Plane: The Amphiseum
Author: RavenoftheBlack
Status: Public, In Use

The Amphiseum is a vast arena constructed in the Blind Eternities for combat and the spectacle thereof. Constructed by The Dual-Walkers, the plane is magically capable of locking Planeswalkers into the arena until only one of the combatants is left alive.

==Setting For==

Dead Man 'Walking
Deals and Devils
How To Trade a Planeswalker
The Cruel Finale

==History==

The Amphiseum is an artificial plane designed for the spectacle of melee combat. Approximately 1400 years ago, the planar arena was constructed by the Dual-Walkers, Syl and Chardis, for the purposes of a permanent, off-world venue for brutal, spectacular fights to the death. Using their mastery of artifice and enchantment, as well as their considerable powers as planeswalkers, Syl and Chardis created the Amphiseum as a floating, self-contained plane in the vast expanse of the Blind Eternities.

===Early Days (Trs'kl)===

The Dual-Walkers were well-known at the time for mingling with some of the most powerful and decadent rulers and planeswalkers across Dominia. The Amphiseum was originally constructed as a place to allow all of them to gather and enjoy themselves. Most of the early battles in the Amphiseum were between two exotic, dangerous creatures from widely varying planes. However, even from the very beginning, the most thrilling and spectacular fights always included a planewalker.

The first planewalker combatant in the Amphiseum was a friend and ally of the Dual-Walkers, a Terrapoid warrior named Trs'kl. Although a planewalker like Syl and Chardis, Trs'kl, like many of his turtlefolk brethren, preferred physical combat to magic, and relished the opportunity to battle the wild creatures the Dual-Walkers obtained for the game. In the early years of the Amphiseum, Trs'kl was unstoppable, and defeated all manners of beasts as his popularity with the mortal spectators of the Games increased.

For nearly three hundred years, the Games continued in this manner. Syl and Chardis would host the Games whenever the whim took them, but they tried to hold them at least twice a generation, so that the human rulers would pass the tradition of attending down with them. The Games usually followed the same format. The early bouts would feature exotic creatures battling one another, later matches would feature talented heroes, legendary figures or planeswalkers fighting those same sort of creatures, and the main event would feature Trs'kl in some sort of special challenge. Then, however, things changed.

===Middle Era (Keledon)===

Somehow, in between the Games, Trs'kl became embroiled in a fierce and hated feud with a barbarian half-human, half-Minotaur planeswalker named Keledon. The two had engaged in a series of vicious and indecisive duels on a variety of planes, but it seemed nothing was ever settled. Finally, Trs'kl hit on a new idea. The next Games were coming up, and both Trs'kl and Keledon wanted their issue settled once and for all. Trs'kl approached the Dual-Walkers about fighting the duel in the Games. Seeing a chance for some real action, Syl and Chardis agreed.

Few if any of the mortal spectators had ever seen two planeswalkers battle before, and the battle between Trs'kl and Keledon became the most highly-anticipated battle in the Amphiseum's history. The odds were heavily in the Turtlefolk's favor. He had, after all, fought in the Amphiseum for centuries and never been defeated. The duel was brutal and terrible, but it ended when Keledon shattered Trs'kl shell with a thundering blow, causing the Terrapoid to flee in humiliation and defeat. Trs'kl never returned to the Amphiseum after that.

Keledon, on the other hand, relished the thrill of the battle, and became the Dual-Walkers next champion. Unlike Trs'kl, Keledon longed for battle against other planeswalkers. By this time, the Dual-Walkers had garnered an impressive reputation, and more and more 'walkers sought them out, both to witness the Games and compete in them. Most fought the savage beasts that were a staple of the Games, but increasingly, they fought one another. Some won, some lost, but Keledon remained the main event, and he remained undefeated.

===Latter Days (Morgezka Shanak)===

One of the planeswalkers to come and compete in the Games was the Dragon 'walker Morgezka Shanak, who often fought in human form unless her battle proved difficult. While Keledon loved the death and bloodshed of the Games, Morgezka enjoyed the sport. She would typically play with her opponents, work up and crowd, and only go for the kill when she knew she had them. She avoided planeswalker duels in the Games, as she didn't like killing sapient opponents unless necessary. Her power, confidence, and showmanship quickly made her a fan favorite.

It did not escape Keledon's notice that Morgezka Shanak didn't escape the crowd's. Eventually, he became jealous of her success and her popularity, and he felt his top position in the Amphiseum threatened. Finally, Keledon challenged Morgezka to a duel, and while she tried to refused, the barbarian eventually made that impossible. Morgezka defeated Keledon, and he never fought in the planar arena again.

Morgezka Shanak became the new champion of the Amphiseum, and the greatest attraction the Dual-Walkers had ever had. Morgezka, however, wanted to do things differently from Keledon, and at her insistence, the planeswalker duels essentially came to an end. The Games went back to their original format and rarely if ever featured two planeswalkers in battle again. Morgezka remained champion until the Dual-Walkers put an end to the Games forever, at the thousandth anniversary of the very first Games.

