We have an area of England - near Birmingham - colloquially called the Black Country. Now I'm going to imagine everyone from Ghirapur talking in a Brummie accent. "Or-roit! Oi'm fram Geerapoor ya now?"
Like a lot of people, excited for this since I love Artifacts. I don't know if I'd say the general idea of the setting is interesting (we've had artifact worlds before, mostly-city-world before, even the aesthetic of the artifacts here are similar to Esper but in gold and it's worn as opposed to literally replacing body parts), but an Eastern Indian/perhaps even Hindu? related world is still totally fresh and interesting for Magic and throwing in a "It's like x but with y" and having the y be "ROBOTS" for "Indian world" it's hard to make it not seem awesome. I think a lot of people guessed an artifact plane coming up because of all the artifact plants that still haven't really paid off and interesting but kind of weird design choices like Clues being artifact tokens. I was personally hoping for New Phyrexia but a basically-new plane is still great and I guess they probably wouldn't want to have the same conflict they had when they last did New Phyrexia/Mirrodin in close proximity to Innistrad in terms of making the tones distinct.
It kind of bums me out that Saheeli Rai looks like an artifact-powered Planeswalker! It could have been Daretti man! Maybe he'll show up in Conspiracy 2.
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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.
I just want Dack Fayden to show up, steal some stuff at the fair, maybe find out Rai and Dack are somehow connected, like relative or maybe trained together. Dack's a thief but he also has a strong artifact background as well, right?
As an Indian (Punjabi Hindu), I would expect (and hope for) minimal, if any real classical Hindu mythos in this set. They don't mix well with clockwork, which is Victorian British, with themes that talk about energy and its role in society (like electricity, not mystical energy), governance and its role in society, corruption, technology and how that effects people, how it could be different, and social class. Hindu epics (Ramayana/Mahabarata) are rooted in very different values, family, sibling love, duty to your family/king, self discovery in solitude, how to work with your elders, roles of women, devotion etc. Its something that I think would be extremely hard to mix well. I would hope that would be left to a different plane. (And I assume we can have more than one South Asian-inspired plane eventually so they don't have to shove all of in Kaladesh, especially considering Kaladesh has much more going on). Of course I'm probably missing some story, or part of the epics that would work well, and I wouldn't be surprised with maybe one or two nods that they can make, but overall, and especially with the epics, I don't think it fits well.
Of course Hinduism/the epics/mythology are not the only parts of South Asian culture (which, by the way, is probably the better term as there are many people who are not Indian - Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalis, Sri Lankans etc), and that can be drawn from and mixed with steampunk, like architecture, dress (Saheeli's sari is gorgeous), the wildlife (I'm excited for a metal elephant, metal monkeys, tigers, peacocks, cows whatever), class, urban/rural divides, etc. More modern things that can be meshed really interestingly with the steampunk stuff.
Basically, what I'm saying is that I expect, and hope for, Kaladesh being South Asia meets Steampunk, not Steampunk meets Hinduism.
I... Was actually going to comment something similar once I got some responses.
I'm not far removed enough to know what the 'common' tropes of India would be for the average person with only a little experience.
I should be clear that when I say "Indian" in this context, I'm talking about the Indian subcontinent. South Asian is probably the better term, you're right.
The things I would like to see represented are:
- Color is something India is known for and Holi and Diwali are instant recognizable - Expand on what Tarkir started with non-western demon imagery. Devas instead of Angels. Very few western mythos creatures. - Mughals and/or the British Raj, which the consuls seem to broadly be
- Class divisions between the artisan inventors and the poor
- If there is an Indian soap opera reference somehow I will die of laughter
- Keep it a melting pot, South Asia has always been relatively diverse.
- Unique creatures, South Asiant myths are full of things that have been untapped by fantasy. For instance, Vetala vampires, Venara, Garuda, etc.
What's funny is that Bant has a lot of Hindu and Buddhist characteristics. I think some of those ideas could carry over nicely.
... And yeah, I guess I've been a bit Hindu-centric here. South Asian is a hugely diverse place and there is a lot to tap.
Would they be Devas, or Apsaras? Either way, if they did this what I would hope to see would be a White flying class with a uniform characteristic/ defining trait besides "they all fly." As in, Dragons almost always have R +1/+0 pump or something similar, hydras are now almost always +1/+1 counter based, etc.
Because while I love angels, their abilities and traits are all over the place as White's iconic. So it would be nice to have a group of large flyers with a defining characteristic that could be built around for certain types of decks.
