In an intriguing coincidence, in Jay13x's article today about the identity of the Raven Man, one of the characters mentioned is an apprentice to the planeswalker Kenan Sahrmal who only goes by the title of Guardian. The Guardian's spirit apparently survived after his death, and can speak to the living. Food for thought.
That is a crazy coincidence! Nice catch. There's even a bit in his write up about "a barrier over Shandalar to keep meddling planeswalkers out." Hell, there's even a bit about the Barrier being in an undescribed artifact and that there's a demonic spell that can find the artifact, like the kind of spell that might be in a thaumatic compass.
I loved Huatli misinterpreting Kaladesh as Orazca. Very realistic. I was worried they would just have her somehow know she was on a different world, which is absurd. Like Gideon's first walk, which was silly. At first he assumes he's being watched by Heliod or Erebos, which I liked, then suddenly comes to the conclusion he's on a different world entirely? I'm glad they didn't take such a disingenuous linear approach with Huatli.
Tishana is Ixalan's Black Canary. Gotta respect them refusing temptation to find the city. The urgency is interesting too, they're definitely noble but the tension here is unmistakable. Even I felt caught between both arguments, though I'd side with Tishana.
I wonder what the Immortal Sun Legendary Artifact will look like and what effect its card will have. Seeing how deeply intrinsic it is for the plane in this story, it reminds me why I'm so hostile toward Planeswalkers. This object is clearly crucial to the functions of an entire world, and Bolas wants to remove it. If not him, than others might. Like Night's Reach's mask, Thassa's Bident and now the Immortal Sun, makes you wonder how much damage these Planeswalkers are doing to the nature of these worlds by moving their legendary objects around to places they don't belong. I guess Ugin was right after all - PWs really are the worst menacing thing for the multiverse.
Interesting story! I really like the take on the River Wardens' shamanic magic. The connection of merfolk to rivers is something we really haven't seen since Lorwyn. This is a really cool take on the tribal shaman trope. I'd love to see how Kiora might interact with their culture, since she's so fixated on the ocean and its gigantic denizens.
Quote from Pollaski »
4. As anyone else noticed that there's a distinct chivalrous aspect to the world, where it almost seems unneeded death is frowned upon by pretty much everyone? The Sun Empire has gone out of their way to not kill enemies. Vraska's pirates were more focused on subduing, and while she did kill the captain, it seemed more to get the rest of the vampires to stop fighting out of awe. Kumena's drowning of the SE warrior offended all the other merfolk, and Tishana subsumed Kumena's spell to stop him from unnecessarily imperiling more lives. Even the vampires seem to have a very rigid code on what they do and don't do.
I hope it's more of a feature of the plane as a whole rather than any one faction. I was put off by it when it seemed like the Sun Empire was unrealistically non-violent, since I suspected it was just a move to ensure that they were definitely the good guys.
That said, even if low violence is the norm for all the factions, it might end up bothering me the same way that Kaladesh did, making the whole plane seem a bit more like a kids' cartoon than a story about real conflict.
I wonder what the Immortal Sun Legendary Artifact will look like and what effect its card will have. Seeing how deeply intrinsic it is for the plane in this story, it reminds me why I'm so hostile toward Planeswalkers. This object is clearly crucial to the functions of an entire world,
I think that is something of a leap, It seems the Guardian hid it away on purpose, and that the Merfolk think anyone who gets it will use it for bad voodoo. For all we know it is something legitimately dangerous.
I wonder what the Immortal Sun Legendary Artifact will look like and what effect its card will have. Seeing how deeply intrinsic it is for the plane in this story, it reminds me why I'm so hostile toward Planeswalkers. This object is clearly crucial to the functions of an entire world,
I think that is something of a leap, It seems the Guardian hid it away on purpose, and that the Merfolk think anyone who gets it will use it for bad voodoo. For all we know it is something legitimately dangerous.
