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Board & Conquest 14: Mummy's Call
🕑 Added 2025-01-13 09:20:33 +0000 UTC------
There were thousands of Board & Conquest variants played across infinity, but only two bound the gods as part of their legal framework: Godly Battles, and Titan Incursions.
In a Godly Battle, where deities of a world’s pantheon dueled for material or spiritual advantages, both sides had to agree on common victory and losing conditions which applied to all players equally; unless one of the parties was higher-ranked in the heavens’ hierarchy, in which case the more experienced god set the rules.
Once the battle started, both sides began with the mana amount which they collected from their civilization before the match; an amount which they could only replenish by using Miracles or very specific circumstances. Both gods would also command the Champions which they had on the board before its apparition, but could summon more within their realm of Influence by sacrificing mana from their reserve equal to their Rank; Influence whose range radiated from whatever Altars they had built on the board before its apparition or that one of their Commanders managed to seize.
Additionally, a deity could only cast Miracles within that same realm of Influence... unless that card specifically applied to a Player or was used to target one of the deity’s own Champions, since these blessed souls always counted as within the deity’s realm of Influence.
Once the match started, both deities’ Miracle decks would be shuffled and each side would begin with a hand of five cards taken from it. Under normal circumstances, each player drew a new random card from their deck, played their turn by casting their Miracles and commanding their Champions, before finally passing the baton to their opponent; however, this world’s strange system immediately informed Wepwawet that he wouldn’t receive the benefit of time to think things through.
Battles will take place in real-time; each player may draw a new card after a one minute countdown.
All in all, Wepwawet started in an extremely complicated position. He had only twenty-nine mana points to cast Miracles with; he had no Idol or Altar to project his Influence on the Board, so he couldn’t summon new reinforcements like Goreville nor cast Miracles unless he targeted his own Champions with them; and he was fighting with a deck made of beginner Miracles and the cards he picked that lacked synergy.
So the only thing that could possibly happen to Wepwawet in this dire situation occurred.
He bricked.
He bricked hard!
It took all of Wepwawet’s willpower not to crumble in defeat once he saw his disastrous starting hand: Geyser Tribute, Animal Kingdom, Sacred Food, Protect Champion, and Skill: Masterworker. His sixth card, Barricade Kit, only furthered his agony.
Half of these cards would have been useful in a vacuum… if he had any Influence range that allowed him to cast them! Without an Idol or Altar on the board of his own, Wepwawet couldn’t use them to support his followers! The only Miracle he could play was the Protect Champion Prophecy to reduce the damage one of his units would receive in a pinch, but that was it!
The board’s state was just as awful!
His challenger more or less set it at the smallest possible legal size, a small rectangle covering a small shard of the forest behind his units, the frozen lake, and the Icefall’s cliff. His Champions had no space to retreat behind them, nor any way to get around the cliff except by climbing it or taking its stairs.
They were boxed in, with no way forward besides a frozen lake and a thirty-meters tall wall of ice and stone.
This is bad! This is so bad! Wepwawet fought back the urge to bite his nails and focus. Calm down! You’re Wepwawet, son of Set and Nephthys! You can’t show weakness, ever!
The only silver lining was that the battle didn’t cancel his already active Miracles. Five of his spirit-wolves were trapped within the board when it appeared and didn’t vanish, while Victoire still carried her sacred spear.
This surprised Wepwawet. It would have been child’s play for his opponent to request all existing effects to be canceled as a battle condition and thus deny Wepwawet his resources. The only reason he could fathom for such a choice was that his enemy cast Miracles to prepare the field ahead of time and didn’t want to lose her assets, since a B&C battle’s rules applied to both sides equally.
I’ve got to stall for time until I can draw something useful, Wepwawet thought as he obsessively checked the draw countdown. He hoped his Champions could survive until then.
“I pay one mana to place a Prophecy,” Wepwawet announced as he cast the Miracle. Its nature was meant to be secret until its conditions were met, but his foe easily guessed it nonetheless.
