It's actually just normal Caw-Blade vs Valakut in the finals. Did anybody watch that Semi-finals match? In Game 1 the U/W player was down to 2 life and the Esper-blade player had 2 Creeping tar pits out (but only enough mana to activate 1 per turn), and the U/W player got running tectonic edges to come back and win.
Updated to Chapter 17 now, just a few more to go. That would have been cool if he could have used the second person in a MTG novel. Does Stover write mostly scifi/fantasy stuff?
Edit - Finally finished the entire chapter summary! So now hopefully most of the story will make sense. It made sense while I was typing it but because the story is so complex my spoiler summary might not make sense in some areas, just let me know. I feel like this was a cool journey to take Tezzeret on that changed his character in complex and subtle ways and will definitely impact how Tezz acts in Scars of Mirrodin (unless they just corrupt him and ignore all the character dev done in this book - but I doubt they would do that so soon).
After reading this I'm really not sure if Tezz will willingly become the leader of Phyrexia, unless he thought it would be the only way to defeat Bolas or something. I'm not even really sure that Tezz is going to be U/B anymore, as he doesn't really use any Black magic, although he still does exhibit a great many black characteristics (and some white characteristics as well).
I've updated to Chapter 10 (they aren't actually numbered) so far, this is just a little over halfway through the novel. The later chapters deal more with clockworking so they might be a bit harder to sum up precisely. The summaries are pretty long because each chapter has so many important details, especially the personal growth of Tezz that I wouldn't want to leave out or it would definitely give the wrong impressions.
Just to be clear, there's only 2 plotlines that are both linear; the one in the past and the one in the present.
And I definitely encourage people to get the book because it's fairly well written and hopefully after reading it you won't be too distraught
The actual novel structure that is used with a mix of third person as well as 1st person from a variety of viewpoints is really cool and something I don't recall having seen since Nemesis.
Edit - Updated to Chapter 12 now. There's about 7 chapters and an epilogue left.
Hey, yeah I hope they use Clockworking very carefully from now on, because that's the kind of thing that can really make people not care about the story at all if done wrong.
Here is a chapter spoiler of the novel. DO NOT READ THIS if you do not want to be spoiled.
Tezzeret - A man of parts
(Jund - Past)
This chapter introduces us to Tezzeret's new consciousness from the perspective of the
reborn Tezz (Remember that this is already using a story technique of flashback via Nicol
Bolas memory syphon). He wakes up in a rock prison that is eventually revealed to be in Jund
on Alara.
The story then goes into a flashback where Tezz recalls his unhappy and
friendless childhood. He vividly remembers how his mom (a whore) died by being run over
by upper class Esperites and how his dad helped him realize an important lessons - that
the strong take, and the weak are taken from. Even though Tezz hates his father, he admits
to be being sentimental in a way. Tezz can find scraps of Etherium easily because of rhabdomancy a trait that allows him to find more of anything he has a sample of. He basically
spends time gathering Etherium (to use as currency) and working his way very rapidly up the Esper
powerladder, becoming a mechanist and then building his right Etherium arm. They made him a
master, but he just walked away, because names are nothing and power is everything. He joined
the Seekers of Carmot, which was the last thing he'd ever believed in.
Tezz then wakes back up in the rock cave distraught to find his right arm is flesh now. Then Bolas
arrives and knocks Tezz into the wall.
Tezzeret - The Dragon's Jest
(Jund - Past)
Bolas mocks Tezz for a while, calling him "Tezzie". Tezz recalls how he hates Bolas, but refuses to be intimidated by him. Bolas tells Tezz he has a task for him, and introduces him to his new friend, Doctor Jest, who can cause Tezz unbearable agony and also teleport him back to this cave in Jund if he tries to planeswalk away. Tezz and Bolas discuss the Seekers of Carmot, and Tezz elaborates how the Seekers claimed to create Etherium by infusing sangrite with carmot, but everything they claimed was a lie. Bolas reveals that Crucius is real and was a planeswalker sphinx who created Etherium. Bolas tells Tezz to find Crucius, gives him a small sangrite (dragon blood) rock, and teleports him to Tidehollow in Esper.
Tezz arrives naked, and considers stealing some poor scrapper's clothes, but he can't make himself do it. He wouldn't hesitate to steal from the rich or powerful, but to steal from a man who has nothing (like his own childhood) is too vile even for him. Tezz decides he needs some money so he sets about to retrieve his hidden money stash on Esper (he has one on every plane he's visited).
As he reaches for the stash, he sees his hand burning, but soon realizes that Doctor Jest can control his sensory system and was preventing him from springing a trap. Doc can talk to him via his left ear, and Tezz is able to discern that Doc is a fully conscious individual who inhabits or is somehow magically connected to his sensory nerves. Fortunately Doc cannot read Tezz's thoughts. Doctor Jest as his name would lead you to believe talks in a very irreverent and sardonic tone. Jest claims to also hate Nicol Bolas and says he wants to help Tezz take him down. Throughtout the novel, Doctor Jest "aids" Tezz during action sequences with his witty banter and unhelpful advice. Tezz tells Jest he knows the stash is trapped because Tezz trapped it himself. Tezz deactivates the trap, and takes the stash, which is a substantial amount of Etherium. Tezz suddenly realizes that Jace would know about all his stashes from reading his memory and that this really IS a trap. A giant magma scorpion appears, and Tezz runs for his life.
Tezzeret - The Home Fires, Burning
(Esper - Past)
This is mostly an action chapter as Tezzeret and Doctor Jest attempt to escape the three Magma Scorpion trap that Jace had left for Tezz. While they run, Jest is actually able to help Tezz at various times by negating some of his pain or redirecting his attention from his hurt and tired legs to sensations like crabs in his spine. Tezz doesn't have enough mana to fight the magma scorpions directly, because most of his mana power was in his severed Etherium right arm and Doctor Jest additionally drains Tezz of some mana to power himself. He uses some complex mechanism in a sewer drain to kill one, but the remaining two magma scorps chase him through an Esper village. Tezz is astonished and dismayed to find himself stop for a second and warn all the people in the village that the scorpions are only after him and to stay out of harm's way.
Eventually Tezz is too tired to run and cornered in the caverns of the Tidehollow scullers. The scorpions run along the ceiling throwing fire at Tezz. A sculler arrives and Tezz tries to barter for passage on his boat, but can't find anything the sculler wants. Jest suggests the sangrite, and Tezz gives a piece to the sculler, who is mesmorized to paralysis by it. Tezz gets on the boat and starts rowing, but he quickly gets lost, and the magma scorpions set the boat on fire. Suddenly, the tidehollow sculler shrieked, rose in the air and Tezz realized it was singing. Every other nearby sculler arrived as well, and the singing one rose higher and higher until it exploded in a giant fireball, killing the two magma scorpions on the cavern ceiling. Tezz understands the scullers have decided to help them, and they eventually end up back on dry land. Tezz realizes that Jace will know his trap has been sprung, and because of his sentimental flaw Tezz knows how Jace's next trap will be set - using his father.
The Metal Island - The Fire This Time
(Metal Island - Present)
Now we are back in the present on the Metal Island with the Metal Sphinx from the prologue. Bolas stops reading Tezzeret's memories, because he can sense a planeswalker arriving. "How can you tell a Planeswalker is coming?"
"He starts breathing hard, " Bolas said absently. "It wasn't a riddle? Never mind."
Bolas disappears/wipes himself from existence and awaits the newcomer.
A very large and tall gray-haired woman arrives, dressed in fire-proof stonewort armor - the red mage Baltrice. (Baltrice was Tezz's Infinite Consortium planeswalker muscle in Agents of Artifice). She also has an etherium harness which she is using to carry/transport the unconscious body of Jace Beleren. Baltrice notices the naked Tezz and is angry that he is not wearing the ring he promised he'd wear. Tezz downplays that and informs her she is in a "mausoleum for the fondest dream of Esper". Baltrice tells him to cut out the metaphors and crap. Baltrice claims that Jace is a much better boss and person than Tezz ever was, while Tezz tries to convince her that Jace isn't as great as she thinks he is.
They talk about Jace and Lilianna (whom Baltrice hates) for a bit, and it becomes clear that Tezz has done something very damaging to Jace, who will probably die without his intervention. As Baltrice tries to convince Tezz to fix Jace, Bolas reappears and easily restrains and depowers Baltrice. Bolas decides to read Baltrice's memories, figuring they will be more entertaining than Tezz's
Baltrice - This Old Man
(Esper - Past)
Now we see the story from Baltrice's point of view for the first time. The story is back in Tidehollow, where Baltrice is interrogating Tezzeret's father with the help of some local goons. The goons inform Baltrice that Tezz's father hasn't seen him in ten or more years, and Baltrice is starting to believe that. Baltrice gets really angry at the goons because they tortured Tezz's dad too much and almost destroyed all his fingertips. She gives him some alcohol to drink while the goons fetch some healing. We are told that because of the Conflux, there's still a general ongoing war in Alara, so Esper was full of combat mages, of which Baltrice had eight set up in a double-diamond to ambush Tezz. Baltrice walks around for a bit, but gets the feeling something is horribly amiss. She pulls out her Jacequin, which is a small doll that looks like Jace and allows her to communicate with him (coming soon to a store near you :p) and describes the situation to him. Jace decides that Tezz must be coming for his dad, and that he will use his mind magic to get all the information they can from the old man. Jace then teleports there (presumably he can teleport near where the Jacequin is).
Baltrice ruminates on how benevolent and beneficent Jace is. After what Lilianna did to Baltrice, she was lost in the Blind Eternities, and crawled to Ravnica through blind instinct. Jace found her, and although he had every reason to hate her, he put her back together and helped her get past the nightmares of all the spirits and shades that Vess had used against her. Baltrice owes her life to Jace and vows to spend the rest of her life repaying him.
Jace surveys the situation and assures Baltrice that Tezz HAS to be there because he knows how Tezz thinks from reading his mind. Baltrice argues that Tezz knows that Jace knows how he thinks so he can adapt. They try to figure out who resurrected Tezz. Jace scans Tezz's dad's mind, and realizes something is wrong; he's not altogether there. They put up some magical shields and rush into the house, but the old man already was prepared with two miniature handbows which he uses to quickly explode a goon. The old man then throws a spear at Jace which Baltrice burns, but it burns to reveal a little metal gizmo that sprouts limbs and easily penetrates Jace's magic shields. Jace starts screaming maniacally, and the old man reveals himself as Tezzeret. He tells Baltrice to stand down if she wants to save Jace's life.
The Metal Island - The Waiting Game
(The Metal Island - Present)
Back on the Metal Island, Bolas is done reading Baltrice's memories. Bolas and Tezz trade some more insults and Tezz reveals that what he has done to Jace is basically a mechanical version of the Doctor Jest that Bolas did to him. Tezz asks if Bolas is expecting someone, and Bolas is puzzled to find nobody arriving. Tezzeret continues to taunt Bolas, and Bolas claims he will keep Tezz alive for thousands of years begging for death. Bolas greedily eyes Jace and decides to memory siphon Jace. As he starts, Tezzeret almost fails to keep a straight face.
Jace Beleren - Friends Like These
(Esper - Past)
Jace wakes up coughing and is told to do no magic. A voice he hears in nightmares (Tezz) tells his that it will make things worse. Jace screams in agony.