Beyond that, I'm hoping for lots of jungle imagery at times, ala Naya and Sultai, even though this is a steampunk plane.
Would they be Devas, or Apsaras? Either way, if they did this what I would hope to see would be a White flying class with a uniform characteristic/ defining trait besides "they all fly." As in, Dragons almost always have R +1/+0 pump or something similar, hydras are now almost always +1/+1 counter based, etc.
Because while I love angels, their abilities and traits are all over the place as White's iconic. So it would be nice to have a group of large flyers with a defining characteristic that could be built around for certain types of decks.
Beyond that, I'm hoping for lots of jungle imagery at times, ala Naya and Sultai, even though this is a steampunk plane.
I think the RU elements will be the steampunk/artifacts, which we will see the other colors delve into other things. Caustic Caterpillar seems to imply there would be a lot of green, and outside of Ghirapur it's pretty wild.
I'm hesitant on the Jungle imagery. While it's true that South Asia has large jungles, a lot of what's been written on them in western culture are essentially colonial allegories. I mean, I'd love to see a lot of wild creatures in Kaladesh, I just don't want it descending into British Colonial India stereotypes.
I just want Dack Fayden to show up, steal some stuff at the fair, maybe find out Rai and Dack are somehow connected, like relative or maybe trained together. Dack's a thief but he also has a strong artifact background as well, right?
Dack is currently in the Theros underworld so don't get your hopes up on seeing him anywhere but there, unless they hand-wave away his story relevance.
Will the Consul be the villain here? Or someone else? Eitherway, I think I don't mind waiting to see what's going to happen, but that's all.
The consuls (plural) seem to be a good guess. Also: the Inventor's Fair seems to be an important place. The Gatewatch looking for some kind of invention?
Not feeling India themes or Steampunk at all, personally, but I know it's a popular setting many have wanted. I'll probably sit this block out, since I'm more of an Enchantment fan and not too fond of artifacts outside of the Theros weapons. But hey, everyone has their preferences. Some didn't like Theros and I'm dying to get back there. Vryn would be nice for me to see.
I'm really hoping at some point they'll do a proper Arabic set. Arabian Nights is old, too related to real-world influences and the art is pretty dated. I want a MTG approach to countries like Lebanon (Phoencia), Syria, Iraq/Babylon, deserts, etc. But of course Egyptian World must happen first, so it's going to be a long time coming. I wouldn't mind Arabian World being part of Egyptian World either, if it comes to that. Large planes are always welcome, and the Assyrians did go to war with Egypt and all that, so why not.
IDK though, this setting just doesn't do it for me on any level at all. Diversity is nice to see of course. Hope the gay male Planeswalker is from Vryn painted by Cynthia Shepherd or Jason Chan.
IDK though, this setting just doesn't do it for me on any level at all. Diversity is nice to see of course. Hope the gay male Planeswalker is from Vryn painted by Cynthia Shepherd or Jason Chan.
Ampryn Tactician is a sexy beast, yeah?
I actually wonder about Ral Zarek. In the story about Project Lightning Bug he describes Gidion as having "striking eyes." Just an interesting thing for him to note is all.
On topic wise: I'm really curious how they're going to combine the more british industrialization that steampunk typically goes hand in hand with, with the more ethnic/cultural/mythological/spiritual flavors. They don't seem to go terribly well together at first glance. At least, not without running headlong into the british colonial era/influences.
Not sure if this has been covered before, so forgive me if it has:
Kaladesh is an Indian-inspired set, yes? If this is the case, why is Chandra very, very white? Granted, most of the 'Walkers are white, or in the case of Nahiri extra-white, but it gives me pause to think. There isn't a lot of racial diversity amoung the current collection of Planeswalkers, especially as the new Oathwatch is comprised of five white leads. Gideon doesn't count either, he's Greco-Roman, which is still very much considered Caucasian.
So is Chandra of mixed race? Her mother looks very Indian to me, even her father looks close, but Chandra herself is very pale. Given the setting, would it be feasible, or even desirable to alter her skin colour to both; better align her character with her home plane; and secondly to help bring some racial diversity to a game that is lacking it?
We've seen WotC alter their 'Walkers in the past, the most recent I can think of is completely altering Nissa's original backstory and personality, so there is cause that this could happen.
We do have the new 'Walker Saheeli, who is gorgeous and very interesting looking, so it's not like I'm saying that we won't have racial examples to pull from the new set. I just find it very odd that one of the core 'Walkers is Caucasian, from a plane heavily inspired by Indian-style themes.
