- When planet Prysmos' three suns shift, they cancel out the power of all electronic and battery-powered devices, forcing inhabitants to restart society as archaic. A mysterious old wizard named Merklyn approaches many knights including Darkstorm, a lord who has been trying to seize control of the land of New Valaric, and Leoric, the prince (ruler) defending it, offering them the chance to receive vast magical powers if they can survive the climb up Iron Mountain and its perils to his shrine. After those who have remained and survived the tests succeed, Merklynn dubs Leoirc and his six followers and Darkstorm and six whom he already had or has just forced into his service the Visionaries, and endows them ability to transform into animal totems based on their characteristics and skills demonstrated. Eight of them are also granted additional power abilities through their staffs and the rest are assured other gifts which remain to be seen.—brainybrailler@comcast.net
- For 7000 years, the planet Prysmos has been home to a technologically advanced civilization which has taken control of all the sources of energy available to them. But when the planet's Three Suns align, all the machines on Prysmos cease to function and even the electricity supply fails, with scientists unable to explain why this is happening. Within a few years, the old order has collapsed and a quasi-Medieval society is emerging.
Cities have out of necessity become self-governing. The city of New Valarak is ruled by a knight named Leoric who, along with his two right-hand men Ectar and Feryl, has to fight off repeated invasion attempts by the evil Darkstorm, who has his own Castle nearby and wants to expand his territory to include New Valarak. Both Darkstorm and Leoric are seeking a means of gaining a military advantage over each other, and it is at this point that a wizard named Merklynn begins to approach the knights of Prysmos, including Leoric and Darkstorm. Merklynn tells the knights that Prysmos has entered an Age of Magic and he wishes to teach them the ways of magic. At first, Darkstorm doesn't believe this, but when his lackey Mortdredd tells him that Leoric has agreed to join Merklynn's quest, he decides he, Mortdredd and his other minion Reekon must also join the quest.
On the day of the quest, knights from all over Prysmos assemble at the foot of Iron Mountain, as Merklynn appears before them and tells them that they must climb towards his Shrine at the summit; any who succeed in reaching the Shrine will be rewarded with magical powers. But a number of potentially lethal traps lie between the knights and the Shrine, including a corridor where sharp blades slam down from floor to ceiling. A knight named Witterquick uses his athletic skills to dodge the blades, but some of the other knights decide at this point that they have had enough and withdraw from the quest. In addition to Merklynn's traps, the knights have to contend with Darkstorm and his cronies who are out to sabotage the others who are attempting to reach the Shrine. At one point, Darkstorm's party destroy a bridge over a chasm which has several knights still on it. One of the knights, Arzon, manages to cling to the bridge and attempts to use it as a ladder to climb to safety, only for the bridge to transform into snakes. Arzon ends up on a ledge and, as Darkstorm taunts him, uses some large leaves to fashion himself a pair of wings which he uses to fly across the chasm.
Shortly after, Leoric and his party are discussing their plans to rebuild New Valarak when Darkstorm hears their voices and tells Mortdredd to lead them astray. Hearing someone calling for help, Leoric and his friends investigate, but find only Mortdredd and realise they have been tricked. Mortdredd is about to give Ectar a taste of his scythe when Darkstorm orders him to rejoin him and Mortdredd obediently withdraws. Leoric, Ectar and Feryl continue on their way and soon find themselves faced with a stone giant. Reekon wakes the giant which presses a button on the wall, causing a gate to slam shut behind the three knights, cutting off their escape route. Ectar and Feryl think they are doomed, but Leoric recklessly charges towards the giant which is unprepared for this and quickly retreats. Leoric tells Ectar and Feryl that he reasoned that the giant wouldn't know what to do if someone attacked it.
Elsewhere, two female knights named Galadria and Virulina clash while crossing a narrow bridge over a lake and end up falling into the water, where Virulina kicks Galadria towards the giant octopus which lives in the lake and makes her escape. As the octopus attempts to drag Galadria to her doom, she grabs what turns out to be a plug and drains the lake, enabling her to get away from the octopus. Climbing ashore, she vows that she and Virulina will meet again. Darkstorm later comes across Virulina and three other knights (Cindarr, Cravex and Lexor) who have fallen prey to a trap which has left them dangling by their ankles. He agrees to free them, provided they pledge their allegiance to him, which they do. He and his new followers, along with Mortdredd and Reekon, then prepare to ambush Leoric, Ectar and Feryl as they emerge from a maze.
Meanwhile, Leoric, Ectar and Feryl are lost inside the maze. Luckily, Feryl's sense of smell is unusually acute and he is able to scent fresh air and lead his friends to the exit. Ectar, sensing Darkstorm's ambush, slips off down a side corridor, emerging moments later to warn Leoric and Feryl. As Leoric, Ectar and Feryl fight it out with Darkstorm and his followers (whom Ectar has dubbed the Darkling Lords) Arzon, Galadria, Witterquick and a knight named Cryotek arrive and join in the fight. Merklynn then appears and tells the knights to stop fighting as he has enough magic for all of them; he then tells them that all they have to do now is break down the door to his Shrine.
Inside the Shrine, Merklynn gives each of the knights (whom he dubs the Visionaries) the ability to transform into the animals which best reflect their skills and personalities. Eight of the Visionaries (Arzon, Cindarr, Cravex, Cryotek, Darkstorm, Leoric, Lexor and Witterquick) are carrying Staffs and Merklynn also infuses these with magic, though he warns that they will need to be recharged after use. The other six Visionaries also have great powers, but will have to find out for themselves what those powers are. Merklynn then sends the Visionaries back to the foot of Iron Mountain, where Darkstorm proposes that they use their magic to preserve peace. But, once Leoric and his followers have left, he makes it clear that he has no intention of honouring this treaty.
Not long after the quest, Arzon comes across a young woman trapped in a ravine and pulls her to safety. He then calls on the magic of his Power Staff to summon a being named the Bearer of Knowledge, who tells him that the woman he just "rescued" is Virulina. Arzon initially doesn't believe this, but Virulina then rips off her disguise and lunges at him.
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What is the broadcast (satellite or terrestrial TV) release date of The Age of Magic Begins (1987) in Australia?
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