“Protect Champion, isn’t it?” the mystery goddess asked dismissively. “I bet that’s the only Miracle you can play right now.”
“I’ve drawn my best hand!” Wepwawet lied through his teeth. Thankfully, gods spoke in the elder speech of the heavens when addressing one another, a tongue which no mortals could understand. The heavens set that rule after too many existential crises among their worshipers during matches. “I’m just prolonging your suffering!”
“I don’t believe you,” the enemy deity replied, his bluff falling flat. She soon played a card of her own. “I pay six mana to cast Twin Miracles. This lets me cast the same Miracle twice; though I must still pay its cost.”
The veiled goddess’ magic radiated from her living idol of a puppet and seized two shapes trapped in the Icefall.
“I play Mummy’s Call twice to revive two corpses on the board as mindless undead under my control.”
—-----
The frozen waterfall cracked from the inside.
Victoire barely had time to blink before two colossal shapes emerged from the ice in a mighty explosion; both equally horrifying.
The first resembled one of the great mammoths that often migrated across Verglane, but decayed and rotten. Half its skull was exposed for all to see, and purple fumes steamed from its diseased flesh. It quickly trampled over frozen statues of people underfoot as it broke free and let out a howl that chilled her to the soul, its steps cracking the icy lake’s surface beneath it.
The second monster was a skeleton the size of a house. The ancient fossil had lost all flesh unlike its comrade, its bones now a pale shade of blue. Victoire guessed it belonged to a giant cat or lion once, though this one possessed two prominent fangs longer than spears and sharper than swords. It glared at the living with two pale lights glowing inside its empty skull.
Many soldiers would have frozen in fear at the sight of such creatures, especially after the catastrophic event that preceded their arrival, but Victoire had waged enough battles to react immediately. The questions overwhelming her mind would have to wait until after they survived this.
Doubt had no place in a fight to the death.
‘You can win this!’ She felt her god whisper the words in the back of her skull. Lord Wepwawet’s wolf familiars immediately ran across the lake to strike back at their enemies. ‘I’m with you!’
“Spread out!” Victoire ordered immediately. She fearlessly charged across the ice with her spear, her steps quicker than the wind. “Filou, with me! Renarde, grant us speed!”
“Y-yes, Milady!” Filou replied upon rushing after her. Viviane drew her bow and Renarde immediately began to sing, her voice hesitant yet steady. Her notes imbued Victoire with the weightlessness of feathers and let her run across the frozen lake without issue. Filou nearly stumbled on the ice after her—while a few of Lord Wepwawet’s wolves outright slipped—but managed to regain his footing.
The undead mammoth’s size and weight caused the ice to crumble beneath it, the monster collapsing into the cold water below. It was still large enough for the upper half of its body to remain above the surface and continue its advance at a slower pace. The skeletal tiger proved far more agile and adept at navigating the difficult terrain. It crossed the lake’s length in a burst of speed, met Victoire halfway across it and then lunged at her with inhuman ferocity.
Victoire’s silver spear trembled and glimmered within her hands as it clashed with razor-sharp fangs.
Her weapon glowered with holy light upon touching the creature, its tip cracking bones.
The shock of the collision sent Victoire a few feet backward due to the blowback, with the undead tiger immediately following through with a swipe of its paw. Victoire barely managed to dodge the strike by leaping to the side. The monster’s claw shattered the ice on which she stood a second ago, sending shards and water flying in all directions.
One blow will tear me in half, Victoire realized with a scowl. Lord Wepwawet’s wolves were swarming the half-sunken mammoth by leaping and biting at its rotten hide, but the monster slew one with a single hit of its tusks. The spirit-animal vanished in a shower of light immediately before its corpse hit the ground. They’re strong.
Filou quickly joined her and leaped at the tiger’s ankle with his burning scimitar. The flames licked the bones deep enough to sear it black. One of Viviane’s arrows struck the undead beast in the skull, allowing Victoire an opening to follow through with a second stab.
Lord Wepwawet continued to provide encouragement, even as he fought a battle of his own.
