Mundus Games 2023 - Valtheim
Ever since the bid had been successful, there had been a lot of anticipation in Achkaerin of what was to come from this event, the nation one of the world’s sportiest and ancestral home of the Mundus Games, albeit in a different guise, was finally hosting the great festival of sport - the Mundus Games had ‘come home’ the phrase had been trending in the build up and if anyone had felt the pressure in the build up it was Jemma Fox, the three time Ozzie winner was the person who had been asked to assume the great responsibility of the opening ceremony and now after all the rehearsals here it was at last opening night, the stands were packed, the performers assembled, the athletes waiting in the wings for their moment and the lights were down, the show was about to begin. The layout within the Djana Azurewind Stadium was something special, the set had a grassy meadow like scene in the middle of the stadium located on a platform, creating a lower level around the edge where the athletics track would be found, although it was covered for the evenings proceedings, off to one side of the stadium was what appeared to be a hill with a lake atop it, the low point of the hill and the central platform were linked by a bridge that initially at least looked like it was a stone dolmen, finally on a second platform at one side of the arena sat the Achkaerinese Youth Orchestra, picked to handle musical responsibilities for the ceremony.
It started with the countdown, for the minute before the ceremony started, the crowd involved and getting louder with each number they called and then the orchestra took over, playing
Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, there were only eleven figures in the arena and all were female, ten of them were dressed in maiden sister robes of differing colours while the eleventh wore the attire associated with Triana, she had been the first High Priestess bearing the title “Keeper of the Songs.” and it was from her that the Maiden Sisters order had come, in her aging years she had according to legend given the knowledge of the Rhythm of Life, the ten songs to ten of her most skilled students as represented by the ten Maiden Sisters in the arena who had moved away from the Triana figure atop the hill, stepping across the dolem and onto the raised platform in the centre of the arena where they put themselves out into a circle and then out came the swords, the katana styled blades glinting in the stadium lights as the ten Maiden Sisters performed something not seen in Achkaerin for a long long time, each of the songs had a style of swordplay associated with it and now with the music playing in the background the ten songs came together as each style played its part in a sword ballet performance, each song’s individual dance was more commonly performed in isolation, but the ten combined alongside each other? This was rare but also very symbolic as this represented where Achkaerinese society got its underpinning. Once the ballet was done the music changed to
Holst’s Jupiter as now more people flooded the arena, this now the story of how those teachings, those songs had created initially city states and then the nations of Rosemoor, Aelmoor, Greencliffe, Silverlea, Icebridge, Southvale and Rockmount before coming together as Achkaerin and the symbolism of that was on show as the “Hammer of Titus” was brought into the arena as the sequence reached its climax, it was one of the Achkaerinese crown jewels though given it was a simple blacksmiths hammer with the craftsman mark that the first Emperor had used marked in silver on the head it was probably odd to call it that, however the designation didn’t mean it wasn’t still a functional hammer. The music changed again this time to
Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyrie’s as noted Achkaerinese actress Rachel Kilkenny, dressed in light armour, the white cloth and the chainmail vest she wore along with the silver circlet atop her head were symbolic of the great Empress Djana Azurewind, this was the tale of how Achkaerin had grown from the nation in the north keeping itself to itself to international player and the sequence showed not only that but the evolution of Achkaerinese society through the industrial revolution, it’s civil war and then right up to the Great War, Rachel made her way up to the lake where a gong had been brought it and the Hammer of Titus was waiting for her, when the music came to its end Rachel took a breath and spoke “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” her words coming from the great author J.R.R Tolkien, she then struck the gong with the Hammer of Titus, the screens around the stadium brought up the images of poppies, it wouldn’t be right, especially here to not acknowledge that part of the history, silence fell in the stadium for a few moments.
Attention now shifted to the screens, this served a few purposes not least that of distraction with the audience watching this segment they weren’t watching the arena where a little bit of redecorating was taking place - the main platform was having the grass removed to leave it looking closer to a snow covered grass than a meadow. On the screens, the audience could see the Royal Guard Band standing in the courtyard of the Marble Palace performing the
Thunderbirds theme before the segment moved inside the Palace, to the Empress’s study where Empress Serenity sat at her desk working, a television on in the background, then the phone on the desk rang, Serenity picked it up “Yes?” she asked before glancing at the television which was now displaying a breaking news story of an emergency situation “On my way.” she put the phone down and got up from behind the desk and walked over to the wall. What now followed was a very cleverly filmed version of the
Thunderbird One launch sequence, to those watching Serenity did exactly as the character of Scott Tracy did in the classic television show, she used a rotating wall to access a secret high tech area and then used an extending bridge to step into Thunderbird One and then of course they would see the iconic rocket moving through the underground section to its launch position, they’d even see Serenity wearing the International Rescue uniform associated with the character of Scott Tracy when the little cut backs into the cockpit happened. There was however one difference - it wasn’t a swimming pool that was retracting, it was the ‘lake’ atop the hill in the stadium and then right on cue as the moment to launch came Thunderbird One came up out of there amid the smoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen please welcome Her Majesty Empress Serenity.” the stadium announcer said as Serenity, wearing the same uniform as she had in the filmed segment stepped out of the smoke smiling and giving the crowd a wave, she’d make her way to the Royal Box and as she did so members of the Achkaerinese military brought in the national flag of Achkaerin, parading it from one side of the arena, up the platform and across the bridge to the waiting flagpole where it was raised. “Ladies and gentlemen please stand for the national anthem of Achkaerin. Performed by Luke Evans” it was the announcer again and then it was all eyes on the arena as
Luke Evans performed the Achkaerinese national anthem.