Thoughts, opinions? I'm very interested in reading what others have to say.
Not sure if this has been covered before, so forgive me if it has:
Kaladesh is an Indian-inspired set, yes? If this is the case, why is Chandra very, very white? Granted, most of the 'Walkers are white, or in the case of Nahiri extra-white, but it gives me pause to think. There isn't a lot of racial diversity amoung the current collection of Planeswalkers, especially as the new Oathwatch is comprised of five white leads. Gideon doesn't count either, he's Greco-Roman, which is still very much considered Caucasian.
So is Chandra of mixed race? Her mother looks very Indian to me, even her father looks close, but Chandra herself is very pale. Given the setting, would it be feasible, or even desirable to alter her skin colour to both; better align her character with her home plane; and secondly to help bring some racial diversity to a game that is lacking it?
We've seen WotC alter their 'Walkers in the past, the most recent I can think of is completely altering Nissa's original backstory and personality, so there is cause that this could happen.
We do have the new 'Walker Saheeli, who is gorgeous and very interesting looking, so it's not like I'm saying that we won't have racial examples to pull from the new set. I just find it very odd that one of the core 'Walkers is Caucasian, from a plane heavily inspired by Indian-style themes.
Thoughts, opinions? I'm very interested in reading what others have to say.
This was a hot button topic in one of the other threads.
So, as the father of a half-Indian/half-white baby, I can confirm that they run the whole pigment range. They can appear to be what we would call white. Technically, Indians ARE caucasian.
The red hair is an issue, because it's incredibly unlikely, but 'magic' - I've made my peace with it.
I think the big issue that happened is that they made Chandra first then when they where trying to figure out her home world they had two things to go with: steampunk armor and an Indian name, so we got steampunk Indian inspired world. And while it does look like Chandra is mixed race, I don't think Wizards is gonna advertise her as a figure of diversity since retconing any characters race never goes very well.
And creative as has said that Kaladesh, like Innistrad, is diverse in races, so the fact that we have a two walkers who show the color spectrum is very cool and more realistic.
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I think the big issue that happened is that they made Chandra first then when they where trying to figure out her home world they had two things to go with: steampunk armor and an Indian name, so we got steampunk Indian inspired world. And while it does look like Chandra is mixed race, I don't think Wizards is gonna advertise her as a figure of diversity since retconing any characters race never goes very well.
And creative as has said that Kaladesh, like Innistrad, is diverse in races.
I think, like you said, Kaladesh will be a primarily Indian themed world but it sponsors all races.
Yeah, I don't think it's a problem. South Asia is a diverse place that runs the racial gamut, too.
I will note that wizards has a history of giving Indian names to non-Indians analogue characters (Jaya, Jodah, Radha, Karn - although they say that one is coincidence, Mishra, Urza, Arjun, etc.)
That said, I'd rather focus on what's coming on Kaladesh than harping on something we've been talking about since Origins, you know? Let's just say Chandra runs henna through her hair and leave it there.
That said, I'd rather focus on what's coming on Kaladesh than harping on something we've been talking about since Origins, you know? Let's just say Chandra runs henna through her hair and leave it there.
Yeah, it was a little off-topic, my apologies.
I am super excited to see Kaladesh though, hopefully the artifact theme isn't as predominant as it has been in for other planes; I'm getting artifact cabin fever. Though as someone who is a huge fan of Steampunk/Cyberpunk I cannot resist a world where man meets machine, so I'm keeping myself hopefully until we get some more information revealed to us.
I'm sorry to beat a dead horse here, (since this conversation happened while I was asleep.) but I think it's a little unfair to say Chandra isn't a minority. Redheads are a minority, just not one that is as visible as others. It doesn't help that in fantasy and fiction, redheads tend to get over represented as a result of sexism and other factors. The issue for me is that they shoehorned her ethnicity into the Indian plane.
@Jay13X: The very concept of Chandra dyeing her hair is so offensive, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that.
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I'm sorry to beat a dead horse here, (since this conversation happened while I was asleep.) but I think it's a little unfair to say Chandra isn't a minority. Redheads are a minority, just not one that is as visible as others. It doesn't help that in fantasy and fiction, redheads tend to get over represented as a result of sexism and other factors. The issue for me is that they shoehorned her ethnicity into the Indian plane.
@Jay13x: The very concept of Chandra dyeing her hair is so offensive, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that.
