I am chill. I just disagree with what felt like dismissing Jenrik's death. He had potential to be as relevant as Jori En, as an example. He grazed the spotlight and was killed, losing this potential. He went from irrelevant, as others once claimed, to his work being center stage, but was offed just as he was realized, and before he was represented on a card, for that work with Tamiyo. Even for what was a niche character on an upswing, that's disappointing.
I'm a scientist. I'm naturally discovery-oriented and drawn to what is vague, mysterious or unknown - not what's obvious and common. It's part of my natural curiosity to be drawn to an enticing, poetic part of the lore. I liked that he was an astronomer too who shut away from the world to focus on studying his passions. Sounds like my life, and a very Blue trait. And I am very much Blue myself. Maro has stated people identifying with characters is an important part of why PWs are humanoid, and why they're diversifying the cast. It's an important aspect of novels, and of many storytelling mediums to connect with people.
I don't really like the idea of shaming anyone for being invested in the game and lore. We're on MTGSalvation because we all care about this game in some way. As a Vorthos, I'm inclined to care more about the characters. There are parts of this forum where users spend $9,000 on a Black Lotus because they care more about playability. Well, this is my version of caring about what I do. To each their own. People cosplay their favorite characters from books, movies, shows. I just get a sense of "I know this is like the most disappointing thing in the game for you but like, stop overreacting."
I can very much relate to this, I often find myself forming attachments to characters in media often and it adds to my enjoyment of the material. We can feel vicariously through the experiences of our favorite characters, fostering an empathic bond through validation, fraternity, association, etc. There's a particular kind of niche character Im drawn to because of how they remind me of someone who had a significant impact on my life. While I had no attachment to Jenrik personally, the manner in which this story played out I can see why you'd be upset. Its not just the death--yes having a beloved character die is unfortunate, but whats truly tragic is having a character die without their story being told. In your head you've already imagined countless possibilities this character encompasses based on the few juicy morsels of information given. Then, when they're finally brought center stage--the author kills them immediately and all the possibilities of who they are, who they were, and what role they might have in the story die in that moment. There is no catharsis as when a character has reached the end of their arc and has a "good" death, just dissatisfaction and emptiness.
As for the story specifically: I hope we get some context on Tamiyo's reasoning for sending Jenrik to Markov Manor because I cannot fathom what either of them realistically intended to accomplish by going. The terror Jenrik felt (which Jace experienced through his lingering memories) seemed to suggest to me that he didn't intend for it to be a suicide mission. Does that mean they honestly expected to waltz into the vampires stronghold, sit down, have some coffee and discuss the contents of the journal with them? I would think anyone who has stayed on Innistrad for as long as I am to understand they have would know better than that. From this conclusion it then seems very unusual, calloused even, for Tamiyo to essentially send Jenrik to his death for nothing.
On another note, Im really hoping the story isn't suggesting that Edgar died. I would hate for the progenitor of Innistrad's Vampires, the lord of the Markov bloodline to have died offscreen without a card or any story involvement.
Absolutely agree here. I also find odd not only that Jenrik was sent to Markov Manor by Tamiyo, but that he complied as a local resident of Innistrad. Even stranger is the idea that he is actually feared and avoided by the Stormkirk, who believe he is holding great power. The idea that he felt fear, and behaved essentially as a regular mortal man who would have been easily killed like any other Innistrad resident seems odd to me for a legendary astronomy wizard with his depth of magical knowledge. The idea of Edgar going out like that is even more bizarre. But who knows what happened. I'll let the story play out. It's all I can really do. Perhaps we'll get more insight into who Jenrik was when Jace meets Tamiyo and informs her of his demise. Perhaps Eldritch Moon will have something. If nothing else, Return to Theros and Arixmethes are promising, so I'll look forward to Purphorors forging Thassa a Trident so the next time she throws it at someone, it gets the job done.