4. As anyone else noticed that there's a distinct chivalrous aspect to the world, where it almost seems unneeded death is frowned upon by pretty much everyone? The Sun Empire has gone out of their way to not kill enemies. Vraska's pirates were more focused on subduing, and while she did kill the captain, it seemed more to get the rest of the vampires to stop fighting out of awe. Kumena's drowning of the SE warrior offended all the other merfolk, and Tishana subsumed Kumena's spell to stop him from unnecessarily imperiling more lives. Even the vampires seem to have a very rigid code on what they do and don't do.
I hope it's more of a feature of the plane as a whole rather than any one faction. I was put off by it when it seemed like the Sun Empire was unrealistically non-violent, since I suspected it was just a move to ensure that they were definitely the good guys.
That said, even if low violence is the norm for all the factions, it might end up bothering me the same way that Kaladesh did, making the whole plane seem a bit more like a kids' cartoon than a story about real conflict.
I think this indicates a tonal shift from Amonkhet. there was so much wanton death and destruction in that plane, perhaps a plane where the casualties are minimal is a way to cleanse the pallette. kinda like hoe kaldesh itself was an tonal shift from Innistrad. I just hope we don't get into a dark set/light set pattern.
As I recall, Karn took the Mirari away and it's what eventually became Memnarch, or something along those lines. Not to mention there's no precedent about it blocking planeswalkers' ability to come and go.
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Vorthos-y Johnny. All will be One
Modern - Cheeri0s (building), Belcher (building), Lantern (building), UW Control (building)
RIP Magic Duels. Wizards will regret what they did to you.
Hmm... it could be the Mirari. Isn't it described as a pulsing sun?
While not 'OUR' Mirari, as in the one that was at the core of Memnarch, it could be A mirari, since they were probes Karn sent out.
...Actually, that could really flow well into Dominaria once we leave Ixalan, since I have a hunch that Karn will be appearing in the Dominaria set.
Nah. I doubt Bolas is going through the trouble of hiring Vraska to go to a dangerous Planeswalker trap and seek out a secret city horrendously difficult to discover in order to recover just any old Mirari that might have replicas elsewhere. It's either THE Mirari, or not it at all.
Hmm... it could be the Mirari. Isn't it described as a pulsing sun?
While not 'OUR' Mirari, as in the one that was at the core of Memnarch, it could be A mirari, since they were probes Karn sent out.
...Actually, that could really flow well into Dominaria once we leave Ixalan, since I have a hunch that Karn will be appearing in the Dominaria set.
Nah. I doubt Bolas is going through the trouble of hiring Vraska to go to a dangerous Planeswalker trap and seek out a secret city horrendously difficult to discover in order to recover just any old Mirari that might have replicas elsewhere. It's either THE Mirari, or not it at all.
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I loved Huatli misinterpreting Kaladesh as Orazca. Very realistic. I was worried they would just have her somehow know she was on a different world, which is absurd. Like Gideon's first walk, which was silly. At first he assumes he's being watched by Heliod or Erebos, which I liked, then suddenly comes to the conclusion he's on a different world entirely? I'm glad they didn't take such a disingenuous linear approach with Huatli.
Tishana is Ixalan's Black Canary. Gotta respect them refusing temptation to find the city. The urgency is interesting too, they're definitely noble but the tension here is unmistakable. Even I felt caught between both arguments, though I'd side with Tishana.
I wonder what the Immortal Sun Legendary Artifact will look like and what effect its card will have. Seeing how deeply intrinsic it is for the plane in this story, it reminds me why I'm so hostile toward Planeswalkers. This object is clearly crucial to the functions of an entire world, and Bolas wants to remove it. If not him, than others might. Like Night's Reach's mask, Thassa's Bident and now the Immortal Sun, makes you wonder how much damage these Planeswalkers are doing to the nature of these worlds by moving their legendary objects around to places they don't belong. I guess Ugin was right after all - PWs really are the worst menacing thing for the multiverse.
Have you considered that the Immortal Sun itself might not be native to Ixalan, but was instead planted there by a walker?