Jace realizes how bad the situation is, and tries to tell Baltrice to get away while she can. Baltrice refuses to leave Jace, and he realizes that she can't because of the spell he cast on her. But since he can't do magic at present, he can't undo the spell! Tezz tells Jace that he used the same kind of trick that Jace and Rhoka did by appearing as his own father. Tezz then uses some small necromancy to kill a goon and regenerate his hand that was beaten up from the torture. Jace desperately tries to think of a way to extricate Baltrice from the situation and asks Tezz why he doesn't just kill him. Tezz explains that Jace would be useless dead, and then apologizes to Baltrice for how he mistreated her in Agents of Artifice, which surprises her. Tezz expresses that he is not that man that did those actions; he is a new man.
Tezz explains the mechanical workings of his etherium device in Jace to them, and explains how any attempts at magic or healing will hasten his death. Tezz then claims that he will let Jace live once Tezz has finished doing a fiendish task, for which he needs Baltrice's help. Jace tells Baltrice she should do what she thinks is best for herself, not for him, but of course, Baltrice chooses to help him as Tezz smugly looks on (it is implied that Tezz is aware of Jace's spell on Baltrice and basically uses him as a ransom to force Baltrice to help him). Tezz tells them that his task is to find Crucius, but his ultimate main goal is to KILL Nicol Bolas, which makes Baltrice think he's crazy. Tezz leaves Jace to watch over his father.
The Metal Island - Principles of Design
(The Metal Island - Present)
We are back on the Metal Island as Bolas finishes reading Jace's mind. Tezz admits to him that whoever he is now is largely the result of Bolas's own talents (or lack thereof) as a designer of human intellect, and that when Bolas restored Tezz's consciousness and functionality, he made certain alterations that might have ramifications he did not envision. Tezz talks about how poorly humans are designed, and how he could easily design devices that could do everything a human could do to demonstrate how smart he is to Bolas, who is unimpressed. Tezz expresses how predictable Bolas is, and tells him he knows Bolas is waiting for an Interplanar Gate to open on the Metal Island. Tezz tells Bolas that he is aware that Bolas knows this because Bolas has learned some Clockworking and that Bolas can see the future a few minutes out. Tezz reiterates to Bolas that he WILL kill him, and that he won't like how this ends. In the morning, Bolas will be decomposing on the beach. Bolas doesn't believe him but Tezz asks him to look at the futures and to see in how many Tezz is dead and how many Bolas is alive. As Bolas does this, he is stunned.
Tezz controls the Metal Sphinx to hit Bolas, and reveals that on this Metal Island/World he is the most powerful being and he could have killed Bolas at any time. Tezz tells Bolas that he lacks manners, a quality Tezz appreciates. Now Tezz and Bolas discuss the visitor that Bolas was expecting earlier. Tezz admits that each time Bolas though somebody was arriving, he moved the entrance back further, until he had first proven his dominance to Bolas. Tezz then explains that before Bolas even arrived he had narrowed down the newcomer to four candidates, three of which were Silas Renn (who Bolas has already killed before the prologue), Crucius the Mad Sphinx, and Tezzeret himself (which confuses Bolas).
Eventually a very old female etherium Sphinx appears. Tezzeret addresses her as Your Widsom and the Sphinx tells Tezz that she can feel that He is near, but her journey has robbed her of her sight, which Tezz uses etherium to restore. When she sees the statue of the Metal Sphinx she is overcome by emotion. Bolas asks if the Metal Sphinx is Crucius, to which Tezz replies that everything in this place is an expression of him.
Tezzeret - Riddle Me This
(Esper - Past)
Now we are back in the past plotline with Tezz and Doctor Jest in the Seekers of Carmot sanctuary, covertly spying on Silas Renn (I believe he's originally from Tezz's online comic origin). Tezz calls him weak, but when Jest asks why Renn always defeated Tezz, Tezz corrects himself by saying Renn is weak in character, not in ability. During this time there are I guess random Dragon or other attacks from Jund that shake the area.
Shortly Sharuum, the Grand Hegemon of Esper arrives, and Renn goes to greet her. He is intercepted by Baltrice dressed up as a porter who beats him up and threatens to burn him unless he pretends she is an Arcane fellow and introduces her to Sharuum, which he does. Sangrite has been discovered in the mountains of Jund, so that is why Esper started a war. Tezz feeds Baltrice some lines to say to Sharuum through the magical earpieces they are using to communicate, and has her lead Sharuum to the Vault of the Codex where he is waiting.
They arrive at the Vault of the Codex where Tezz introduces himself to Sharuum, addressing her as Your Wisdom. Renn is stunned to see Tezz, having seen him die more than ten years ago. Sharuum (who talks in italics) mentions she has heard the legends of Tezzeret the Renegade, but he tells her he would prefer a different epithet, the Seeker,for unlike the fake Seekers of Carmot, his search is real. Sharuum is so powerful that she can hear Tezz and Jest communicating which nobody else can.
Tezz tells her that he knows that Etherium supplies are low due to the war with Jund and Grixis and asks for help finding Crucius. Sharuum doesn't believe Tezz, a mere human mage, can succeed where everybody else has failed, but Tezz reveals to her and Renn that he is a Planeswalker. Sharuum then tells them a couple of stories about Crucius and how he once told her that if he were to ever vanish one day a mage of only flesh (no etherium) would come looking for him. She then tells him "When one is made of glass, everything looks like a stone" and gives him another set of riddles that will lead to Crucius. Tezz realizes the riddle is directed at him specifically, and they ponder if Crucius saw this moment from the future or the past, etc. Sharuum tells Tezz that if he can find Crucius and give her one last moment with her beloved, she will give him EVERYTHING, her kingdom, subjects, power, etc. Tezz then claims to know just where to look.
Tezzeret - A Long and Winding Road, With Zombies
(Esper - Past)
Tezzeret, Baltrice and Doctor Jest arrive at The Crystal Labyrinth in the Glass Dunes using etherium sleds that Sharuum provided. The Crystal Labyrinth is your typical Indiana Jones deathtrap with 12 stories of 100 rooms that can shift and move about in spatial dimensions as well as time (like in Hypercube). Nobody has ever reached the center, where the Sphinx Kemuel the Hidden One resides, and returned. Tezz believes reaching the center will lead him to Crucius. Unfortunately, blocking their way is over 9000 zombies (actually like a million or so).
Tezz asks Baltrice for her opinion on something, which surprises them both because Tezz remembers being disdainful of her intellect. They theorize that a very powerful group of necromancers (because how could just one summon this many zombies) is trying to "brute force" their way to solving the Labyrinth by just using the zombies as sacrificial lambs to test out all the possible routes. Tezz dishearteningly realizes that only the only other individual who would possibly know where they went is Silas Renn. Silas Renn, as it turns out, is an exceedingly powerful clockworker.
Tezz explains to Baltrice that a clockworker treats time like a spatial dimension; he/she can easily jump back and forwards in time like mages teleport room to room. He is also powerful enough to control the personal temporal flow of people, slowing or speeding up time (making you die by growing old really fast). Tezz also illustrates the concept of moving sideways in time, which admittely he doesn't fully comprehend. Comparing time to a braided rope he says that every time you make a choice you split off a new temporal strand, some of which will return back to the main line and some of which will go to different ones (basically infinite alternate timelines - although only the more "local" ones close to your main thread are accessible to you). The master clockworker can choose which of these timelines he or she likes, and take him or herself along with you to that timeline, basically choosing the outcome of any encounter. The only limits to clockworking are the power of the adept and rules of probability - the more improbable an event is, the more power it requires to know about and access the alternate timeline where that event occurs. Tezz concludes that the only real defense against a good clockworker is another one.
If Silas has been there already and is waiting for them, Tezz realizes they have absolutely no chance to defeat him. After they argue for a bit he tells Baltrice he has a plan.
The Metal Island - Life and Times
(The Metal Island - Present)
Back on the Metal Island Bolas asks Tezz if he realizes how preposterously self-centered his whole theory of reality is. Sharuum has finished communing with the Metal Sphinx statue or whatever she did, and as promised gives everything she has to Tezz to do as he wishes. For now Tezz tells Sharuum he must send her back and that he wants her to rule Esper as she always has. Tezz says he would be pleased for Sharuum to call him friend. Tezz undoes the etherium that allowed Sharuum to see better (for you cannot take any etherium from this Metal Island with you) and uses the etherium portal to bring her back to Esper.
Bolas antagonizes Tezz for a bit, and asks him if he wants to see a trick. Tezz responds by creating an impenetrable etherium prison that surrounds Bolas. Bolas shrugs, tells him it's a very good trick, and then vanishes completely. Bolas's restraining web releases Baltrice and Jace, and Baltrice asks Tezz what the heck is going on. Tezz tells her to get ready to fight.
Jace is still groggy so Baltrice protects his as Tezz suits up in etherium armor. Nicol Bolas reappears and Tezz immediately makes him explode, dragon parts flying all over the island. Holy crap Baltrice exclaims as she can't believe Tezz has killed Bolas. But suddenly Bolas reappears and attacks again. Tezz forces Bolas into molten etherium, killing him. Two more Bolases appear and attack Tezz, as Jace tells Baltrice that these aren't really Bolas, they don't have minds. Tezz defeats the two Bolases but four more appear. Jace suddenly realizes the Bolases aren't fake and they aren't illusions. They are ZOMBIES. They use some magic and find Lilianna Vess is controlling the zombie Bolases. She staggers out from her hiding spot and apologizes to Jace. Baltrice instantly fries her, and her charred bones skid across the island.
Another Vess pops up behind them though, and blasts them with black goo. Jace is like wtf and turns around and sees tons of Vesses, who tell him to give up because there will be as many of her as they need. The real Bolas finally appears right behind Baltrice and Jace and snags them up with his draconic arms. He immediately renders Baltrice unconscious but while he does this Jace mind-scans him to try to find a way out. What he sees in Bolas's mind stuns him but before he can do anything else some blue magic hits him and Jace's mind is gone entirely.
Bolas doesn't know who mind-killed Jace, and all his clockworking is beginning to confuse him. He commands all eight of his Lilianas (who reply "Yes, Great and Mighty Bolas") to get up to the front lines and help the other Lilianas defeat but not kill Tezzeret, before tucking away Jace and Baltrice's bodies in a nearby timeline. There's a little aside about how before the Mending Bolas was functionally omnipotent in command of both time and space, and that clockworking was just a different approach to almost the same thing and was quite easy for a being of his power. If Bolas could find a way, he would find a timeline where the Mending never happened and slide over to it, although he suspects the possibility that none of those timelines exist at all.
As Bolas begins to concentrate on his clockworking, he ruminates that he should have just killed Crucius a thousand years ago. He is distracted as he sees another dead Vess fly past him and realizes that in the nearby alternate timelines there are only a couple of dead Bolas corpses lying on the Metal Island left to zombify. Bolas gets very upset because it seems his mind is dwindling and he doesn't have the concentration he used to. Bolas divides his mind into subminds to handle all the fighting (and try to keep one Liliana alive, because she was valuable and amusing). Using his knowledge of the future, he is able to turn part of Tezz's own armor into an etherium blade that slices through his heart and spine. As Tezz falls forwards and dies, Bolas puts him in suspended animation, and then gloats at Tezz's body. He then suspends the last Liliana and hides her and Tezz in the same timeline he had put Jace and Baltrice's body. Bolas now has 5 Planeswalker lackeys and an etherium supply. Bolas can't believe he has won so easily.
