by
Richard S. Tuttle
Amica Saga series
A thousand years ago in a land named Amica, an
extraordinary event occurred. A new star appeared in the night sky, and its
brilliance grew and grew until it was visible in the daylight. In the center of
Amica lay a land inhabited solely by magicians, and the new star created a
frenzy of excitement among those scholars. Hundreds of mages left their homeland
and spread out across the continent to observe the phenomenon from different
vantage points. Eventually, they concluded that the object was on a collision
course with their world, and they joined forces in an attempt to destroy or
deflect it. When it was finally understood that those efforts would fail, they
combined their most powerful magics to create the greatest shield to ever exist.
It was not enough to protect Amica.
The devastating missile struck squarely in the center of
Amica, just to the east of the great mage city, Taragor, throwing rocks and
debris hundreds of leagues into the sky. That debris plummeted down on Taragor
and the countryside around it. In an instant, thousands of powerful mages
vanished, their homeland buried under tons of rock and dirt.
Hundreds of mages did survive, however. Those magicians who
had left Taragor for other areas of the continent lived on, but they were now
forced to live among the mundane peoples of Amica, and those ungifted people
blamed the catastrophe on the magicians. Calling it an act of evil magic, the
people tried to force the magicians to leave their homelands. The homeless
magicians quickly learned to use their powerful skills to subdue the peoples
opposing them. Eventually, the mages took over the areas where they now lived.
Using their magical powers, the mages created new countries and set themselves
up as kings, demanding the peasants' loyalties under the penalty of death. Greed
and lust for power grew within the mages' hearts and soon they began to wage
wars with each other. Thus began the Great Mage Wars of Amica.
For hundreds of years, the wars wracked the continent,
destroying the countryside and decimating the population. The strife was not
continual, but respites were few and short. For the populations living under the
mage lords, it was a life of slavery followed by a gory death.
Eventually, a soldier in one of the smaller kingdoms was
compelled to act, refusing to be an unnamed pawn in a destructive game between
powerful magicians. His actions would change the course of history. His name was
Terrus, but he would be called the Liberator by thousands. With the help of a
magical artifact, the Sword of Articus, Terrus defeated the mage lords and
banished them to the Island of Lantana. He
organized their Supreme Council and convinced them to return to their peaceful
studies of magic, but he also warned them that they must never again seek to
rule over Amica. The mages vowed to obey the demands.
The magicians of Lantana returned to their scholarly
studies, but they did not remain in isolation. They needed supplies from the
mainland, but they were hesitant to allow outsiders to their island. Eventually,
they created mage ships to trade with the ungifted peoples of Amica. As that
trade grew, Lantanan ships became the dominant shipper in all of Amica, and
shipping warehouses and offices were built in every major port of the mainland.
This enterprise not only brought great wealth to Lantana, but also kept the
mages informed of what was happening in every area of the mainland. With such
knowledge and wealth, the temptation to ignore the age-old vows grew, but the
Supreme Council of Mages in Lantana was determined to avoid any dangerous
entanglements with Amica. It kept most information about the mainland among the
twelve members of the Council, but there were hundreds of mages on the mage
ships and on the mainland managing the shipping offices. The task of the Supreme
Council was a difficult one, yet their efforts had worked for centuries.
The peoples of Amica nurtured their devastated lands, and
the nations of the mainland flourished and grew in peace for hundreds of years.
Yet there are always those who desire more than the status quo, and rumblings of
conflict eventually began to grow. As the Amica Saga begins, some people in the
small nation of Kor began to rebel against an increasingly demanding king. For
the first time in centuries, black clouds of turmoil gathered over the small
nation occupying a corner of the continent. The Great Peace of Amica was
beginning to unravel. Thus begins the Amica Saga.
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Book 3 of Amica Saga
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Book 4 of Amica Saga |
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Thefts, assassinations and political
corruption rock the Amican Riviera as powerful rouge mages intent on
world denomination quietly work their blood magic. The authorities seem
incapable of stopping the crimes as the Avenging Shadow joined by old
friends and new allies leaps into the fray but will it be enough to stem
the rumblings of a resurgence of the ancient Mage Wars?
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Posing as a merchant's warrior, the Avenging Shadow sneaks into the Northlands to learn what the rogue mages have in store for Amica, but the enemy is waiting for him and seals the mountain pass that is his only path of escape. |
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Book 5 of Amica Saga
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Book 6 of Amica Saga
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A terrible war is coming to Amica. Rogue mage lords control the north where armies are massing for a spring offensive; new breeds of mage beasts are ready to destroy everything in their path, and vile blood magic controls the masses. Only the Avenging Shadow and his band of ragtag followers have seen the truth. With time for preparations running out, Marcus sets out to form an Amican Alliance amongst the twenty-nine countries south of the Northern Wall, but he has no proof to present to the skeptical and capricious kings. When he enlists the help of the few kings who know him and believe in him, the rogue mages begin a campaign of intimidation and assassination to derail the efforts of the Avenging Shadow. The only path left open to Marcus is to reveal his identity to convince the kings, but that move makes him a target as the rogue mages of Lantana learn of his true identity.
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Over four hundred years ago, Terrus the Liberator ended the Mage Wars by
banishing the mage lords to the island of Lantana. The world was at peace,
but that era of peace has ended. Alfor and his rogue mages have seized
control of the Northlands of Amica and are bringing about the return of
the mage lords. As the world rushes to war, the Amican Alliance is faced
with an ever-widening front in the north while Alfor tries to bring the
mages of Lantana into the war as his allies. If all of the mages unite
against Amica, the world is certainly doomed, but there is a single ray of
hope standing in the way of that destruction. The Avenging Shadow wields
the Sword of Articus, and he plans to take on Alfor and the mages, even if
he must do so alone.
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Book 7 of Amica Saga
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Book 8 of Amica Saga
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As the battle lines are drawn, an awesome weapon is forged in the north, an army that will destroy the Alliance before the war has even begun. Join Marcus and his allies as they race to prepare for war. In this penultimate volume of the Amica Saga, they must face Alfor's plots and the fearsome machinations of his nefarious rogue mage infiltrators, but the true danger lies in the coming Blood Army.
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Vastly
outnumbered, the tiny armies of the Amican Alliance brace for the coming
onslaught that will destroy their world. As everyone teeters on the edge
of doom, the Avenging Shadow bets everything on an unorthodox strategy
to turn Alfor's strengths against him.
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