Victoire’s god and whatever horrifying, unholy shadow that witch had called forth faced one another, barking words of power she could not understand and drawing what appeared to be cards of light from nothingness. Victoire guessed that these images were her mind’s attempt to rationalize the awe-inspiring cosmic display of magic unfolding in the heavens above.
“Quartz Wall!” the witch shouted from atop the Icefall at the same time the shadow watching over her drew a card the size of a mountain.
Iridescent light swirled around the undead skeleton, and Victoire’s spear glided off its bones when she tried to strike it for the third time.
A translucent, rainbow-colored barrier of light shielded the undead’s body. It looked paper-thin, hardly noticeable, and yet proved strong and flexible enough to repel Victoire’s spear and Filou’s scimitar. They struck again and again with mounting panic, only for the creature’s defense to prove impenetrable.
I can’t damage it! Victoire stepped back to avoid the tiger’s jaws closing on her chest. Why? Why wasn’t her god crushing the beast under his palm? Lord Wepwawet–
‘Focus on defense, Victoire,’ her god answered. Victoire could sense his rising frustration through their mental link. ‘Viviane, shoot that witch!’
Victoire’s heart skipped a beat in her chest. Not only was her god as clueless as she was, but he couldn’t help her either.
An explosion rocked the cliff above. Victoire caught a glimpse of the witch launching a fireball from her staff at the stairs leading up to the summit, with the impact blasting half of it away in a shower of rock and ice.
She’s destroying the path! Victoire cursed in her mind. That cowardly witch would observe the battle from a position of safety atop the cliff while her thralls did the dirty work. What a craven foe, to send the dead to fight in her place…
Following Lord Wepwawet’s orders, Viviane sniped the witch from below. One of her arrows surged across the air and struck the witch in the chest. The mage didn’t bleed, but she did grunt in pain and stepped aside to dodge a second projectile aiming for her throat.
In response, the witch waved her staff and unleashed a mighty fireball downwards at Viviane and Renarde. The two managed to spread out and escape before the projectile hit the ground, its fire incinerating trees and turning snow into steam.
This wasn’t going well.
—---
Three minutes had now passed, and each draw was worse than the last!
Wepwawet growled at his newfound Sacred Weapon. That was better than nothing, but nowhere near enough in this current situation. This Miracle could only manifest holy spears, and none of his Champions used those besides Victoire.
He at least managed to gain a Smite on his previous draw so he could now assist his Champions offensively should they manage to seize the mana locus atop the cliff… a tall order when they now had to climb it while avoiding monsters below and projectiles above.
A god could split their attention many ways, so Wepwawet had done his best to direct his followers in battle while stalling for time… but he now realized fighting defensively was a mistake. His opponent simply had the better deck, and each minute gave her another chance to draw a better Miracle to cast.
“Another dead draw, is it?” his mysterious opponent taunted him before pouring salt on his wounds. “I pay five mana to cast the Mana Drought Doctrine. Now each of us will have to pay an additional three mana each time we cast a Miracle.”
“Both of us?” Wepwawet gasped in disbelief. “Your false Idol can’t generate mana! You’ll be shooting yourself in the foot!”
“You are as short-sighted as your brother-killing father,” his foe replied dismissively, the insult earning her a glare from Wepwawet. “You have less mana than I do, and I have no need for this puppet beyond this battle.”
Damn it, she’s right. Wepwawet started this fight with less than thirty mana points. Her Doctrine would drain his resources quicker than her own. Every Miracle counts.
Worse, his Champions weren’t faring too well. Victoire, Viviane, and Filou struggled to keep the Skeletal Smilodon at bay, while the spirit-wolves he sent to harass the zombie mammoth were rotting before his eyes. The foul fumes rising from the undead creature sapped their very strength.
Zombie Mammoth’s Putrid Miasma has Poisoned your Sacred Beasts!
