The BlackSand Tournament I: Round I, Duel II
From Chaos Mage Miyo of the Wood
“There are rumors around Sacred Flames’ sightings on the Salt Sea shore” Basil of the Berg mentioned, as Miyo was reviewing a map of the Runiverse. “A couple of associates of mine also confirmed the rumors and mentioned BlackSand as a potential lead” he continued.
Miyo was only partially listening. That cringe Basil was just as good as an empty cup of ale, *“but sometimes he does surprise me”* Miyo admitted. “So you are saying that we might find a Sacred Flame there? Are you positive? I can’t even find a place called BlackSand on this map”
“So it appears, my Queen” Basil replied almost in adulation; “…and you say this BlackSand city is supposed to be here?” she continued pointing to a spot in the map north of the Red Wizard Capital. “I can confirm, Miyo; it is only a three-day horse ride from here.”
“That also means we could make it in time for the BlackSand tournament” Artificer Damien of the Mist shouted bursting into the tent were Miyo and Basil were meeting. He was waving around a letter he claimed was an official invitation to a legendary tournament. “A tournament?” Miyo replied, getting slightly more interested as she learned more about this BlackSand place. “All right, that’s enough clues to make this short trip worth it. Basil go find more information on the Sacred Flames and Artificer ready the horses and, while at it, fill me in on this tournament. A fun fight can only make our stay there a little more pleasant.”
Three days later, Miyo and the Miyo’s Boys passed the wooden gates of BlackSand. Miyo was surprised by how run down the place looked, with only a few shops open for business. The streets were also covered in dark sand. Somehow that remined her of the years she spent working in cinnabar mines: air filled with dust and smoke that would itch your eyes and nose. Those memories made her angry. She was getting so upset that small fire balls just snapped out of thin air from her clenched fists. “I hate…” she started saying but then got distracted as what looked like another wizard galloping past them on a black horse. “Ah what are they here for???” Miyo shouted “Basil go chase them and find out everything you can. We can’t afford to lose a Sacred Flame to another wizard.” “And you, Artificer go sign me up for this tournament and find us an inn for the night”
The morning after Miyo made her way to the tournament ground, wearing her usual black leather outfit. She had just learned she would fight in the second duel of the day right after the opening one. “This is annoying, I needed to dedicate some time to the Sacred Flames this morning” she snapped as soon as Artificer informed her. “My apologies, boss. But the council organizing the tournament seemed very keen to have you fight as soon as they learned who you are.” “And why would you tell them?!” she dismissed him, annoyed.
As Miyo approached the fighting area, she heard cheers and claps from what seemed like a few tens of people, followed by a loud voice “…..may your name be remembered as the first champion of a BlackSand fight.”
“Hear, hear” the same voice continued shortly after “It is now time for our second duel. Please welcome Chaos Mage Miyo of the Wood and Chaos Mage Tabitha of the Morning Star. May the best fighter win!”
“Another Chaos wizard? And a Morning Star? This is starting to be interesting,” Miyo smiled, fist clenched and ready to fight as she made her entrance into the sandy arena.
From Chaos Mage Tabitha of the Morning Star
“Fire…” Tabitha was thinking as she gently handled a large magic flame around her fingers. She loved to play with it. To feel its heat. To admire its beauty. To own its power. At a snap of her fingers the flame went off. The room fell into darkness. It was late night.
Tabitha was a vampire. And not just that. She came from one of the longest-standing and most powerful vampire families in the Runiverse: the Morning Star. Little was known about their origin, but their power and influence was respected across lands. Few amongst the wizard community didn’t know about her or her sister Hedge Wizard Lucinda of the Road.
She typically didn't travel as far West as she did this time. But an odd request had come to her from a long-loved friend. “Come to BlackSand, I need you.” She rehearsed the words sent to her by Archmagus Crowley of the Reach. Not a word more. But Tabitha knew how these things worked and not to expect Crowley to put much else in writing. He wouldn’t risk losing anything to unwanted eyes. They had their fun playing politics years before and to this day Crowley continued to be invested in that power game. “I wonder what he is up to now.”
Tabitha was familiar with BlackSand. She had studied the history of the fallen Imperium. “A trip to the city that once was is always welcome” she smiled. She also had a theory that required further exploring: “fire magic is stronger in BlackSand”. Historian had believed for ages that natural elements such as volcanos could enhance wizards’ magical capabilities. But she wanted to bring that theory one step further: “what about all that black sand?” she considered “it could be the perfect conduit for fire magic at minimum effort.”