Was Jenrik killed by vampires before Nahiri's arrival at the manor, or actually killed via pillarification? I think the latter is implied, which makes me wonder how he didn't get brutally murdered by vampires. Interesting relationship or agreement with the vampires? Or he simply arrived just as Nahiri arrived and got killed before the vampires could even have a chance to drink his blood?
From what I understand, he was about to be killed by the Markov vampires, and he escaped that grisly fate by a brilliant timing of Nahiri's attack and ended up being baked into stone instead. Lucky chap, that one was.
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Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Ah, so that's why one of the clue tokens mentions about "Must inform Jenrik to investigate Markov manor"...
But I still find it odd as to why Tamiyo would part her journal (and not just some sketch/notebook, a journal that she brought over from Kamigawa, as Jace is quick to note that the book is not of Innistrad origin) when asking Jenrik to go to Markov Manor, and why would she want to ask Jenrik to go to Markov Manor? If she just wants Jenrik to go to Markov Manor, she could've trusted him to make his notes himself for sharing later... Or maybe because she has multiple books and the one Jenrik has is just one copy.....
But I still find it odd as to why Tamiyo would part her journal (and not just some sketch/notebook, a journal that she brought over from Kamigawa, as Jace is quick to note that the book is not of Innistrad origin) when asking Jenrik to go to Markov Manor, and why would she want to ask Jenrik to go to Markov Manor? If she just wants Jenrik to go to Markov Manor, she could've trusted him to make his notes himself for sharing later... Or maybe because she has multiple books and the one Jenrik has is just one copy.....
I'm sure Tamiyo has lots of notebooks and scrolls. Perhaps this one is only important because she gave it to Jenrik and then Jace found it.
To all the people wondering why Tamiyo would send Jenrik to Markov Manor in the first place, you're missing an important piece of the puzzle.
It's been established that the vampires on Innistrad have a full-fledged aristocratic society. They have human subjects who serve them, they make deals with human traders. Yes, they have to feed on the blood of humans to survive, but they don't just go around killing every human they see. If someone showed up at their doorstep seeking to trade information, they wouldn't just tear him apart. Under normal circumstances, a trip to Markov Manor might not be a pleasant experience, but it wouldn't be a suicide mission.
The problem is that whatever force is driving Innistrad to madness is causing the vampires to lose control of their bloodlust, as we've seen on several cards. That's why the Markov vampires were ready to tear Jenrik apart as soon as he set foot in their territory: like Avacyn and her angels, they weren't themselves at the time.
To all the people wondering why Tamiyo would send Jenrik to Markov Manor in the first place, you're missing an important piece of the puzzle.
It's been established that the vampires on Innistrad have a full-fledged aristocratic society. They have human subjects who serve them, they make deals with human traders. Yes, they have to feed on the blood of humans to survive, but they don't just go around killing every human they see. If someone showed up at their doorstep seeking to trade information, they wouldn't just tear him apart. Under normal circumstances, a trip to Markov Manor might not be a pleasant experience, but it wouldn't be a suicide mission.
The problem is that whatever force is driving Innistrad to madness is causing the vampires to lose control of their bloodlust, as we've seen on several cards. That's why the Markov vampires were ready to tear Jenrik apart as soon as he set foot in their territory: like Avacyn and her angels, they weren't themselves at the time.
Welcome! Yeah, this seems like the best explanation. Tamiyo and Jenrik were likely unaware that the vampires were going mad. Still, if Jenrik didn't have anything of value to really offer, the vampires would probably have killed him anyway. The question remains, why did Tamiyo send him to Markov Manor (even if it wasn't a sure death)?
To all the people wondering why Tamiyo would send Jenrik to Markov Manor in the first place, you're missing an important piece of the puzzle.
It's been established that the vampires on Innistrad have a full-fledged aristocratic society. They have human subjects who serve them, they make deals with human traders. Yes, they have to feed on the blood of humans to survive, but they don't just go around killing every human they see. If someone showed up at their doorstep seeking to trade information, they wouldn't just tear him apart. Under normal circumstances, a trip to Markov Manor might not be a pleasant experience, but it wouldn't be a suicide mission.
