Survivor XVIII
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Survivor 18 was developed as a "unifying" tournament, a story to draw upon and make sense of the previous years worth of continuity, distilling the "canon" into a coherent whole, while at the same time showing what the stakes of the Eternal-Void conflict truly were and the impact tournaments had on it. In terms of plot, scale, and gameplay, Survivor 18 is probably best known for its ambitions, although how successful it was at these goals is debatable.
Co-host Draco initially conceived S18 as a project to upset the status quo of previous tournaments: a strategic, villain-only story mixing dramatic storylines with whimsical host characters and well-developed (but somewhat unusual) round locations. He was awarded the slot in 2003; by the time S18 was ready all of these concepts had been explored, and the shift toward a continuity-heavy mixed metaplot/foreground story began. S18 started with three trailers, adding new characters to develop the Alpha's Epsilons and fleshing out less-commonly used Eternals. Later chapters introduced Phaetheon, the malevolent Void-God and powerful mage, and set the stage for the tournament's secondary story, focusing on the Eternals. Scenes from this storyline were sprinkled throughout the first five rounds, and eventually intersected in the sixth, with sponsors and some Eternals uniting to defeat the Void in the final round.
While not directly following any other tournaments, S18 borrowed liberally from details revealed in previous stories set in the EMC. Yume was brought to the fore, and Miracle, AEGIS, and the Pillars, as well as several Muses, appeared in the background or in conflict with the Void. Subtle retcons and "positive continuity" changes marked some of these appearances, although many changes were not explicitly detailed or were dropped informally.
In addition to using established continuity, S18 thrust the sponsors into the other half of the story, dealing with a series of new host characters: Sasurai, Diamantha, the Auditors, Narthalyssk, and Wish, as well as their respective assistants: Jeeves, Diamantha's supernatural butler; Ms. Blonde, a "Junior Auditor," Athesvera, a Grim Angel from a Void-destroyed world, and Erydri, Wish's protege. The four were revealed over the course of the story to be "Voidwarped", a technique developed by Phaetheon to empower certain beings with the leftover energies of an entire Void-drained universe, infusing them with powers enough to rival the greatest of the Eternals. Lack of available resources forced Phaetheon to explore other means of increasing Voidwarped numbers; he eventually thought that breeding them with a suitable male host, such as Saint, might produce empowered children.
The hosts, known as "The Five," progressed through a series of universes, all at the cusp of being merged into the Void. The four hosts, less Sasurai, formed their Survivors into factions, each with opposing goals; each of which could save or doom that universe. Eventually all discovered the truth: that Narthalyssk was in fact the living avatar of the personification of the Void, a great "Leviathan" of immeasurable size that manifested to devour particularly troublesome spots of resistance in a universe. Narthalyssk was defeated by an army of survivors, the vampire lord Kain scoring the final blow and sealing Narthalyssk inside his Soul Reaver. Without the avatar's connection to a universe to summon it, the Leviathan has not been formed since. This defeat, along with Phaetheon's being badly wounded in the heart of the Void by Grant, Vormav, and Yume, as well as Vire's prior disappearance (detailed in Survivor XVI); has weakened the Void, granting the Multiverse a temporary reprieve from the worst of the all-consuming force's aggression.
The Five-- excepting Narthalyssk-- largely returned to their former lives. Sasurai continues to travel the Multiverse, his Transcendent powers constantly necessitating the intervention of the Auditors. Diamantha made a fortune cashing in favors earned due to her role in protecting the universes that survived the tournament, and her entourage has expanded to include a blue-haired gypsy dancing girl and a maid suspiciously resembling the great demoness Altima. Wish returned to his wandering, ever seeking a more worthy adversary.
Rounds
Survivor 18 consisted of a "round 0" introductory round that lasted 24 hours, seven rounds of various length, and an "Omake" round between the fourth and fifth.
While all round locations were taken from an existing fiction, each one had a specific difference from the "core" universe that spawned it that put it on the cusp of forming a new core, or corrupting the former and inviting a Void incursion. Sasurai's powers of transcendence froze the iterating process, and so it was up to the Survivors, acting at first through their factions and then on their own; to determine if the world was saved or lost.
Locations
Round 0: Make the Grade (River City, River City Ransom), Lost
Round 1: Warring Lions (Bethla Garrison, Final Fantasy Tactics), Saved
Round 2: The Biggest Little City in the World (New Reno, Fallout 2), Lost
Round 3: The Five Towers (Pentagulia, Lunar 2), Saved
Round 4: Gears of Madness (Forest at Night, Guilty Gear XX), Saved
Round 5: Back to School (Fuka Academy, Mai-HiME), Lost
Round 6: Equivalent Exchange (Central, Amestris, Fullmetal Alchemist), Saved
Finals: Master of Magic (Plains of Arcanus, Master of Magic), Saved
Sponsor Cast
Survivor 18 had a versatile sponsor pool and a relaxed Divinity Ban, due to the Auditors regulating the Survivors' power levels to be on a roughly even keel. While during round 0 they were only at a roughly human level, by the end many of the warriors were veritable demigods, slaughtering thousands in a display of power rivaling the Archwizards of Arcanus.
The STRIDE system used the delayed-eliminations format which only removed no-shows or dropped sponsors from play until the semifinals. There were six semifinalists, and two finalists, all winners decided by a vote of the remaining players.
| Final Round | Sponsor | Character | P. Assist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Magus | Vormav Tingel (Final Fantasy Tactics) | Lemina Ausa (acquired in-game) |
| Final Round | Dry | Grant (Garou: Mark of the Wolves) | Greed (acquired in-game) |
Due to the amount of time passed, the full list of sponsors hasn't been included at this time.
