The Four 'Parts'

Book of Mages: The Dark Times, can be split into four defining quadrants each with their own characteristics, and plot development, or are required in a plotline. Some listed are not required, and will be labelled Optional. These are listed below, just so that people can understand what 'Parts' mean. The Explore Area events will NOT be listed, unless they are tied to the plot in some way. Go to a specific clan's page to see what happens when!

Part 0: Pre-Young Mage Contest
Training (Optional): You are introduced to the game by the Magic Master of the clan you chose. You can accept to fight your rival in a tutorial battle, or skip the battle entirely with no consequence. Accepting the tutorial gives 1 extra skill point than refusing.

The Rematch (or not. Depends): Considered the second battle in the game you will face, USUALLY. If you skip the tutorial, it doesn't have an effect on the battle. Easy to win.

'Young Mage Election': As I call it, anyway. When you and your rival have your final showdown to determine who gets to represent the clan in the Young Mage Contest. By now, your enemy has delved into Higher Magic, specifically Additional High or Low Attacking Bolts, depending on the clan. You will not see the use of Clan Spells yet.

The Messenger: Only if you win the 'Young Mage Election' event. A messenger will approach you, asking if you know how to find the Great Hall, but recognizes you as your clan's Talented Mage. He will then challenge you. If you reject, he calls you weak and leaves, or you can kill him. You can accept his challenge, then let him live or kill him. Either way, you receive 4 Skill Points, but your World Reputation will go down (different from Personal Reputation). If you chose a water clan, the messenger will be Woodsoul of Dark Wood. If you chose a fire clan, it will be Fletcher of Poison Water.

The Bribe: Only if you win the 'Young Mage Election' event. Takes place a few months after the messenger event. A mage will approach you, asking if you let their Talented Mage win the Young Mage Contest, offering a Mana Orb in return. There are three paths from here. You can refuse and earn Bad reputations with both the mage and their Talented Mage. You can accept the Mana Orb and then let their Talented Mage win your battle with them in the Young Mage Contest, earning Good reputations with both of them. Finally, you can accept the Mana Orb, but defeat their Talented Mage in your battle with them in the Young Mage Contest, earning Bad reputations with both of them. Depending on the clan you choose, the mage who approaches you will be different. If you chose a fire clan, Dragonbane of Great Sea will show up on behalf of Soundinghorn, and if you are a fire clan, Bloodusk of Burning Hill will show up on behalf of Flamier.

Planned Assassination: Only if you win the 'Young Mage Election' event. Takes place a few months after the bribe event. Another magus in disguise will approach you, and will attempt to kill you. It is supposed to be IMPOSSIBLE to win this fight, but can be done with certain builds, or with cheats. Even if you win, the assassin will call a whole bunch of more guys, and you get taken down without being able to fight any of them. However, a Chaos Desert mage, Oldhealer, will come and rescue you. You can thank Oldhealer, earning Good reputation with them and some Skill Points, or you can scold him, earning Bad reputation with them. If you chose a water clan, the assassin will be Magesblood of Dark Wood. If you chose a fire clan to play as, the assassin will be Corruptor of Poison Water. This time it does make a difference, as both mages have unique fighting styles. After this event, you earn a Bad reputation with the assassin.

The Young Mage Contest: Requires you to have done the four previous events. You will be forced to go to Chaos Desert's arena, and battle five mages in quick succession. They are: Darkskin of Dark Wood, Flamier of Burning Hill, Bloodster of Chaos Desert, Rainie of Poison Water, Silverkin of Ice Land, and Soundinghorn of Great Sea. BUT! You will replace the above listed representative of your clan, because you beat them at the election earlier. You can win and earn the Power Orb (+1 Damage per bolt) and Good reputations with your Clan Leader and Magic Master or, if you accepted the Mana Orb before, claim second place by losing to the Talented Mage of the mage who approached you with it. Of course, you CAN lose more (3rd to 6th place), but your Clan Leader and Magic Master will have a Bad reputation with you.

The Avenger (Optional): After the Young Mage's Contest, the assassin will return, commenting on how you survived. Then you can become his friend, where you will earn ten skill points, or you can do the Avenger challenge. If you vow for your vengeance, you can stop by the assassin's clan at any time to challenge the assassin. If you win, you can kill them and earn the Avenger title, or you can take an Assassin's ring (an item that increases Mana and Life by 2 levels), and cut their hands off so that they can never assassinate again; however, you will not get the Avenger title.