The problem is that whatever force is driving Innistrad to madness is causing the vampires to lose control of their bloodlust, as we've seen on several cards. That's why the Markov vampires were ready to tear Jenrik apart as soon as he set foot in their territory: like Avacyn and her angels, they weren't themselves at the time.
Welcome! Yeah, this seems like the best explanation. Tamiyo and Jenrik were likely unaware that the vampires were going mad. Still, if Jenrik didn't have anything of value to really offer, the vampires would probably have killed him anyway. The question remains, why did Tamiyo send him to Markov Manor (even if it wasn't a sure death)?
Considering that he had her journal I had assumed she sent him to Markov Manor to explain what was in her journal to allow him to further investigate what was going on. For ageless beings knowledge has always been very valuable so her journal should have been worth plenty.
May be Tamiyo discovered what was happening to Avacyn and tried to strike an alliance with the vampires in order to stop the madness from spreading (offering the journal as proof). Yet Jenrik arrived atthe worst possible time... Bloodcrazed vampires and then the destruction of the manor.
What about the hungering presence Jace felt in the dark?
If it were something he already encountered he would have recognized it... But that presence had no mind to touch.
Can it really be an entity?
Or can it be just Jace starting to go crazy?
Well, the clue says "Remember to have Jenrik research Markov Manor." That implies she wants to know something connected to the manor or the vampires. Maybe she found the mana distortions were somehow tied to the location. Or, perhaps, she wanted to know more about the bloodlines' history, and the vampire condition was somehow related to what is aflicting the angels.
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Vorthos Cartography - Check out my completed maps of Zendikar and Innistrad!
"You say 'learn from history,' but that does not mean 'learn the same bull***** the people in history learned alongside phrenology and alchemy.'" - The Blinking Spirit
Umm...dafuq? Liliana's involvement might be larger than we imagined. But the woman seem to imply Nahiri as well - is Jace being intentionally misled? How would Nahiri knew about him and Liliana and tried to pit them against each other?Upon rereading,it seems Jace is jumping to conclusions here.
Sinew+eyes = Emrakulists rejoice.
The inside mind scenes are priceless.Emrakul or not,this is Yog-Sothothian imagery.
Also,Mel Li's scientific background really paid off here in Tamiyo's notes.
Umm...dafuq? Liliana's involvement might be larger than we imagined.
Sinew+eyes = Emrakulists rejoice.
Also,Mel Li's scientific background really paid off here in Tamiyo's notes.
Yeah! This was fun to read.
I don't think Liliana is as involved as Jace was alleging. He was very clearly deluded. Maybe, though. Helping/manipulating Nahiri perhaps? Who knows.
The cryptoliths disrupting the mana, and beings made of mana, makes so much sense now. So many questions still though!
(I'm happy to know Tamiyo is alive though, and will not be the Julie Mao to Jace's Miller. /leviathan wakes reference)
Please , no more introspective stories. We get it. Jace is slowly going crazy.
Not a lot of obvious plot advancement. He arrived at a new, key location. They are really trying to build some suspense I suppose. The new or hidden moon concept does intrigue me though. Forcing a celestial object of considerable size to collide with a plane could be an effective way to get revenge on someone who is proprietary with said plane.
I still don't see how extra eyes are an Emrakul thing. There is like, one eldrazj with an eye, and it's not even Emrakul's. Everything else makes sense but that.
I think Jace's growing insanity would work better if we didn't know the general plot of the set. I find it really funny that Tamiyo writes that the crytholiths are stone shapes that manipulate mana and Jace doesn't even think of hedrons.
I still don't see how extra eyes are an Emrakul thing. There is like, one eldrazj with an eye, and it's not even Emrakul's. Everything else makes sense but that.
To be fair, they've intentionally left the details of Emrakul's effects vague. And it's not like this would be the first (or even the most egregious) retcon they've done.
