Victorious Faction
Guardians of the Loch
The Guardians of the Loch are a group of disc golfers dedicated to protecting the secrets of Loch Ness and preventing the ancient evil from being unleashed upon the world. They believe in the sanctity of the loch and its creatures, and seek to maintain the delicate balance between the natural and supernatural realms. The Guardians are known for their unwavering loyalty, their deep connection to the land, and their mastery of the unique challenges posed by the Highland courses.
Faction Leader
Angus MacTavish
Angus MacTavish is a seasoned disc golfer and a descendant of the ancient clan tasked with guarding Loch Ness. He has spent his life studying the loch's history and legends, honing his skills on the challenging Highland courses. Angus is a man of few words, but his wisdom and experience make him a respected leader among the Guardians. He believes in the importance of tradition, honor, and the power of the natural world.
Members
21Divisions
This faction emerged victorious in Week 3, advancing their narrative in the ongoing conflict.
Victory points are calculated based on player performance relative to rating, special achievements like aces and CTPs, and community contributions. Pool multipliers are applied based on division ratings and demographics to ensure balanced competition.
Clayton Vanfleet #269237
Mossback Guardian
Secrets of the Serpent @ Urban Forest
Wielding the power of Mossback Guardian (#7), Clayton demonstrated exceptional skill by playing +65 points above their rating in this epic clash.
Devil's Cairn
Angus MacTavish has guided the Guardians to victory in the mist-shrouded Kelburn's Keep event, as newcomer Spencer Livsey, wielding the Cryptid CS17 Rune Weaver bag tag, unwittingly becomes a vessel for an ancient power. While Dr. Eliza Blackwood probes the castle's secrets with forbidden science, the Mist Warden stirs, choosing Kenneth Oetker as its champion. As hidden markers and eerie visions hint at Nessie's extraterrestrial origins, the battle lines between progress and tradition sharpen. With an ancient prophecy warning of impending doom should the seals of the seven sites be broken, the disc golfers must master their newfound abilities before the next event at Devil's Cairn, where an artifact of immense power awaits.
Commentary from Flippy (your trapped narrator)
Devil's Cairn
The moss came alive at dawn.
I watched from the edge of the parking lot as verdant tendrils crept across the dew-dampened stones, forming intricate patterns that made my blood run cold. Twenty years as a Guardian of the Loch, and I'd never seen the land itself try to warn us so directly.
"The stones remember," a quiet voice said beside me. I turned to find Clayton VanFleet studying the moss's movement, his bag tag—Cryptid CS31 Mossback Guardian—pulsing with a soft emerald light. The moss seemed to reach toward him, like flowers turning to face the sun.
"Aye," I replied, "but what are they trying to tell us?"
Clayton knelt, placing his hand on the nearest stone. The moss immediately entwined around his fingers, and his eyes took on the same emerald glow as his tag. "They're afraid," he whispered. "Something stirs beneath Devil's Cairn that should have stayed buried."
As if in response, a cold wind whipped through the parking lot, carrying the musty scent of ancient stone and something else—something that made the moss recoil and my skin crawl. Players were beginning to arrive for the tournament, their excited chatter dying as they noticed the unusual atmosphere.
Kenneth and Spencer approached together, their respective bag tags—Lochland Leviathan and Rune Weaver—already active. The mist curled protectively around Kenneth while faint amber runes flickered in the air around Spencer.
"The cairn's been compromised," Spencer said without preamble. "I can see the broken seals from here. Someone's been tampering with the ancient wards."
"Dr. Blackwood," Kenneth added grimly. "I followed her here last night. She had equipment I've never seen before—like a cross between ground-penetrating radar and... something else. Something that made the mist recoil."
I was about to respond when Clayton suddenly stiffened, his hand still connected to the moss-covered stone. "She's found it," he said, voice distant. "The Chamber of Echoes. The moss network extends deep into the cairn—I can feel her there now, trying to access the artifact."
"Then we're already too late," I started, but Clayton shook his head.
"No. The Mossback Guardian has been preparing for this. Watch."
Before our eyes, the moss began to move with purpose, flowing across the ground in thick ribbons that converged at Clayton's feet. As it reached him, it began to climb, enveloping him in a living armor of vegetation and stone. His bag tag blazed like a green star.
"The land remembers its ancient defenders," he said, his voice now carrying echoes of countless centuries. "And it's time to remind Dr. Blackwood why some doors were meant to stay closed."
The tournament began under a sky heavy with storm clouds. I'd arranged the pools carefully, keeping Clayton, Kenneth, and Spencer together in my group. Dr. Blackwood had been notably absent from the player meeting, though her faction members seemed unusually focused on the cairn that loomed over hole seven.
The first six holes wound through ancient standing stones, each one now wrapped in a thick carpet of moss that seemed to pulse in time with Clayton's movements. His throws were impossible—discs riding currents of vegetation that materialized mid-flight, landing zones suddenly clearing of obstacles as he approached.
"The Mossback Guardian's power grows stronger near places of old magic," Clayton explained between holes. "It's been waiting for a moment like this, when the seals would be tested."
