The Oltec's name is clearly Olmec smashed up with Toltec, tee hee.
Chimil being in constant danger of resealing simply by being surrounded by metal doesn't make much sense knowing that it used to be sealed. The explanation that makes the most sense to me - and that Wizards (currently) doesn't give - is that the Oltec discovered Chimil sealed and took all their effort unsealing it and chasing off Aclazotz, to the point that clearing out the debris is too exhausting to do.
The strong implication is that the Oltec and Sun Empire/their ancestors only lost contact with each other because the Oltec wanted to isolate the Mycotyrant in the middle. It doesn't make much sense how the Sun Empire would forget that's the reason or why the Oltec didn't tell them that's the reason when the Mycotyrant is so obviously threatening that even the Brazen Coalition's Malcolm and Breeches realize the danger of dealing with this guy.
I like the part where the Brazen Coalition segments finally admit that massive unified pirate groups generally don't work out (IRL), though.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the story for Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Barring some worldbuilding issues - like native-inspired characters calling their grandpas "abuelos" - this was quite thrilling. And there's now two villains in Magic's roster on the loose.
Overall, I quite enjoyed the story for Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Barring some worldbuilding issues - like native-inspired characters calling their grandpas "abuelos" - this was quite thrilling. And there's now two villains in Magic's roster on the loose.
i might actually want a TDLR of the story which two villains (im assuming theres a connection to the big arc)
(the reason is clearly i prefer 1 or 2 chapters a day)
though i do know 1 TDLR
my theory Kellan forms the Avengers type of thing for the big arc is looking more than good.
Amaila actually requested to join him so who knows who kellan will get from ravnica since that's likely where he lands next. (and we know where Oko is since he's kellan's dad and will encounter him in the cowboy set coming up.)
Overall, I quite enjoyed the story for Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Barring some worldbuilding issues - like native-inspired characters calling their grandpas "abuelos" - this was quite thrilling. And there's now two villains in Magic's roster on the loose.
i might actually want a TDLR of the story which two villains (im assuming theres a connection to the big arc)
(the reason is clearly i prefer 1 or 2 chapters a day)
though i do know 1 TDLR
my theory Kellan forms the Avengers type of thing for the big arc is looking more than good.
Amaila actually requested to join him so who knows who kellan will get from ravnica since that's likely where he lands next. (and who knows where Oko where land in this since he his dad and will encounter him in the cowboy set coming up)
I think it¨s gonna be the new "detective" guy from Murders at Karlov Manor.
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Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Overall, I quite enjoyed the story for Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Barring some worldbuilding issues - like native-inspired characters calling their grandpas "abuelos" - this was quite thrilling. And there's now two villains in Magic's roster on the loose.
i might actually want a TDLR of the story which two villains (im assuming theres a connection to the big arc)
(the reason is clearly i prefer 1 or 2 chapters a day)
though i do know 1 TDLR
my theory Kellan forms the Avengers type of thing for the big arc is looking more than good.
Amaila actually requested to join him so who knows who kellan will get from ravnica since that's likely where he lands next. (and who knows where Oko where land in this since he his dad and will encounter him in the cowboy set coming up)
I think it¨s gonna be the new "detective" guy from Murders at Karlov Manor.
yea probably
though what’s interesting is in the Wild West set silhouettes we can defintely make out vraska and Rakdos it’s not like it’s one of them (but I doubt it.)
Overall good story, the characters where fun and I like how they soft rebooted the plane to add more mesoamerican elements and touch on things they had hinted at last time. Not enough chapters again but hopefully it seems they are hearing that with this story getting 6 chapters. That said they left a lot of set up for next time which is helpful with the shorter word count but it will depend how it used next time for pay off.
Definey hinting at the possibleity of the sparks being found and returned to the former walkers, though I hope thats just my read vs what they are hinting with the sparks not being gone just "moved"/changed. I do wonder if maybe the sparks became the omenpaths.
As for the coin empire the only thing I can think of maybe is the Onakke. They where hinted at in MoM and since Shandalar isn't in huge demand I could they being soft recton'd into being muti-planar to feature them as antagonists on other planes.