I think Nahiri's plan might be simpler than we imagined. Maybe she just wanted to make Innistrad's moon on the plane, and all the Emrakul-looking "evidences" that we've been seeing everywhere were just red herrings for Jace (in-story) and thus, to us. They knew we would think of Eldrazi, as we just got an Eldrazi set, and what character better to share our thoughts than a PW who just came from that Eldrazi-infested plane and who would immediately think of Eldrazi being involved?
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Before the glory of Yawgmoth, yes, even this makes sense.
Yeah, the gravity warping kind of seals it for me. It's DEFINITELY Emrakul involved, but I still don't think we know the whole story.
It would be cool if we get a DFC Emrakul next set though.
From what I gathered, this also sort of makes
Nahiri (do I need to spoiler tag this?)
plan and possibly character arch that of Skull Kid from Majora's Mask because the early part of the story says the moon itself is being drawn to Innistrad.
As for the DFC Emrakul, I'm curious what the two sides would be, both effect-wise and artistic wise. I have my speculations, but those are just for fun. I'm pretty sure we're going to see DFC Eldrazi next set though to show the escalation of Emrakul's influence a la Daring Sleuth to the EXTREME!
As for the story itself... it was alright. I'm going to have to read it again because I feel like I skimmed over some parts *which may be attributed to I'm not fully following the maddening narrative Jace is giving.* I am kind of disappointed that this set up Liliana as a red herring. Even if I didn't already have the entire set's plot set out for me with heavy-handed hints about the conclusion *within the stories themselves* I'd know that Liliana isn't a master mind. It will depend on how their confrontation as depicted in Liliana's Indignation plays out, but this feels more like a filler than progressing the plot *namely because Jace is RIGHT THERE at the source! I generally dislike when writers pad out a mystery because their protagonist would otherwise solve it too fast*
Umm...dafuq? Liliana's involvement might be larger than we imagined. But the woman seem to imply Nahiri as well - is Jace being intentionally misled? How would Nahiri knew about him and Liliana and tried to pit them against each other?Upon rereading,it seems Jace is jumping to conclusions here.
I understood this as Jace drawing paranoid conclusions as he loses his grip on reality, due to his repeated exposure to the stuff affecting the plane (visiting Markov manor, entering the insane cultist's mind, constantly poking cryptoliths, etc.)
The inside mind scenes are priceless.Emrakul or not,this is Yog-Sothothian imagery.
Also,Mel Li's scientific background really paid off here in Tamiyo's notes.
Agreed on both. Mel Li's voice for Tamiyo is great; we're really meeting Tamiyo for the first time here, and she's really living up to my hopes for the character.
I think Nahiri's plan might be simpler than we imagined. Maybe she just wanted to make Innistrad's moon on the plane, and all the Emrakul-looking "evidences" that we've been seeing everywhere were just red herrings for Jace (in-story) and thus, to us. They knew we would think of Eldrazi, as we just got an Eldrazi set, and what character better to share our thoughts than a PW who just came from that Eldrazi-infested plane and who would immediately think of Eldrazi being involved?
Er... This story was explicitly about Jace following a red herring to Liliana, equating the zombie activity at the Drownyard to be her doing and conenctign the dots to think she's behind whatever is going on and that she'll have the answers. He even actively avoids reading the rest of the journal here in what feels pretty uncharacteristic hardheaded-ness because he's so set on Liliana, and this was the the first bit of story detailing that whatever is affecting things and whatever the cryptoliths are pointing towards is emanating from the sky, and not from the temple itself like I was thinking-- which itself clears up some issues of why, if Emrakul was involved, she would be coming from a temple in the ocean or something, for example. I think once we start speculating that red herrings are red herrings for red herrings, I think our speculation starts to run a little unreasonable, don't you think?