Planeswalkers have shaped the histories of many planes, and Ixalan is probably no different.
I like mixing today's story with Jay's Raven Man story and assuming the following:
Orcaza is the source of the binding on Ixalan
It's the remnant artifact created by The Guardian to protect Shandalar
Bolas has the demon's spell that was used to seek out the artifact on Shandalar and has infused that spell into the Thaumatic Compass
Why would Bolas want an artifact that can prevent planeswalker movement?
---My first thought was to use it as a planeswalker prison, but that's what Ixalan is now
---Maybe he wants to use it to keep rivals away from his conquests
Somehow, the destruction of the Onnake on Shandalar relates to the destruction foretold in the story of Orcaza, but I can't figure how just yet
I like mixing today's story with Jay's Raven Man story and assuming the following:
Orcaza is the source of the binding on Ixalan
It's the remnant artifact created by The Guardian to protect Shandalar
Bolas has the demon's spell that was used to seek out the artifact on Shandalar and has infused that spell into the Thaumatic Compass
Why would Bolas want an artifact that can prevent planeswalker movement?
---My first thought was to use it as a planeswalker prison, but that's what Ixalan is now
---Maybe he wants to use it to keep rivals away from his conquests
Somehow, the destruction of the Onnake on Shandalar relates to the destruction foretold in the story of Orcaza, but I can't figure how just yet
I like mixing today's story with Jay's Raven Man story and assuming the following:
Orcaza is the source of the binding on Ixalan
It's the remnant artifact created by The Guardian to protect Shandalar
Bolas has the demon's spell that was used to seek out the artifact on Shandalar and has infused that spell into the Thaumatic Compass
Why would Bolas want an artifact that can prevent planeswalker movement?
---My first thought was to use it as a planeswalker prison, but that's what Ixalan is now
---Maybe he wants to use it to keep rivals away from his conquests
Somehow, the destruction of the Onnake on Shandalar relates to the destruction foretold in the story of Orcaza, but I can't figure how just yet
Why does the compass point to Jace though?
I never got that impression from the last story.
It felt like finding him was coincidental.
They kept sailing after finding him and there's no mention of the compass.
I assumed they were continuing to follow it after they found him.
I like mixing today's story with Jay's Raven Man story and assuming the following:
Orcaza is the source of the binding on Ixalan
It's the remnant artifact created by The Guardian to protect Shandalar
Bolas has the demon's spell that was used to seek out the artifact on Shandalar and has infused that spell into the Thaumatic Compass
Why would Bolas want an artifact that can prevent planeswalker movement?
---My first thought was to use it as a planeswalker prison, but that's what Ixalan is now
---Maybe he wants to use it to keep rivals away from his conquests
Somehow, the destruction of the Onnake on Shandalar relates to the destruction foretold in the story of Orcaza, but I can't figure how just yet
Why does the compass point to Jace though?
I never got that impression from the last story.
It felt like finding him was coincidental.
They kept sailing after finding him and there's no mention of the compass.
I assumed they were continuing to follow it after they found him.
Did I miss something?
Navigator Malcolm pointed out that Jace (or the direction the compass was pointing) was south, completely away from the continent of Ixalan. If they had continued to head south, they would have wound up nowhere near Orazca (Unless the plane of Ixalan is a very small sphere, and continuing south eventually leads to them descending from the north).
Vraska held out the thaumatic compass. "We need to go south."
Malcolm, ever the careful navigator, made a small noise of concern. "Are you certain?"
Vraska nodded. "We go where it points, and what we need is that way."
Malcolm was staring at the strange compass. "But the direction it is pointing to is away from the continent of Ixalan. The Golden City isn't an island off its coast . . ."
I like mixing today's story with Jay's Raven Man story and assuming the following:
Orcaza is the source of the binding on Ixalan
It's the remnant artifact created by The Guardian to protect Shandalar
Bolas has the demon's spell that was used to seek out the artifact on Shandalar and has infused that spell into the Thaumatic Compass
Why would Bolas want an artifact that can prevent planeswalker movement?
