Ladies and gentlemen, adventurers and wanderers of the Realm, open up the latest edition of the MagicDuel Newspaper and read into a story of intrigue.

For the next several days, we shall be bringing you a most extraordinary tale of intrigue, conspiracy, dwindling resources, unlikely alliances, and perhaps even the occasional entirely reasonable overreaction.

A mystery whose roots reach deep into the very resources of MagicDuel.

A mystery known only as...

Our story follows Chewett, Grand Duke of the East, investigating the curious disappearance of the Realm's resources as they begin to uncover something far larger.

Who is taking them?

Why are they disappearing?

Can anything be done before the lands of the Realm are tarnished forever?

And, most importantly...

Can the green CARD stop the forces of evil terrorising the land?

With allies gathered, suspects questioned, evidence examined, and increasingly suspicious quantities of paperwork produced, Chewett sets about forming a coalition dedicated to confronting the spectre of resource depletion.

But in MagicDuel, matters are rarely quite as simple as they first appear.

Presented in the grand tradition of the old wireless detective mysteries, Chewett and the Green CARD will unfold as a serial drama, with a new instalment released each day (depending on Chewett's work schedule).

Each episode will reveal another piece of the mystery.

Another clue.

Another suspect.

Another step towards the truth.

So adjust your wireless set, extinguish the lights, settle into your favourite chair, and listen carefully.

For somewhere in the darkness of the Realm...

the game is already afoot.

ooooo a standoff :D *opens a huge bag of popcorn*

Chewett slumbered.

For how long, none could truly say. In dreams he wandered through the cast shadows of worlds past: places long changed, voices long quiet, and memories of a MagicDuel that existed now only in fragments. The old Realm moved around him like smoke, familiar yet unreachable, until at last the dream began to thin.

When Chewett awoke, it was to a new MagicDuel.

The air itself felt different. There was magic in it again - not the tired echo of what had once been, but something renewed and restless. The world had evolved while he slept. Strange possibilities seemed to gather at the edges of perception, and everywhere there was the sense that the Realm was once more capable of becoming something greater than it had been before.

And yet, as he looked out across the land, that feeling of abundance was betrayed by what lay before him.

The world seemed emptier.

Places once rich with the natural bounty of the Realm stood strangely bare. Resources that had once been found in plenty were sparse, exhausted, or absent altogether. Chewett walked farther, expecting the familiar signs of plenty to return, but the pattern only became clearer.

This was no natural drought.

While he had slumbered, the people of the Realm had been gathering. Harvesting. Taking. Some carefully, some greedily, and some seemingly without thought for what might remain for those who followed.

The magic of MagicDuel had renewed itself.

But its resources had not.

Chewett stood among the barren ground and surveyed what remained.

Something, he decided, would have to be done.

Chewett had seen enough.

If the depletion of the Realm's resources had been caused by the actions of its people, then perhaps its people could also be persuaded to prevent it. One voice complaining about empty lands could easily be ignored. A collection of voices, however, might become something considerably more troublesome.

So Chewett began to write.

Messages were dispatched across the Realm to old friends, familiar names, trusted figures, and those whose opinions carried weight. Some were asked what they had seen. Others were warned of what he feared was happening. A select few received a more direct question: would they help?

Between letters, Chewett drafted the beginnings of something more permanent. Not merely a complaint, nor another temporary agreement destined to disappear when attention wandered elsewhere, but a coalition whose purpose could be stated plainly.

CARD — the Coalition Against Resource Depletion.

Its cause was simple. The natural resources of MagicDuel belonged to a living Realm, not merely to whoever happened to reach them first. Gathering would always have its place, but endless depletion could not be allowed to leave the land barren for everyone who followed.

Those who joined CARD would be expected to do more than merely lend their names to the cause. Members would cease working with known depleters where they could, watch for the marks they left upon the Realm, record their actions, and make their disapproval known. Where they saw depletion taking place, they would challenge it, chastising those responsible as they saw fit and ensuring such behaviour did not pass unnoticed.

The intention was not simply punishment. It was pressure. If depleting the Realm carried consequences — fewer willing allies, greater scrutiny, and the uncomfortable knowledge that someone was keeping note — then perhaps some would think twice before stripping a location bare.

Whether anyone would actually join CARD remained another matter entirely.

Chewett sealed the final letter, placed it alongside the others, and looked towards the small gathering beginning to form around him.

At least, he thought, he would not have to find out alone.

With CARD beginning to take shape, Chewett turned his attention from letters to evidence.

If the Realm was being stripped bare, he wanted to know where, how quickly, and by whom. So he began to watch. Quietly, patiently, and from a respectful distance, he followed the paths of those who moved through the land gathering its resources. Every stop was marked. Every emptied location was noted. Every suspiciously heavy departure found its way into his notebook.

Patterns began to emerge.

Some places were touched only lightly, while others were reduced almost to nothing. Certain routes were visited again and again. Resources that should have recovered were disappearing almost as quickly as they returned. Chewett recorded the time, the place, what had been taken, and whatever clues he could gather about the person responsible.

This was no longer simply a feeling that the Realm seemed poorer than before. There were names, locations, habits and quantities now. The depletion could be observed.

And, more importantly, it could be documented.

Chewett closed his notebook and looked towards the next shadowy figure disappearing across the barren land.

CARD would need more than good intentions.

It would need proof.

Death Ray sent a missive to Chewett, troubled by the continued emptying of the land. Having seen more and more of the Realm stripped of its natural resources, he could no longer simply stand by and watch. He asked that his name be added to CARD, and offered his aid to the growing coalition.

Chewett gladly accepted.