Part I: Choosing Sides
Easily the smallest of the four parts, but it holds the most pivotal moment in the entire game: What faction you join.

Town Crier Explore I: Same time that he announces the winner of the Young Mage Contest. This opens up many Clan Events, not listed on this page. A Town Crier message about exploring areas always seperates the parts.

Picking a Side: Darkeyes, a member of the Black Robes will ask you join them. However, before you can answer, Darkeyes sees Warner, a White Robe approaching, and retreats, asking you to talk to him. If you join the White Robes, you will not fight anyone. If you join the Black Robes, you will have to kill Warner. If you remain neutral, you can let Darkeyes kill Warner, or prevent them from fighting.

Part II: Honoring Your Side
Where some more of your missions for each robe sides happen. The general short filler transition part.

Town Crier Explore II: 'Watch out when Exploring Areas. Chaos and disorder everywhere' announces when this part begins.

Both Sides
Recruiting Mission: The Magic Master of one of your Robe's clans (Burnghost of Burning Hill for White Robes, and Skullrig of Poison Water for Black Robes) will call you to go recruit mages to join. If you are a White Robe, this involves annihilating Black Robes, preventing the mages they were trying to recruit from joining. if you have a Good reputation with the mage you saved, they will request to join the White Robes. If you are a Black Robe, you have to fight mages unwilling to join the Black Robes. However, if you have a Good reputation with a mage, they will seem unsure about joining at first, but you convince them because it was you, the guy they know, asking them. Even then, there are a few mages out there that will join you even without knowing you. Upon giving the Potion of Great Power, you will get a Good reputation with them.

White Robes
Hawklight Mission: If you are a White Robe, a few months after the recruit mission, you must go and find Hawklight of Dark Wood, a spy within the Black Robes that actually works for your side. When you meet him, Darktracker will have come to investigate Hawklight, and now knows for sure he is a traitor. Then you must battle the Black Robe. If you lose, you can follow an entirely different path, but will be mentioned elsewhere. If you win, Hawklight will guide you to the alchemist who creates the poisonous Potions of Great Power. He is Rootdeath, and you must duel him too. You then force Rootdeath to hand over all the antidotes. It also happens Iceroot, the Magic Master of Ice Land was following you. Upon completion of this mission, you earn the title 'The New Hope'.

Freeing the Black Robes: Only if you succeed in the Hawklight mission. Two Black Robe mages will come requesting the antidotes and they go around freeing various members from the poison that holds them in the Black Robes.

Your Betrayal (Optional): Lose to Darktracker or Rootdeath during the Hawklight Mission. You will then by taken to the Poison Water Great Hall, where you and Hawklight are confronted by Skullrig, one of the Black Robe High Mages. He will give you the option to either die, or join the Black Robes through a Potion of Great Power. This COMPLETELY throws a curveball on your game, making you a traitor and spy for the Black Robes while you tell them all the White Robes plans and secrets. There are three instances where this effects the future, listed below in Part III. This earns you the title White Robe Traitor and Black Robe Spy simultaneously.

Black Robes
Hawklight Mission: Skullrig, aware that some of the new recruits know that the potion is poisonous (probably because you told them that as you forced it down their throat), assumes that a traitor is amongst the Black Robes. It is because of Hawklight, and not your stupidity admitting it out loud. You are given the option to attack Iceroot, who happens to be meeting with him (you would have taken his place in a White Robe plotline, and Darktracker would be doing this mission if you did take the White Robe path), or wait for Iceroot to leave. Either way, you get to confront Hawklight, but Iceroot's death will effect the Great Sea War later. Upon confronting him, Hawklight will ask if you if, instead of killing him, you would like to free the poison inside of you. If you agree, he takes you to Rootdeath, you disable the alchemist, and you cleanse yourself of your explosive leash. This effects the future of the game. If you refuse, you immediately return to Skullrig, dragging Hawklight by the ear (that's how I like to picture it), and he gets killed, watching as you get promoted to High Mage. Either way, Hawklight dies, with Iceroot as an added bonus, if you so wish.

