The broadcast begins with
the playing of the 2019 Mundus Games fanfare.During the fanfare, scenes from all across the nation are shown on-screen. First, the snowy mountains of Lilleston, followed by the rolling hills and fields of New Tarogga, the sunny beaches and coastline of Ardem and Veena, and finally, the three central cities. The historical sights of New Kaunderstein, the futuristic skyscrapers of Erejen, and finally, the sprawling capital, Metria City, the host city of the 2019 Mundus Games. After the final note plays, the screen fades to the DWBS Newsroom, where nationally famous news presenter, Mikhail Ferris, is sitting.
“Welcome to the DWBS Broadcast of the 2019 Mundus Games Opening Ceremony, live from Metria City. Very soon, we’ll be crossing over to Derusmia Stadium, where our live correspondents are waiting. This will be the very first time New Derusmia will be hosting an international sporting event, and hopefully not the last. This year’s Mundus Games is set to be one of the biggest events in New Derusmia’s history.”
There was a slight pause, then Mikhail continued.
“We are now ready to cross over to Derusmia Stadium. Farewell, and enjoy the Opening Ceremony.”
The scene cuts to the packed stadium, where standing in the centre of the stadium is an orchestra, ready to play. The announcer’s voice echoes throughout the stadium.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to the National Orchestra, playing their rendition of the
the New Derusmian National Anthem, followed by the playing of the
the Mundus Games Anthem. We ask that you please stand whilst the anthem and hymn is playing and the flags are being raised.”
During the national anthem, a large flag is slowly marched into the stadium by countless decorated military personnel, some elderly and some still young. The flag is put on a high pole and raised slowly. As the final note plays, the flag is finally at the top, and cheering erupts the stadium. The same happens for the Mundus Games anthem, except the Mundus Games flag is carried in by historical famous athletes from the region. At the final note, the flag is raised, cheering erupts once more and the orchestra take their final bows and exit the stadium.
“And now, a special performance; the history of New Derusmia, presented by the Capital Arts Academy!”
The lights are dimmed and peaceful tribal music is echoed throughout the stadium. The sound of the stomping of hooves of horses is heard, getting closer with every second. All of a sudden, the lights begin shining in the colours of bright and dark blue, and a dozen white horses come moving gracefully into the center of the stadium and begin moving into a beautifully choreographed circular pattern. The men and women riding wear white and blue garb that flow freely, as if trailing the riders, resembling the garb of the ancient Novæna. The peaceful music all of a sudden escalates into a furious war chant, and the lights change to a bright yellow and burning crimson as a dozen more black horses race furiously into the stadium, almost frightening a few people. The men on the black horses are dressed in a recreation of ancient war armour worn by the Rüs. The black horses begin to race around frantically, in contrast to the gracefully circling white horses.
“This is the first segment of the performance, tribal history. The Novæna is represented by the white horses, and the Rüs are represented by the black.
Immediately after saying this, the sounds of battle erupt in the stadium, the strobe lights turned on, and smoke machines activated, creating a sense of panic, distress, and chaos. At this moment, the circular pattern was broken, and the white and black horses began running around frantically in unpredictable directions.
“What you are witnessing is the great battle between the Novæna and Rüs. Casualties run high as the Novæna attempt to defend their faith and lands as the Rüs barbarically attack.”
Eventually, the lights die down for a while, the stomping of horses ceases, and the rustling of stage crew below can be heard. When the lights come back on and the smoke rises, there is a new scene in the center of the arena. A single spot light shines upon a large, beautifully decorated platform with a throne on top is in the center of the stadium, surrounded by a singular armoured soldier on board a brown horse. On the throne is an elderly, white haired man, dressed in colourful royal garb.
“Following the great battle between the Rüs and Novæna, we now enter an age of great prosperity and peace. Welcome to the Derusmian Empire, where our second segment begins; medieval history.”
The historical national anthem of the Derusmian Empire begins to play, and as the song progresses, more brown horses start to enter from all sides of the arena, each with a soldier wearing a unique set of armour.”
“As you can see, as the song goes on, more knights and horses begin to join the circle around the throne. This is to represent the rapid growth of the empire, and the original fourteen regions of the empire.