With that first of the formalities was concluded and now it was onto the next segment and attention went to Renee Azurewind stood at the foot of the hill, dressed in a flowing white robe, this was now the tribute to Achkaerinese literature with a little sprinkling of show tunes thrown in. “And don’t mention it to anyone else unless you find that they’ve had adventures of the same sort themselves.” she said “What’s that? How will you know? Oh, you’ll know all right. Odd things they say – even their looks – will let the secret out.” this time the quotation came from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe authored by the great C.S Lewis.
This section started with a small group of school kids stepping through a wardrobe and appearing out into the arena which now could easily fit the description of a cold and snowy Narnia. There was a short burst of the
Narnia soundtrack as the children took in their surroundings and then various beasts began circling around them, then there was a moment where they bumped into the characters of Lyra Silvertongue and Will Parry along with others from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials but still the beasts swelled around them, then came the first number as the kids put on a performance of
When I Grow Up from the musical Matilda, this was shortly followed by the emergence of the great antagonists of Achkaerinese fiction, there they all were - the White Witch, the Magisterium’s minions, Captain James Hook and his pirates and of course the Dark Lord Sauron, the Witch King of Angmar, a Balrog and a fair number of Orcs. Then the music struck up again this time to
The Final Battle from the Lord of the Rings musical, the performers playing the bad guys actually singing lyrics written in the Black Speech of Mordor was interesting enough but as Renee, playing the role of Galadriel in vocal terms, provided the female solo a mass charge entered the arena performers wearing various costumes, the heroes from those same stories had turned up the heroes from Middle Earth, the Pevensies from Narnia, from the skies above Peter Pan, they chased the bad guys off and then as most dispersed, the two characters of Aragorn and Arwen being played for one night only by Prince Jack Azurewind and Lady Katyusha Andronikashivili respectively stayed with the children that had been there at the start of the sequence, the music began again this time
The Song of Hope, also from the Lord of the Rings Musical. Normally sung almost as a conversation between the characters of Aragorn and Arwen but this time used as a fitting means to direct the children back to the wardrobe they’d entered through and bring the sequence to a close.
Not for the first time applause resounded around the stadium as the performers cleared the arena, and then into the arena drove three cars a silver-grey Aston Martin Vanquish, a White Lotus Espirit and a grey Aston Martin DB5, three cars associated with the James Bond franchise, they drove up onto the platform and stopped, six people got out of these cars, they were junior level Achkaerinese athletes from a variety of sports very much the next generation, one of them carried a folded up Mundus Games flag which between the six of them they unfolded and then paraded across the bridge to another flagpole and raised it alongside the Achkaerinese one, before they made their way back to the cars and drove away departing. “Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome performing a tribute to the Achkaerinese film industry Alfie Boe and Michael Ball” the stadium announcer said, cheers greeted the singing duo as they took to the stage and accompanied by the Youth Orchestra and backing singers performed a
Bond Medley and no sooner had the applause for that finished than coming over the stadium’s sound system was “Space the final frontier, these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, it’s continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.” this was followed by a
video segment that paid tribute to the evolution of Achkaerinese flight, spaceflight and ultimately space exploration and of course this being to do with Achkaerin it was hardly surprising that Star Trek was used to weave it together, the purpose of this part was again multi purpose and again it was about keeping eyes off the arena floor as practically an army of drummers began to filter in ready for what was to come as well as a life size version of the Games mascot
Flint the Fox, smaller versions of Flint would be given to the medalists in all the events. As the spaceflight segment finished, there was a flyover of the stadium normally this was the responsibility of the Flying Foxes display squadron of the Achkaerin Air Force but not tonight and it wasn’t typical aircraft either as instead of the Blackbird fighter aircraft it was actually drones made to look like the various different incarnations of the USS Enterprise that flew in formation over the stadium, letting the smoke out as they did, much like the Flying Foxes would have.
“Ladies and gentlemen please welcome the athletes of the 2023 Mundus Games!” the stadium announcer said. It was time for the athletes parade under normal circumstances the first nation out, the first flag out would be the Achkaerinese one as per tradition, but this year it was Abertone that led the parade out, then Aquitaine, then Asadal, then Clysperis, then East Moreland and so on. Each flag bearer got a high five from Flint as they went passed, and a fair few athletes did as well, plenty of pictures were being taken and with the steady and lively drumbeat going on it felt very much like a carnival atmosphere and then came the moment the crowd had been waiting for “The Holy Empire of Achkaerin!” the words sounded over the announcement system and the roar was deafening as Becky Brittaine, Achkaerin’s most successful swimmer and the second most decorated athlete in Mundus Games history led the Achkaerinese team out wearing the white and gold tracksuit that the team were wearing for the Games and carrying the Achkaerinese flag. Once the Achkaerinese team had made its way around the processional route and joined all the others in the centre it was time for the final run of formalities to begin, first things first the oath and this was where Achkaerin’s leading long distance runner Saaman Saaccid, manager of the Achkaerinese mens football team Julia McCabe and then the head Athletics umpire for the Games Stefan Wearne stepped forwards each taking hold of the Mundus Games flag.
