Entry no 2 to Avatarjk137's tournament. For details, see his profile, a link to which can be found in the reviews page of my other entry, A Winn3r is You: Three More Heroes.

There's a quite long footnote at the end of this chapter, but here is one detail you will need to bear in mind in your research. My three fighters are all still sane and uncorrupted. Malek is still a human wearing armour rather than an animated suit of armour, Mortanius hasn't been possessed yet, and Moebius is still trusted by the other two. In other words, this takes place more than five centuries before Blood Omen, the first instalment in the (AWESOME) Legacy of Kain game series.

Invitation

The trouble with omniscience, Moebius had long known, was boredom. The Sarafan Purge had eradicated all of the lowborn vampires, with Nosgoth purged but for Audron, high in his tower, and Vorador's brood, hidden in Termogent Forest. In six years time, the crusade would have their chance to eradicate the last Ancient, but Moebius would in doing so sacrifice his finest warriors. Moebius was cursed, or blessed, with prior knowledge of his path. What he would do to Malek had haunted him for decades, but God could not be defied by one such as he.

He had not foreseen the arrival of his visitors. His guise as the Oracle, dispensing benevolent advice to those who braved a maze of monsters, minions and traps, was mostly a diversion, some benevolence to build his reputation until he finally gave the counsel that mattered. He had arrived this time of habit, expecting nothing, but here the visitors were, traversing his maze, unaware that he watched in the surface of his cauldron.

He had almost forgotten the taste of uncertainty. Nonetheless, it would be unwise to leave his fate to chance.

"Malek," he whispered, "I may need you."


Sakyo watched as another of his demons was pulled down by four undead warriors. Not one of his demons, he'd convinced Hell to donate a few for the purposes of this expedition. A few demons were of those native to Nosgoth, to provide his target with a sense of familiarity. They were not directly subject to hell, but had been subcontracted as his bodyguards.

Perhaps it might have been simpler to speak with their quarry at the Sarafan Stronghold, and directly ask for an audience with the Time Guardian, but that way would leave an army of fanatical knights at the man's back, unleashed at his command. Hell did not wish to devote resources to an unnecessary pitched battle. Thus, here they were.

He reached for the switch, clearing a path through the ankle high barrier of spikes, and they found themselves in an antechamber, bedecked with myriad items.

A large black heart on a pedestal, bloodless yet beating still.

A sword, skull motif on the hilt, driven through a brown scrap of cloth.

Guillotine, fresh blood staining the blade. One of his retinue dipped a finger and licked it.

"Vampire."

Sakyo nodded. "Of course."

A cracked helmet, carved with a pattern of roses.

They studied the display for a time, before the ex-BORED executive gestured his guards deeper, to a room where an old man in long robes stirred a cauldron. He looked up, his grey eyes (irises and pupils the same shade) reflecting the firelight.

"Visitors ... seeking wisdom? Ask."

"Moebius? I'm a representative of an organisation holding a tournament on another world. We were wondering if you could recommend competitors, given your extensive knowledge of this...environment."

Many would have been surprised at the revelation of worlds existing beyond their own, but Moebius was either unsurprised or an excellent actor...likely both.

"Moebius? Seek for him at the Stronghold. I am but the Oracle of Nosgoth, dispensing wisdom to those who cross my path."

"No games, Moebius. You think you're a master of them, but you haven't met my backers."

A glint of teeth under the hood. "Is that a challenge, sirrah?"

"If you like."

"To...arrange a meeting? I think not. Tell me, what would happen should I refuse to cooperate?"

"We would leave."

"I see."

Sakyo grinned. "Honesty. Wrongfoots you, doesn't it?"

"Unusual, I admit. All know me for a master of games, yet always they seek to play more. I see their plans before they do."

"Did you notice...I neglected to say we would leave you alive." A blink. He'd surprised the Time Streamer himself.

"To kill me now would devastate the future."

"My masters don't care for the future of this world." The Nosgoth born demons twitched at his side. Moebius cocked his head.

"I think you'll find that they do... or their masters, at least. My purges coincide with their interests, for the moment." The demons twitched again.

"For the moment, Moebius? A misstep? Surely not."

A genuine, warm smile. "You interest me. Contenders, you say? I will think on it. Would you like rooms in the fortress while I consider? You've cut quite a path to find me, I must needs repair it."

"Or we could kidnap you."

A sigh. "And you were doing so well."

The nearest fire demon suddenly had the blade of a spear embedded in its throat, leaking green blood. Not fatal, the creature staggered as the blade swept its legs from under it...a twelve foot tall horned demon, toppled by a mere man, an armoured knight, standing in the centre of the room with polearm raised. They'd seen him lurking in the shadows when they entered, but Sakyo had honestly been surprised to find a man in full plate armour moving so quickly. Stepping onto the downed demon, the knight,

-Malek the Paladin, Ward of the Circle-

drove his blade into the creatures left eye until it stilled, before lifting the spear to face them again, braid of scalped victims trailing from the back of his helmet. Moebius retreated to the far side of the room as Malek stepped back from the demon, waiting for the others to come at him. Sakyo's bodyguards tensed.

