On the flavor text for Will-O'-the-Wisp in the Masters 25 set there is a story about Liliana in a folk tale.
"On dark nights you can still see the light of the Vess girl's lantern out in the Caligo, seeking her lost brother, Those who follow are doomed to join her endless search. -The Fall of the House of Vess"
I thought that was a cool way to put a little background into what the people of her town think happened to her. I hope they do more flavor text like this.
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Considering Liliana is returning home soon, this be a foreshadow her her having to confront her past.
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“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"
Yeah, I really liked that detail too: as I said elsewhere, the importance of flavor text in truly making MtG feel like a full-fledged world cannot be overstated.
And from a strictly in-universe standpoint, it makes sense that the people of Liliana's hometown would assume she died/became a revenant: after all, they have no conception of what planeswalking means, and thus no way of figuring out what really happened to her. Although I do have to wonder if the Vess family was really so important, that their downfall would spawn a tale still told over 200 years later.
Why wouldn't they have any conception of what planeswalking means? Literally everyone who lives on Dominaria who has any sort of knowledge of history should be very aware of planeswalkers.
Why wouldn't they have any conception of what planeswalking means? Literally everyone who lives on Dominaria who has any wort of knowledge of history should be very aware of planeswalkers.
All manners of official sources, from published novels to online short stories, make it a point to insist on how the average Joe cannot grasp the notion of multiple worlds existing, and thus of planeswalking being possible. In virtually all MtG-related materials, a character realizing their world of origin is not the only one is always played up as a major and shocking reveal to them.
Dominaria literally had a whole second plane appear and overlay onto it. Planeswalkers have repeatedly saved and/or destroyed whole continents, set themselves up as gods and emperors, built technology to allow normal people to travel to other planes, and -- most recently -- delivered the entire plane from the grip of complete ecological annihilation within the living memory of many of the plane's residents, while time rifts and alternate realities dumped tons of crazy stuff across the planet.
Certainly, on some planes -- even many or most planes -- it might make sense to people to not know about planeswalkers. If there's one place in the whole multiverse where that is not the case, it's Dominaria.
Now, that's doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong in your original premise. People in Liliana's neighborhood would have no reason to know that she in particular is a planeswalker, especially if she never returned home after the tragedy with her brother. Not because they don't know about planeswalkers, but because when someone disappears under mysterious circumstances, it's not the most likely explanation.
Just because Planeswalkers are there and have major roles in a plane's events doesn't mean people know that they're planeswalkers, or know what a planeswalker is. Even those who may know about Planeswalkers may not know Lilliana was one either.
I actually really love the flavor text on this card.
I think its kind of important to the Canon of Dominaria in fact that people do know about planeswalkers and at least some people on the world fully understand what that means. For instance, in the Harper Prism novels (pre-revisionist, but still not impossible to reconcile with later stories), people definitely knew about the existence of planeswalkers. However, in those novels people were clearly confused about the nature of planeswalkers as for one thing they believed you could become one by simply acquiring enough mana. Obviously that's not how it works post-revision, but still. Even in the more recent stories, when Koth came to Urborg he didn't have to explain his strange appearance to anyone. Everyone in the area knew about planeswalkers because Venser lived there, there was the both the tomb of Yawgmoth and the memorial to the Weatherlight's heroes nearby, and the swamp's protectors still remembered when Lord Windgrace was alive. None of them would blink an eye at Elspeth's Bantian clothing or the iron growths in Koth's skin because all they would have to say is "I'm a planeswalker" and people would know what they meant.
To further prove this, in the post-revision novels everyone across the plane seems to know the name "Urza Planeswalker" and seemed quite aware that despite living a couple thousand years ago he was nevertheless still alive and held great power as an ascended being called a "planeswalker". When Urza first revealed his true identity to the scholars of Tolaria, Jhoira even seemed to know about Urza's extraplanar exploits like attacking Phyrexia during the events of the novel Planswalker. Of course this could be because Tolaria was founded by Urza and he made a point of teaching students like her and Teferi about the planes, but nevertheless the Tolarian academy recruited and trained people from across the whole of Dominaria. Those who graduated and did not stay on Tolaria as a scholar or one of Urza's researchers would go back to their home countries and bring with them Tolarian knowledge; Teferi himself went home after ascending to planeswalker status and became a court make in Zalfir. Really, it was more a protectorate role and something other planeswalkers were known to do, possibly even just to contain Nicol Bolas and Leshrac to their little corners of the world.