Neutral Mage
Forced Entry: Two Black Robe mages will attempt to recruit you over the course of a few months. If you defeat them, you remain neutral. If you lose, you become a Black Robe mage. But, one of them happens to be Darkeyes, the easiest mage to fight in the entire game, tied with Wavepuke.

Part III: Closing In On The End
The final stretch of the game when everyone becomes super irritable, obnoxious, and flat out arrogant as the Great Sea War approaches.

Town Crier III: Introduction of the transition from Part 2 to 3. The line 'Frequent wars are happening between the Black and White Robes' lets you know when this last part has begun.

White Robes
Prison Mission: You and three other White Robe mages, Shieldheart, Snowmind, and Shipsail, will go on a rescue mission into the depths of Poison Water territory to jailbreak Waveharp of Great Sea from the Black Robe prison. While there, you will be the one to distract the guards (Twistpus of Chaos Desert and Bigwood of Dark Wood), while the other three attempt to cut the High Mage's chains. Depending on if you beat none, one, or two of them, a different will occur. If you lost to the first guard, your three friends die and you escape alone without Waveharp, and no reward. Defeat one, and you save Waveharp, but two of your allies fall. If both guards are killed, you free Waveharp and all return alive and well. In this case, you are guaranteed victory at the future White Mage Election. If you are not already, this will also make you a High Mage of the White Robes.

Return of Darkeyes: Darkeyes, the Black Robe who originally tried to recruit you, returns to try and kill you, claiming that the Great Mage ordered that all White Robes shall be killed. Even if you win or lose, you escape and report this information to Watervine, Clan Leader of Great Sea and High Mage of White Robes, who will hold an announcement.

White Mage Election: A few months after you tell Watervine of the Black Robe plan you received from Darkeyes. An election based on democratic vote instead of tournament bloodshed decides who becomes the White Robe leader, the White Mage. If you did not get a perfect victory on the Prison Mission, Soundinghorn becomes the White Mage, however, you can challenge him to the other White Robe's dismay, though all accept to let you duel. If you win, you become the White Mage. If you did achieve perfection during the Prison Mission, you will win four votes ahead of Soundinghorn. He will not challenge you; instead, Flamier will. However all the White Robes refuse to let him challenge you. This guarantees Flamier's betrayal of the White Robes, regardless the case. Whoever becomes the White Mage, be it you or Soundinghorn, both will have the same plan to lure all the Black Robes to the shore to drown them in the tides controlled by various Great Sea mages in the White Robes.

The Great Sea War (White): It is revealed upon the halfway point of the tenth in-game year that the war is inevitable, and occurs. It is also shown that Flamier joined the Black Robes, and became a High Mage due to informing the Black Robe army how to avoid the ambushes. The White Robes are naturally outnumbered, and it takes the death of many Black Robes to finally end the war. If you lose at any point during the war, you will awake from unconsciousness to see that the Black Robes reigned victorious, and the remaining White Robes escape. It is revealed in the aftermath if this happens, that your character was eventually hunted down, and killed decades later. If you win, Corpsedusk will kill Battlebeard in a plot twist, revealing that the Great Mage had been a puppet to the Poison Water Mages the whole time, also being under the poison. From then you can let Skullrig, Corpsedusk, and Pondanger live, and have them cleanse everybody's poison, or kill them with the eventual death of all Black Robes years later due to a time bomb effect in the poison in the event that the casters were killed. It is ultimately better to keep them alive as disabled mages. As customary, after the Great Sea War ends, five Neutral Mages will approach, questioning why they were not invited to the Great Mage Election, held only to White Robe's after the wars end. They will be consecutively challenged, and if all five are conquered, you earn the title of Great Mage, respected by all. If you refuse their gauntlet, you only become the Great Mage in the eyes of the White Robes and nobody else, earning you a different title: Great Mage (White). If you happen to be the White Mage, and are paired against Flamier during the war, a special cutscene will play with a few lines of dialogue. I thought it was awesome that they did that. If you are a Top Ten Mage, you can avoid fighting most, but not all opponents. If you are Number One, you insta-curbstomp everyone until the ending, watching as the Black Robes that run into you flee in terror.