Then Bolas thinks about a bunch of other strange time-travel things, but basically he eventually realizes he can't find any other copies of Tezzeret in alternate timelines, only the one he put in suspended animation. How could there only be ONE Tezzeret in all the timelines?? Bolas thinks something is really wrong and he retrieves Tezz's body and throws him in the ocean, while tagging and then casting Jace, Baltrice and Liliana randomly through the Blind Eternities. Bolas then forms a mind link with Tezz and once again pushes him way into Tezz's past.
Tezzeret - Something Stupid
(Esper - Past)
This chapter is mostly about Tezzeret and Baltrice's plan to get past the zombies and defeat Silas Renn so they can enter the Crystal Labyrinth. It allows Baltrice and Tezzeret to have some intimate conversation and character development.
Baltrice tells Tezz his plan is stupid as he fashions some etherium armor from their sleds. Tezz explains to her that Renn has been there for weeks, or months and will have planned for every contingency of attack. Any way they attack Renn, they will be defeated. Tezz must approach with not even the intent to attack him. Baltrice asks Tezz if he knows that Bolas changed him in some way when he brought him back, and Tezz says he does. Baltrice wonders if Tezz is bothered by the fact that he isn't the real Tezzeret anymore, to which he replies he is the real Tezz. Tezz turns it around on her and asks her if she realizes if she is different, and how she would react if somebody had cast a spell on her for her own good to make her happy. She responds angrily to that suggestion.
Tezz creates an etherium transit gate/teleporter to lead from where they are(safely at a distance from the Labyrinth) to the back of the zombie line. He warns Baltrice that his power is keeping it open, so it will only stay open for a few seconds, and if you are caught in it while it deactivates it will split you in half. Then Tezzeret walks through the transite gate.
Tezzeret - Pavane for a Death Princess
(Alara - Past)
Tezzeret and Doctor Jest arrives on the edge of the zombie mass by the Crystal Labyrinth and transmits his prepared magic message that states that he is Tezzeret and he comes in peace. There is no response, so he moves forward burning through the mass of zombies to reach the Labyrinth entrance. As Tezz approaches the entrance, a pile of zombies forms in a circle and strangely combined into a big arch with a strange reality through the center, just like a transit gate. Through this strange portal he can see an exceptionally beautiful young woman with obsidian hair wearing a wrap of sheer silk - Liliana Vess (no mention of the chain veil as far as I can find). He begins to recall that she is a Planeswalker (Bolas has clouded his memories of her for some reason), and asks her what is going on. She tells him they need to talk, as Silas Renn will be back as soon as he finishes killing Baltrice.
When Tezz steps through the zombie portal he finds the light brighter and warmer than he's ever felt (he thinks they might be in Bant). Liliana takes the time to explain and justify her actions to Tezz from Agents of Artifice although Tezz seems to have no recollection of most of these events. Tezz cuts her off to ask why she is working for Bolas now and Vess responds that he was the only choice she had left. She tells him that Bolas is 'gating' in the zombies from Grixis in an attempt to solve the Labyrinth and that Bolas knows about all of Tezz's actions and conversations. She begs Tezz to help her stop Bolas from ever solving the Labyrinth. Vess reveals that Bolas is up to some nefarious plot which involves all his Planeswalker lackeys dying and destroying the universe (or at least Alara and possibly the Multiverse). Vess wants to first kill Silas Renn, but Tezz refuses, saying he needs Renn to solve the Labyrinth. Vess tries to seduce Tezz but he resists and tells her he doesn't need her. She gets angry and Tezz reaches out to attack her....
Suddenly Tezz is back staring at the zombie portal with an intense uneasy feeling.
Suddenly Tezz is back to BEFORE he created his etherium armor, but Renn is right behind him. Renn tells Tezz this is the part where he turns around and attacks, but Tezz declines to attack him. Tezz tries to reason with Renn while Renn lectures him about how Tezz has nothing to offer him because he has already tortured Tezz and Baltrice for several days in alternate timelines. Renn reveals that although he already knows 'everything' he wants to know how Tezz escaped when Renn had him trapped in a mana siphon and hypertemporal field. Renn starts to trap Tezz in the mana siphon again, and Tezz tells Renn he'll tell him when they meet again in twenty minutes. Tezz uses his last remaining will to try to Planeswalk, and Doctor Jest's power kicks in and dumps him back into the cave in Jund.
Tezzeret - Bloodstone, Stone and Blood
(Jund - Alara)
Tezz (who is naked again) and Doctor Jest are back in the Jund cave, where Tezz tries to figure out how to get out of the cave before Baltrice is killed by Renn in twenty minutes. Jest argues that they should just stay there, and get Bolas's helpe later, but Tezz refuses to let Baltrice die. He finds sangrite all over the cavern and discovers that blood empowers the sangrite. Tezz has no tools though, since he is naked, but he still has small sliver of etherium he hid in his body while he was a kid. He devises a device to directly inject powdered sangrite into his bloodstream, and Tezzeret becomes super-powered. He can literally see all of Alara, and instantly transports to the Glass Dunes where Renn is about to attack Baltrice.
Tezzeret - Even a Broken Clockworker
(Esper - Alara)
Silas Renn, who has covered almost his entire body in etherium, has already blasted Baltrice off her sled by the time naked Tezz arrives in the sky. Tezz tries to make peace, but realizes that Renn feels he has no choice but to fight the man Tezz once was, in self defense. Renn shoots some kind of energy projectile from his handheld weapon, and superpower Tezz rips open reality to redirect the energy to hit Renn right in the crotch.
Renn and Tezz fight some more with Renn using a lot of clockworking and etherium powers like shooting slow-time fields at Tezz, which he avoids with his sangrite-infused superpowers. Tezz then fistfights Renn while Baltrice battles some etherium firedrakes that Renn had brought in. Unfortunately Renn, being mostly etherium, beats the holy crap out of Tezz because Tezz's sangrite-infusion has worn off. Any damage Tezz does to Renn's body is immediately healed by the etherium. Tezz has no mana left, but recalls that etherium can be manipulated without any mana. Using just his mind, he pulls out the etherium needle that he used to inject himself with sangrite and stabs Renn through the eye with it. Tezz activates his transit portal (from earlier that he hasn't gone through yet), and Renn thinks he is trying to escape, but it's actually a trap. Tezz uses the etherium sled to knock Renn into the transit portal, then shut down the portal power when Renn is only halfway through, cleaving Renn's body in half.
Tezz goes through the transit portal and fixes up Renn's head and upper body so he stays alive and then uses some etherium fiber optics to basically gain control of Renn's brain and nervous system and make him fall asleep. Tezz then finally enters the Crystal Labyrinth.
Tezzeret - The Real Me
(Esper - Alara)
Tezz makes Renn's upper body a Telemin so he can use Renn's clockworking powers for himself, calling it a Rennoscope (ha ha). Baltrice thanks Tezz for saving her life but he politely requests she not do a victory fandango over Renn's defeated body. He then gives her an etherium ring as a promise that he will free Jace Beleren, even if he dies. The ring will lead to an identical ring that Tezz wears so that she can find him regardless of his condition and bringing the two rings together will reveal how to free Jace. He then gives Baltrice two finals gifts - a one-use navigator that will find somebody and a transit portal to Bant where she can go after Liliana Vess. Baltrice leaves to do just this.
Tezz sits at the entrance to the Labyrinth and uses his Rennoscope to watch himself solve the Labyrinth in the future and alternate timelines. As he does this he actually begins to ascertain the mathematical truth/purity of the Labyrinth and understand the impossibly perfect structure of the Labyrinth's etherium matrix. Some more complex stuff and references to the riddles Sharuum gave him, and he realizes he has no need to find he center of the Labyrinth. He is the center. And he was there. (this is tough to explain in a summary - much better explained in the novel)
Kemuel the Sphinx greets Tezzeret as he arrives with "Welcome back, my old friend." Although Tezzeret has never seen a picture of Kemuel the Ancient (The Hidden One) he has somehow known him since the day Tezz was born (even since the day Kemuel was born). Tezz is once again naked and without any of his previous possessions standing on a strangely colorless grassy surface. Kemuel informs Tezz that on average he (The Seeker) reaches the Riddle Gate two or three out of every ten thousand parallel timeline lives.
Tezz asks Kemuel the Sphinx what to do next, but Kemuel tells him he doesn't know because this is the farthest any Seeker has ever gotten. The way back is closed, so if Tezz can't figure it out he will spend the rest of his life in the Riddle Gate. Sometimes the alternate Tezzeret's will take their own lives and sometimes they will viciously attack Kemuel, forcing him to kill them. Sometimes the Tezzerets will spend weeks or months conversing with Kemuel before they die - this is how Kemuel and Tezz have become friends.
Crucius apparently built the riddle gates around Kemuel, leaving him with the task of awaiting the Seeker. Etherium cannot enter or leave the riddle gates. Kemuel passes his days in learning, and can make the floor of the area show him anywhere and anytime in the Multiverse. Tezz realizes that Doctor Jest is gone, and starts to miss him. Kemuel tells him that Mercy is the greatest virtue, which meanings nothing to Tezz yet. Kemuel implies to Tezz that Doc hasn't parted from him; precisely the opposite. Tezz wonders if Doc is just a separate part of his subconscious or subordinate personality that Boals created/separated.
Tezz politely asks Kemuel for help, and to describe Kemuel's assigned task. Kemuel shows him a land made entirely of etherium - this is what awaits Tezz beyond the riddle gate. Tezz tries to Planeswalk to the etherium land, but is informed there is no power in the riddle gate besides etherium (the only etherium is Kemuel, leading a great many Tezzerets to attack him and die). After some more complex riddles, Tezz reaches enlightenment - even the IDEA of etherium can't pass through the Riddle Gate. Not even the dream of it, not even the hope of it. To pass through the Ridde Gate, Tezz must make etherium meaningless to himself, he must become a man who would have never come seeking the Riddle Gate or Crucius in the first place. (the daunting hopelessness of this is what causes most of the Tezzeret's to kill themselves).
After an unspecified amount of time in the Riddle Gate, Tezzeret becomes that man. He bids farewell to Kemuel and gives him instructions to pass along to his mother Sharuum, then steps forth into the Metal Island. And then Tezzeret has already let himself out of his tomb, and by the way, he's right behind you.
The Metal Island - The Last Riddle
(The Metal Island - Present)
Bolas spins around to confront Tezzeret, mad and surprised that Tezz has been messing around with him like this. Tezz sits calmly by the Metal Sphinx. Bolas reaches back for magic that can destroy entire worlds, but nothing happens. He tries again but nothing happens, Tezz asks him if he knows why not. Tezz rhetorically asks Bolas what Tezz's specialty is, what his talent is. It's preparation. Tezz reveals that he had killed all those other dead Bolas's that were on corpses on the Metal Island in the other timelines, and that the device he put in Jace's head transferred to Bolas's brain when Bolas used his mind siphon on Jace. Tezz knew Bolas would read Jace's mind somehow, someday. The device, now in Bolas's head merely shuts down his desire to kill Tezz or any other planeswalkers. Bolas tries to clockwork, but finds he can't because Tezz has taken away his ability to clockwork (due to it's potential to rend the very fabric of the Multiverse). Tezz has also given Bolas back Doctor Jest, in Bolas's own head.