Then there is Phyrexia to consider. In order to know what a planeswalker is you obviously need to know about the planes, and because of Phyrexia people knew. Many cards make reference to Dominarians knowing about Phyrexia as some sort of hellish plane of existence, everywhere from Zalfir to Lanowar to New Argive. And this is before the Invasion, no less. Keep in mind that Urza's plans to protect the plane from the coming invasion involved a lot of networking and working to unify as many people as he could against the same one threat. He was on a first name basis with every planeswalker who lived there, like Freyalise and Lord Windgrace, and recruited them all into the Nine Titans (except Teferi who had his own plans). Plus you have to figure in that some of the cultures of Dominaria do not come from Dominaria itself. The Serran angels and the humans of Serra's realm integrated into Benalia but never forgot where they came from, which we know thanks to Tamiyo. Madara is an even more complex case, as not only does the Umezewa clan live there but there are other elements of Japanese culture in the region that seems to tell me the Kami might have dumped a lot of people there during the Kami war. And the rift connected Dominaria to Kamigawa and to Ulgothra, and in Odyssey block they reprinted Sengir Vampire, so who knows how many people stepped through that rift and into Madara? And it was ruled by Bolas who could have done his own inter-planar dumping of people from the various planes he conquered.
Point is, even before the Phyrexian invasion there were at least two interplanar cultures on Dominaria and possibly even more than that.
And of course, there is indeed the Rathi overlay to consider. This effected literally the entire plane, and brought even more interplanar people onto Dominaria, such as the entire forest of Skyshroud. The Rathi people come from numerous planes originally, but eventually developed their own unique cultures in response to the harsh conditions of the plane. In fact, the poor Kor are doubly displaced because they originated on Zendikar, got taken to Rath by the Phyrexians, and finally dumped onto Dominaria during the invasion. Prior to the overlay, there were no Kor on Dominaria or possibly any other major plane besides Zendikar. There are also Shadow creatures that are trapped in an incorporeal state as a side effect of the planeshift, and practitioners of uniquely Rathi magic such as those who can manipulate flowstone on Dominaria. Its a huge deal, and a big part of why the Time Rifts crisis happened. Since the Rathi tribes were still around in Time Spiral, its hard to imagine the native Dominarians have not noticed their sudden appearance just after the Phyrexian invasion.
Given that Dominaria is home to people from three other planes at least, plus the continued tradition of planeswalkers taking up protector roles for various regions (eg. Freyalise turned over the role of Skyshroud's protector to Radha), then the only explanation for people not understanding what happened to Lilliana is that she never returned, and she was the small fish in the ocean compared to most other planeswalkers at the time. Amusingly, this means every time she's tried to impress other planeswalkers with her knowledge of Dominarian courtly manners, its likely her knowledge is 200 years out of date and out of fashion.
Well, maybe Dominarian don't know exactly what a planeswalker is and surely don't know everyone of them, but after being attacked by "aliens" and half of their world being overlayed by another "planet", it would be really absurd if they now have forgotten the existance of other planes.
@Formless_One: don't forget that the Suq'ata ancestors came from Rabiah, and they mantained contact with the efreet of the plane of Wildfire up to the Mirage War, so a lot of Dominarian cultures are related to other planes.
Just because Planeswalkers are there and have major roles in a plane's events doesn't mean people know that they're planeswalkers, or know what a planeswalker is. Even those who may know about Planeswalkers may not know Lilliana was one either.
I actually really love the flavor text on this card.
I really love the flavor text, too. It's very cool that the locals of Liliana's old home have turned her story into a spooky folktale. It just seems unnecessary to attribute that to them not knowing about planeswalkers. If she's never gone back or otherwise interacted with them, the would have no reason to think she's a planeswalker.
Given that Dominaria is home to people from three other planes at least, plus the continued tradition of planeswalkers taking up protector roles for various regions (eg. Freyalise turned over the role of Skyshroud's protector to Radha), then the only explanation for people not understanding what happened to Lilliana is that she never returned, and she was the small fish in the ocean compared to most other planeswalkers at the time. Amusingly, this means every time she's tried to impress other planeswalkers with her knowledge of Dominarian courtly manners, its likely her knowledge is 200 years out of date and out of fashion.
To me, this is the most interesting and unique thing about Dominaria as a plane (when MaRo was talking about finding Dominaria's identity, I very much hope this was what he had in mind). It's the biggest cross-roads of the multiverse, and a place where people from wildly different places and cultures can freely mingle.
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"On dark nights you can still see the light of the Vess girl's lantern out in the Caligo, seeking her lost brother, Those who follow are doomed to join her endless search. -The Fall of the House of Vess"
I thought that was a cool way to put a little background into what the people of her town think happened to her. I hope they do more flavor text like this.
Follow me on instagram @TheMTGWord
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Why wouldn't they have any conception of what planeswalking means? Literally everyone who lives on Dominaria who has any sort of knowledge of history should be very aware of planeswalkers.
Dominaria literally had a whole second plane appear and overlay onto it. Planeswalkers have repeatedly saved and/or destroyed whole continents, set themselves up as gods and emperors, built technology to allow normal people to travel to other planes, and -- most recently -- delivered the entire plane from the grip of complete ecological annihilation within the living memory of many of the plane's residents, while time rifts and alternate realities dumped tons of crazy stuff across the planet.