Black Robes
Prison Mission: Bigwood and Twistpus, the prison guards will come up to you, and inform you that you have been forced to keep Waveharp captive, and to kill any intruders who dare come. Only three (the ones mentioned above that you go with as a White Robe) rescuers come, and however many you kill determines the post-dialogue. No matter the outcome, you will earn a Bad reputation with Bloodster. If you kill zero or one of the White Robes, Waveharp will have been freed, and Bloodster will run in, calling all of you useless and weak. If you beat two or three, YOU call all of them useless, claiming you were the only one that did anything, with Bloodster deeming you arrogant, and vowing to kill you one day. If you have defeated two or three of the rescuers, Battlebeard will promote you to High Mage if you have not been already.

Battlebeard's Request: Only if you cleansed the poison within you way back in Part II. Battlebeard, the Great Mage, claims that he has had Bloodster spying on you, suspecting that you have freed yourself from the Black Robes' poison. It is confirmed as he tries to kill you via the poison, and you do not die. From there, Battlebeard demands you get him an antidote, revealing he too had been cheated of his rule by the three Poison Water High Mages: Corpsedusk, Pondanger, and Skullrig. From then, you can secretly report this to Skullrig, or fill out the Great Mage's request, bribing you by saying that with a snap of fingers you will become the most wanted man on the planet. Bloodster will tag along with you (and he has a BAD reputation with you. As mentioned, this is inevitable by the time of the Prison Mission). If you go to the Wilderness and find Rootdeath, he will give you one more antidote. Pondanger, one of the three true puppetmasters come from the shadows, and try to kill you. Upon his defeat, Blooster betrays you. Arguably the hardest mage fought up to this point (unless you've done the Bonus Boss. Only those who have fought him know about whom I am talking). If you lose, you are cast out of Black Robes and earn the Wanted title. If you win, you return with the antidote, right before Corpsedusk and Skullrig arrive to kill him. With Battlebeard free, he easily kills the two, but you kill Battlebeard in a turn of events. Then, you find the spell that triggers the poison, and become the leader of the Black Robes. If you report to Skullrig, Bloodster catches on IMMEDIATELY, and attempts to kill you on the steps of the Great Hall instead. Upon defeating him, the three true leaders rush out of the Great Hall, and you reveal that Battlebeard and Bloodster are both traitors. Corpsedusk then kills Battlebeard through the poison, as in this timeline you didn't cure him.

The New Leader Tournament: Unlike the White Robes, the Black Robes elect their leader through power in combat. This happens no matter what, but one circumstance changes the entire outcome if you take that path. If you have NOT cured the poison in you, Corpsedusk becomes the leader of the Black Robes after you challenge four others. He threatens to kill you if you do not let him win, and you get no option unless... You cured yourself! If you have cleansed yourself of your figurative chains, you can beat the everliving crap out of the Poison Water mages, and they can't do jack about it. If you kill all three of the High Mages, you earn the spell to control the poison just like in Battlebeard's Request, but now you are given the option to be more merciful, not using poison if you don't want to. All this does is cause a few mages to leave the Black Robes, but everyone else stays.

The Great Sea War (Black): The Black Robes, having more members, generally has the upper hand to begin with. In fact, the Great Sea War can be entirely skipped from the start because of this, or you CAN kill everybody, as this is the easiest way to get the Bloodthirsty title. Or, the same rule applies about being a Top Ten or the Number One mage, where some battles can be avoided. Upon the end of the war, if you never cleansed the poison in you, Corpsedusk will make you the next puppet in Battlebeard's place under the name: The Black Mage. You will be given the option to kill, or control the remaining White Robe mages. As in the White Robe ending, the neutral mages will show up and oppose you. If you refuse to fight, you get the title Great Mage (Black). If you fight, and lose, the Black Robes will chase them down, and you gain the title listed above. If you fight and defeat them all, you earn the Great Mage title.

Neutral Mage
Secret Mercenary Mission 1 (Optional): Upon the message that Waveharp had been sent to prison, you can go to Ice Land, and explore the Dark Alleys to find Chainfreeze chasing down three Black Robe mages. It is revealed that this is because they killed his brother, Bloodfreeze, who is never mentioned anywhere else in the game, even before his death. You can help Chainfreeze, killing the Black Robe mages, or assist the Black Robes, distracting Chainfreeze to let them escape. Or you can remain neutral, not helping anyone. If you help the White or Black Robes, you will obtain the Bloodfreeze Earring item. If you stay neutral, you will earn twelve Skill Points.