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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"
One thing I don't like about the Episodes and side story - they emphasize the gods other than Aclazotz far too little. Don't just tell me that Ojer Axonil and allies only had bit parts!
One thing I don't like about the Episodes and side story - they emphasize the gods other than Aclazotz far too little. Don't just tell me that Ojer Axonil and allies only had bit parts!
I caught one mention of Ojer Kaslem helping the Oltecs rebuilding, and that's it...
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Former Fact Prospector of the Greek Alliance.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
So, as Master's Manufactory revealed, the Fomori were once a thing on (or in?) Ixalan. So what do we make of that?
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Thou shalt not have others of the same Legendary before me Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face Thou shalt not change rules in vain Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities Thou shalt not kill mana burn Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards All must be one
So, as Master's Manufactory revealed, the Fomori were once a thing on (or in?) Ixalan. So what do we make of that?
Seems clear to me that at some point in the past the Fomori were extraplanar colonizers whose (apparently quite magi-technologically advanced) empire broke down for some reason, and that they are equivalent to the coin empire that Quint is researching. We don't know enough about them to draw any conclusions, but I am pretty interested where this plot thread is going.
So, as Master's Manufactory revealed, the Fomori were once a thing on (or in?) Ixalan. So what do we make of that?
I was thinking the same. Extremely random mention.
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How i feel about competitive players and casual players in EDH: The competitive are german tourists, the casual are italian tourists, both in a italian beach. The italians asking themselves "why are the germans here?" make a legitimate question, the answer is because the beach is beautiful, no matter the country you came from. The italians wanting to ban the germans are dumb, because if the germans pay for their stay and follow the rules like everyone else, they have the right to be in the beach. Hovewer, if the germans started to ask themselves "why are the italians here?"... they would be dumb as hell.
Given the flavor text on the promo Strionic Resonator, I wonder if they're setting up for the Fomori to come back and be the big bads for the next multiplanar crisis event, a la Bolas, Phyrexia and the Eldrazi.
Glad to see we are getting a planeswalker guide and hopefully a legends article again this set.
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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"
The way they're described here I fully expect them to show up in the space set now.
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Thou shalt not have others of the same Legendary before me Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face Thou shalt not change rules in vain Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities Thou shalt not kill mana burn Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards All must be one
Well, that was about to be expected quality-wise, so let's not go into the same old as always. My favorite part was when it was said the Mycotyrant has been trying to find a way into the core since forever, and Malcom and Breeches find him, run for ten meters and immediately end up in the core. Lol, rofl and lmfao.
Besides that, it's funny how they upgraded "every character has read the script" into "every character has read the author's notes". The Oltec had never been colonized. The Fomori certainly tried, but ultimately failed. The post-colonization trauma does not exist in Ixalan's core (and neither on its surface, except ironically enough for the pirates who -also ironically enough- never get the narrative treatment of "victims of colonization") and yet Wayta and that Oltec character what's-their-face get all preachy on Quint.
Not only did it not make sense in the story/worldbuilding and was unearned by the characters voicing it, but it was also beyond blunt, like the story took a short break and talked directly at the camera. Remember: A sledgehammer is not a good writing utensil.
Also not entirely sure about the Abuelo stuff and why they used gnomes. I think Myr would have been a better fit. Sure, the term also comes from greek, but it's an MtG invention and as such is less tied to RL mythology and culture. (Also, would have been cute if both known occurences of Myr show up in hollow worlds.
Something else entirely: I am completely flabberghasted how much they fumbled the original idea of an underground set. Sure, it's in the name and I guess there's caves, but beyond that, nothing about the set screams "the theme is underground" to me. If you had asked me what it was about, creatively AND mechanically, I would have shrugged and said "hollow world???". But the mechanics are just basic adventure, like original Ixalan, and crafting which honestly felt more like an "artifacts matter" inclusion than an "underground -> minecraft -> crafting" association.
They made this set because people have been asking about underground sets, but this ain't it, neither creatively nor mechanically. Watch Maro bring exactly this up in his post-mortem.
