The Exetrius Saga (9): Festival of the Ranks (part 1)

[Exetrius]

Exetrius Saga

1: Fallen leaf

2: Message in Kyrrath

3: Equipment upgrade

4: Subjection of a legend

5: Family Dinner

6: Attack of the Hunters

7: Taking the Runestone

8: Supplies Arrive!

Episode 9: Festival of the Ranks (part 1)

The announcement was made. The word spread quicker than wildfire: within an hour, all of Zotharith was bursting with life again! Warriors, mages, kids, trainers; everyone was trembling with excitement for the start of the festival. Large crowds were heading towards the public arena to sign up for the event and to meet other participants to form teams. There was only one day to sign up this time around, but luckily, Exetrius and Yukino (his sister) found their names on the list of participants the next day.

A guide to the festival

The Festival of the Ranks is a competitive festival, held annually in Zotharith, to determine the relative strength of Zotharian mages and warriors. Even though it consists of a long series of duels and team fights, it should not be considered a tournament, because this event does not bring forth a winner. The festival ultimately produces an updated ranking by strength of all Zotharian fighters. Every individual wants to climb the ranks, mainly because a rank reflects your status in Zotharian system. Neither a win, nor a defeat can guarantee a change of rank: the outcome of the fight is inferior to the skills or strength exhibited during the fight. Certain members of the elite determine your place on the ranking in relation to others, guided by the battles they have seen.

To facilitate the comparison of fighters, there are actually two rankings: one for users of magic/enchanted items and one for regular fighters. Similarly, there are two battle categories in the festival: magic combat and regular combat. It is encouraged to take part in both categories, to obtain a rank in both rankings.

After signing up for one of the or both of the categories, the next step is requesting battles. You can request up to three duels and two team fights. It is common courtesy to only request a duel with a higher-ranked opponent. However, the organization decides which battles will be fought, and - especially in the upper regions - you will more often encounter a lower-ranked opponent, instead of the opponent you requested a duel with. That's just how it works.

It's the first day of the festival. The cheering crowd in the arena went silent as soon as Zeruko Urima, first ranked user of magic in the Order of Zotharith, entered the arena. He silently walked along the edges of the rectangular battlefield, taking in the public carefully. After he had made his round, he stood still and started his introduction speech.

Zeruko

"Welcome to the seventh annual Festival of the Ranks [...] The arena provides all the arcane energy you need, as well as the materials for alchemists. [...] Most important rules: Killing of your opponent, inflicting permanent damage on your opponent and the use of soul magic on your opponent are strictly forbidden. This festival serves as a way of pushing your own limits, not those of others. We, as Zotharians, will use this internal conflict in order to emerge as greater force in the end! Therefore, I ask you: defeat your comrades, so we will all become stronger!"

The crowd roared and applauded after these words. And then, the first duels started. Generally, the fights between lower-ranked fighters are the first to take place. After twenty-something battles, it was Yukino's turn. She was up against one of the sabre-tooth tigre assassins that her brother encountered in the forest, while training. She completely outmatched him, easily blocking the sword attack with her massive club and knocking him down with a decisive three-hit combination.

Somewhat later, yet-to-be-ranked Enzan Armafur had his first duel.

Soon, it became clear that his opponent was quite new to magic. The way he smiled at his (supposedly new) staff, and the overexcited expression already made Enzan suspect something like that. He wielded a simple energy magic staff. His technique was seated upon the "aim - fire - did I hit anything?" principle. Enzan wasn't very impressed. He dodged a few beams..

.. and effortlessly deflected the next.

He charged forward, but then the referee declared that the match was over. Easy win.

To be continued.... in part 2

Hi guys, there it is, finally! The Festival of the Ranks has kicked off! I would like to invite you to create a little battle scene (duel/team fight, magic/regular, it's up to you) for this festival, if you feel like it. Of course you can tell me below or PM me about it! Anyway, more to come.

Btw, the wall of text under the spoiler tag is kind of essential, I put it there to not scare you away directly.

Also, I renamed Exetrius sister to Yukino (previously 'Rozi'), sorry about that, I will try to avoid such thing in the future.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Exetrius

[TitusV]

Awesome build, with great NPU on the doors! Very nice figposing combined with images taken from the right angles make for a lively scene!

[BrickCurve]

Great use of those prefab door pieces for the stands!

Edited August 24, 2016 by BrickCurve

[soccerkid6]

I think this is one of my favorite additions to your saga so far, and I can't wait to see the Festival continue!

Great stands using those prefab doors, and the way you attached the torch holders/banners into them... Nice use of those missiles as beams being fired too

I would like to see an overview of the build though

[en_zoo]

awesome! can't wait to see what this Enzan is up to :D as well as the others, indeed. as for the build, I really like the figs' posing. as for creating a battle scene for it, it's a nice idea but I don't think I can reproduce the arena with the bricks I have here - plus my character is currently lost in a fo.. ahem.. I mean my character hasn't appeared yet [<-- yes, it was meant to be a teaser ].