Death Ray wasted little time. Almost immediately he set about tracking those responsible for the depletion, following their movements and noting where the land had been left bare. Working together, he and Chewett were able to watch the depleters more closely than ever before, comparing observations and steadily building a clearer picture of what was happening across the Realm.

With another pair of eyes, another set of notes, and another voice willing to challenge those doing wrong to the land, CARD had become stronger.

CARD was growing.

Unfortunately, so was the depletion.

---

OOC:

Thanks to Death Ray for consenting his character into both the roleplay AND the artwork!

It's such a serious matter he decided to take his shirt off! PS: Do you find the little extra added to the image from DR's avatar?

Due to a player asking to be removed from the AL I'm going to need to rewrite a number of days, alongside recreating images. Unfortunately I write these a few days ahead so it needs some rework. I hope I will be back on track by next week.

I have contacted everyone involved in this, so If you are involved in this, or want to be involved, and haven't gotten a PM, let me know.

After much patient work, Chewett and Death Ray finally had what they needed: a list.

Names had been gathered, movements compared, and the marks left upon the Realm carefully recorded. The question now was what to do with it. A list hidden away in the Archives would change nothing.

Chewett had a better idea.

The Bell of Marind could call the lands together — and if the Realm was going to hear of the depleters, then it would hear their names clearly.

So Chewett and Death Ray set out. From the depths of the Archives, across the barren stretches of No Man Land, and onward towards the peaks of Golemus, they carried their accusations far and wide. Wherever they found ears willing to listen, the names of the depleters were proclaimed.

For CARD, this was its first truly public act.

And from the shadows, Ledah watched.

The coalition was no longer merely observing the depletion.

Now it was making sure everyone else was watching too.

After much trudging through the land Chewett stumbled onto prime suspect number One, Ledah.

This depleter, who Death Ray and Chewett had decried across the land, stood before him. A polite conversation was never going to take place and what followed was an escalation of words.

Accusations were met with defiance, neither party wanted to stand down and every comment was followed by a more vicious reply.

Chewett demanded an end to the depletion Ledah perpetrated through the land, Ledah however was unphased and stated he would continue until his last.

Since there was no need for further words Chewett decided to show CARD was not toothless. Before Ledah could react Chewett activated an erolin device and shouted “May the punishment of the land hit Ledah”.

The first action of CARD was to banish Ledah to the Gazebo of Chaos, but in the darkness, he hatched a plan himself…

Ledah had walked the lands for many years, straying into some of the darkest places and returning changed. One of the things he learnt was to channel the darker magics of the world, today he would put that to a use, however whether good or bad it would be up to the reader.

Unknown by Chewett the Gazebo of Chaos was the perfect place for Ledah to channel these darker powers. A punishment became a mistake.

Ledah stood in the centre, pinned by Chewett’s spell, and begun chanting. Here, stretching out to the five pillars of the Gazebo, he pulled together the ancient teleportation magic and perverted it. Instead of sending his body to another place it was used to resurrect his thoughts in another body.

A long dead figure stirred on the Gateway Island, filled with vitriolic hate towards CARD. All it knew is that it must deplete as much as it good. Fumbling around the land it grabbed the nearest tools and begun to deplete the land.

The punishment of Ledah became a greater threat, the depletion of the Gateway.

Chewett’s travels next brought him into the company of Sunfire, a prominent envoy of Loreroot. Sunfire confided in Chewett that while his Queen was away he wanted to protect the forest as best he could.

The meeting however was a welcome change from accusations and whispered talk of depletion. Here was a representative of another land, willing to speak openly, exchange news, and hear what CARD had been attempting to uncover. The pair reminisced about the times they plotted to evict the demon from the Lands of the East, and while that plot eventually fizzled out, they enjoyed themselves immensely. Perhaps that was something to resume once the depletion had been dealt with…

While Sunfire did not directly pledge loyalty to CARD, he was keen to see what could be done to reduce depletion in the land he called home.

As a final remark, Chewett quietly suggested that maybe Loreroot could benefit from a transitional monarch, someone to rule in place of a currently lost Queen, leaving Sunfire to ponder.

As he continued to wander the land, the conversations took on a more convivial tone when Sir Blut of the SoE appeared bearing a gift. His home grown bottle of bushie wine was presented in recognition of Chewett’s work with CARD. For a brief while talk of depleters and darker schemes was set aside in favour of enjoying the company.

Clouds filled the sky causing Chewett to remark to Sir Blut that the weather had been unusually tempestuous of late. The greying world brought darker thoughts, Chewett was reminded that if depletion continued, the fine wines would stop. More determined than ever he started his march towards Golemus to observe the weather from a higher vantage point.

As Chewett strode the lands watching for depletion he found himself high in the mountains of Golemus. Here he found Fang Archbane hard at work in the rain, carefully mining the rock. Their history, to Chewett’s shame, had not always been an easy one, so he approached Fang carefully, offering an apology for old grievances. It was not just an apology, but an expression of hope that they could put that behind them and move forward together.

Fang accepted the gesture in his own way, saying that words alone could not express how he felt but that he hoped his actions would show that there was no ill will between them anymore. This made Chewett smile slightly, for a moment almost forgetting why he was there.

As the rain continued to fall, the two spoke more openly than they had in many years. Fang remarked that, after his long absence, he simply wished to care for his land of Golemus. His focus was his old passion for mining, alongside tending the land and spending time among the mountains.

Lightning forked the sky, causing a brief pause in their discussion. As Chewett looked to the sky, he wondered whether these changes were natural. Never had the realm been troubled by such a long period of stormy weather.

Fang had noticed the changes too. He warned that the persistent downpours could make the mountain increasingly unstable. Then, with a rather suspicious smile, he stated that nobody would want whatever lay beneath the mountain getting loose. Chewett decided not to pry further into this comment, however, he made a note to investigate the matter in the future.