Secret Mercenary Mission 2 (Optional): Immediately after the first one, go to Dark Wood and scrutinize the Dark Alleys. You will find Waveslash, a powerful White Robe, heavily injured, being jumped by three other Black Robe mages. If you help the White Robe, you will challenge the three, then escape with Waveslash. You can let the Black Robes live, or not. This will have different outcomes, explained at the end of this paragraph. If you help the Black Robes, you kill Waveslash and get a Talisman of Mercenary from Bonenail. If you stay neutral, you will earn 4 Skill Points. Depending on the FIRST mission, and how you preformed here, you have the opportunity to gain new Titles. If you helped the White Robes twice, you earn the Evil's Nightmare title. Help the Black Robes twice, and get the Mercenary title. Stay truly neutral, and you will get the True Neutral Mage title.

The Great Sea War (Optional): Wetanger, Magic Master of Great Sea, will approach you about the Great Sea War. You can go with them, or not. If you accept, your character and five other neutral mages will approach the Great Sea War. You and the other mages argue about going into the battle, or waiting until the conflict is over. If you charge in to the fight you must defeat four mages to enter the Great Hall: Angerspark, Wavepuke, Flashfreeze, and Crashblast. This is the only time that your ranking won't let you avoid the fight sequence, except for Flashfreeze. He will just surrender. If you wait, you just enter the Great Hall without challenging anyone. Both end the same way: The White Robes' defeat. You will challenge Soundinghorn, the White Mage in this timeline. You can kill him or let him live. If you let him live, he will tell the White Robes to stand down against attacking you. I never had the heart to kill him, and he's too much of a pushover to lose to, so I have no idea what happens when those happen. From then you'll duel Darklove, Silverkin, and Burnstorm in succession. You will then challenge Treefire, the Great Mage elected by the Black Robes. You can kill him or let him live. If you let him live, he will tell the Black Robes to stand down against attacking you. From then you'll duel Shiverhorror. Then you become the Great Mage and the game ends... or...

The Legend Continuity: ...you can refuse Wetanger's invitation to the war. You will earn the title Hermit, and the title states you do not care of fame, but only the art of magic. You essentially become Chilldream from one of the Ice Land events. However, after the war, Wetanger will bring the Great Mage (Shiverhorror rocked them all and won) to your new wilderness home, and will challenge you. If you lose, he will leave, and you end on the Hermit title with a lame ending. If you win, you get the best possible ending in my opinion. You earn the title Legend. You, Shiverhorror, and Wetanger all claim the challenge never happened, and that Shiverhorror lost to nobody even though you beat him. You have ascended to the title Legend. The tooltip and aftermath states that you have become a myth to the world: Young mages seek you in the forests to learn spells from you, and many claim that you are the true strongest mage in the world, hell, even the drunk mages in the bar lie that they are your apprentices! You have become a frickin' icon to every mage on the planet!

SPOILER
Do not read ahead if you care about discovering the biggest secret in the game for yourself...

The Author's Challenge, The True Strongest: It starts when you become Rank 10 on the Book of Mages. A Mysterious Hermit will guide you from there to Number One as almost a mentor, instructing you on who to challenge next. If you have defeated everyone listed in the Book of Mages and become Number One, the Mysterious Hermit will reward you with the best item in the game: The Ring of All Rings. This increases your Special Points by 15 every turn compared to the 10 as default. This allows you to use stronger attacks earlier than everyone else. But, you can still bug the Mysterious Hermit about who to challenge next after you have already become Number One. He will shout at you to leave him alone, call you stupid, and even insult you. But after you disturb him five times, the truth is revealed. The Mysterious Hermit is one of the six authors of the Book of Mages, and the strongest opponent in the entire game. He is of Chaos Desert, and uses their Clan Spells. With a whopping 1000 health, and 1500 Mana, and a Ring of All Rings just like yours, the Mysterious Hermit is the true force to be reckoned with in this world.If you lose, he sets your rank BACK TO 99, and you will have to fight your way to the top again, if you still have enough time. You will earn the title The Punished. If you win, he vanishes into thin air, stating that he must inform the other authors of his defeat. From then you earn the title Invincible. I say it works hand-in-hand with the Legend title, listed above.