I really liked the Tamiyo's journal entries, though I don't know if it was intentionally a callback to Lovecraft's first person style here like it was in the Mystery of Markov Manor for certain, but I think it more closely resembled it regardless. The feel of educated, scientific analysis combined with the flowery (though not nearly to the same level...) text. I'm not sure just because the idea of the switch to first person whilst reading the journal entries (also a pretty Lovecraftian trope-y set up) felt a lot more natural of a transition to me personally, whereas I felt like it the switch in the previous story was clearly meant to just be an acknowledgement of the block's basis. The pseudo-biology lesson on werewolves was kind of cool too.
I think it's kind of weird that apparently the Drownyard Temple is not really a... temple? I kind of thought we were going to see a literal temple rise from the ocean, but I guess the "temple" is actually the ring of cryptoliths (that appear to be attached to the top of some sort of ring) itself coming in and out of the rapidly warping tides? Maybe it just hasn't risen entirely yet? Seems weird to not put the card in whichever set is the one where we actually see the full temple so I dunno if that's it. This only bugs me because there's a very specific kind of architecture associated with Lovecraft's works too and it feels almost like a tease and a waste to have there be a temple in the story but it's not really a full temple so it can't really be cyclopean. I guess the ring of whatever structure the cryptoliths are attached to looks kind of cyclopean.
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They didn't care that he was the savior of Fort Keff, the great hunter of Ondu, the champion of Kabira. To them, he was just another piece of flesh, a thing with life to be drained away.
Urrrrrrh! Is it just me, or did that answer *nothing*?! So Jace enters a madwoman's head and finds himself lumbered with three illusionary companions that all look like him but then morph into Tamiyo, Liliana and... a hooded one. Himself? So are his illusions delusions from inside his own head, forming into shapes he conjures himself, leading him in the wrong direction in assuming 'zombies and corrupted angels, ergo Liliana'?
Sooooo confusing. And brilliant.
After all of that though, I think the nuggets we gained from Tamiyo's journal before Jace went all doolally are useful:
- The dead werewolf has organic distortion going on inside it, hence the lack of death reversion. Eyes, sinewy stuff... hmm.
- The cryptoliths are bending the mana-flows (as we knew), but that is what is driving the pure-mana creatures - the angels - mad. Makes sense. Maybe Avacyn and the angels' corruption is just an unforeseen by-product of the greater plan? And I wonder if it's affecting the demons the same way?
And finally, from his madness, we get the eldritch moon; some invisible, celestial object Object hanging above or being drawn to the Drownyard, distorting the heron moon's patterns and affecting the tides. Yeah - I'm still in Camp Emrakul here, I think.
- The cryptoliths are bending the mana-flows (as we knew), but that is what is driving the pure-mana creatures - the angels - mad. Makes sense. Maybe Avacyn and the angels' corruption is just an unforeseen by-product of the greater plan? And I wonder if it's affecting the demons the same way?
I think Nahiri's plan might be simpler than we imagined. Maybe she just wanted to make Innistrad's moon on the plane, and all the Emrakul-looking "evidences" that we've been seeing everywhere were just red herrings for Jace (in-story) and thus, to us. They knew we would think of Eldrazi, as we just got an Eldrazi set, and what character better to share our thoughts than a PW who just came from that Eldrazi-infested plane and who would immediately think of Eldrazi being involved?
Er... This story was explicitly about Jace following a red herring to Liliana, equating the zombie activity at the Drownyard to be her doing and conenctign the dots to think she's behind whatever is going on and that she'll have the answers. He even actively avoids reading the rest of the journal here in what feels pretty uncharacteristic hardheaded-ness because he's so set on Liliana, and this was the the first bit of story detailing that whatever is affecting things and whatever the cryptoliths are pointing towards is emanating from the sky, and not from the temple itself like I was thinking-- which itself clears up some issues of why, if Emrakul was involved, she would be coming from a temple in the ocean or something, for example. I think once we start speculating that red herrings are red herrings for red herrings, I think our speculation starts to run a little unreasonable, don't you think?
Yeah, sorry there, I ended up writing more what I would have liked than what the story was about, so in the end my post was nonsense. Duh.