Ha! You're coming at it from the opposite perspective, then?
So here's the problem with red hair on a half-Indian/half-White person. The Indian parent is always going to be RR, unless they're part white themselves. Red hair in India is almost always from hair dye, like Henna. There is no genetic way that Chandra could have red hair, if Pia and Kiran are her parents. At best, Kiran would be Rr, meaning that Chandra herself could only be Rr, when you need to be rr to have red hair.
Eye color is a bit different. It would have been much more possible for Chandra to have blue eyes and fair skin than for her to have red hair. Fair skin is really common in South Asia (at least in the north), and my sister-in-law's sister has a half-white/half-Indian baby with fair skin and blue eyes.
Granted, this is applying a lot of real-world science to a magical setting, so grains of salt at hand. The leaves three avenues: Chandra is adopted, the red hair is magic, or Chandra dyes her hair. Since her eyes are pretty clearly red, and obviously magical, I'm going with her hair is red because of it too, honestly.
The issue I think we both see here is that it's problematic to retcon what was clearly concepted as a red haired, freckled gaelic lass into a mixed race south asian child. If we want to keep talking about THAT, I'd recommend starting a thread on race bending or white washing.
Ha! You're coming at it from the opposite perspective, then?
So here's the problem with red hair on a half-Indian/half-White person. The Indian parent is always going to be RR, unless they're part white themselves. Red hair in India is almost always from hair dye, like Henna. There is no genetic way that Chandra could have red hair, if Pia and Kiran are her parents. At best, Kiran would be Rr, meaning that Chandra herself could only be Rr, when you need to be rr to have red hair.
I'm fairly well acquainted with the genetics of red hair. She would need to inherit the mutated MC1R from both her parents. Kiran looks like he could carry the gene. Pia, it's possible for her to have a Caucasian ancestor somewhere down the line, allowing her to be a carrier, but the odds of that happening are small. Another possible (but equally unlikely) explanation is that Chandra's complexion is the result of a random mutation in one of her gametes or the zygote.
Eye color is a bit different. It would have been much more possible for Chandra to have blue eyes and fair skin than for her to have red hair. Fair skin is really common in South Asia (at least in the north), and my sister-in-law's sister has a half-white/half-Indian baby with fair skin and blue eyes.
Granted, this is applying a lot of real-world science to a magical setting, so grains of salt at hand. The leaves three avenues: Chandra is adopted, the red hair is magic, or Chandra dyes her hair. Since her eyes are pretty clearly red, and obviously magical, I'm going with her hair is red because of it too, honestly.
This is probably the best explanation. A redhead associated with fire magic is painfully cliche, but in this situation, it's the least problematic solution.
The issue I think we both see here is that it's problematic to retcon what was clearly concepted as a red haired, freckled gaelic lass into a mixed race south asian child. If we want to keep talking about THAT, I'd recommend starting a thread on race bending or white washing.
This is also my problem. I'm okay with Chandra being a redhead, but it doesn't work in the context. I would have rather they devised a different plane for her, rather than shoehorn her in or retcon it. That said, maybe we just haven't seen enough of the plane yet. Their could be a sizeable chunk of the population we haven't seen yet, with red hair and lighter skin.
That's all for now. I'll wait until we see more of Kaladesh before I make up more theories.
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Infact, it would make for a decent plotpoint that would neatly tie in with what we know about Kaladesh:
a) Fire magic is banned in Ghira-Pur
b) Some individuals (like Chandra) seem to be naturally gifted at pyromancy
If they wanted they could just say that Chandra was actually part of a, say, mountain tribe whose people had a natural affinity towards pyromancy. Since Ghira-Put hates fire magic, they decided to purge the mountain tribes, leaving young Chandra an orphan. She is eventually adopted by the Nalaar's who raise her as their own child.
Bam, suddenly worldbuilding, an explanation behind the differences between Chandra and her parents, PLUS a possible plot thread they might explore in the future.
It even gets bonus points for being inclusive. Come on, this is like the perfect background story for Chandra.
The pictured races run the full gauntlet with Chandra herself being an oddity. So the world itself is very diverse and well represented. Now assume that everything red on Chandra is because she's a natural born pyromancer and she is now just a little fair skinned compared to others on the plane. And considering Consul's Lieutenant allegedly shows Baral, the only other natural born mage on Kaladesh we've seen, and he looks very different to the rest of the populace it makes sense that Chandra's difference would be a result of her being born with magic on a plane that doesn't have typical mages. If you need to rationalize some other reason for Chandra's features then go ahead but the 'logical' reason of 'magic' works very well here.