Edited August 25, 2016 by en_zoo

[Blufiji]

That lady with the claw staff is tough as nails. The fact that she can lift that thing is something else. As others said, NPU with the doors to create the stands.

[Henjin_Quilones]

Great action shots! You have done an excellent job of capturing a magical duel in the midst of it happening, complete with beams of some sort of arcane energy flying out. I especially love the picture of him deflecting the beam away. The story ended too soon, leaving me hanging and wanting more...

As for the build itself, as others have said, it is a nice use of those door pieces to create an arena. It performs admirably as the backdrop of your chapter. Allow me to echo SK, however, in wishing for an overview of the whole build to get a feel for it that way. But I really like what I see.

[Exetrius]

Awesome build, with great NPU on the doors! Very nice figposing combined with images taken from the right angles make for a lively scene!

Great use of those prefab door pieces for the stands!

Thanks! I was short on brown parts, so those door pieces came in handy, plus they have some extra texture compared to tiles .

I think this is one of my favorite additions to your saga so far, and I can't wait to see the Festival continue!

Great stands using those prefab doors, and the way you attached the torch holders/banners into them... Nice use of those missiles as beams being fired too

I would like to see an overview of the build though

Thanks a lot, SK! I'm really satisfied with the holders too. Don't worry, you will definitely see an overview, I just didn't want to everything yet.

awesome! can't wait to see what this Enzan is up to :D as well as the others, indeed. as for the build, I really like the figs' posing. as for creating a battle scene for it, it's a nice idea but I don't think I can reproduce the arena with the bricks I have here - plus my character is currently lost in a fo.. ahem.. I mean my character hasn't appeared yet [<-- yes, it was meant to be a teaser ].

Thanks, en_zoo! Enzan huh, who knows? No need to recreate the arena, a bit of the battleground is good enough (if you get the colours right, that'll do)! Great to know you are joining GoH, hope you find your way to Nocturnus soon.

That lady with the claw staff is tough as nails. The fact that she can lift that thing is something else. As others said, NPU with the doors to create the stands.

Thanks! Oh, yeah, Deliora belongs to the Zotharith elite for a reason!

Great action shots! You have done an excellent job of capturing a magical duel in the midst of it happening, complete with beams of some sort of arcane energy flying out. I especially love the picture of him deflecting the beam away. The story ended too soon, leaving me hanging and wanting more...

As for the build itself, as others have said, it is a nice use of those door pieces to create an arena. It performs admirably as the backdrop of your chapter. Allow me to echo SK, however, in wishing for an overview of the whole build to get a feel for it that way. But I really like what I see.

Thank you, Henjin! I hope to have the next part up soon and there will certainly be an overview (...eventually )!

[MassEditor]

Now this kicks butt! Perhaps my favorite build by you yet, Exetrius. Besides being a well put together build with some interesting techniques, the overall presentation is fantastic. The action shots are particularly good, especially the one of Enzan deflecting the magic beams. Very well photographed, perfect depth of field. It's obvious you put a lot of thought into how everything was placed. Especially the crowd, which appear to be jumping out of their seats in excitement over the fights. I will echo Henjin, this ended far too soon!

Edited August 26, 2016 by MassEditor

[LordDan]

Great build Exterius and cool magic effects! I do enjoy creating magic scenes, so count me in for the festival!

[Exetrius]

Now this kicks butt! Perhaps my favorite build by you yet, Exetrius. Besides being a well put together build with some interesting techniques, the overall presentation is fantastic. The action shots are particularly good, especially the one of Enzan deflecting the magic beams. Very well photographed, perfect depth of field. It's obvious you put a lot of thought into how everything was placed. Especially the crowd, which appear to be jumping out of their seats in excitement over the fights. I will echo Henjin, this ended far too soon!

Many thanks for the kind words, MassEditor! As for my presentation: still doing the best I can with an affordable digital camera, two desk lights, a blank sheet of paper and some colour correction.

Great build Exterius and cool magic effects! I do enjoy creating magic scenes, so count me in for the festival!

Oh, sweet!

[Dubbadgrim]

I love the crowd and red 'beam' effects.

[Isundir]

As others have already said the use of the doors and projectiles is really neat. I also like all your fig combo's.

[Exetrius]

I love the crowd and red 'beam' effects.

As others have already said the use of the doors and projectiles is really neat. I also like all your fig combo's.

Thanks for the compliments!

@Isundir I'm quite a minifig perfectionist, so each fig in the crowd is meant to not be 'just another fig in the crowd'.

I plan to have the next part up somewhere in the coming 24 hours. Hype!

[LittleJohn]

Those angled doors work perfectly here! I love how you attached the torches and flag poles as well, and the photography is top-notch