As Bolas sits around embarrassed and powerless, Tezz reveals that HE had cast the mind-wipe on Jace, to prevent Bolas from learning of this plot or the device in his head (which Jace had seen). Tezz goes to retrieve Jace, Liliana and Baltrice from the Blind Eternities, and awakens them from their suspended states. They are understandably confused and Tezz tells them that he has a gift for each of them, and then they can all leave. Jace still wants to fight Tezz, but Baltrice stops him. The gift he gives the (alternate timeline? It's not clear) Liliana Vess is freedom from Bolas's contract. Vess tells Jace it's been real, insults Baltrice and leaves the plane. Baltrice just wants Tezz to take the device out of Jace's head, which Tezz has already done. The gift he gives Baltrice is an etherium and sangrite necklace which will render her invulnerable to all forms of 'mental domination'. Jace realizes what will happen if she puts it on and begs her not to. Tezz coldy tells Baltrice to put on the necklace and she will understand why she trusts Jace so much, while Jace tells her it's a trick. Jace admits that he had to erase the memory of the ghost/spirits/shades that Vess hit Baltrice with, because the memory was killing her, which upsets Baltrice. It's implied Jace could have done more to her memories or have some sort of more directly mind control spell on her but not explicitly stated here. Baltrice is bewildered and confused and doesn't know who to believe as she sobs and stumbles away.
The gift that Tezz gives Jace is fear. Fear of Baltrice finding out the truth, fear of Tezzeret, fear of Nicol Bolas. Bolas reappears and scares the crap out of Jace, but Tezz tells him that Bolas and Tezz now have a "partnership". Jace runs away and presumably leaves the plane. Afterwards, Tezz lectures Bolas a bit about respect, trust, humility and mercy. Bolas asks about Crucius and gets a confusing answers because Crucius is/was/may/will be a clockworker. Crucius thought he had an answer to existence, the Multiverse and his place in it. The Metal Island is what he became after he found out he was wrong. So he set out to design and create somebody (like Tezzeret) who can find the Metal Island, understand it, and realize the real Search has just started. Then Tezz reveals to Bolas that he IS the Carmot, and that Tezz can create etherium with (from?) his body using sangrite (its not clear if he can do this only on the Island or anywhere). Bolas is very pleased, for this is the very reason he wanted to find Crucius in the place - an infinite supply of etherium. Now he just has to find a way out of Tezz's mind device...
Tezz tells him that he'll check back in a couple days because Bolas can't leave the plane until he discards his desire for etherium. Bolas demands that Tezz help him escape. Tezz says he can't because away from the Metal Island his powers are as limited as ever and Bolas would surely capture and imprison Tezz. Then he leaves Bolas trapped on the Island.
The Metal Island - Enter Leviathan
(The Metal Island - Present)
As Bolas settles into the etherium sand, a rip in the fabric of the universe signals the arrival of a new planeswalking dragon. Eventually it dawns on Bolas that this dragon is the true Nicol Bolas. The real Bolas congratulates the other Bolas, telling him that now they have Tezz working willingly for them. The true Bolas explains that the other is merely a construct/simulacrum with only a lifespan of a couple of days, after which they start to break apart. This explain why the construct Bolas was losing his ability to concentrate during the novel. Bolas also tells the construct it IS pretty dumb, because the real Bolas would have never fallen for Tezz's trap. The construct will die in a few hours upon the beach, so Bolas will have to create another if he wants Tezz to find a Bolas still here. Bolas tells the construct that he did not reach his advanced age by doing his dirty work in person, to which the construct Bolas replies aren't you doing it right now? The simulacrum Bolas surmises that "none of us is as smart as we think we are".
The Blind Eternities - He Who Laughs Last
(Blind Eternities - Present)
Tezzeret severs his mental link with the construct Bolas and considers how successful the operation was. The Real Bolas thought Tezz too dim to detect the fake Bolas ruse, which would buy Tezz several days head start to run away. He considers actually returning to the Metal Island but decides against it, and then decides that he will go to Ravnica to hide out and prepare for their next encounter, which Tezz plans to find a way to win. On Ravnica he could look in on Baltrice and make sure Jace was sufficiently terrorized.
Unfortunately for Tezz, the voice of Doctor Jest reappears, telling him that they need to make a stop along the way. Tezz is flabbergasted as he thinks Doc is dead or gone. Doc tells him that Bolas has an errand for them on Mirrodin. All the places Bolas has been and all things he's seen and Tezz didn't think Bolas would detect his mental link to the fake constuct Bolas? Tezz begs Doc to kill him in vain. As the novel concludes, Tezz vows that one day he will get the last laugh on Nicol Bolas. The End
Oh yeah I actually didn't include the prologue because I thought most here had read it already but I'll add it in later for those who haven't.
Clockworking sounds awesome, Time Spiral/Arabian Nights madness
Is Baltrice working with Jace? I assume Tez hasnt found crucius yet?
Yeah, Baltrice is working for Jace now (calls him Boss). Boy, good thing that Jace didn't take over the Consortium, eh? Tezz coerces her into working for him again though. Fortunately they have a far better relationship this time due to Tezz's sentimentality. As far as Crucius, I suppose insofar as he exists in the story's main timeline/universe Tezz does find him. It's not perfectly clear though - they probably left it a bit open for future storylines.
I'll definitely have some chapter summaries up by tomorrow morning for those that are curious. I hope Tezzeret the poster has got a copy of this book by now; will be fun to see his reaction.
Yes please!
anything interesting connected with phyrexia/mirrodin? Any new planeswalkers (Crucius?)?
Is there a summary of the book anywhere?
Yeah it seems a lot of people want a chance to read this interesting novel so I'll post a really light spoiler summary and then more info later if you want it or have any specific questions.
Test of Metal is a novel primarily about the intellectual, emotional and spiritual
growth of Tezzeret the Seeker as he attempts to teach Nicol Bolas a lesson in
humility. The novel is told in a present third person viewpoint as Tezzeret
is on the Etherium island, and Bolas comes to visit him (as detailed in the sample
prologue).
At various points, Bolas uses his mind-reading abilities to read the
memories of Tezz, as well as others. The novel then switches to a first person
narration for these flashback scenes which detail what happens after Tezz wakes
up from Bola's resurrection (as shown in the sample 1st chapter).
This does a great deal to help humanize Tezz and help us identify with him as our protagonist.
Bolas has sent Tezz on a quest to find Crucius so that Bolas can gain access to a supply
of Etherium. Bolas has also placed a failsafe mental agent, Doctor Jest, in Tezz's
head that basically can control all his brain functions, cause him immense pain,
etc. in order to make sure he is under control.
A good portion of the novel takes place on Alara (in Esper) as Tezz tries to track down
where (when and what) Crucius the Mad Sphinx may have disappeared to. Various other local and extraplanar
agents try to stop Tezz, and he must use his naked wits to outsmart them. Eventually
he meets up with Sharuum the Hegemon who helps guide him to where he can find some
answers.
While those past flashbacks are going on, there's also the present story arc with
Bolas and Tezzeret on the Ethierum island, where Bolas and Tezz wage a desperate
struggle for supremacy with a series of twists and turns that would make Shymalan proud.
Introduced in this novel is also the concept of "Clockworking" whereby a powerful mage
can basically time travel. They can travel backwards and forwards through time, but
thats NOT ALL folks, in the spirit of infinite quantum states, they can also see every
quantum possibility that exists in alternate universes (for example, in an alternate universe
perhaps Liliana is working for Bolas, or perhaps Jace is dead or Bolas never rebuilt Tezz).
They can see which alternate universes/outcomes they like, and actually TRAVEL to those alternate
universes as well as take others with them. They can also take persons or objects OUT of those
alternate "threads" into their original universe. It takes a great deal of power and concentration to
be able to master clockworking, but it is implied that those who master it are almost invincible, as
long as they have prep time (like Batman). Crucius was/is/might/may/will be a clockworker.
So if you want to check out a novel with Tezz naked multiple times with lots of comedy
from Tezz and Nicol Bolas, you'll surely want to check out Test of Metal
I hope that provided you a good plot outline without spoiling too much. I'll post something in a couple hours for people that want more spoilers. And let me know if you have any specific questions. Hopefully people who don't want to be spoiled can avoid those posts.
Oh, and a final teaser on who appears in the book:
Jace is in the novel as an antagonist for Tezz.
...
...
As is Baltrice!
Ah, well, I'd never seen a big picture of it, and had never noticed the metallic-ness of the rest of him. So yes, he is older. Anyways, I'm not sure Bolas regrew his Etherium arm, as I think that's one of the things he doesn't know how to do. I also think Carmot was a made up material created by Bolas to create the Seekers of Carmot to prepare Esper for the Conflux and the following war. But, yes, books trump comics in a canon sense.
Hey before you guys get too deep into this debate I just want to say that Test of Metal does address this some more.
Bolas did regrow his real human arm, but he says he can't help with the Etherium arm
The book also addresses Carmot and the creation of Etherium (as well as the true nature and power of Etherium) in a good amount more detail so you should pick it up if you are really interested in Etherium.
If you have to know a bit more
It's not totally clear but the book makes it seem like:
1. There IS no such thing as Carmot
2. Tezzeret IS the Carmot
Hey, so this book officially came out today; is this the right thread to continue discussing it? I just finished it today, and was hoping some other people had as well because it has really interesting implications but it was hard to understand and I am still fairly unclear about a lot of things... Anyway if people want some spoilers, please let me know
How does Bolas and Tezzeret even know of a situation on Mirrodin?
It's likely that Bolas just uses his magical omnipotence offscreen to learn about it.
Test of Metal doesn't mention this (Or Mirrodin) at all - just that Bolas has a task for Tezzeret in Mirrodin, which he goes to in a fairly unwilling fashion at the very end. I suspect we won't learn anything more about this until the Mirrodin novel comes out, if ever.
Hmm, interesting, I guess maybe it was delayed in Canada?? I actually picked up a physical paperback copy from the local Borders yesterday here in the US, and just finished it. A very interesting, albeit hard to follow read.
Just in case anybody doesn't know, you can unlock cards from playing Custom Games against the AI, too. It just doesn't tell you what you've won! This is a lot easier than playing some of the challenges, because you can actually give yourself 40 life and 9 cards in hand. Haha, pretty cheap, but it's probably quickest way to unlock a deck.
A few notes:
Is anybody else having extreme amounts of difficulty winning as Jace? I just went through the campaign as various decks (mostly the Chandra one) on the hardest difficulty, and it wasn't too bad, but after you beat the campaign it says it gets harder or something, and now when I try to beat anybody with Jace, it's almost impossible. I literally spent 3 hours going 1-6 with Jace on the easiest difficulty :rolleyes:. Has anybody else experienced this?? The AI seems to have 2 bombs in their opening hands every game now.
Also, for the people who were wondering earlier about Tezzeret's decklist, we can probably compile it from playing it a bunch of times, which would be cool to see it's design. Basically it's an entirely artifact deck besides the basic lands with insane synergy that you have to just get lucky to beat.
