Paper Mages

The Shattered Hero & the First Paper Mage - Origins of the Duels Every 5 years the Mage duels are held, and the trained apprentices set out to become graduates on the battlefield. Such an archaic thing. So many died proving themselves, increasing in ranks, and what a waste. Yet, for the longest time, nothing was done… Until Eltrest Grefaren. They thought he had lost his mind when his apprentice died in the duels. His apprentice Variscitan, an orphaned beryllian boy. Such promise he had, but more so, heart. Both apprentices perished that day in the tower fall. On the next 5th year, and the next mage duels, Eltrest emerged from his towers, almost aged 15 years over. He showed them a new magic. He sat a piece of paper on the table and a glowing piece of Heliodor stone in the center, and then he placed a ring next to it. With his hand over the paper, the mage whispered a few words and his eyes glowed amber gold. The light from his eyes went into the gem, and the other mages gasped as they watched. The paper folded itself around the gem, and up to two little legs, then the paper folded two arms, and a head. The ring on the table floated up and over the paper man’s wrist, and stayed there. Eltrest had created a small version of himself, a paper champion, a paper mage. These little mages are linked to their creators. They think as their mage thinks, they act as their mage would act. They feel no pain, and can be made again and again. There was no struggle in adopting this new way of battle. That day, the two mages set to duel, learned how to create their own little champions, and no lives were lost. The shattered hero, Eltrest, changed life for all the mages in the world. There were some wizards who were opposed, how could a caster perform his best without threat of death? But that is a tale for another time.