Certainly, on some planes -- even many or most planes -- it might make sense to people to not know about planeswalkers. If there's one place in the whole multiverse where that is not the case, it's Dominaria.
Now, that's doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong in your original premise. People in Liliana's neighborhood would have no reason to know that she in particular is a planeswalker, especially if she never returned home after the tragedy with her brother. Not because they don't know about planeswalkers, but because when someone disappears under mysterious circumstances, it's not the most likely explanation.
I actually really love the flavor text on this card.
|| 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 ||
To further prove this, in the post-revision novels everyone across the plane seems to know the name "Urza Planeswalker" and seemed quite aware that despite living a couple thousand years ago he was nevertheless still alive and held great power as an ascended being called a "planeswalker". When Urza first revealed his true identity to the scholars of Tolaria, Jhoira even seemed to know about Urza's extraplanar exploits like attacking Phyrexia during the events of the novel Planswalker. Of course this could be because Tolaria was founded by Urza and he made a point of teaching students like her and Teferi about the planes, but nevertheless the Tolarian academy recruited and trained people from across the whole of Dominaria. Those who graduated and did not stay on Tolaria as a scholar or one of Urza's researchers would go back to their home countries and bring with them Tolarian knowledge; Teferi himself went home after ascending to planeswalker status and became a court make in Zalfir. Really, it was more a protectorate role and something other planeswalkers were known to do, possibly even just to contain Nicol Bolas and Leshrac to their little corners of the world.
Then there is Phyrexia to consider. In order to know what a planeswalker is you obviously need to know about the planes, and because of Phyrexia people knew. Many cards make reference to Dominarians knowing about Phyrexia as some sort of hellish plane of existence, everywhere from Zalfir to Lanowar to New Argive. And this is before the Invasion, no less. Keep in mind that Urza's plans to protect the plane from the coming invasion involved a lot of networking and working to unify as many people as he could against the same one threat. He was on a first name basis with every planeswalker who lived there, like Freyalise and Lord Windgrace, and recruited them all into the Nine Titans (except Teferi who had his own plans). Plus you have to figure in that some of the cultures of Dominaria do not come from Dominaria itself. The Serran angels and the humans of Serra's realm integrated into Benalia but never forgot where they came from, which we know thanks to Tamiyo. Madara is an even more complex case, as not only does the Umezewa clan live there but there are other elements of Japanese culture in the region that seems to tell me the Kami might have dumped a lot of people there during the Kami war. And the rift connected Dominaria to Kamigawa and to Ulgothra, and in Odyssey block they reprinted Sengir Vampire, so who knows how many people stepped through that rift and into Madara? And it was ruled by Bolas who could have done his own inter-planar dumping of people from the various planes he conquered.
Point is, even before the Phyrexian invasion there were at least two interplanar cultures on Dominaria and possibly even more than that.
And of course, there is indeed the Rathi overlay to consider. This effected literally the entire plane, and brought even more interplanar people onto Dominaria, such as the entire forest of Skyshroud. The Rathi people come from numerous planes originally, but eventually developed their own unique cultures in response to the harsh conditions of the plane. In fact, the poor Kor are doubly displaced because they originated on Zendikar, got taken to Rath by the Phyrexians, and finally dumped onto Dominaria during the invasion. Prior to the overlay, there were no Kor on Dominaria or possibly any other major plane besides Zendikar. There are also Shadow creatures that are trapped in an incorporeal state as a side effect of the planeshift, and practitioners of uniquely Rathi magic such as those who can manipulate flowstone on Dominaria. Its a huge deal, and a big part of why the Time Rifts crisis happened. Since the Rathi tribes were still around in Time Spiral, its hard to imagine the native Dominarians have not noticed their sudden appearance just after the Phyrexian invasion.
Given that Dominaria is home to people from three other planes at least, plus the continued tradition of planeswalkers taking up protector roles for various regions (eg. Freyalise turned over the role of Skyshroud's protector to Radha), then the only explanation for people not understanding what happened to Lilliana is that she never returned, and she was the small fish in the ocean compared to most other planeswalkers at the time. Amusingly, this means every time she's tried to impress other planeswalkers with her knowledge of Dominarian courtly manners, its likely her knowledge is 200 years out of date and out of fashion.
@Formless_One: don't forget that the Suq'ata ancestors came from Rabiah, and they mantained contact with the efreet of the plane of Wildfire up to the Mirage War, so a lot of Dominarian cultures are related to other planes.
I really love the flavor text, too. It's very cool that the locals of Liliana's old home have turned her story into a spooky folktale. It just seems unnecessary to attribute that to them not knowing about planeswalkers. If she's never gone back or otherwise interacted with them, the would have no reason to think she's a planeswalker.
To me, this is the most interesting and unique thing about Dominaria as a plane (when MaRo was talking about finding Dominaria's identity, I very much hope this was what he had in mind). It's the biggest cross-roads of the multiverse, and a place where people from wildly different places and cultures can freely mingle.