“Year 1, Summer - BWM3 vs FOE3 round 2:

Bollite Dungfoot's head hung on the wall of the Tainted Jester's penthouse suite. Its tongue was dangling loose between its front teeth, and its eyes were half closed. Lyndon, the Archivists’ founder and head coach, had hired the skill of a taxidermist to transform the corpse of the nurgling into something vaguely resembling a hunting trophy. It had costed him more than a few coins to convince the animal stuffer to work on the nurgling’s infectious corpse. But in the end the gold had spoken, and he’d finally agreed to do the job. Lyndon was staring with satisfaction at his prize from the heavy wooden chair he’d commanded to be moved from the Monocle, the Archivist’s ship, anchored in the harbor. The scene temporarily allowed him some distraction, as his mind had been occupied over the past few days with finding a clue on the disappearance of Amanar, Lothern’s sea dragon.

At that moment Maelwyn Waverider, the Archivists’ captain, entered the luxurious top room. “We’re ready for the game, sir”, he addressed his coach in military style as his faced twisted in disgust upon witnessing the horrible trophy. Lyndon abandoned his pensive thinking and turned his attention to other, more urgent matters at hand. “Very well”, he replied curtly. “Off to the stadium then”, he continued as he picked up his heavy coat. “And make sure my chair gets there as well before I do”, he concluded while walking out the door. After his coach had left, Maelwyn recomposed himself and quickly ordered in half a dozen menservants who had the unlucky duty of making sure the heavy wooden chair would reach the stadium at the other side of town. “And make sure it gets there before I do”, he commanded the lowly humans before turning his back to them and heading down the stairs, more than happy to leave the room.

Later that evening Lyndon quietly observed his team taking position on the field. Seated on his massive throne-like chair at the sidelines he had an excellent view on the pitch. The Archivists faced the 5th God Raiders, a rabble bunch lead by a monstrous rat ogre. At kick-off, the fans who had been arguing the color of the Archivists’ shirt – was it bluish green or greenish blue? – decided to have a closer look and invaded the pitch, causing a riot. Before the referee got things back under control one playing turn had vanished. After this unexpected warm-up, both teams got closely involved in a serious scrimmage. The Archivists experienced a new tactic previously unknown to them, that of fouling. Two sea elves left the pitch early on due to a well-aimed boot, although their armor prevented worse. Lyndon cursed under his breath as he saw the Archivists’ numbers dwindling. His players faced increasing difficulties covering all sides of the pitch until eventually the Raiders pushed through. With an extreme effort Ethandril Silverdrop tried taking down the ball-carrier, but he slipped on a banana peel left on the playing field by one of the fans during the opening riot. The snaked GFI offered a clean scoring path for the Raiders: 1-0 in turn 8. This nearly caused another riot, but this time the referee kept the audience under control. Nevertheless, a sneaky fan of the Raiders managed to launch a rock at the Archivists, hitting Feldor Deepdiver.

The second half started with the sea elves receiving. The plan was as simple as it was ambitious. Score the equalizer as quickly as possible, then steal the ball and seal the win. Easier done than said though, especially when each player is carrying around fifteen kilos of solid armor on his back. The Archivists attacked on the left flank and opted to mark as many opposing Raiders as possible. This tactic seemed to work, as eventually it allowed Ethandril to push through and score the equalizer in turn four of the second half. The last drive was characterized by yet another scrimmage. At some point Maelwyn, the sea elf captain, managed to dislodge the ball. Already Ethandril sprinted forwards into scoring position. But the ball had not even been secured! A rookie mistake from the veteran catcher. Seated on his throne, Lyndon shook his head disapprovingly. “Perhaps I need some assistance for this job”, he said to no one particular. “Someone who can finetune our battle plan, when I'm busy with more serious matters”, he continued his pondering. By then his thoughts had already left the pitch, where Maelwyn got overwhelmed by a handful of Raiders. He was knocked down as he witnessed a Renegade pick up the ball and score the winning touchdown: 2-1 for the Raiders.

First loss of the season for the Amanar’s Archivists!
”