At the climax of the song, a hundred or so soldiers in armour enter the stadium from all sides, marching and chanting in sync to the music, using their swords and shields as part of the performance. Just as the last note is played, the men arrange themselves into the shape of the iconic four pointed star, and give their last “Hoorah!”.
The strobe lights begin flashing and the smoke machines begin to start up again. The music begins to change from a medieval tune to a modern military march. Once again, when the lights stop strobing and the smoke rises, the suits of armour are gone, replaced with 1960s military gear. The 14 horses have been replaced with armoured vehicles. Instead of swords, the soldiers have guns, and the throne room now resembles a majestic white office, one used by Presidents during the 60s. The white bearded man is no longer wearing royal garb, but an expensive suit. His facial hair has changed, and the bushy white beard has been replaced with a neat, clean stubble.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, modern history.”
The men continue to march around in perfect synchronisation in the pattern of the four pointed star in a sort of trance, but after a minute into the performance, something isn’t quite right. Some soldiers begin to march quicker than others, some slower. Some begin to move out of line, and some are completely staying still. The man on the platform stands up and begins to shout commands at the below, but they do not respond. Like a disease spreading, more and more soldiers begin to fall out of line, and eventually, only a few soldiers are left marching properly.
“This specific section of history here is during the Leoch Dictatorship. The archaic behaviour of the soldiers in this scene represents the anarchy and the state of the nation at this point in history.”
After the announcer said this, there was shouting from amongst the soldiers below, surprising most of the audience. The music was changing from a military march to heavily tense music. The lights began to change to a furious red colour, intensifying the tension, as if a large fight was about to break out.
The shouting began to get louder as more and more people began to shout, however, this wasn’t any normal shouting. The soldier’s shouts were beginning to sound more in sync, more unified, as if a war chant. As if the shouting could get louder, gunfire echoed throughout the stadium as a large scale gunfight broke out. The strobe lights raged on and the smoke machines were turned a final time as the music intensified and the running around and gunfire of countless soldiers rang out throughout the area.
“And now we reach the end of the History of New Derusmia performance. Thank you for watching, and enjoy the rest of the ceremony.”
Cheering and clapping came over the audience as the fanfare began for the March of Athletes.
Led by none other than Achkarein, the proud athletes and their nation’s flags made their way around the track twice before taking their places in a circular pattern around the field. Once the final athlete takes their place, a new fanfare began to play as the torch relay was about to enter the arena. After a few seconds after the music had started, a sleek, modern, steel torch with blue highlights entered the stadium, lit brightly and carried in by Daniel Hussey, team captain of the New Derusmian National Rugby Team. He ascends onto the platform center of the stadium, where he simply puts the flame to the floor. Nothing happens for a while as, and the audience watches in shock as the torch lights a ring of fire that surrounds Hussey, who pays absolutely no attention to it. As the music climaxes, the portion of the platform on fire begins to rise into the sky slowly until it is five meters into the sky. Once the ring is brought to a halt, the music finally ends and fireworks are sent flying into the night sky, exploding into the colours of the Mundus Games flag. The applause of the audience is immense, and the announcer can barely be heard.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you, the President of New Derusmia, President Ebston Feish!”
Ebston came out the VIP box, grabbed a microphone, and made his way to the platform, underneath the ring of fire. He raised the microphone to his mouth, and began his speech.
“Welcome, everyone, to arguably humanity’s greatest congregation, where all the nations of the world come to unite in friendship and sportsmanship. I believe that games like these are necessary in a world where violence and threats between nations and country are so prevalent, and where most of humanity live in fear of war. The Mundus games, however, give each of us a chance to forget all of that for a while, no matter what nation you come from.”
Ebston pauses for a bit, and continued.
“Anyways, with that being said, it is an utmost honour to declare, as President of the people of New Derusmia, the 2019 Mundus Games open! Good luck to all!”
Cheering erupts all over the nation, from Derusmia Stadium to households and families all across New Derusmia.
After a panning shot of the stadium, the screen goes back to the DWBS Newsroom, where Mikhail is sitting.
“This concludes our broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Mundus Games 2019 Opening Ceremony. To continue viewing the opening ceremony and following events, please switch to DWBS Sports, on channel 68. Thank you for watching DWBS.”