him pulled back, seeing that her victim was unconsious, she put the iron down and went to his belongings, looking over them once more. Various baubles, signets, and papers. Desperately trying to make sense of them, she sits at the table, rummaging through them, trying to crack codes, puzzle things together, or anything to offset the wrath of Prossh. Papers are tossed every which way as she despaired making sense of any of them.
The light coming into the cave mouth from the outside diminished, and the shadows deepened and darkend. Gulping at the inevitable, the kobold left the cave. She managed to find one thing, a key to a code. Translating it didn't tell her much, but it was enough to know how important this is... and how much madder Prossh would be at her failure. Lying never crossed her mind; the honor to directly serve came to a select few only, and that she was chosen was the best thing of her life.
Ascending to the crag where she would deliver her report, her legs wobbled, only driven on by the dread of not making it more. She barely made it to the top before Prossh comes swooping down on her.
"So, how did you fare in dealing with the human, Ectrinsa?"
"Oh Lord Prossh... Despite my best possible efforts, I have not gotten him to speak. But I have a minor success.... if you please..."
"Oh? Speak. Perhaps I will give you more time."
"Lord Prossh, his papers... one of them, when deciphered-"
She takes a deep breath, terrified yet enthralled.
"Isaspellthatwillallowinterplanartravelanywhereatwill!"
The words clearly had some effect. Prossh leans his neck back in shock, clearly not expecting that. Nothing like that should exist; not like that. Especially not since the mending. That sort of power... well, it would be a whole new level!
"Are you sure? If this is not right..."
He doesn't have to finish that sentence; Ectrinsa knows all to well the fate that can befall those that displease him. She cowers in fear, but reaffirms what she said.
"I'm certain of it Lord Prossh! I even might be able to figure it out without the prisoner! Please, let me try! I can do this!"
The desperation to please and utter fascination is quite evident in her voice, and Prossh nods.
"With something this important, you have a week. Do not disappoint!"
He takes off, leaving a clearly relieved Ectrinsa to head back down to work.
Chapter One: Fresh Beginnings
The forms are a strange dance, putting every inch of the kobold's body to use as he lunges, leaps, blocks, parries! All watching would be entranced by the flurry of actions, each one getting better as he rolls into it from the prior move with a grace and quickness that defies all expectations of what a kobold can do. Disruption to this beauty comes only when he tries to brace off the spear to do a kick to an imaginary foe as the butt of the spear skids off a loose pebble, sending the two to the ground.
Uncaring of the fall, the little kobold gets up again and restarts, his patterns vastly different this time. A few more kobolds come out to train, most using swords or other spears. Their grace in battle is far less, but in some cases more effective. The first kobold is fairly friendly to these new arrivals, and most of them are quite friendly in return. He offers a quick sparring match to one of the best at swords, and a space is cleared in the center.
The fight starts with a flurry of blows from the kobold with a sword, and one strong enough that the spear is forced to dodge instead of block, batting the blade aside twice, but unable to get in with the spear to break the attack. Slowly backing away, he takes a small risk and ducks to the side under an alcove where the reach of the spear has an advantage. The sword kobold is unable to really stop this, so focused on his attacks. As he glances around for a second, confused, he gets poked by the spear in the sides. The weapons are blunted, so no blood is drawn, but it's annoying. His clawed hand shoots out and grabs the spear as it's being pulled away, yanking hard and drawing the first kobold in close where he has the advantage. The spear wielder can't get away from that, so curves around to the side instead, trapping the sword-wielding hand so that the blow can't complete.
"Give it up Tirkers! I've got you from here!" The spear-wielder shouts, chuckling as his companion struggles to make any sort of attack with his trapped blade. Tirkers grunts, then heaves the spear end he was holding at the actual spear wielder, driving him back a few steps and giving him the space that he needed to ready. Now the spear kobold is on the attack, deftly jabbing and swinging in with his spear, whirling on either side of the retreating figure. Eventually Tirkers fails to block once, then twice more, and that ends the match. The young spear wielder walks over and shakes Tirkers's hand.
"That was pretty good work there Tirkers. Your start had me backpedaling a lot, and your recovery from the pin there is a huge improvement."
The other kobold gives a dry snort.
"Don't get too comfy. I'll beat you yet Kaigan."
His bitterness seems lost on Kaigan, lost in the happy part of youth that is too innocent for the bitter taste of life as a devotee of Prossh. A bell rings, and everyone sets about their daily tasks. Breaking off to a small group of young kobolds, Kaigan heads off to do his alloted chores with his friends, laughing as they set to work.
Nothing disrupts the day until the end. As they head back to the warrens under Kher Keep, Kaigan and his friends hear a blast from a trumpet. Everyone pauses, then turns around and heads into the only building that seems really well maintained in Kher Keep- the Great Hall.
As they go, they whisper to each other about what this could mean, guessing over and over. Was Rograhk, Prossh's Voice going to start up the living sacrifices again? Or perhaps he was declaring a new war; the warrens are starting to get crowded enough to warrent one. Whatever it was, everyone agreed that it had to be important for him to summon everyone, but not too important that it couldn't wait for the tasks of the day to be over with.
