Companions of Xanth – Man from Mundania

By Ilmari

The plot device

In the deep end, then. I wonder what a complete newbie to the Xanth lore would understand about this discussion of two demonic figures with weird names. And what’s that Mundania they keep talking about?Let’s go to the demons first. In the second book of the Xanth series, Source of Magic, the heroes went on a mission to discover where all the magic in Xanth had come about. They finally found the source of all Xanthian magic or the omniscient and omnipotent being X(A/N)TH from the race of demons. Since being all-powerful is eminently boring, the demons entertain themselves with games, and having lost one of them, X(A/N)THwas imprisoned in Xanth until one of the denizens would set it free. Of course, the heroes had to let the demon go, but after a short period of unmagic, the demon returned to its old resting place, because it had become comfortable like a well-worn shoe. Beside X(A/N)TH, there are a number of other demons, usually with names reminiscent of planets and other stellar objects, like E(A/R)TH.

You’d think then that Xanth would be a planet, but it’s not – it’s a peninsula, conspicuously reminiscent of Florida. Outside the limit of the peninsula lies Mundania, a dreary place of non-magic. In fact, Mundania resembles our world very much, although I remember one book suggesting that demon E(A/R)TH had imitated Mundania on its own planet. Then again, I don’t think this idea ever comes up again, and in practice, Mundania just is our regular Earth.

So, long story short: X(A/N)TH is again playing one of those demonic games, this time with E(A/R)TH. They will bring into Xanth two young residents of Mundania, Dug and Kim, who will compete for an unknown prize: one of the kids represents X(A/N)TH and the other one E(A/R)TH. Both of the kids will also get to choose a Xanthian companion (hence, the name of the game).

Probably an Apple product, then

Very meta, we begin by a computer. There’s really not that much to do here: we have a post-it note, with some numbers, and an envelope containing a bracelet and a message from my girlfriend, saying she has dumped me.

A phone keeps ringing somewhere else in the house so I move northwest: it’s as easy as pressing a button now (the white arrows are the directions you can move to). I come to a small dark room, where I can’t do anything before I turn the lights on. There’s the front door, but I can’t go out, since there’s a storm going on. Onward to kitchen!

Some words about the interface. It resembles very much the SCUMM system, except the verbs are on the upper left corner of the screen. Furthermore, in addition to standard verbs, certain objects might have their specific verbs that appear only when you’ve pressed that object on the screen (like here the Wash).

Before answering the phone, I try everything else, but I can only pick up a used teabag and open the icebox. Inside, there is mustard, a sandwich and a heart-shaped box of chocolates. I snag everything, except the chocolates, which Dug would just leave to rot (they were a gift to his girlfriend). I have an idea and restart the game, and indeed, I can take the chocolate box, if I do it before reading the letter. I hope the chocolate is a not crucial inventory item or otherwise it’s possible to screw your game in the very first moves.

Let’s answer that ringing phone. It’s Edsel, Dug’s friend, who has been playing this awesome game and who wants me to try it: if I like it, he’ll get to go on a date with my (ex-)girlfriend, if not, I’ll get his motorcycle. That’s a pretty lousy bet, since Dug could just say that he hates the game and automatically win. Oh well, let’s accept it. While at it, I try to call my ex, but it’s her dad who picks up the phone. Whatever I say, he just hangs up the phone.

Maybe I should have tried sell him a leather jacket

Going back to the front door, the game package has arrived. Inside, there’s the manual, a diskette, a warranty card, a red book called Compendium of Xanth and a pair of 3D glasses. Of all the things, the Compendium is probably the most interesting, since it contains a mass of information about the peculiarities of Xanth.

With nothing else to do, I go back to my computer, insert the diskette in the drive (of course, I have to also close it) and turn on the power. A small male figure appears on the screen.

This is Grundy the Golem. He began as a real golem, made of clay, but on a whim, X(A/N)TH decided to turn him into a living person. His talent is capability to speak all the different languages in the world.

(Sidenote: These talents are important for Xanth lore, since they are the basis of the magic in the novels. Originally, only humans could have talents, and each of these talents was unique, not ever repeated in the same manner. Thus, there could be pretty useless talents, like creating colourful spots on the wall, powerful talents, like creating storms, and weird talents, like making topological changes into things. Later on in the books, individuals of other species were found to also have magical talents. Indeed, the more Xanth books appeared, with more and more characters introduced, species, talents and romantic relations became eventually the only things differentiating some of the characters from one another.)

I seem to have missed the fourth possible companion in my screenshot

But here he is

Grundy instructs me to choose from four possible companions for the game:

• Jenny the Elf (and Sammy the Cat): The story behind this character is a sad one, Jenny being modelled after a Xanth fan, hit by a car and paralysed. She is also a crossover figure from the ElfQuest comics, which was another favourite of the real Jenny. Jenny the Elf has the talent of bringing others to her dreams through singing. She is always accompanied by her cat Sammy, who has the talent of finding anything you want to find.
• Che Centaur: Che is the perfect example of a Xanthian character with nothing remarkable to say about him. He’s a centaur (of course) that has wings and has the ability to make things lighter (including himself, so that he can really fly) … and that’s about it! I might mention that the centaur culture originally prided itself on not having any special talents, until in the fourth book, Centaur Aisle, was found the first known centaur with a talent, Arnolde, who could create an isle of magic around him, even in such a magicless place as Mundania.
• Nada Naga: Naga, that is, a human-snake hybrid. Grundy in the game says that her talent is to change into human and snake forms, which is true enough, but it’s not really a unique talent, since that’s what all nagas can do. Unfortunately, she’s one of those embarrassing Xanthian characters, whose plot lines are often dictated by her looks. She is mostly famous for being involved in a messy love triangle involving shapeshifting Prince Dolph (Xanth is monarchy) and Sleeping Beauty -wannabe Electra (and boy, was there a lot of cringeworthy comparison of the more voluptuous Nada to the more plain-looking Electra), but that’s all behind now, since Dolph was finally convinced to marry Electra (well, otherwise the poor girl would have been killed by a curse).
• Demoness Metria: It’s really confusing that in addition to the omnipotent demons like X(A/N)TH, Xanth books also speak of lesser powered demons, who are apparently just magically intensified wind (you must have heard of dust devils). D. Metria is a classic trickster figure, who likes to prank people (in case of males, this often involves seducing them).

Really, there is no choice, since even the front cover of the game shows I’m meant to choose Nada. I still try all others, just to see what happens. With each companion, I find myself in a cave with four doors. Others choose the wrong door and I am instantly killed.

The cave is also black and white...

...until I wear the 3D glasses (by the way, notice that some of the inventory items cannot be brought to Xanth)

Here’s what happens with Jenny the Elf.

Death takes you back to Grundy

At least the game is decent enough to admit there’s no way to know, whom to choose

With Metria, you can also lose by trying to kiss her

With Nada, I’m quickly out of the cave and faced with an awful live-action cutscene. I mean, none of the actors looks remotely like their drawn counterparts. In any case, I meet the other contestant, Kim, who has chosen Jenny the Elf as her companion. Kim tells Dug that since he does not believe in magic, he looks like a computer screen.

Nada tells it also

Dug suggests that maybe he and Kim could try to find the prize together, but Kim isn't interested and leaves with Jenny. This seems like a good place to stop. It’s not very clear what exactly I am supposed to do now (search for some mysterious prize?), but perhaps I will find out next time.

Session time: 2 h Total time: 2 h