Well, that was about to be expected quality-wise, so let's not go into the same old as always. My favorite part was when it was said the Mycotyrant has been trying to find a way into the core since forever, and Malcom and Breeches find him, run for ten meters and immediately end up in the core. Lol, rofl and lmfao.
Besides that, it's funny how they upgraded "every character has read the script" into "every character has read the author's notes". The Oltec had never been colonized. The Fomori certainly tried, but ultimately failed. The post-colonization trauma does not exist in Ixalan's core (and neither on its surface, except ironically enough for the pirates who -also ironically enough- never get the narrative treatment of "victims of colonization") and yet Wayta and that Oltec character what's-their-face get all preachy on Quint.
Not only did it not make sense in the story/worldbuilding and was unearned by the characters voicing it, but it was also beyond blunt, like the story took a short break and talked directly at the camera. Remember: A sledgehammer is not a good writing utensil.
Also not entirely sure about the Abuelo stuff and why they used gnomes. I think Myr would have been a better fit. Sure, the term also comes from greek, but it's an MtG invention and as such is less tied to RL mythology and culture. (Also, would have been cute if both known occurences of Myr show up in hollow worlds.
Something else entirely: I am completely flabberghasted how much they fumbled the original idea of an underground set. Sure, it's in the name and I guess there's caves, but beyond that, nothing about the set screams "the theme is underground" to me. If you had asked me what it was about, creatively AND mechanically, I would have shrugged and said "hollow world???". But the mechanics are just basic adventure, like original Ixalan, and crafting which honestly felt more like an "artifacts matter" inclusion than an "underground -> minecraft -> crafting" association.
They made this set because people have been asking about underground sets, but this ain't it, neither creatively nor mechanically. Watch Maro bring exactly this up in his post-mortem.
I can't agree on many of these points. The Fomori definitely colonized the Oltec, the Planeswalker's guide explicitely says that they were in power in the core for a long time (and the diminishing of the inner sun weakened the god's connection to the core, so they weren't able to help or at least give the people there some solace).
The Night War is the title of an epic poem that spans three centuries of history, charting the beginning of Olanem Teq's work to build a resistance through the end of the struggle that followed. The war scoured the Core but saw the Komon Winaq victorious.
So the Fomori were in power for at least three centuries, probably quite some time longer. Sounds to me like it would leave some serious trauma, especially with the evidence of the colonization still very much visible in the core, the loss of the inner sun for a while and the gods not being available at the time. So "sledgehammer"? Yeah maybe. But people reacting sensitive to such subjects is not that surprising. "Unearned" though? I don't see it. The trauma of the pirates should probably be explored more, but their colonization was pretty recent in contrast, and they are not a unified culture with its own historians and scholars that could analyze what happened to them. In addition to that I think their need for freedom and their strong survivalist instincts are a result of the trauma of being colonized by the vampires (I think as much was even hinted at in the guide). They pretty much didn't have the time or motivation for much introspection in that regard and instead projected it outwards.
The mycotyrant is pretty much everywhere in the caves, so Malcolm and Breeches coming across it and then (after a pretty long march while they were already underground at the start) finding one of the entrances is not that strange to me. Now why the Mycotyrant seemingly can't open the entrances itself, I don't know, but there could be any number of reasons. Even the guide states though that it is already pressing on multiple entrances, so it is not like it doesn't know their location.
I am also more iffy on "abuelo" being a word the Oltec use than "gnome". I thought it was pretty well established in the guide that this is a loanword they explicitely took to remind themselves of where this technology comes from by virtue of it being so foreign to them. Seems reasonable to me.
I also think the set covered many if not most underground tropes pretty well. "Hollow world" definitely can be part of an underground theme overall, so I don't mind the prominence of the core. Caves, the multiple cards showing mining, deep chasms, underground threats (like being caught in a flooding cavern or falling rocks, as well as dangerous lifeforms like the Mycotyrant), ancient cultures and artifacts hidden throughout the underground, adaptations to that kind of world (the deep goblins for example)... that was all present. The set was not JUST an underground set, but the theme was definitely recognizable. And mechanically the various forms of Descent showed the underground part of the set well.