"And the artifact?" Spencer asked, his tag illuminating several nearby runes. "What exactly is Dr. Blackwood after?"
"The Cairn Stone," Clayton replied. "A fragment of the original seal used to bind Nessie's... kindred. In the wrong hands, it could weaken the barriers between worlds."
A distant rumble of thunder punctuated his words as we approached hole seven. The cairn rose before us, its ancient stones now writhing with moss that formed distinct patterns—warnings in a language older than Scotland itself.
Kenneth raised his hand, and the mist parted to reveal Dr. Blackwood emerging from a previously hidden entrance at the cairn's base. She clutched something that glowed with an sickly purple light.
"Fascinating substance, this living moss," she called out, holding up what appeared to be a spray bottle. "But like all living things, it has its vulnerabilities. A simple compound derived from deep-water samples near Nessie's favorite haunts. Amazing how it just... withers away."
She demonstrated, spraying a nearby stone. The moss blackened and retreated, revealing more of the alien runes Spencer had discovered at Kelburn's Keep.
Clayton stepped forward, the moss armor thickening around him. "The land remembers you, Eliza Blackwood. It remembers your intrusions, your violations of sacred spaces. And it has had enough."
His bag tag flared, and suddenly the moss exploded into motion. It surged toward Dr. Blackwood in a green tide, too fast for her to react. But instead of attacking, it formed a perfect circle around her, and began to glow.
"The binding circle," Spencer gasped, reading the runes that appeared in the moss. "It's the same pattern from the hidden chamber!"
Dr. Blackwood's triumphant smile faltered as she realized she couldn't move. The purple-glowing stone in her hand began to pulse erratically.
"You don't understand what you're interfering with," she snapped. "This stone is the key to understanding Nessie's true nature! The power it contains—"
"Is not meant for human hands," Clayton finished. His voice had taken on that ancient timbre again, and the moss armor now covered him completely, transforming him into a figure that could have stepped out of Celtic legend. "The Mossback Guardian has watched over these lands since before the first stones were laid. It knows the price of the power you seek."
The stone in Dr. Blackwood's hand suddenly flared brilliantly. A sound like tearing reality filled the air, and for a moment, something vast and dark seemed to move beneath the surface of the world. The temperature plummeted, and eldritch symbols began burning themselves into the cairn's ancient stones.
"Everyone back!" I shouted, but Clayton stood his ground.
His bag tag blazed with blinding emerald light as he thrust his hands toward the ground. Moss erupted from every surface, weaving into complex patterns that mirrored the runes Spencer had discovered. The binding circle tightened, and Dr. Blackwood cried out as the Cairn Stone was torn from her grasp.
The stone shot into Clayton's waiting hand, immediately becoming encased in a cocoon of living moss. The otherworldly presence receded, leaving behind only a lingering chill and the smell of deep water.
"This ends now," Clayton said, his voice once again his own. "The artifact will be sealed properly, and you will leave this place."
Dr. Blackwood's eyes blazed with fury, but she was smart enough to recognize defeat. "This isn't over," she spat. "You can't keep Nessie's secrets hidden forever. The Great Awakening comes whether you're ready or not."
She turned and strode away, her faction members quickly following. As soon as she was gone, Clayton's moss armor began to recede, though his bag tag continued to pulse softly.
"The tournament?" Kenneth asked, looking at the chaos around hole seven.
I managed a grim smile. "Will continue, though we'll need to modify the layout. The cairn is too dangerous now—the barriers between worlds are thin here."
"They're thin everywhere," Clayton said quietly, the Cairn Stone still clutched in his moss-wrapped hand. "Dr. Blackwood's activities have weakened more than she knows. The Mossback Guardian can feel it—all the ancient places are stirring."
Spencer traced a glowing rune in the air. "These markings... they're like the ones from Kelburn's Keep, but more recent. Whatever's on the other side, it's getting closer."
I looked at the three of them—Kenneth with his mist powers, Spencer with his rune-reading abilities, and Clayton with his connection to the very land itself. The Guardians were growing stronger, but so too were the forces we faced.
"Then we'll be ready," I said. "The tournament will go on, but our real work is just beginning. The seals must be strengthened at all the ancient sites."
"The moss will help," Clayton added. "It's part of an ancient network, older than human memory. Through it, we can monitor the barriers, reinforce the weakening points."
As if in response, the moss across the course shifted, forming patterns that radiated out from Clayton's bag tag. For a moment, I could almost see it—the vast web of life and energy that connected all the sacred sites around Loch Ness.
The tournament resumed with a modified layout, and the Guardians claimed another victory. But as I watched Clayton use his newfound powers to begin sealing the cairn properly, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were running out of time.
The Great Awakening was coming. The only question was whether our growing powers would be enough to face it when it did.
And somewhere in the depths of Loch Ness, something stirred in response to the day's events, sending ripples across the surface that formed, just briefly, into the same eldritch runes that now marked the ancient stones of Devil's Cairn.
Flippy's Hot Take