---My first thought was to use it as a planeswalker prison, but that's what Ixalan is now
---Maybe he wants to use it to keep rivals away from his conquests
Somehow, the destruction of the Onnake on Shandalar relates to the destruction foretold in the story of Orcaza, but I can't figure how just yet
Why does the compass point to Jace though?
I never got that impression from the last story.
It felt like finding him was coincidental.
They kept sailing after finding him and there's no mention of the compass.
I assumed they were continuing to follow it after they found him.
Did I miss something?
Navigator Malcolm pointed out that Jace (or the direction the compass was pointing) was south, completely away from the continent of Ixalan. If they had continued to head south, they would have wound up nowhere near Orazca (Unless the plane of Ixalan is a very small sphere, and continuing south eventually leads to them descending from the north).
Vraska held out the thaumatic compass. "We need to go south."
Malcolm, ever the careful navigator, made a small noise of concern. "Are you certain?"
Vraska nodded. "We go where it points, and what we need is that way."
Malcolm was staring at the strange compass. "But the direction it is pointing to is away from the continent of Ixalan. The Golden City isn't an island off its coast . . ."
Right, but nowhere does it say specifically that the compass led them to Jace. Nor does it say that it stopped working after that. They sailed for days and days after finding Jace. Even though they don't mention the compass after finding Jace, I doubt they were just meandering about with a spinning compass always pointing at him.
I wonder if Bolas is the one who guided Jace to flee to Ixalan while holding his mind, or if Jace had a memory of Ixalan as a plane to certainly avoid at all costs, but ended up there as his only recourse in a mind-wiped panic.
Cool story today, good cliffhanger ending. Kumena is the best kind of villain in that he's one with understandable motivations. I wonder if every faction is going to have a "good" representative and a "bad" representative. Vraska is our protagonist while Angrath seems like a walking disaster. Huatli seems like a chill chick while the Sun emperor comes off a little shady, and even though the shapers overall seem fairly benevolent Kumena is clearly ruthless. Maybe in the legion we'll see Arguel as a more moderate force while Vona is butchering away? It would be kind of cool if WOTC showed that there were heroes and villains in every part of this conflict. Even if they don't though I'm really enjoying Ixalan so far.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
What if the whole Orazca deal was a testing site for Ugin to try planar binding Magic? Basically, he set up a binding spell and spread conflicting rumours to multiple groups. The vampires were told it gives them eternal life while the merfolk were told it must be guarded at all costs. This way he would see how well a lock containing soemthing like the Eldrazi could be guarded by on-site "personnel". This would all precede Nahiri's involvement though as the actual solution included a hedron network. I mean, it's probably not what's happened, but that would be hilarious. "Congratz for finding the city. Uh, it actually served no purpose at all. It was just a big experiment really. Oh and the experiment is useless now anyway, we already solved the problem. Cheers."
Also, I really love the idea that the Immortal Sun is the last remaining "Mirari" and Bolas needs to collect them all in order to power his planar bridge for entire armies to pass through. Or maybe it's the second to last Mirari and the last last is on Dominaria.
That is a crazy coincidence! Nice catch. There's even a bit in his write up about "a barrier over Shandalar to keep meddling planeswalkers out." Hell, there's even a bit about the Barrier being in an undescribed artifact and that there's a demonic spell that can find the artifact, like the kind of spell that might be in a thaumatic compass.
Also, Jay is a hell of a Vorthos writer.
Tishana is Ixalan's Black Canary. Gotta respect them refusing temptation to find the city. The urgency is interesting too, they're definitely noble but the tension here is unmistakable. Even I felt caught between both arguments, though I'd side with Tishana.