I don't know, normally even if I don't agree with you I at least can see where you are coming from, but this is just accentuating the negative even if there isn't that much (in my opinion) to accentuate. I thought this Planeswalker's Guide was a surprising treat, they really worked on the worldbuilding a lot, and I personally was positively surprised by it. Ixalan went from one of my less liked to one of my favorite planes through this set.
Okay, so I finally read the planeswalker guide. I didn't want to respond before having done that.
I want to say though that the stories came out before the guide, so any "that was explained in the guide" goes out the window. I judged the writing by itself, by the material that was there when it was published, which in my opinion is an entirely fair and a sensible thing to do.
As for your retort regarding the colonization thing: Wayta is not part of the Oltec, so her reaction has nothing to do with the Fomori. The rest is a big shrug, because as I said I don't think it makes sense to factor the guide in there when it was not out at the time.
The issue with gnome is that it is one of those fiction vs real life things. Yes, inside the world of fiction gnome is a loan word for the oltec, but for the readers it isn't. That's what makes it jarring. We understand the word gnome as we understand "dinosaur". Neither are mesoamerican words or based one one, but are normal words in the english language. As such we don't see them as alien especially not in reverse (for the oltec). As I said, making them into myr and then saying that the myr come from the fomori (because myr is neither a 'native' mesoamerican nor english word) would have been a better idea imo.
I still maintain that for an "underground set" it failed at providing that. But that has nothing to do with the guide.
As for the guide itself: I liked it, it was very thorough. Can we pretty please get this quality for all sets going forward?
Okay, so I finally read the planeswalker guide. I didn't want to respond before having done that.
I want to say though that the stories came out before the guide, so any "that was explained in the guide" goes out the window. I judged the writing by itself, by the material that was there when it was published, which in my opinion is an entirely fair and a sensible thing to do.
As for your retort regarding the colonization thing: Wayta is not part of the Oltec, so her reaction has nothing to do with the Fomori. The rest is a big shrug, because as I said I don't think it makes sense to factor the guide in there when it was not out at the time.
The issue with gnome is that it is one of those fiction vs real life things. Yes, inside the world of fiction gnome is a loan word for the oltec, but for the readers it isn't. That's what makes it jarring. We understand the word gnome as we understand "dinosaur". Neither are mesoamerican words or based one one, but are normal words in the english language. As such we don't see them as alien especially not in reverse (for the oltec). As I said, making them into myr and then saying that the myr come from the fomori (because myr is neither a 'native' mesoamerican nor english word) would have been a better idea imo.
I still maintain that for an "underground set" it failed at providing that. But that has nothing to do with the guide.
As for the guide itself: I liked it, it was very thorough. Can we pretty please get this quality for all sets going forward?
Ok, my bad, I thought you had replied to the guide too, not just the story.
My own memory is not the best when it comes to the stories, so I don't remember the context exactly when it comes to Wayta (though the Ixalan stories have at least implied that many people of the Sun Empire are kinda hypocritical when it comes to colonization). I do think it is not unfair though to take the backstory of the Oltecs into account when it comes to the rest, even if it was not spelled out at the time what exactly happened in their past.
I guess it is basically a question of taste. I find the contrast of a jarringly ordinary word like gnome (to us) with a civilization which doesn't find that word ordinary at all quite interesting (and I think that both the Sun Empire and the Oltec had their own word for "dinosaur", in the former case they call them quetzacama). Myr might have worked too, and from my perspective would have been an interesting choice as well, but I don't really find it "better" per se. But again, I guess this comes down to preference.
I am really not sure what else should have been in there as far as underground tropes are concerned, but seems this too comes down to expectation and preferences. Not really a fail if it is resonating with some people (and it certainly did so for me).
I fully, totally agree with you on the guide though, wish we would get that for basically every world from here on out.
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Chimil being in constant danger of resealing simply by being surrounded by metal doesn't make much sense knowing that it used to be sealed. The explanation that makes the most sense to me - and that Wizards (currently) doesn't give - is that the Oltec discovered Chimil sealed and took all their effort unsealing it and chasing off Aclazotz, to the point that clearing out the debris is too exhausting to do.