One final note, Chandra was designed long before any part of Kaladesh, they literally made the plane to be her birthplace so when you talk about shoehorning her in, its backwards.
One final note, Chandra was designed long before any part of Kaladesh, they literally made the plane to be her birthplace so when you talk about shoehorning her in, its backwards.
Yes, Kaladesh is very diverse, but I think you missed the point. It's not about the diversity. It's that Chandra was not designed not to be biracial. Her concepts, and some early art, all show her as a freckled Irish looking girl. Wizards had a long history of co-opting Indian names for their white, or non-human characters. Like, many of the pre-mending characters you might think of, including Jaya (Chandra's spiritual successor), so there was no reason to think this was anything different, and makes me suspicious of the idea that this was always their plan for her.
Also, nice to have another artifact-themed PW.
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It kind of bums me out that Saheeli Rai looks like an artifact-powered Planeswalker! It could have been Daretti man! Maybe he'll show up in Conspiracy 2.
But the people behind the barrier knew.
Would they be Devas, or Apsaras? Either way, if they did this what I would hope to see would be a White flying class with a uniform characteristic/ defining trait besides "they all fly." As in, Dragons almost always have R +1/+0 pump or something similar, hydras are now almost always +1/+1 counter based, etc.
Because while I love angels, their abilities and traits are all over the place as White's iconic. So it would be nice to have a group of large flyers with a defining characteristic that could be built around for certain types of decks.
Beyond that, I'm hoping for lots of jungle imagery at times, ala Naya and Sultai, even though this is a steampunk plane.
I'm hesitant on the Jungle imagery. While it's true that South Asia has large jungles, a lot of what's been written on them in western culture are essentially colonial allegories. I mean, I'd love to see a lot of wild creatures in Kaladesh, I just don't want it descending into British Colonial India stereotypes.
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I'm really hoping at some point they'll do a proper Arabic set. Arabian Nights is old, too related to real-world influences and the art is pretty dated. I want a MTG approach to countries like Lebanon (Phoencia), Syria, Iraq/Babylon, deserts, etc. But of course Egyptian World must happen first, so it's going to be a long time coming. I wouldn't mind Arabian World being part of Egyptian World either, if it comes to that. Large planes are always welcome, and the Assyrians did go to war with Egypt and all that, so why not.
IDK though, this setting just doesn't do it for me on any level at all. Diversity is nice to see of course. Hope the gay male Planeswalker is from Vryn painted by Cynthia Shepherd or Jason Chan.
|| 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 ||
Ampryn Tactician is a sexy beast, yeah?
I actually wonder about Ral Zarek. In the story about Project Lightning Bug he describes Gidion as having "striking eyes." Just an interesting thing for him to note is all.
On topic wise: I'm really curious how they're going to combine the more british industrialization that steampunk typically goes hand in hand with, with the more ethnic/cultural/mythological/spiritual flavors. They don't seem to go terribly well together at first glance. At least, not without running headlong into the british colonial era/influences.
Kaladesh is an Indian-inspired set, yes? If this is the case, why is Chandra very, very white? Granted, most of the 'Walkers are white, or in the case of Nahiri extra-white, but it gives me pause to think. There isn't a lot of racial diversity amoung the current collection of Planeswalkers, especially as the new Oathwatch is comprised of five white leads. Gideon doesn't count either, he's Greco-Roman, which is still very much considered Caucasian.
So is Chandra of mixed race? Her mother looks very Indian to me, even her father looks close, but Chandra herself is very pale. Given the setting, would it be feasible, or even desirable to alter her skin colour to both; better align her character with her home plane; and secondly to help bring some racial diversity to a game that is lacking it?
We've seen WotC alter their 'Walkers in the past, the most recent I can think of is completely altering Nissa's original backstory and personality, so there is cause that this could happen.
We do have the new 'Walker Saheeli, who is gorgeous and very interesting looking, so it's not like I'm saying that we won't have racial examples to pull from the new set. I just find it very odd that one of the core 'Walkers is Caucasian, from a plane heavily inspired by Indian-style themes.
Thoughts, opinions? I'm very interested in reading what others have to say.
So, as the father of a half-Indian/half-white baby, I can confirm that they run the whole pigment range. They can appear to be what we would call white. Technically, Indians ARE caucasian.
The red hair is an issue, because it's incredibly unlikely, but 'magic' - I've made my peace with it.