The demon on the ground twitched, and slowly rose to face its allies, blood still leaking from its wounds, the remaining eye staring vacantly as it assumed a battle stance.

Moebius almost smiled.

"Mortanius."

"I was with Malek when he heard your command." the Necromancer stated, demonic guards parting before him as he walked into the room, "and your wording interested me. 'may' need him? Why might that be?"

He was wearing his Death Mask, giving him the appearance of an animated corpse shrouded in a black robe, but Mortanius was probably the most powerful sorcerer in Nosgoth. He snapped his fingers, and a half dozen skeletal warriors emerged from the ground. "Who are these?"

"They seek competitors for a tournament on some other plane of existence, and came to me for knowledge. Moebius, not the Oracle."

"What manner of tournament?"

Moebius looked at Sakyo.

"Teams of at least three compete at challenges."

"That is... vague."

Sakyo shrugged. "The details are still being finalised. Are any of you good at cooking?"

The Nosgothians looked at each other, even the Oracle mystified at Sakyo's sudden smile.

"We will consider it."

And all three vanished in a glow of teleportation magic.

The Sarafan Stronghold...

" 'Are any of you good at cooking?'" He expects us to participate!" Moebius paced the room, watched by the other nine Pillar Guardians and the six Generals of the Sarafan, the order he'd set up to purge the land of the vampiric plague.

"Or he was merely hungry," Malek suggested, smiling behind his helmet. "Your cauldron is quite suggestive, my Lord."

"Can you think of any other contenders? Vorador or Audron, perhaps?" Mortanius.

"Too dangerous. Though I would like for them to disappear for a time, there is a great risk they might return bearing new knowledge or allies. We know little of these tournament organisers. What is the benefit of assembling participants from different worlds? The process must demand resources. No, they're playing some other game."

"Decapitating the Sarafan Order, perhaps." The Dimension Guardian.

"Doubtful. 'My masters don't care for the future of this world'. If he cares nothing for Nosgoth, the Order can hardly be of concern."

Mortanius looked at him. "You're intrigued."

"...Yes, but...teams of three. I would not risk you all. What if the vampires take advantage of our absence?"

"You could bequeath your staff to another for a time." Moebius' staff, which he was seldom seen without, had the power to instantly incapacitate any vampire within its range once activated. Moebius looked around, settling on the Sarafan Generals. One among them was known for his dutiful nature.

"Turel, come forward." The General stepped to meet them, and Moebius extended his staff. "Guard this, and the Guardians, with your life. Even Vorador can't escape its effects."

He looked around to a ring of faces. Mortanius dismissed his Deathmask, allowing the others to read his expression.

"I had not thought you had decided to go. The risks..."

"I tire of omniscience, Mortanius. I've forgotten the...thrill... of not knowing what is to come." Pause. "I won't ask you to come with me."

Malek stepped forward. "I'm sworn to protect the Circle, Moebius, and you go to a place of risks. I will follow. Turel, I have no talisman to bequeath to you, but you will be Ward to the other members until our return. Guard them well." The General nodded.

Mortanius shrugged. "The two of us have faced down armies. What greater perils could this tournament offer?"

In a plush hotel room in Metropolis, Moebius examined a system of piping, twisting the switch which resulted in water emerging from the device.

"Convenient. Doubtless expensive, but...No matter."

His companions were making similar explorations of their surroundings. When enough water pooled in the basin, Moebius the Time Streamer, robbed of his omniscience in this realm, began scrying. It was time to find out what they were dealing with. There would be challenges to come, but Moebius would have knowledge. He had two other advantages, of which even his companions knew nothing.

The first, a sword he hadn't needed to draw in over two centuries.

The Second, a portable Time Streaming Device.

There it is, folks, entry no 2. I love this fandom to the point of insanity, so I may throw in quite a lot of needless references to canon. If in doubt, by all means ask me. The artefacts in the Oracle's antechamber are a testament to Moebius' greatest victories in the canon...in the game, his museum contains artefacts symbolising significant events (past and future) in the life of his visitor. Since he can't know anything about Sakyo, I changed them...the only canononical one is the guillotine.

Okay, so, the characters.

Malek is a standard fantasy superfighter with a few twists. He's a knight sworn to protect the others at all costs, and regularly fights and defeats vampires. In one FMV, the most powerful vampire in the canon(at the time) ambushes him from behind, and Malek somersaults forward, spins in midair and lands facing his attacker, while wearing full plate armour.

Mortanius is probably the most magically powerful human in the canon. Summons undead to fight for him, but also has at least one attack resembling Sith Lightning.

And Moebius. Physically, he seems pretty weak, but it's hard to tell as both he and Mortanius go into their bossfights playing to lose. Talents include oration, scrying, illusions, and manipulating those who threaten him. An oracle, in his homeworld his omniscience is almost absolute, but that's not relevant to the tournament. I added the sword to allow me not to have his every hostile encounter becoming a monologue. It'll probably only be used for backstabbing and straightforward kills. His illusions can be either just images or actual solid beings that can deal damage.

Oh, and the 'God' referred to in the text is not the Christian/Jewish/Muslim God. Just so you know.

I think that's everything. Enjoy. May the best contestant win!