So yup, I still don't like the idea very much, but it seems Emrakul is the answer.
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Before the glory of Yawgmoth, yes, even this makes sense.
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Nevertheless, now I'm interested in exactly how Tamiyo's Journal ends up in Markov Manor...
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
From what I understand, he was about to be killed by the Markov vampires, and he escaped that grisly fate by a brilliant timing of Nahiri's attack and ended up being baked into stone instead. Lucky chap, that one was.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
But I still find it odd as to why Tamiyo would part her journal (and not just some sketch/notebook, a journal that she brought over from Kamigawa, as Jace is quick to note that the book is not of Innistrad origin) when asking Jenrik to go to Markov Manor, and why would she want to ask Jenrik to go to Markov Manor? If she just wants Jenrik to go to Markov Manor, she could've trusted him to make his notes himself for sharing later... Or maybe because she has multiple books and the one Jenrik has is just one copy.....
I'm sure Tamiyo has lots of notebooks and scrolls. Perhaps this one is only important because she gave it to Jenrik and then Jace found it.
It's been established that the vampires on Innistrad have a full-fledged aristocratic society. They have human subjects who serve them, they make deals with human traders. Yes, they have to feed on the blood of humans to survive, but they don't just go around killing every human they see. If someone showed up at their doorstep seeking to trade information, they wouldn't just tear him apart. Under normal circumstances, a trip to Markov Manor might not be a pleasant experience, but it wouldn't be a suicide mission.
The problem is that whatever force is driving Innistrad to madness is causing the vampires to lose control of their bloodlust, as we've seen on several cards. That's why the Markov vampires were ready to tear Jenrik apart as soon as he set foot in their territory: like Avacyn and her angels, they weren't themselves at the time.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Well, the clue says "Remember to have Jenrik research Markov Manor." That implies she wants to know something connected to the manor or the vampires. Maybe she found the mana distortions were somehow tied to the location. Or, perhaps, she wanted to know more about the bloodlines' history, and the vampire condition was somehow related to what is aflicting the angels.
"You say 'learn from history,' but that does not mean 'learn the same bull***** the people in history learned alongside phrenology and alchemy.'" - The Blinking Spirit
Umm...dafuq? Liliana's involvement might be larger than we imagined. But the woman seem to imply Nahiri as well - is Jace being intentionally misled? How would Nahiri knew about him and Liliana and tried to pit them against each other?Upon rereading,it seems Jace is jumping to conclusions here.
Sinew+eyes = Emrakulists rejoice.
The inside mind scenes are priceless.Emrakul or not,this is Yog-Sothothian imagery.
Also,Mel Li's scientific background really paid off here in Tamiyo's notes.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Yeah! This was fun to read.
I don't think Liliana is as involved as Jace was alleging. He was very clearly deluded. Maybe, though. Helping/manipulating Nahiri perhaps? Who knows.
The cryptoliths disrupting the mana, and beings made of mana, makes so much sense now. So many questions still though!
(I'm happy to know Tamiyo is alive though, and will not be the Julie Mao to Jace's Miller. /leviathan wakes reference)
Not a lot of obvious plot advancement. He arrived at a new, key location. They are really trying to build some suspense I suppose. The new or hidden moon concept does intrigue me though. Forcing a celestial object of considerable size to collide with a plane could be an effective way to get revenge on someone who is proprietary with said plane.
EDH: GWCaptain Sisay
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
To be fair, they've intentionally left the details of Emrakul's effects vague. And it's not like this would be the first (or even the most egregious) retcon they've done.
Before the glory of Yawgmoth, yes, even this makes sense.
It would be cool if we get a DFC Emrakul next set though.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
As for the DFC Emrakul, I'm curious what the two sides would be, both effect-wise and artistic wise. I have my speculations, but those are just for fun. I'm pretty sure we're going to see DFC Eldrazi next set though to show the escalation of Emrakul's influence a la Daring Sleuth to the EXTREME!