Here's what I recall from it so far:
Yeah, Esper definitely gets the shaft in this novel; barely mentioned at all, except when its getting conquered and really briefly for its obelisk.
I found it really surprising and quite frankly very disappointing that there wasn't really anything on Tezzeret and his fate. I mean, they focused on it in the web comics and AoA and all that, and then don't do anything with him? Maybe they decided Bolas with Tezz and Sarkhan would be too powerful, but still...
I thought the use of Progenitus was pretty interesting, and it was nice that they got a ton of the minor characters into the novel like Gwafa, Mayael, Karrthus, and Kresh (really surprised he made it in).
Caranthir, the ending part with Bolas is written exactly as you described ..
Just to be clear, Bolas is not defeated by the Maelstrom per se, Ajani uses his 'Soul' Magic like in Soul's Fire to 'animate' Bolas's soul (why wouldn't Bolas just counter this? Maybe Ajani has innate split second ^_^) so his soul fights him and then the flash occurs when they bite each other
Overall, I agree with whoever said it felt the story was really rushed, and was trying to tell like 4 or 5 distinct stories in a very X-men style way and didn't really have enough time to focus on more than 1, although it was still fairly enjoyable.
Sweet! I too have a Stonebrow EDH deck, which seems to be pretty good as long as games are under 5 people.
Have you considered Scuzzback Marauders? It's pretty big and survives a wrath, which is nice.
Also, Drumhunter doesn't have trample, but if you get it going it's pretty insane in this kind of deck.
If you are in a heavy nonbasic environment, Skyshroud War Beast might be really good too, although you have to attack the person you targeted with it last.
Oh yeah almost forgot Hidden Guerrillas can be decent too in a an artifact-heavy environment
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Edit - Finally finished the entire chapter summary! So now hopefully most of the story will make sense. It made sense while I was typing it but because the story is so complex my spoiler summary might not make sense in some areas, just let me know. I feel like this was a cool journey to take Tezzeret on that changed his character in complex and subtle ways and will definitely impact how Tezz acts in Scars of Mirrodin (unless they just corrupt him and ignore all the character dev done in this book - but I doubt they would do that so soon).
Just to be clear, there's only 2 plotlines that are both linear; the one in the past and the one in the present.
And I definitely encourage people to get the book because it's fairly well written and hopefully after reading it you won't be too distraught
The actual novel structure that is used with a mix of third person as well as 1st person from a variety of viewpoints is really cool and something I don't recall having seen since Nemesis.
Edit - Updated to Chapter 12 now. There's about 7 chapters and an epilogue left.
Here is a chapter spoiler of the novel. DO NOT READ THIS if you do not want to be spoiled.
(Jund - Past)
This chapter introduces us to Tezzeret's new consciousness from the perspective of the
reborn Tezz (Remember that this is already using a story technique of flashback via Nicol
Bolas memory syphon). He wakes up in a rock prison that is eventually revealed to be in Jund
on Alara.
The story then goes into a flashback where Tezz recalls his unhappy and
friendless childhood. He vividly remembers how his mom (a whore) died by being run over
by upper class Esperites and how his dad helped him realize an important lessons - that
the strong take, and the weak are taken from. Even though Tezz hates his father, he admits
to be being sentimental in a way. Tezz can find scraps of Etherium easily because of
rhabdomancy a trait that allows him to find more of anything he has a sample of. He basically
spends time gathering Etherium (to use as currency) and working his way very rapidly up the Esper
powerladder, becoming a mechanist and then building his right Etherium arm. They made him a
master, but he just walked away, because names are nothing and power is everything. He joined
the Seekers of Carmot, which was the last thing he'd ever believed in.
Tezz then wakes back up in the rock cave distraught to find his right arm is flesh now. Then Bolas
arrives and knocks Tezz into the wall.
(Jund - Past)
Bolas mocks Tezz for a while, calling him "Tezzie". Tezz recalls how he hates Bolas, but refuses to be intimidated by him. Bolas tells Tezz he has a task for him, and introduces him to his new friend, Doctor Jest, who can cause Tezz unbearable agony and also teleport him back to this cave in Jund if he tries to planeswalk away. Tezz and Bolas discuss the Seekers of Carmot, and Tezz elaborates how the Seekers claimed to create Etherium by infusing sangrite with carmot, but everything they claimed was a lie. Bolas reveals that Crucius is real and was a planeswalker sphinx who created Etherium. Bolas tells Tezz to find Crucius, gives him a small sangrite (dragon blood) rock, and teleports him to Tidehollow in Esper.
(Tidehollow, Esper - Past)
Tezz arrives naked, and considers stealing some poor scrapper's clothes, but he can't make himself do it. He wouldn't hesitate to steal from the rich or powerful, but to steal from a man who has nothing (like his own childhood) is too vile even for him. Tezz decides he needs some money so he sets about to retrieve his hidden money stash on Esper (he has one on every plane he's visited).
As he reaches for the stash, he sees his hand burning, but soon realizes that Doctor Jest can control his sensory system and was preventing him from springing a trap. Doc can talk to him via his left ear, and Tezz is able to discern that Doc is a fully conscious individual who inhabits or is somehow magically connected to his sensory nerves. Fortunately Doc cannot read Tezz's thoughts. Doctor Jest as his name would lead you to believe talks in a very irreverent and sardonic tone. Jest claims to also hate Nicol Bolas and says he wants to help Tezz take him down. Throughtout the novel, Doctor Jest "aids" Tezz during action sequences with his witty banter and unhelpful advice. Tezz tells Jest he knows the stash is trapped because Tezz trapped it himself. Tezz deactivates the trap, and takes the stash, which is a substantial amount of Etherium. Tezz suddenly realizes that Jace would know about all his stashes from reading his memory and that this really IS a trap. A giant magma scorpion appears, and Tezz runs for his life.
(Esper - Past)
This is mostly an action chapter as Tezzeret and Doctor Jest attempt to escape the three Magma Scorpion trap that Jace had left for Tezz. While they run, Jest is actually able to help Tezz at various times by negating some of his pain or redirecting his attention from his hurt and tired legs to sensations like crabs in his spine. Tezz doesn't have enough mana to fight the magma scorpions directly, because most of his mana power was in his severed Etherium right arm and Doctor Jest additionally drains Tezz of some mana to power himself. He uses some complex mechanism in a sewer drain to kill one, but the remaining two magma scorps chase him through an Esper village. Tezz is astonished and dismayed to find himself stop for a second and warn all the people in the village that the scorpions are only after him and to stay out of harm's way.
Eventually Tezz is too tired to run and cornered in the caverns of the Tidehollow scullers. The scorpions run along the ceiling throwing fire at Tezz. A sculler arrives and Tezz tries to barter for passage on his boat, but can't find anything the sculler wants. Jest suggests the sangrite, and Tezz gives a piece to the sculler, who is mesmorized to paralysis by it. Tezz gets on the boat and starts rowing, but he quickly gets lost, and the magma scorpions set the boat on fire. Suddenly, the tidehollow sculler shrieked, rose in the air and Tezz realized it was singing. Every other nearby sculler arrived as well, and the singing one rose higher and higher until it exploded in a giant fireball, killing the two magma scorpions on the cavern ceiling. Tezz understands the scullers have decided to help them, and they eventually end up back on dry land. Tezz realizes that Jace will know his trap has been sprung, and because of his sentimental flaw Tezz knows how Jace's next trap will be set - using his father.
(Metal Island - Present)
Now we are back in the present on the Metal Island with the Metal Sphinx from the prologue. Bolas stops reading Tezzeret's memories, because he can sense a planeswalker arriving.
"How can you tell a Planeswalker is coming?"
"He starts breathing hard, " Bolas said absently. "It wasn't a riddle? Never mind."
Bolas disappears/wipes himself from existence and awaits the newcomer.
A very large and tall gray-haired woman arrives, dressed in fire-proof stonewort armor - the red mage Baltrice. (Baltrice was Tezz's Infinite Consortium planeswalker muscle in Agents of Artifice). She also has an etherium harness which she is using to carry/transport the unconscious body of Jace Beleren. Baltrice notices the naked Tezz and is angry that he is not wearing the ring he promised he'd wear. Tezz downplays that and informs her she is in a "mausoleum for the fondest dream of Esper". Baltrice tells him to cut out the metaphors and crap. Baltrice claims that Jace is a much better boss and person than Tezz ever was, while Tezz tries to convince her that Jace isn't as great as she thinks he is.
They talk about Jace and Lilianna (whom Baltrice hates) for a bit, and it becomes clear that Tezz has done something very damaging to Jace, who will probably die without his intervention. As Baltrice tries to convince Tezz to fix Jace, Bolas reappears and easily restrains and depowers Baltrice. Bolas decides to read Baltrice's memories, figuring they will be more entertaining than Tezz's
(Esper - Past)
Now we see the story from Baltrice's point of view for the first time. The story is back in Tidehollow, where Baltrice is interrogating Tezzeret's father with the help of some local goons. The goons inform Baltrice that Tezz's father hasn't seen him in ten or more years, and Baltrice is starting to believe that. Baltrice gets really angry at the goons because they tortured Tezz's dad too much and almost destroyed all his fingertips. She gives him some alcohol to drink while the goons fetch some healing. We are told that because of the Conflux, there's still a general ongoing war in Alara, so Esper was full of combat mages, of which Baltrice had eight set up in a double-diamond to ambush Tezz. Baltrice walks around for a bit, but gets the feeling something is horribly amiss. She pulls out her Jacequin, which is a small doll that looks like Jace and allows her to communicate with him (coming soon to a store near you :p) and describes the situation to him. Jace decides that Tezz must be coming for his dad, and that he will use his mind magic to get all the information they can from the old man. Jace then teleports there (presumably he can teleport near where the Jacequin is).
Baltrice ruminates on how benevolent and beneficent Jace is. After what Lilianna did to Baltrice, she was lost in the Blind Eternities, and crawled to Ravnica through blind instinct. Jace found her, and although he had every reason to hate her, he put her back together and helped her get past the nightmares of all the spirits and shades that Vess had used against her. Baltrice owes her life to Jace and vows to spend the rest of her life repaying him.
Jace surveys the situation and assures Baltrice that Tezz HAS to be there because he knows how Tezz thinks from reading his mind. Baltrice argues that Tezz knows that Jace knows how he thinks so he can adapt. They try to figure out who resurrected Tezz. Jace scans Tezz's dad's mind, and realizes something is wrong; he's not altogether there. They put up some magical shields and rush into the house, but the old man already was prepared with two miniature handbows which he uses to quickly explode a goon. The old man then throws a spear at Jace which Baltrice burns, but it burns to reveal a little metal gizmo that sprouts limbs and easily penetrates Jace's magic shields. Jace starts screaming maniacally, and the old man reveals himself as Tezzeret. He tells Baltrice to stand down if she wants to save Jace's life.
(The Metal Island - Present)
Back on the Metal Island, Bolas is done reading Baltrice's memories. Bolas and Tezz trade some more insults and Tezz reveals that what he has done to Jace is basically a mechanical version of the Doctor Jest that Bolas did to him. Tezz asks if Bolas is expecting someone, and Bolas is puzzled to find nobody arriving. Tezzeret continues to taunt Bolas, and Bolas claims he will keep Tezz alive for thousands of years begging for death. Bolas greedily eyes Jace and decides to memory siphon Jace. As he starts, Tezzeret almost fails to keep a straight face.