The strong implication is that the Oltec and Sun Empire/their ancestors only lost contact with each other because the Oltec wanted to isolate the Mycotyrant in the middle. It doesn't make much sense how the Sun Empire would forget that's the reason or why the Oltec didn't tell them that's the reason when the Mycotyrant is so obviously threatening that even the Brazen Coalition's Malcolm and Breeches realize the danger of dealing with this guy.
I like the part where the Brazen Coalition segments finally admit that massive unified pirate groups generally don't work out (IRL), though.
Pretty sure this is PG rated mf
Perfect
i might actually want a TDLR of the story which two villains (im assuming theres a connection to the big arc)
(the reason is clearly i prefer 1 or 2 chapters a day)
though i do know 1 TDLR
my theory Kellan forms the Avengers type of thing for the big arc is looking more than good.
Amaila actually requested to join him so who knows who kellan will get from ravnica since that's likely where he lands next. (and we know where Oko is since he's kellan's dad and will encounter him in the cowboy set coming up.)
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
yea probably
As for the coin empire the only thing I can think of maybe is the Onakke. They where hinted at in MoM and since Shandalar isn't in huge demand I could they being soft recton'd into being muti-planar to feature them as antagonists on other planes.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I caught one mention of Ojer Kaslem helping the Oltecs rebuilding, and that's it...
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face
Thou shalt not change rules in vain
Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy
Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities
Thou shalt not kill mana burn
Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility
Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack
Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards
All must be one
Seems clear to me that at some point in the past the Fomori were extraplanar colonizers whose (apparently quite magi-technologically advanced) empire broke down for some reason, and that they are equivalent to the coin empire that Quint is researching. We don't know enough about them to draw any conclusions, but I am pretty interested where this plot thread is going.
I was thinking the same. Extremely random mention.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgvorthos/comments/17r5s5z/lci_mtg_discord_qa_worldbuilding_the_lost_caverns/
Glad to see we are getting a planeswalker guide and hopefully a legends article again this set.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Thou shalt not frame images with the modern card face
Thou shalt not change rules in vain
Remember the Reserved List to keep it holy
Honor thy Slivers and the symmetry of their abilities
Thou shalt not kill mana burn
Thou shalt not sacrifice depth for accessibility
Thou shalt not steal combat damage from the stack
Thou shalt tell a story through thy cards
All must be one
Besides that, it's funny how they upgraded "every character has read the script" into "every character has read the author's notes". The Oltec had never been colonized. The Fomori certainly tried, but ultimately failed. The post-colonization trauma does not exist in Ixalan's core (and neither on its surface, except ironically enough for the pirates who -also ironically enough- never get the narrative treatment of "victims of colonization") and yet Wayta and that Oltec character what's-their-face get all preachy on Quint.
Not only did it not make sense in the story/worldbuilding and was unearned by the characters voicing it, but it was also beyond blunt, like the story took a short break and talked directly at the camera. Remember: A sledgehammer is not a good writing utensil.
Also not entirely sure about the Abuelo stuff and why they used gnomes. I think Myr would have been a better fit. Sure, the term also comes from greek, but it's an MtG invention and as such is less tied to RL mythology and culture. (Also, would have been cute if both known occurences of Myr show up in hollow worlds.
Something else entirely: I am completely flabberghasted how much they fumbled the original idea of an underground set. Sure, it's in the name and I guess there's caves, but beyond that, nothing about the set screams "the theme is underground" to me. If you had asked me what it was about, creatively AND mechanically, I would have shrugged and said "hollow world???". But the mechanics are just basic adventure, like original Ixalan, and crafting which honestly felt more like an "artifacts matter" inclusion than an "underground -> minecraft -> crafting" association.
They made this set because people have been asking about underground sets, but this ain't it, neither creatively nor mechanically. Watch Maro bring exactly this up in his post-mortem.
I can't agree on many of these points. The Fomori definitely colonized the Oltec, the Planeswalker's guide explicitely says that they were in power in the core for a long time (and the diminishing of the inner sun weakened the god's connection to the core, so they weren't able to help or at least give the people there some solace).
