Few wizards took part in the First War, the war that determined the make-up of This World
and divided the population between the Underearth and the Overearth. Most more or less
ignored it completely and continued with their studies, trying to make sense of the world
they had been presented with for study. And not wanting to throw away their immortality
and die.
Not for Mars, though, that life of contemplation and self-preservation. He saw the war as
The Chaos at work once more and knew that he could use his discoveries and magic to
help wrestle it to (and, as it turned out, under) the ground.
In the Old World, Mars had always been known for the fun his research and magic
created. In the great gardens around the Tree of Life he conjured firework displays to
entertain the population. Little adjustment was needed to turn these into weapons that
would explode and scatter the enemy.
Before long he found that he could use the explosions to fire rocks at the enemy. And
then he discovered and learned new ways to treat the explosives, such as creating small
handheld charges with fuses that could be lit and thrown and firing bombs that explode on
impact.
Along the way, though, Mars lost his taste for this bloodshed. In his role as weapons
inventor, he had always kept his distance from the fighting, seeing his weapons in action
from a distance.
Then one day he bumped into a fellow wizard called Panacea, who was covered in blood
and visibly shaken. Mars asked her what had happened and she told him that she had
lost many that day, that the enemies weapons, like his, were getting better and it was
getting harder for her to cope. Her healing magic was still in its infancy, you see. Cuts,
even quite deep ones, were easy (as every wizard knew) but insides were another matter
entirely and Panacea was struggling on her own.
Mars went with Panacea to her field hospital and saw the carnage. He stayed on to
help as best he could. And, as he did, Mars got to thinking about the opposition, what
his weapons must be doing to them who did not have wizards. And soon he pledged to
discover a way to bring about an end to this war and ensure there that would never be
another.
This he did, of course, and so successful was he that he went the same way as Mercury
and was used to aid the Underearth’s first return.
and divided the population between the Underearth and the Overearth. Most more or less
ignored it completely and continued with their studies, trying to make sense of the world
they had been presented with for study. And not wanting to throw away their immortality
and die.
Not for Mars, though, that life of contemplation and self-preservation. He saw the war as
The Chaos at work once more and knew that he could use his discoveries and magic to
help wrestle it to (and, as it turned out, under) the ground.
In the Old World, Mars had always been known for the fun his research and magic
created. In the great gardens around the Tree of Life he conjured firework displays to
entertain the population. Little adjustment was needed to turn these into weapons that
would explode and scatter the enemy.
Before long he found that he could use the explosions to fire rocks at the enemy. And
then he discovered and learned new ways to treat the explosives, such as creating small
handheld charges with fuses that could be lit and thrown and firing bombs that explode on
impact.
Along the way, though, Mars lost his taste for this bloodshed. In his role as weapons
inventor, he had always kept his distance from the fighting, seeing his weapons in action
from a distance.
Then one day he bumped into a fellow wizard called Panacea, who was covered in blood
and visibly shaken. Mars asked her what had happened and she told him that she had
lost many that day, that the enemies weapons, like his, were getting better and it was
getting harder for her to cope. Her healing magic was still in its infancy, you see. Cuts,
even quite deep ones, were easy (as every wizard knew) but insides were another matter
entirely and Panacea was struggling on her own.
Mars went with Panacea to her field hospital and saw the carnage. He stayed on to
help as best he could. And, as he did, Mars got to thinking about the opposition, what
his weapons must be doing to them who did not have wizards. And soon he pledged to
discover a way to bring about an end to this war and ensure there that would never be
another.
This he did, of course, and so successful was he that he went the same way as Mercury
and was used to aid the Underearth’s first return.
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