(Esper - Past)
Jace wakes up coughing and is told to do no magic. A voice he hears in nightmares (Tezz) tells his that it will make things worse. Jace screams in agony.
Jace realizes how bad the situation is, and tries to tell Baltrice to get away while she can. Baltrice refuses to leave Jace, and he realizes that she can't because of the spell he cast on her. But since he can't do magic at present, he can't undo the spell! Tezz tells Jace that he used the same kind of trick that Jace and Rhoka did by appearing as his own father. Tezz then uses some small necromancy to kill a goon and regenerate his hand that was beaten up from the torture. Jace desperately tries to think of a way to extricate Baltrice from the situation and asks Tezz why he doesn't just kill him. Tezz explains that Jace would be useless dead, and then apologizes to Baltrice for how he mistreated her in Agents of Artifice, which surprises her. Tezz expresses that he is not that man that did those actions; he is a new man.
Tezz explains the mechanical workings of his etherium device in Jace to them, and explains how any attempts at magic or healing will hasten his death. Tezz then claims that he will let Jace live once Tezz has finished doing a fiendish task, for which he needs Baltrice's help. Jace tells Baltrice she should do what she thinks is best for herself, not for him, but of course, Baltrice chooses to help him as Tezz smugly looks on (it is implied that Tezz is aware of Jace's spell on Baltrice and basically uses him as a ransom to force Baltrice to help him). Tezz tells them that his task is to find Crucius, but his ultimate main goal is to KILL Nicol Bolas, which makes Baltrice think he's crazy. Tezz leaves Jace to watch over his father.
(The Metal Island - Present)
We are back on the Metal Island as Bolas finishes reading Jace's mind. Tezz admits to him that whoever he is now is largely the result of Bolas's own talents (or lack thereof) as a designer of human intellect, and that when Bolas restored Tezz's consciousness and functionality, he made certain alterations that might have ramifications he did not envision. Tezz talks about how poorly humans are designed, and how he could easily design devices that could do everything a human could do to demonstrate how smart he is to Bolas, who is unimpressed. Tezz expresses how predictable Bolas is, and tells him he knows Bolas is waiting for an Interplanar Gate to open on the Metal Island. Tezz tells Bolas that he is aware that Bolas knows this because Bolas has learned some Clockworking and that Bolas can see the future a few minutes out. Tezz reiterates to Bolas that he WILL kill him, and that he won't like how this ends. In the morning, Bolas will be decomposing on the beach. Bolas doesn't believe him but Tezz asks him to look at the futures and to see in how many Tezz is dead and how many Bolas is alive. As Bolas does this, he is stunned.
Tezz controls the Metal Sphinx to hit Bolas, and reveals that on this Metal Island/World he is the most powerful being and he could have killed Bolas at any time. Tezz tells Bolas that he lacks manners, a quality Tezz appreciates. Now Tezz and Bolas discuss the visitor that Bolas was expecting earlier. Tezz admits that each time Bolas though somebody was arriving, he moved the entrance back further, until he had first proven his dominance to Bolas. Tezz then explains that before Bolas even arrived he had narrowed down the newcomer to four candidates, three of which were Silas Renn (who Bolas has already killed before the prologue), Crucius the Mad Sphinx, and Tezzeret himself (which confuses Bolas).
Eventually a very old female etherium Sphinx appears. Tezzeret addresses her as Your Widsom and the Sphinx tells Tezz that she can feel that He is near, but her journey has robbed her of her sight, which Tezz uses etherium to restore. When she sees the statue of the Metal Sphinx she is overcome by emotion. Bolas asks if the Metal Sphinx is Crucius, to which Tezz replies that everything in this place is an expression of him.
(Esper - Past)
Now we are back in the past plotline with Tezz and Doctor Jest in the Seekers of Carmot sanctuary, covertly spying on Silas Renn (I believe he's originally from Tezz's online comic origin). Tezz calls him weak, but when Jest asks why Renn always defeated Tezz, Tezz corrects himself by saying Renn is weak in character, not in ability. During this time there are I guess random Dragon or other attacks from Jund that shake the area.
Shortly Sharuum, the Grand Hegemon of Esper arrives, and Renn goes to greet her. He is intercepted by Baltrice dressed up as a porter who beats him up and threatens to burn him unless he pretends she is an Arcane fellow and introduces her to Sharuum, which he does. Sangrite has been discovered in the mountains of Jund, so that is why Esper started a war. Tezz feeds Baltrice some lines to say to Sharuum through the magical earpieces they are using to communicate, and has her lead Sharuum to the Vault of the Codex where he is waiting.
They arrive at the Vault of the Codex where Tezz introduces himself to Sharuum, addressing her as Your Wisdom. Renn is stunned to see Tezz, having seen him die more than ten years ago. Sharuum (who talks in italics) mentions she has heard the legends of Tezzeret the Renegade, but he tells her he would prefer a different epithet, the Seeker,for unlike the fake Seekers of Carmot, his search is real. Sharuum is so powerful that she can hear Tezz and Jest communicating which nobody else can.
Tezz tells her that he knows that Etherium supplies are low due to the war with Jund and Grixis and asks for help finding Crucius. Sharuum doesn't believe Tezz, a mere human mage, can succeed where everybody else has failed, but Tezz reveals to her and Renn that he is a Planeswalker. Sharuum then tells them a couple of stories about Crucius and how he once told her that if he were to ever vanish one day a mage of only flesh (no etherium) would come looking for him. She then tells him "When one is made of glass, everything looks like a stone" and gives him another set of riddles that will lead to Crucius. Tezz realizes the riddle is directed at him specifically, and they ponder if Crucius saw this moment from the future or the past, etc. Sharuum tells Tezz that if he can find Crucius and give her one last moment with her beloved, she will give him EVERYTHING, her kingdom, subjects, power, etc. Tezz then claims to know just where to look.
(Esper - Past)
Tezzeret, Baltrice and Doctor Jest arrive at The Crystal Labyrinth in the Glass Dunes using etherium sleds that Sharuum provided. The Crystal Labyrinth is your typical Indiana Jones deathtrap with 12 stories of 100 rooms that can shift and move about in spatial dimensions as well as time (like in Hypercube). Nobody has ever reached the center, where the Sphinx Kemuel the Hidden One resides, and returned. Tezz believes reaching the center will lead him to Crucius. Unfortunately, blocking their way is over 9000 zombies (actually like a million or so).
Tezz asks Baltrice for her opinion on something, which surprises them both because Tezz remembers being disdainful of her intellect. They theorize that a very powerful group of necromancers (because how could just one summon this many zombies) is trying to "brute force" their way to solving the Labyrinth by just using the zombies as sacrificial lambs to test out all the possible routes. Tezz dishearteningly realizes that only the only other individual who would possibly know where they went is Silas Renn. Silas Renn, as it turns out, is an exceedingly powerful clockworker.
Tezz explains to Baltrice that a clockworker treats time like a spatial dimension; he/she can easily jump back and forwards in time like mages teleport room to room. He is also powerful enough to control the personal temporal flow of people, slowing or speeding up time (making you die by growing old really fast). Tezz also illustrates the concept of moving sideways in time, which admittely he doesn't fully comprehend. Comparing time to a braided rope he says that every time you make a choice you split off a new temporal strand, some of which will return back to the main line and some of which will go to different ones (basically infinite alternate timelines - although only the more "local" ones close to your main thread are accessible to you). The master clockworker can choose which of these timelines he or she likes, and take him or herself along with you to that timeline, basically choosing the outcome of any encounter. The only limits to clockworking are the power of the adept and rules of probability - the more improbable an event is, the more power it requires to know about and access the alternate timeline where that event occurs. Tezz concludes that the only real defense against a good clockworker is another one.
If Silas has been there already and is waiting for them, Tezz realizes they have absolutely no chance to defeat him. After they argue for a bit he tells Baltrice he has a plan.
(The Metal Island - Present)
Back on the Metal Island Bolas asks Tezz if he realizes how preposterously self-centered his whole theory of reality is. Sharuum has finished communing with the Metal Sphinx statue or whatever she did, and as promised gives everything she has to Tezz to do as he wishes. For now Tezz tells Sharuum he must send her back and that he wants her to rule Esper as she always has. Tezz says he would be pleased for Sharuum to call him friend. Tezz undoes the etherium that allowed Sharuum to see better (for you cannot take any etherium from this Metal Island with you) and uses the etherium portal to bring her back to Esper.
Bolas antagonizes Tezz for a bit, and asks him if he wants to see a trick. Tezz responds by creating an impenetrable etherium prison that surrounds Bolas. Bolas shrugs, tells him it's a very good trick, and then vanishes completely. Bolas's restraining web releases Baltrice and Jace, and Baltrice asks Tezz what the heck is going on. Tezz tells her to get ready to fight.
Jace is still groggy so Baltrice protects his as Tezz suits up in etherium armor. Nicol Bolas reappears and Tezz immediately makes him explode, dragon parts flying all over the island. Holy crap Baltrice exclaims as she can't believe Tezz has killed Bolas. But suddenly Bolas reappears and attacks again. Tezz forces Bolas into molten etherium, killing him. Two more Bolases appear and attack Tezz, as Jace tells Baltrice that these aren't really Bolas, they don't have minds. Tezz defeats the two Bolases but four more appear. Jace suddenly realizes the Bolases aren't fake and they aren't illusions. They are ZOMBIES. They use some magic and find Lilianna Vess is controlling the zombie Bolases. She staggers out from her hiding spot and apologizes to Jace. Baltrice instantly fries her, and her charred bones skid across the island.
Another Vess pops up behind them though, and blasts them with black goo. Jace is like wtf and turns around and sees tons of Vesses, who tell him to give up because there will be as many of her as they need. The real Bolas finally appears right behind Baltrice and Jace and snags them up with his draconic arms. He immediately renders Baltrice unconscious but while he does this Jace mind-scans him to try to find a way out. What he sees in Bolas's mind stuns him but before he can do anything else some blue magic hits him and Jace's mind is gone entirely.
Bolas doesn't know who mind-killed Jace, and all his clockworking is beginning to confuse him. He commands all eight of his Lilianas (who reply "Yes, Great and Mighty Bolas") to get up to the front lines and help the other Lilianas defeat but not kill Tezzeret, before tucking away Jace and Baltrice's bodies in a nearby timeline. There's a little aside about how before the Mending Bolas was functionally omnipotent in command of both time and space, and that clockworking was just a different approach to almost the same thing and was quite easy for a being of his power. If Bolas could find a way, he would find a timeline where the Mending never happened and slide over to it, although he suspects the possibility that none of those timelines exist at all.