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And creative as has said that Kaladesh, like Innistrad, is diverse in races, so the fact that we have a two walkers who show the color spectrum is very cool and more realistic.
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I think, like you said, Kaladesh will be a primarily Indian themed world but it sponsors all races.
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I will note that wizards has a history of giving Indian names to non-Indians analogue characters (Jaya, Jodah, Radha, Karn - although they say that one is coincidence, Mishra, Urza, Arjun, etc.)
That said, I'd rather focus on what's coming on Kaladesh than harping on something we've been talking about since Origins, you know? Let's just say Chandra runs henna through her hair and leave it there.
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I am super excited to see Kaladesh though, hopefully the artifact theme isn't as predominant as it has been in for other planes; I'm getting artifact cabin fever. Though as someone who is a huge fan of Steampunk/Cyberpunk I cannot resist a world where man meets machine, so I'm keeping myself hopefully until we get some more information revealed to us.
@Jay13X: The very concept of Chandra dyeing her hair is so offensive, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that.
"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
So here's the problem with red hair on a half-Indian/half-White person. The Indian parent is always going to be RR, unless they're part white themselves. Red hair in India is almost always from hair dye, like Henna. There is no genetic way that Chandra could have red hair, if Pia and Kiran are her parents. At best, Kiran would be Rr, meaning that Chandra herself could only be Rr, when you need to be rr to have red hair.
Eye color is a bit different. It would have been much more possible for Chandra to have blue eyes and fair skin than for her to have red hair. Fair skin is really common in South Asia (at least in the north), and my sister-in-law's sister has a half-white/half-Indian baby with fair skin and blue eyes.
Granted, this is applying a lot of real-world science to a magical setting, so grains of salt at hand. The leaves three avenues: Chandra is adopted, the red hair is magic, or Chandra dyes her hair. Since her eyes are pretty clearly red, and obviously magical, I'm going with her hair is red because of it too, honestly.
The issue I think we both see here is that it's problematic to retcon what was clearly concepted as a red haired, freckled gaelic lass into a mixed race south asian child. If we want to keep talking about THAT, I'd recommend starting a thread on race bending or white washing.
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[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
I'm fairly well acquainted with the genetics of red hair. She would need to inherit the mutated MC1R from both her parents. Kiran looks like he could carry the gene. Pia, it's possible for her to have a Caucasian ancestor somewhere down the line, allowing her to be a carrier, but the odds of that happening are small. Another possible (but equally unlikely) explanation is that Chandra's complexion is the result of a random mutation in one of her gametes or the zygote.
This is probably the best explanation. A redhead associated with fire magic is painfully cliche, but in this situation, it's the least problematic solution.
This is also my problem. I'm okay with Chandra being a redhead, but it doesn't work in the context. I would have rather they devised a different plane for her, rather than shoehorn her in or retcon it. That said, maybe we just haven't seen enough of the plane yet. Their could be a sizeable chunk of the population we haven't seen yet, with red hair and lighter skin.
That's all for now. I'll wait until we see more of Kaladesh before I make up more theories.
"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
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
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
a) Fire magic is banned in Ghira-Pur
b) Some individuals (like Chandra) seem to be naturally gifted at pyromancy
If they wanted they could just say that Chandra was actually part of a, say, mountain tribe whose people had a natural affinity towards pyromancy. Since Ghira-Put hates fire magic, they decided to purge the mountain tribes, leaving young Chandra an orphan. She is eventually adopted by the Nalaar's who raise her as their own child.
Bam, suddenly worldbuilding, an explanation behind the differences between Chandra and her parents, PLUS a possible plot thread they might explore in the future.
It even gets bonus points for being inclusive. Come on, this is like the perfect background story for Chandra.
The pictured races run the full gauntlet with Chandra herself being an oddity. So the world itself is very diverse and well represented. Now assume that everything red on Chandra is because she's a natural born pyromancer and she is now just a little fair skinned compared to others on the plane. And considering Consul's Lieutenant allegedly shows Baral, the only other natural born mage on Kaladesh we've seen, and he looks very different to the rest of the populace it makes sense that Chandra's difference would be a result of her being born with magic on a plane that doesn't have typical mages. If you need to rationalize some other reason for Chandra's features then go ahead but the 'logical' reason of 'magic' works very well here.
One final note, Chandra was designed long before any part of Kaladesh, they literally made the plane to be her birthplace so when you talk about shoehorning her in, its backwards.
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