As for the story itself... it was alright. I'm going to have to read it again because I feel like I skimmed over some parts *which may be attributed to I'm not fully following the maddening narrative Jace is giving.* I am kind of disappointed that this set up Liliana as a red herring. Even if I didn't already have the entire set's plot set out for me with heavy-handed hints about the conclusion *within the stories themselves* I'd know that Liliana isn't a master mind. It will depend on how their confrontation as depicted in Liliana's Indignation plays out, but this feels more like a filler than progressing the plot *namely because Jace is RIGHT THERE at the source! I generally dislike when writers pad out a mystery because their protagonist would otherwise solve it too fast*
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
Agreed on both. Mel Li's voice for Tamiyo is great; we're really meeting Tamiyo for the first time here, and she's really living up to my hopes for the character.
Er... This story was explicitly about Jace following a red herring to Liliana, equating the zombie activity at the Drownyard to be her doing and conenctign the dots to think she's behind whatever is going on and that she'll have the answers. He even actively avoids reading the rest of the journal here in what feels pretty uncharacteristic hardheaded-ness because he's so set on Liliana, and this was the the first bit of story detailing that whatever is affecting things and whatever the cryptoliths are pointing towards is emanating from the sky, and not from the temple itself like I was thinking-- which itself clears up some issues of why, if Emrakul was involved, she would be coming from a temple in the ocean or something, for example. I think once we start speculating that red herrings are red herrings for red herrings, I think our speculation starts to run a little unreasonable, don't you think?
I really liked the Tamiyo's journal entries, though I don't know if it was intentionally a callback to Lovecraft's first person style here like it was in the Mystery of Markov Manor for certain, but I think it more closely resembled it regardless. The feel of educated, scientific analysis combined with the flowery (though not nearly to the same level...) text. I'm not sure just because the idea of the switch to first person whilst reading the journal entries (also a pretty Lovecraftian trope-y set up) felt a lot more natural of a transition to me personally, whereas I felt like it the switch in the previous story was clearly meant to just be an acknowledgement of the block's basis. The pseudo-biology lesson on werewolves was kind of cool too.
I think it's kind of weird that apparently the Drownyard Temple is not really a... temple? I kind of thought we were going to see a literal temple rise from the ocean, but I guess the "temple" is actually the ring of cryptoliths (that appear to be attached to the top of some sort of ring) itself coming in and out of the rapidly warping tides? Maybe it just hasn't risen entirely yet? Seems weird to not put the card in whichever set is the one where we actually see the full temple so I dunno if that's it. This only bugs me because there's a very specific kind of architecture associated with Lovecraft's works too and it feels almost like a tease and a waste to have there be a temple in the story but it's not really a full temple so it can't really be cyclopean. I guess the ring of whatever structure the cryptoliths are attached to looks kind of cyclopean.
But the people behind the barrier knew.
Sooooo confusing. And brilliant.
After all of that though, I think the nuggets we gained from Tamiyo's journal before Jace went all doolally are useful:
- The dead werewolf has organic distortion going on inside it, hence the lack of death reversion. Eyes, sinewy stuff... hmm.
- The cryptoliths are bending the mana-flows (as we knew), but that is what is driving the pure-mana creatures - the angels - mad. Makes sense. Maybe Avacyn and the angels' corruption is just an unforeseen by-product of the greater plan? And I wonder if it's affecting the demons the same way?
And finally, from his madness, we get the eldritch moon; some invisible, celestial
objectObject hanging above or being drawn to the Drownyard, distorting the heron moon's patterns and affecting the tides. Yeah - I'm still in Camp Emrakul here, I think.Mindwrack Demon implies yes.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
~~~~~
Yeah, sorry there, I ended up writing more what I would have liked than what the story was about, so in the end my post was nonsense. Duh.
So yup, I still don't like the idea very much, but it seems Emrakul is the answer.
Before the glory of Yawgmoth, yes, even this makes sense.