Young Marek (Melanie Stone) is a crippled but bright slave owned by a brutal master (Michael Flynn, CHOKE CANYON), but she has been studying magic under local wizard Gojun Pye (Kevin Sorbo, COFFIN) who is exiling himself away from his greedy and power-mad customers. When she robbed by charming thief Dagen (Jake Stormoen) and late returning from an errand, Marek is beaten by her master and accidentally kills him with some innate dark magic she did not realize she possessed. Forced to exile herself or be hanged as a runaway slave and a necromancer, Marek follows Gojun's advice and heads to the Hammerhead Inn, the hangout of questors (of various species) and seeks employment with its proprietor (Christopher Robin Miller) but is turned down. When high priestess Teela (Nicola Posener, AXED) is also turned away when she comes seeking a team of adventurers, Marek boldly offers her services. Teela reluctantly accepts the help and Marek assembles a team consisting of herself, Thane (Adam Johnson, FROZEN) - the drunkard Vitalon guard jailed for defending her from an influential pimp (Robert Jayne, DR. ALIEN) - and Dagen who they rescue from a murderous cuckolded husband. The four take to the road, battling Orcs and various beasts in an effort to find Teela's sister Caeryn (Natalie Devine) who disappeared during an Orc raid on their temple along with a magical stone. When they meet up with the giant ogre who abducted Teela, the team become separated and Marek may have to use her unhoned magic and confront the inner darkness that Teela has sensed in her. "Created by" Jason Faller (OSOMBIE) and Kynan Griffin (VAMP U), the first installment of the five part MYTHICA series of films is derivative of so many fantasy fiction films, shows, and books that its specifics are uninteresting but its over-familiarity allows for a relatively quick and painless setup. Since the first film is the setup for four other feature-length adventures - with some incidental events presumably expanded upon later - both Caeryn and the magic stone turns out to be a bit of a McGuffin. Stone makes for a likable lead and the performances are mostly of a standard that is not distacting at best and stiff at worst. Top-billed Sorbo appears in a single scene, and may possibly have shot all of his scenes for the series at the same time. Production values and effects (apart from a couple practicals) are sub-Asylum and the film is at its best when exploiting the Utah landscapes.