As Bolas begins to concentrate on his clockworking, he ruminates that he should have just killed Crucius a thousand years ago. He is distracted as he sees another dead Vess fly past him and realizes that in the nearby alternate timelines there are only a couple of dead Bolas corpses lying on the Metal Island left to zombify. Bolas gets very upset because it seems his mind is dwindling and he doesn't have the concentration he used to. Bolas divides his mind into subminds to handle all the fighting (and try to keep one Liliana alive, because she was valuable and amusing). Using his knowledge of the future, he is able to turn part of Tezz's own armor into an etherium blade that slices through his heart and spine. As Tezz falls forwards and dies, Bolas puts him in suspended animation, and then gloats at Tezz's body. He then suspends the last Liliana and hides her and Tezz in the same timeline he had put Jace and Baltrice's body. Bolas now has 5 Planeswalker lackeys and an etherium supply. Bolas can't believe he has won so easily.
Then Bolas thinks about a bunch of other strange time-travel things, but basically he eventually realizes he can't find any other copies of Tezzeret in alternate timelines, only the one he put in suspended animation. How could there only be ONE Tezzeret in all the timelines?? Bolas thinks something is really wrong and he retrieves Tezz's body and throws him in the ocean, while tagging and then casting Jace, Baltrice and Liliana randomly through the Blind Eternities. Bolas then forms a mind link with Tezz and once again pushes him way into Tezz's past.
(Esper - Past)
This chapter is mostly about Tezzeret and Baltrice's plan to get past the zombies and defeat Silas Renn so they can enter the Crystal Labyrinth. It allows Baltrice and Tezzeret to have some intimate conversation and character development.
Baltrice tells Tezz his plan is stupid as he fashions some etherium armor from their sleds. Tezz explains to her that Renn has been there for weeks, or months and will have planned for every contingency of attack. Any way they attack Renn, they will be defeated. Tezz must approach with not even the intent to attack him. Baltrice asks Tezz if he knows that Bolas changed him in some way when he brought him back, and Tezz says he does. Baltrice wonders if Tezz is bothered by the fact that he isn't the real Tezzeret anymore, to which he replies he is the real Tezz. Tezz turns it around on her and asks her if she realizes if she is different, and how she would react if somebody had cast a spell on her for her own good to make her happy. She responds angrily to that suggestion.
Tezz creates an etherium transit gate/teleporter to lead from where they are(safely at a distance from the Labyrinth) to the back of the zombie line. He warns Baltrice that his power is keeping it open, so it will only stay open for a few seconds, and if you are caught in it while it deactivates it will split you in half. Then Tezzeret walks through the transite gate.
(Alara - Past)
Tezzeret and Doctor Jest arrives on the edge of the zombie mass by the Crystal Labyrinth and transmits his prepared magic message that states that he is Tezzeret and he comes in peace. There is no response, so he moves forward burning through the mass of zombies to reach the Labyrinth entrance. As Tezz approaches the entrance, a pile of zombies forms in a circle and strangely combined into a big arch with a strange reality through the center, just like a transit gate. Through this strange portal he can see an exceptionally beautiful young woman with obsidian hair wearing a wrap of sheer silk - Liliana Vess (no mention of the chain veil as far as I can find). He begins to recall that she is a Planeswalker (Bolas has clouded his memories of her for some reason), and asks her what is going on. She tells him they need to talk, as Silas Renn will be back as soon as he finishes killing Baltrice.
When Tezz steps through the zombie portal he finds the light brighter and warmer than he's ever felt (he thinks they might be in Bant). Liliana takes the time to explain and justify her actions to Tezz from Agents of Artifice although Tezz seems to have no recollection of most of these events. Tezz cuts her off to ask why she is working for Bolas now and Vess responds that he was the only choice she had left. She tells him that Bolas is 'gating' in the zombies from Grixis in an attempt to solve the Labyrinth and that Bolas knows about all of Tezz's actions and conversations. She begs Tezz to help her stop Bolas from ever solving the Labyrinth. Vess reveals that Bolas is up to some nefarious plot which involves all his Planeswalker lackeys dying and destroying the universe (or at least Alara and possibly the Multiverse). Vess wants to first kill Silas Renn, but Tezz refuses, saying he needs Renn to solve the Labyrinth. Vess tries to seduce Tezz but he resists and tells her he doesn't need her. She gets angry and Tezz reaches out to attack her....
Suddenly Tezz is back staring at the zombie portal with an intense uneasy feeling.
Suddenly Tezz is back to BEFORE he created his etherium armor, but Renn is right behind him. Renn tells Tezz this is the part where he turns around and attacks, but Tezz declines to attack him. Tezz tries to reason with Renn while Renn lectures him about how Tezz has nothing to offer him because he has already tortured Tezz and Baltrice for several days in alternate timelines. Renn reveals that although he already knows 'everything' he wants to know how Tezz escaped when Renn had him trapped in a mana siphon and hypertemporal field. Renn starts to trap Tezz in the mana siphon again, and Tezz tells Renn he'll tell him when they meet again in twenty minutes. Tezz uses his last remaining will to try to Planeswalk, and Doctor Jest's power kicks in and dumps him back into the cave in Jund.
(Jund - Alara)
Tezz (who is naked again) and Doctor Jest are back in the Jund cave, where Tezz tries to figure out how to get out of the cave before Baltrice is killed by Renn in twenty minutes. Jest argues that they should just stay there, and get Bolas's helpe later, but Tezz refuses to let Baltrice die. He finds sangrite all over the cavern and discovers that blood empowers the sangrite. Tezz has no tools though, since he is naked, but he still has small sliver of etherium he hid in his body while he was a kid. He devises a device to directly inject powdered sangrite into his bloodstream, and Tezzeret becomes super-powered. He can literally see all of Alara, and instantly transports to the Glass Dunes where Renn is about to attack Baltrice.
(Esper - Alara)
Silas Renn, who has covered almost his entire body in etherium, has already blasted Baltrice off her sled by the time naked Tezz arrives in the sky. Tezz tries to make peace, but realizes that Renn feels he has no choice but to fight the man Tezz once was, in self defense. Renn shoots some kind of energy projectile from his handheld weapon, and superpower Tezz rips open reality to redirect the energy to hit Renn right in the crotch.
Renn and Tezz fight some more with Renn using a lot of clockworking and etherium powers like shooting slow-time fields at Tezz, which he avoids with his sangrite-infused superpowers. Tezz then fistfights Renn while Baltrice battles some etherium firedrakes that Renn had brought in. Unfortunately Renn, being mostly etherium, beats the holy crap out of Tezz because Tezz's sangrite-infusion has worn off. Any damage Tezz does to Renn's body is immediately healed by the etherium. Tezz has no mana left, but recalls that etherium can be manipulated without any mana. Using just his mind, he pulls out the etherium needle that he used to inject himself with sangrite and stabs Renn through the eye with it. Tezz activates his transit portal (from earlier that he hasn't gone through yet), and Renn thinks he is trying to escape, but it's actually a trap. Tezz uses the etherium sled to knock Renn into the transit portal, then shut down the portal power when Renn is only halfway through, cleaving Renn's body in half.
Tezz goes through the transit portal and fixes up Renn's head and upper body so he stays alive and then uses some etherium fiber optics to basically gain control of Renn's brain and nervous system and make him fall asleep. Tezz then finally enters the Crystal Labyrinth.
(Esper - Alara)
Tezz makes Renn's upper body a Telemin so he can use Renn's clockworking powers for himself, calling it a Rennoscope (ha ha). Baltrice thanks Tezz for saving her life but he politely requests she not do a victory fandango over Renn's defeated body. He then gives her an etherium ring as a promise that he will free Jace Beleren, even if he dies. The ring will lead to an identical ring that Tezz wears so that she can find him regardless of his condition and bringing the two rings together will reveal how to free Jace. He then gives Baltrice two finals gifts - a one-use navigator that will find somebody and a transit portal to Bant where she can go after Liliana Vess. Baltrice leaves to do just this.
Tezz sits at the entrance to the Labyrinth and uses his Rennoscope to watch himself solve the Labyrinth in the future and alternate timelines. As he does this he actually begins to ascertain the mathematical truth/purity of the Labyrinth and understand the impossibly perfect structure of the Labyrinth's etherium matrix. Some more complex stuff and references to the riddles Sharuum gave him, and he realizes he has no need to find he center of the Labyrinth. He is the center. And he was there. (this is tough to explain in a summary - much better explained in the novel)
(Riddle Gate - ? ? ?)
Kemuel the Sphinx greets Tezzeret as he arrives with "Welcome back, my old friend." Although Tezzeret has never seen a picture of Kemuel the Ancient (The Hidden One) he has somehow known him since the day Tezz was born (even since the day Kemuel was born). Tezz is once again naked and without any of his previous possessions standing on a strangely colorless grassy surface. Kemuel informs Tezz that on average he (The Seeker) reaches the Riddle Gate two or three out of every ten thousand parallel timeline lives.
Tezz asks Kemuel the Sphinx what to do next, but Kemuel tells him he doesn't know because this is the farthest any Seeker has ever gotten. The way back is closed, so if Tezz can't figure it out he will spend the rest of his life in the Riddle Gate. Sometimes the alternate Tezzeret's will take their own lives and sometimes they will viciously attack Kemuel, forcing him to kill them. Sometimes the Tezzerets will spend weeks or months conversing with Kemuel before they die - this is how Kemuel and Tezz have become friends.
Crucius apparently built the riddle gates around Kemuel, leaving him with the task of awaiting the Seeker. Etherium cannot enter or leave the riddle gates. Kemuel passes his days in learning, and can make the floor of the area show him anywhere and anytime in the Multiverse. Tezz realizes that Doctor Jest is gone, and starts to miss him. Kemuel tells him that Mercy is the greatest virtue, which meanings nothing to Tezz yet. Kemuel implies to Tezz that Doc hasn't parted from him; precisely the opposite. Tezz wonders if Doc is just a separate part of his subconscious or subordinate personality that Boals created/separated.
Tezz politely asks Kemuel for help, and to describe Kemuel's assigned task. Kemuel shows him a land made entirely of etherium - this is what awaits Tezz beyond the riddle gate. Tezz tries to Planeswalk to the etherium land, but is informed there is no power in the riddle gate besides etherium (the only etherium is Kemuel, leading a great many Tezzerets to attack him and die). After some more complex riddles, Tezz reaches enlightenment - even the IDEA of etherium can't pass through the Riddle Gate. Not even the dream of it, not even the hope of it. To pass through the Ridde Gate, Tezz must make etherium meaningless to himself, he must become a man who would have never come seeking the Riddle Gate or Crucius in the first place. (the daunting hopelessness of this is what causes most of the Tezzeret's to kill themselves).
After an unspecified amount of time in the Riddle Gate, Tezzeret becomes that man. He bids farewell to Kemuel and gives him instructions to pass along to his mother Sharuum, then steps forth into the Metal Island. And then Tezzeret has already let himself out of his tomb, and by the way, he's right behind you.
(The Metal Island - Present)
Bolas spins around to confront Tezzeret, mad and surprised that Tezz has been messing around with him like this. Tezz sits calmly by the Metal Sphinx. Bolas reaches back for magic that can destroy entire worlds, but nothing happens. He tries again but nothing happens, Tezz asks him if he knows why not. Tezz rhetorically asks Bolas what Tezz's specialty is, what his talent is. It's preparation. Tezz reveals that he had killed all those other dead Bolas's that were on corpses on the Metal Island in the other timelines, and that the device he put in Jace's head transferred to Bolas's brain when Bolas used his mind siphon on Jace. Tezz knew Bolas would read Jace's mind somehow, someday. The device, now in Bolas's head merely shuts down his desire to kill Tezz or any other planeswalkers. Bolas tries to clockwork, but finds he can't because Tezz has taken away his ability to clockwork (due to it's potential to rend the very fabric of the Multiverse). Tezz has also given Bolas back Doctor Jest, in Bolas's own head.