The silver lining was that the undead monsters struggled as much as his Champions to move on the icy lake. Only Victoire managed to walk across it unimpeded thanks to her Innate Perk letting her ignore difficult terrain’s penalties. Her sacred spear inflicted bonus damage to undead too, but not enough to bypass the enchanted Quartz Wall Miracle now shielding the smilodon. It was only a matter of time before the beast got a lucky shot in and slew her.
I have thirty seconds left before she draws again, Wepwawet thought as he glared at his enemy. I need to act now before our position gets any worse.
Wepwawet quickly observed the battlefield in the hope of finding an unconventional solution to the problem. The only quick way to reach the top of the cliff was to climb the stairway, and Shuyet destroyed that one with a Fireball earlier. He couldn’t find any other easy path to the summit.
He did notice a barrier surrounding the strange hut at the Icefall’s top, however; one which pointed inward.
A seal.
That’s why she didn’t cancel existing Miracles, Wepwawet guessed as he glared at his mysterious foe. She must have trapped the demoness inside her home earlier to prevent her from interfering.
Wepwawet could easily cancel that trap if he could claim the leyline as his Altar, but he would have to somehow propel Victoire upward hundreds of feet first! Shuyey would snipe her with a Smite or Fireball the moment she tried to climb the cliff the normal way.
Ten seconds before the next draw… Wepwawet’s eyes widened as a new plan crossed his head. Wait… I have a way to reach the top of the waterfall! It would be risky, but less dangerous than having Victoire climb to the top on her own. Timing will be everything…
Wepwawet quickly communicated orders to his Champions through telepathy. ‘Victoire, get to the cliff’s foot, I’ll send you directly to the witch! The rest of you, cover her! Renarde, sing a song of endurance!’
Victoire didn’t hesitate. She immediately disengaged from the smilodon to rush towards the cliff’s foot. The undead lunged after her, but Filou bravely leaped in the way. His scimitar clashed with the beast’s saber-shaped fangs, while Viviane nailed one of its empty eye sockets with an arrow. It hardly did more than slow down the creature, and that was enough.
Victoire reached the cliff’s base right as the mystery goddess finished her draw. No time to waste!
“I’m casting Geyser Tribute,” Wepwawet said immediately. His foe’s awful Mana Drought immediately tapped more of his precious energy, but he powered through.
“You cannot use that Miracle without Influence, fool,” the mystery goddess replied. She hung onto her new card in her sneering arrogance, which gave Wepy the opening he needed.
“You’re wrong!” Wepwawet taunted her back before triggering his Protect Champion Prophecy to strengthen Victoire’s defenses. “I can still cast Miracles at my Champions!”
‘I’m sorry, Victoire,’ he apologized to his Commander through their mental link as water boiled beneath her feet, ‘this will hurt.’
—-----
The ice exploded under her, and then she flew.
Victoire barely had time to look down when she heard the crack. Hot, boiling water surged from below and hit her from beneath with such violence that it propelled her into the sky.
Victoire sensed Lord Wepwawet’s magic shield her body from the worst of the blast, but the protection didn’t completely protect her. Searing water drenched her clothes and burned her skin.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Lord Wepwawet apologized in her skull. He sounded genuinely ashamed, but resolute. ‘That’s the best I can do.’
Victoire grit her teeth in pain and rage, only for her eyes to widen as the water pushed her upwards. The colossal geyser surging beneath her was propelling her upward towards the cliff’s summit. She powered through the agony and tightened her grip on her spear.
Her god had answered her prayers and had given her an opening.
The geyser finally propelled Victoire to the summit, right in front of the witch. The latter’s eyes widened in genuine shock as she found herself face-to-face with her enemy.
Victoire landed on her spear first.
----
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A/N: everyone who has played TCG has felt Wepy's pain once ;)
Comments
George R
Awesome chapter
Void Herald
Yep, the plan is to seize the altar so Wepy can start casting Miracles; but he's running low on mana so his choices will be critical ;)
Publius Decius Mus
Unorthodox, but effective! If Victoire claims the Altar for Wepy, and that will allow him to summon Goreville, right? But he still can't replenish his mana?