“In the name of the athletes” Saaman said
“In the name of all judges.” Stefan said
“In the name of all the coaches and officials.” Julia said
“We promise to take part in these Mundus Games, respecting and abiding by the rules and in the spirit of fair play, inclusion and equality. Together we stand in solidarity and commit ourselves to sport without doping, without cheating, without any form of discrimination. We do this for the honour of our teams, in respect for the fundamental principles of these Games, and to make the world a better place through sport.” Saaman said
As the trio went back to join the crowd of teams Serenity, having traded in the International Rescue uniform for a dark blue dress and having come down from the Royal Box during the parade stood before the athletes smiling “Ladies and gentlemen, those from just down the road and those from the other side of the world welcome to Achkaerin, welcome to Valtheim, welcome to the 2023 Mundus Games.” she said “Centuries ago, back before Achkaerin was formally a nation, at a place called Moonvale the peoples of several nations at the time, the constituent parts of modern Achkaerin, came together and competed against each other to see who was the fastest, the strongest and able to throw objects the furthest. In 2013 after many post war decades of uncertainty, rising tension, conflict and sorrow the community of nations came together and rekindled this festival of sport and in the years that have followed we have seen it grow. It is a great honour and privilege to have each athlete, coach, umpire, physio and supporter here for these Games and like every sports fan I’m looking forward to seeing just what new heights you will take sport to over the next eighteen days of competitions. Now if I may be forgiven for addressing all those first time competitors out there, I’ve been where you are now I competed in the Games for a good few years, it wasn’t always easy, it didn’t always go to plan, I had to battle injury and personal demons but I wouldn’t trade the experiences the Games have given me for anything, embrace the Games and the Games will embrace you right back, enjoy yourselves, compete with a smile on your face, show the world the joy of sport, the togetherness it brings, and if I may borrow and adapt the words of Rudyard Kipling “If you can dream and not make dreams your master; if you can think and not make thoughts your aim; if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same; if you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will which says ‘Hold on!’ If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, then yours is the world and everything that’s in it, and which is more you’ll be whatever you’ll whatever it is you want to be my friend.” she took a breath “Take up the challenges before you over the next eighteen days in that fearless spirit, show us what raising the highest level of elite sport looks like and together put on a show on this stage that inspires future generations of athletes, coaches and umpires, not just in your own nations but across the world, let’s raise the level of sport in this world and let that be our legacy.” she smiled “Good luck to each and every one of you and it is now my great honour and privilege to declare the 2023 Mundus Games open.”
There was just one single formality left to observe and that was the torch lighting. Over the previous weeks since it had been announced that Valtheim would be hosting the torch had been on its traditional relay, historically likely to be the longest it had ever had owing to a few days on Enterprise while it did a run round the moon, without that little trip into orbit this would have in truth been the shortest trip for the torch due to geography. The Youth orchestra struck up one last time, and most would likely think Jemma Fox had decided to have some fun at this point, the piece was
the extended version of the Star Trek Deep Space Nine theme as it started the torch was carried into the arena by Amy Bell, an Achkaerinese womens footballer who’d be playing at the Games, she jogged for about a hundred metres before passing it on to David Holst, the retired captain of the Achkaerinese rugby team, he took his turn taking the torch around to where Megan Harrison, two time Formula Mundus drivers champion was waiting, she took it on her leg around to the foot of the ramp of the platform where she handed over to Ren Nekhaga, he’d be in the Medieval Mixed Martial Arts towards the end of the Games, he took the the torch up the ramp and about halfway across the platform down the aisle, athletes formed up on either side, he would then hand over to Eleanor Hendry, a sailor with a few records to her name and rumour was she wasn’t done yet. Eleanor took the torch and carried it across the rest of the platform and over the bridge where the final torchbearer was waiting. Who was it? There was no real surprise about this, the responsibility for this moment could only really be given to one person and that was Sammy Lawson, the most decorated athlete in terms of Mundus Games medals, taking the torch from Eleanor Sammy carried it up the hill, past Serenity and stopped up at the top next to the foot of where the Thunderbird One still stood. At this point some might ask where the flame actually was but it would soon become obvious, during the various distractions the red nose cone of Thunderbird One had been removed, so now when a panel opened at the foot for Sammy to place the flame in, the reaction was near enough instantaneous, the flames burst out of where the nose cone would have otherwise been and there were some smaller flames coming from the top edges of the wings, it looked almost like a phoenix which was the whole point, according to legend the Mundus Games torch was the flame of Yve the Phoenix one of the great beasts of Achkaerinese legend, one of the guardians of the nation. And now with a flurry of fireworks the opening ceremony was over, the festival of sport was on and the competition could begin.
Medal Table