I wonder what the Immortal Sun Legendary Artifact will look like and what effect its card will have. Seeing how deeply intrinsic it is for the plane in this story, it reminds me why I'm so hostile toward Planeswalkers. This object is clearly crucial to the functions of an entire world, and Bolas wants to remove it. If not him, than others might. Like Night's Reach's mask, Thassa's Bident and now the Immortal Sun, makes you wonder how much damage these Planeswalkers are doing to the nature of these worlds by moving their legendary objects around to places they don't belong. I guess Ugin was right after all - PWs really are the worst menacing thing for the multiverse.
|| 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 ||
I hope it's more of a feature of the plane as a whole rather than any one faction. I was put off by it when it seemed like the Sun Empire was unrealistically non-violent, since I suspected it was just a move to ensure that they were definitely the good guys.
That said, even if low violence is the norm for all the factions, it might end up bothering me the same way that Kaladesh did, making the whole plane seem a bit more like a kids' cartoon than a story about real conflict.
I think that is something of a leap, It seems the Guardian hid it away on purpose, and that the Merfolk think anyone who gets it will use it for bad voodoo. For all we know it is something legitimately dangerous.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
Mirari?
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
I think this indicates a tonal shift from Amonkhet. there was so much wanton death and destruction in that plane, perhaps a plane where the casualties are minimal is a way to cleanse the pallette. kinda like hoe kaldesh itself was an tonal shift from Innistrad. I just hope we don't get into a dark set/light set pattern.
Click the pic for more info.
|| 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 ||
Modern - Cheeri0s (building), Belcher (building), Lantern (building), UW Control (building)
RIP Magic Duels. Wizards will regret what they did to you.
While not 'OUR' Mirari, as in the one that was at the core of Memnarch, it could be A mirari, since they were probes Karn sent out.
...Actually, that could really flow well into Dominaria once we leave Ixalan, since I have a hunch that Karn will be appearing in the Dominaria set.
|| 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 ||
http://dougbeyermtg.tumblr.com/post/91056904799/please-please-please-tell-me-something-about-the#notes
Mirari is no long apart of the current story.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
|| 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 ||
Have you considered that the Immortal Sun itself might not be native to Ixalan, but was instead planted there by a walker?
Planeswalkers have shaped the histories of many planes, and Ixalan is probably no different.
Orcaza is the source of the binding on Ixalan
It's the remnant artifact created by The Guardian to protect Shandalar
Bolas has the demon's spell that was used to seek out the artifact on Shandalar and has infused that spell into the Thaumatic Compass
Why would Bolas want an artifact that can prevent planeswalker movement?
---My first thought was to use it as a planeswalker prison, but that's what Ixalan is now
---Maybe he wants to use it to keep rivals away from his conquests
Somehow, the destruction of the Onnake on Shandalar relates to the destruction foretold in the story of Orcaza, but I can't figure how just yet
Why does the compass point to Jace though?
I never got that impression from the last story.
It felt like finding him was coincidental.
They kept sailing after finding him and there's no mention of the compass.
I assumed they were continuing to follow it after they found him.
Did I miss something?
I now concur with a few others on here...
Kumena is pretty dark.
Great ending.
The Vorthos community will await the consequences of the Eldrazi Titans' deaths/sealing. We will keep the watch.
“The wind whispers, ‘come home,’ but I cannot.”
— Teferi
Navigator Malcolm pointed out that Jace (or the direction the compass was pointing) was south, completely away from the continent of Ixalan. If they had continued to head south, they would have wound up nowhere near Orazca (Unless the plane of Ixalan is a very small sphere, and continuing south eventually leads to them descending from the north).
From The Talented Captain Vraska:
Right, but nowhere does it say specifically that the compass led them to Jace. Nor does it say that it stopped working after that. They sailed for days and days after finding Jace. Even though they don't mention the compass after finding Jace, I doubt they were just meandering about with a spinning compass always pointing at him.
|| 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 ||
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Also, I really love the idea that the Immortal Sun is the last remaining "Mirari" and Bolas needs to collect them all in order to power his planar bridge for entire armies to pass through. Or maybe it's the second to last Mirari and the last last is on Dominaria.