As Bolas sits around embarrassed and powerless, Tezz reveals that HE had cast the mind-wipe on Jace, to prevent Bolas from learning of this plot or the device in his head (which Jace had seen). Tezz goes to retrieve Jace, Liliana and Baltrice from the Blind Eternities, and awakens them from their suspended states. They are understandably confused and Tezz tells them that he has a gift for each of them, and then they can all leave. Jace still wants to fight Tezz, but Baltrice stops him. The gift he gives the (alternate timeline? It's not clear) Liliana Vess is freedom from Bolas's contract. Vess tells Jace it's been real, insults Baltrice and leaves the plane. Baltrice just wants Tezz to take the device out of Jace's head, which Tezz has already done. The gift he gives Baltrice is an etherium and sangrite necklace which will render her invulnerable to all forms of 'mental domination'. Jace realizes what will happen if she puts it on and begs her not to. Tezz coldy tells Baltrice to put on the necklace and she will understand why she trusts Jace so much, while Jace tells her it's a trick. Jace admits that he had to erase the memory of the ghost/spirits/shades that Vess hit Baltrice with, because the memory was killing her, which upsets Baltrice. It's implied Jace could have done more to her memories or have some sort of more directly mind control spell on her but not explicitly stated here. Baltrice is bewildered and confused and doesn't know who to believe as she sobs and stumbles away.
The gift that Tezz gives Jace is fear. Fear of Baltrice finding out the truth, fear of Tezzeret, fear of Nicol Bolas. Bolas reappears and scares the crap out of Jace, but Tezz tells him that Bolas and Tezz now have a "partnership". Jace runs away and presumably leaves the plane. Afterwards, Tezz lectures Bolas a bit about respect, trust, humility and mercy. Bolas asks about Crucius and gets a confusing answers because Crucius is/was/may/will be a clockworker. Crucius thought he had an answer to existence, the Multiverse and his place in it. The Metal Island is what he became after he found out he was wrong. So he set out to design and create somebody (like Tezzeret) who can find the Metal Island, understand it, and realize the real Search has just started. Then Tezz reveals to Bolas that he IS the Carmot, and that Tezz can create etherium with (from?) his body using sangrite (its not clear if he can do this only on the Island or anywhere). Bolas is very pleased, for this is the very reason he wanted to find Crucius in the place - an infinite supply of etherium. Now he just has to find a way out of Tezz's mind device...
Tezz tells him that he'll check back in a couple days because Bolas can't leave the plane until he discards his desire for etherium. Bolas demands that Tezz help him escape. Tezz says he can't because away from the Metal Island his powers are as limited as ever and Bolas would surely capture and imprison Tezz. Then he leaves Bolas trapped on the Island.
(The Metal Island - Present)
As Bolas settles into the etherium sand, a rip in the fabric of the universe signals the arrival of a new planeswalking dragon. Eventually it dawns on Bolas that this dragon is the true Nicol Bolas. The real Bolas congratulates the other Bolas, telling him that now they have Tezz working willingly for them. The true Bolas explains that the other is merely a construct/simulacrum with only a lifespan of a couple of days, after which they start to break apart. This explain why the construct Bolas was losing his ability to concentrate during the novel. Bolas also tells the construct it IS pretty dumb, because the real Bolas would have never fallen for Tezz's trap. The construct will die in a few hours upon the beach, so Bolas will have to create another if he wants Tezz to find a Bolas still here. Bolas tells the construct that he did not reach his advanced age by doing his dirty work in person, to which the construct Bolas replies aren't you doing it right now? The simulacrum Bolas surmises that "none of us is as smart as we think we are".
The Blind Eternities - He Who Laughs Last
(Blind Eternities - Present)
Tezzeret severs his mental link with the construct Bolas and considers how successful the operation was. The Real Bolas thought Tezz too dim to detect the fake Bolas ruse, which would buy Tezz several days head start to run away. He considers actually returning to the Metal Island but decides against it, and then decides that he will go to Ravnica to hide out and prepare for their next encounter, which Tezz plans to find a way to win. On Ravnica he could look in on Baltrice and make sure Jace was sufficiently terrorized.
Unfortunately for Tezz, the voice of Doctor Jest reappears, telling him that they need to make a stop along the way. Tezz is flabbergasted as he thinks Doc is dead or gone. Doc tells him that Bolas has an errand for them on Mirrodin. All the places Bolas has been and all things he's seen and Tezz didn't think Bolas would detect his mental link to the fake constuct Bolas? Tezz begs Doc to kill him in vain. As the novel concludes, Tezz vows that one day he will get the last laugh on Nicol Bolas. The End
Oh yeah I actually didn't include the prologue because I thought most here had read it already but I'll add it in later for those who haven't.
Yeah it seems a lot of people want a chance to read this interesting novel so I'll post a really light spoiler summary and then more info later if you want it or have any specific questions.
Test of Metal is a novel primarily about the intellectual, emotional and spiritual
growth of Tezzeret the Seeker as he attempts to teach Nicol Bolas a lesson in
humility. The novel is told in a present third person viewpoint as Tezzeret
is on the Etherium island, and Bolas comes to visit him (as detailed in the sample
prologue).
At various points, Bolas uses his mind-reading abilities to read the
memories of Tezz, as well as others. The novel then switches to a first person
narration for these flashback scenes which detail what happens after Tezz wakes
up from Bola's resurrection (as shown in the sample 1st chapter).
This does a great deal to help humanize Tezz and help us identify with him as our protagonist.
Bolas has sent Tezz on a quest to find Crucius so that Bolas can gain access to a supply
of Etherium. Bolas has also placed a failsafe mental agent, Doctor Jest, in Tezz's
head that basically can control all his brain functions, cause him immense pain,
etc. in order to make sure he is under control.
A good portion of the novel takes place on Alara (in Esper) as Tezz tries to track down
where (when and what) Crucius the Mad Sphinx may have disappeared to. Various other local and extraplanar
agents try to stop Tezz, and he must use his naked wits to outsmart them. Eventually
he meets up with Sharuum the Hegemon who helps guide him to where he can find some
answers.
While those past flashbacks are going on, there's also the present story arc with
Bolas and Tezzeret on the Ethierum island, where Bolas and Tezz wage a desperate
struggle for supremacy with a series of twists and turns that would make Shymalan proud.
Introduced in this novel is also the concept of "Clockworking" whereby a powerful mage
can basically time travel. They can travel backwards and forwards through time, but
thats NOT ALL folks, in the spirit of infinite quantum states, they can also see every
quantum possibility that exists in alternate universes (for example, in an alternate universe
perhaps Liliana is working for Bolas, or perhaps Jace is dead or Bolas never rebuilt Tezz).
They can see which alternate universes/outcomes they like, and actually TRAVEL to those alternate
universes as well as take others with them. They can also take persons or objects OUT of those
alternate "threads" into their original universe. It takes a great deal of power and concentration to
be able to master clockworking, but it is implied that those who master it are almost invincible, as
long as they have prep time (like Batman). Crucius was/is/might/may/will be a clockworker.
So if you want to check out a novel with Tezz naked multiple times with lots of comedy
from Tezz and Nicol Bolas, you'll surely want to check out Test of Metal
I hope that provided you a good plot outline without spoiling too much. I'll post something in a couple hours for people that want more spoilers. And let me know if you have any specific questions. Hopefully people who don't want to be spoiled can avoid those posts.
Oh, and a final teaser on who appears in the book:
...
...
As is Baltrice!
Hm, what have other people thought of it so far? I'm pretty curious. I feel like some people might be upset by the whole "clockworking" thing.
Hey before you guys get too deep into this debate I just want to say that Test of Metal does address this some more.
The book also addresses Carmot and the creation of Etherium (as well as the true nature and power of Etherium) in a good amount more detail so you should pick it up if you are really interested in Etherium.
If you have to know a bit more
1. There IS no such thing as Carmot
2. Tezzeret IS the Carmot
It's likely that Bolas just uses his magical omnipotence offscreen to learn about it.
Test of Metal doesn't mention this (Or Mirrodin) at all - just that Bolas has a task for Tezzeret in Mirrodin, which he goes to in a fairly unwilling fashion at the very end. I suspect we won't learn anything more about this until the Mirrodin novel comes out, if ever.
Yeah sure, I think it's the same pic we've had for a little while. Just shows Tezz presumably in the Etherium island.
EDIT: Wow, I just noticed WotC has all the decklists and unlocks up at this page:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/DuelsOfThePlaneswalkers.aspx?x=mtg/digital/dotp/decks/and/unlocks
A few notes:
Is anybody else having extreme amounts of difficulty winning as Jace? I just went through the campaign as various decks (mostly the Chandra one) on the hardest difficulty, and it wasn't too bad, but after you beat the campaign it says it gets harder or something, and now when I try to beat anybody with Jace, it's almost impossible. I literally spent 3 hours going 1-6 with Jace on the easiest difficulty :rolleyes:. Has anybody else experienced this?? The AI seems to have 2 bombs in their opening hands every game now.
Don't know if this was covered elsewhere, but so far for Ajani's deck I have unlocked:
4 of the life charms
Pariah
Wooly Thoctar
Sigil Blessing
Bull Cerodon
Sangrite Surge
Brion Stoutarm
Also, for the people who were wondering earlier about Tezzeret's decklist, we can probably compile it from playing it a bunch of times, which would be cool to see it's design. Basically it's an entirely artifact deck besides the basic lands with insane synergy that you have to just get lucky to beat.
Here's what I recall from it so far:
3+ Tidehollow Strix
3+ Glaze Fiend
1+ Onyx Goblet
1+ Fountain of Youth
1+ Master of Etherium
1+ Razormane Masticore
1+ Howling Mine
2+ Wall of Spears
2+ Bottle Gnomes
1+ Terror
1+ Cancel
That's all I've ever seen him play so I think that the Tezzeret deck is just really consistent, and has no useless 1-drops.
I found it really surprising and quite frankly very disappointing that there wasn't really anything on Tezzeret and his fate. I mean, they focused on it in the web comics and AoA and all that, and then don't do anything with him? Maybe they decided Bolas with Tezz and Sarkhan would be too powerful, but still...
I thought the use of Progenitus was pretty interesting, and it was nice that they got a ton of the minor characters into the novel like Gwafa, Mayael, Karrthus, and Kresh (really surprised he made it in).
Caranthir, the ending part with Bolas is written exactly as you described ..
Overall, I agree with whoever said it felt the story was really rushed, and was trying to tell like 4 or 5 distinct stories in a very X-men style way and didn't really have enough time to focus on more than 1, although it was still fairly enjoyable.
Have you considered Scuzzback Marauders? It's pretty big and survives a wrath, which is nice.
Also, Drumhunter doesn't have trample, but if you get it going it's pretty insane in this kind of deck.
If you are in a heavy nonbasic environment, Skyshroud War Beast might be really good too, although you have to attack the person you targeted with it last.
Oh yeah almost forgot Hidden Guerrillas can be decent too in a an artifact-heavy environment