As the Great Hall was slowly packed fuller and fuller, the hushed whispers grew until it sounded louder than the horn that originally summoned everyone. In all his red, warlike glory, Rograhk took the highest point and looked over the massive throng of kobolds assembled by his horn.
"Prossh has required from us our best warrior! He is to be sent on a quest in Prossh's name! Tomorrow will be a day of rest for all but the warriors who will have an all out sparring match to find the best. The last not eliminated will be Prossh's Champion for this quest! Retire to your dens now and rest, warriors, for you will be watched from above by our Lord tomorrow!"
Chapter Four: A World Anew
He glanced around, looking for some clue of where he was. The woods he was in cleared out to some extent on one side and showed a road. While nature was nice, he had a mission. A road had to lead somewhere civilized, and from there he could head to the tournament. He heaved a sigh and prepared for a long walk.
As he came close to the road however, something disrupted him from his internal reverie. Voices! People! And oh dear lord, it's not happy people.
"Hey! Stop the coach!"
The familiar hiss of steal coming out of a leather sheath spurred Kaigan on further, dashing the rest of the way up the hill. Holding his spear at the ready, he couldn't get to the top before he heard a clang and a grunt. When he got to the top, the scene was already set, and for the worse. A group of four bandits had assaulted what appeared to be a stagecoach, and while one of them was cursing and leaning against a rock on the other side of the road, three were hard pressing someone who appeared to be the driver, who was clearly not a great swordfighter, but was trying anyway.
Not even hesitating, Kaigan lept down on top of the coach, then down again, stabbing one of the three upright bandits in the foot with the spearhead, then pulling out and swinging the butt around to crack the man in the side of the neck. The highwayman groweld and pulled back, going to bring his club down on the disruptive kobold, but the spear danced in the way, deflecting, blocking, and hindering each blow. One of the highwayman's friends paused assaulting the old coach handler, confident in his ally.
"Goddamnit Boris, stop playing around! If that lizard kid is gonna get in your way, smash him! He's less than half your {redacted} size!"
Boris merely grunted in response, already working up a sweat from how har his blows stared with. Tossing aside his massive club, he grabbed for the solid silver spear. What he planned to do after he had it was never made clear, for Kaigan's response was a simple thrust forward, stepping in and going over the attempted catch to nail home a devastating gutshot. Kaigan bowed low, the bandit's clenched fist wooshing over the back of his head as the man collapsed backwards.
It finally dawned on the leader that the small, scaled being was more dangerous than he first thought.
"Look, kid, you want a share of the haul, we can arrange for that. We've had solid dealings with the lizardfolk here in the pa-"
"I'm not here to rob people."
"Look, where are your parents? You're really too yo-"
"I've just outfought one of your men. Not a scratch on me, and he's at least seriously injured. Do I appear to need parents?"
Kaigan's voice wass brisk, firm, and brooked no questions. The leader seemed slightly confused, but recovers quickly.
"No..."
"So are you going to take your men and leave or are you gonna try to outdo Boris's performance?"
The bandit leader sighed and lowered his sword. The other man was clearly winning majorly, but followed his leaders cue, stepping away.
"Kid, why are you ev-"
This time, his sentence wasn't interrupted by Kaigan, but by himself, as his downed sword flashed up and lunged at Kaigan's chest. Not expecting that, Kaigan leaped back, nearly tripping and cracking his head against the coach door. Grinning, the leader stepped forward to finish him. Bright steel flashes in the sunlight, and a spray of blood gets on the side of the coach, including the window. An 11 year old girl peeks out, terrified but intensely curious. As she looked over the scene, she saw a cute, red kobold lying against the door, a beheaded bandit, and a panting coachman. The coachman reached down and pulled the kobold up, shaking him gently as the other bandits turned and fled as best they could. Her parents pulled her away from the window at that point.
"That was a solid fight there... you probably saved everyone in the coach. Next time though, don't talk to them. They would kill you and everyone in the coach for whatever riches we had. Mercy doesn't exist on the road. Now, how can I repay you?"
"I need to get to the tournament?"
"Ha! You're in luck; we're headed to the host city anyway. I can drop you in the hotel district without even going off course. Get up top with the luggage; can't have you bothering the lord or lady inside."
Kaigan eagerly obeyed; this was much better than walking. There was something unfair about him not being allowed inside he felt, but it didn't matter to him. The air was fresh, warm, and full of the scents of a beautiful spring. He and the driver talked for a good bit, and enjoyed each other's company in silence for a good bit more. The guards at the city gate gave him an odd look, but no trouble, and they entered the magnificent city.
Ah, the splendor of the city! Unwashed bodies, sewage in the streets, beggars and lepers on the corners contrast spectacularly with the pristine buildings, posh outfits of the rich, and firm, polished steel of the guards. The driver, Richard, dropped Kaigan off at a comfy rest stop, and continued with his nobles on to the palace. Word would spread of the brave little kobold, and pass along to the manager of the tournament.