===After the Games (Eristi)===

After the final Games, the Amphiseum stood empty for centuries. The complex systems of powerful magic and artifice allowed the plane to maintain itself, even past the Mending. One day, while running from a pursuer who was trying to kill her, the planeswalker Eristi happened upon the planar arena. She had nearly been defeated by her opponent on another plane, and had hoped that the Amphiseum would be small enough to evade her enemy, but it was no use. He arrived to finish what he had started.

Rather than run away, Eristi was convinced to stand and fight. To ensure it, her opponent used a planar ban spell he had known from before the Mending. Being significantly weaker now, he convinced Eristi to help him cast it. She was reluctant, but the lure of the danger of an inescapable duel was too much to resist. He taught her the spell, and together, they cast it. The battle was a challenge, and unlike the old days, there were no spectators to watch them, but eventually, Eristi won.

Eristi became addicted to the danger and the feeling of these inescapable duels. She used the Amphiseum as her own, private arena for years, eventually finding a method to permanently infuse the planar ban spell into the Amphiseum itself. Although the plane is in no way sentient, it is able to impart the spell to those within the arena, and if both combatants agree, they can be locked in the Amphiseum until one is dead.

I like the expansions to this. The history here is great and really gives a sense of how ancient the Dual-Walkers are. It makes the whole setting significantly more three-dimensional.

One thing I'd like to see is a clearer description here of what the plane actually looks like. From the very beginning I've pictured a blacked out sky for some reason but in War of the Wheel you describe the sky as being regular blue, and I realized that I don't actually have a solid image in my mind of how this plane is supposed to look. Is that something you'd be able to add in here?

Okay, I can put that together pretty quick. I've pretty much already described it in Dead Man 'Walking, The Cruel Finale, and The War of the Wheel, so I should be able to put that together for you guys.

Typo (tense issue):

"become" should be past tense, either "became" or "had become".

Typo:

Should be "One day".

Typo:

Should be "permanently".

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I have to point out an issue: how did Trs'kl flee from Keledon if the Amphiseum is designed to block 'walking? Especially given the Dual-Walkers' actions in The Cruel Finale, I would imagine they would force the game to be to the death instead of letting him escape.

I also have to ask why you bother to say "the plane is in no way sentient." I would simply say that, since it has self-repairing and self-upkeep magic in it anyway, say that more spellwork was worked into the plane's enchantments to lock it down with a simple spell, which in turn is pressed upon the minds of those that visit. It's not something I would count against you, but I find the mentioning of it a little jarring.

Thanks for catching the typos, Luna. I wrote all of these in quick order, so my proofreading was probably not what it aught to be.

As for the inability to flee, I feel there might be a bit of a misconception here. The planar ban that the Amphiseum has did not exist during the time of the Games. Eristi brought that to the arena years later, even after the Mending. The reason Morgezka Shanak was unable to 'walk during her fight in The Cruel Finale had nothing to do with the ban, it had to do with the wound she had received from the Axe, which had been designed to defeat and destroy planeswalkers. I'll have to reread The Cruel Finale to see if that's too unclear. It might also require a few rewrites with Dead Man 'Walking and The Cruel Finale.

As for the sentient thing, I just didn't want to cause confusion when I say that the plane can "teach" the ban to 'walkers. Do you think that should be changed?

Ah, that makes sense. It might have to do with the order in which I read them (How to Trade a Planeswalker, Deals and Devils, Dead Man 'Walking, and The Cruel Finale were all put up for vote in an irregular order) rather than any miscommunication in the text itself. I can't say for sure without going to re-read them, though; so whatever you think may work best.


Eh, as I said, it's not anything glaring enough that I think it should be changed, but it was something I noticed and thought it was worth mentioning. I can understand that if you hadn't included that line people would question the plane's "ability" to teach the spell.

I didn't remember, when reading initially, that the spell was an addition, but this entry made the order in which that spell was introduced clear, I felt.

By the way, should the "Appears In" and "Setting For" sections be chronological in terms of when they were written, or when they occurred in story?

I've been sticking them in what I felt was the optimal reading order, actually. Because why not keep things as confusing and subjective as possible, right?

Yeah, I prefer putting them mostly chronologically, because that's usually the clearest way of reading them. I've still got to read all of the Molcru stuff to know if there's actually an order to them.

Usually it does end up shaking out chronologically. The only exception (that comes easily to mind) is the Dual Walkers stories, where I put in publication order because I felt that suited the narrative a little better.

Yeah, with the Dual-Walkers, I think it helps if Dead Man 'Walking is read before The Cruel Finale, despite it coming about 400 years later. Not that the Dual-Walkers have much screen time in that one, of course.

<Farnsworth> Two robots go in, one robot comes out. Then the other robot comes out slightly later, after having been declared the winner! </Farnsworth>

(Yea.)