It wasn't too burdensome for her to accommodate Crowley’s request. Her journey to BlackSand took her a few weeks. When she got to the city a couple of days earlier, Crowley had greeted her flamboyantly. “Crowley is an odd one.” That night the Archmagus had a long white bear covering almost half of his dark green tunic. Always wearing his red, pointy hat, symbol of his allegiance to the Red Wizards. “Welcome my dear Tabitha” he had loudly greeted her with a generous smile. “Come in, come in. There is much that needs discussing.”
Remembering that conversation from the darkness of her chamber felt odd. There was something Crowley wasn’t telling her. But, for now, her role was to fight in the BlackSand tournament in the morrow. And try to win. She didn’t mind playing along since Crowley had offered her something she couldn’t refuse.
So the morning after Tabitha made her way to the sandy fighting pit, ready for the duel. Crowley’s was sitting in the audience right next to Shaman Azazel. “A great historian” she quickly thought as she walked towards the middle of the small arena. To her surprise, in front of her stood a Chaos Mage: Chaos Mage Miyo of the Wood, Azazel called her. “Oh this is such a treat…” Tabatha whispered in excitement “let’s put this black sand to a test.”
From Shaman Azazel of the Astral Plane
“Fire magic...” Azazel thought “...I wonder why Crowley insisted to pair these two mages so early on in the tournament…”
Both wizards in the arena looked stunning. Such mix of power, beauty, and strength. The crowd was hypnotized by them. Azazel knew of Tabitha “what a powerful mage…!” But oddly enough he had never heard of Miyo. “She is young, her story still far from being told and written in history books…”
As soon as the two mages met in the middle of the arena, Azazel initiated the fight thinking: “what a fight this will be!”
In a matter of seconds both Miyo and Tabitha invoked flames around their hands. The crowd started cheering and clapping, amused. Miyo started running towards her opponent, trying to take advantage of her skills in close combat. But Tabitha seemed more focused on keeping her distance and hurled a fireball towards Miyo. Miyo promptly dodged, but that attack interrupted her charge. Tabitha launched another fireball, this time smaller but faster. Miyo was almost caught by surprise by that second attack and had to wave her right arm to quickly build a flame wall to parry it. The crowd went wild! “That flame wall is quite an advanced defense spell!” Azazel gasped.
Tabitha smiled, looking at her opponent struggling to keep up. And she doubled down: “Fireih” she shouted and fired a sequence of five flaming bolts towards Miyo. Two bolts missed. Miyo fended off two more with similar magic. But the last one hit her right in the chest, violently hurling her to the floor.
The crowd gasped!
“Good fight….” Tabitha said as she moved towards her grounded opponent. But to everyone’s shock, Miyo quickly jumped back up “How…” Tabitha exclaimed in confusion. Miyo then brought her hands together and quickly whispered “Salamander’s Tongue!” A massive fireball erupted and hit Tabitha on her right shoulder. The aim wasn’t perfect, but the hit was heavy. Tabitha fell to the ground. Miyo took the opportunity to close the distance between them and run towards the opponent.
Tabitha just had enough time to stand up before Miyo attacked again: right jab, left hook, crescent kick. She hit Tabitha every time. Exasperated and hurt, Tabitha yelled, and a burst of fire exploded from her body enveloping Miyo. The crowd screamed in surprise as all that fire made the air hot and dry.
To the crowd and Tabitha’s surprise, Miyo was barely bruised by the attack. Tabitha tried to run back and put distance between them. But Miyo didn’t hesitate, invoked flames around her fists and started punching again. Right jab, left jab, right hook. She seemed unstoppable.
Tabitha fell to the ground. Seemingly confused, she reached out to grab some black sand “what is she trying to do…” Azazel thought. But before she could grab any sand, Miyo hurled a massive pyroblast that hit Tabitha right in her chest. The black sand on the ground caught on fire wrapping Tabitha in tall, scorching flames. Tabitha screamed.
Two wizards wearing white robes rushed to the pit. They invoked massive streams of water and managed to tame the fire. They then headed towards Tabitha, who laid unconscious on the ground.
“The fight is over!” Azazel rushed to declare. “Chaos Mage Miyo of the Wood is our second winner!”
He then quickly turned to face Crowley: “Hurry, go make sure Tabitha is ok.”