So the Fomori were in power for at least three centuries, probably quite some time longer. Sounds to me like it would leave some serious trauma, especially with the evidence of the colonization still very much visible in the core, the loss of the inner sun for a while and the gods not being available at the time. So "sledgehammer"? Yeah maybe. But people reacting sensitive to such subjects is not that surprising. "Unearned" though? I don't see it. The trauma of the pirates should probably be explored more, but their colonization was pretty recent in contrast, and they are not a unified culture with its own historians and scholars that could analyze what happened to them. In addition to that I think their need for freedom and their strong survivalist instincts are a result of the trauma of being colonized by the vampires (I think as much was even hinted at in the guide). They pretty much didn't have the time or motivation for much introspection in that regard and instead projected it outwards.
The mycotyrant is pretty much everywhere in the caves, so Malcolm and Breeches coming across it and then (after a pretty long march while they were already underground at the start) finding one of the entrances is not that strange to me. Now why the Mycotyrant seemingly can't open the entrances itself, I don't know, but there could be any number of reasons. Even the guide states though that it is already pressing on multiple entrances, so it is not like it doesn't know their location.
I am also more iffy on "abuelo" being a word the Oltec use than "gnome". I thought it was pretty well established in the guide that this is a loanword they explicitely took to remind themselves of where this technology comes from by virtue of it being so foreign to them. Seems reasonable to me.
I also think the set covered many if not most underground tropes pretty well. "Hollow world" definitely can be part of an underground theme overall, so I don't mind the prominence of the core. Caves, the multiple cards showing mining, deep chasms, underground threats (like being caught in a flooding cavern or falling rocks, as well as dangerous lifeforms like the Mycotyrant), ancient cultures and artifacts hidden throughout the underground, adaptations to that kind of world (the deep goblins for example)... that was all present. The set was not JUST an underground set, but the theme was definitely recognizable. And mechanically the various forms of Descent showed the underground part of the set well.
I don't know, normally even if I don't agree with you I at least can see where you are coming from, but this is just accentuating the negative even if there isn't that much (in my opinion) to accentuate. I thought this Planeswalker's Guide was a surprising treat, they really worked on the worldbuilding a lot, and I personally was positively surprised by it. Ixalan went from one of my less liked to one of my favorite planes through this set.
Okay, so I finally read the planeswalker guide. I didn't want to respond before having done that.
I want to say though that the stories came out before the guide, so any "that was explained in the guide" goes out the window. I judged the writing by itself, by the material that was there when it was published, which in my opinion is an entirely fair and a sensible thing to do.
As for your retort regarding the colonization thing: Wayta is not part of the Oltec, so her reaction has nothing to do with the Fomori. The rest is a big shrug, because as I said I don't think it makes sense to factor the guide in there when it was not out at the time.
The issue with gnome is that it is one of those fiction vs real life things. Yes, inside the world of fiction gnome is a loan word for the oltec, but for the readers it isn't. That's what makes it jarring. We understand the word gnome as we understand "dinosaur". Neither are mesoamerican words or based one one, but are normal words in the english language. As such we don't see them as alien especially not in reverse (for the oltec). As I said, making them into myr and then saying that the myr come from the fomori (because myr is neither a 'native' mesoamerican nor english word) would have been a better idea imo.
I still maintain that for an "underground set" it failed at providing that. But that has nothing to do with the guide.
As for the guide itself: I liked it, it was very thorough. Can we pretty please get this quality for all sets going forward?
Ok, my bad, I thought you had replied to the guide too, not just the story.
My own memory is not the best when it comes to the stories, so I don't remember the context exactly when it comes to Wayta (though the Ixalan stories have at least implied that many people of the Sun Empire are kinda hypocritical when it comes to colonization). I do think it is not unfair though to take the backstory of the Oltecs into account when it comes to the rest, even if it was not spelled out at the time what exactly happened in their past.
I guess it is basically a question of taste. I find the contrast of a jarringly ordinary word like gnome (to us) with a civilization which doesn't find that word ordinary at all quite interesting (and I think that both the Sun Empire and the Oltec had their own word for "dinosaur", in the former case they call them quetzacama). Myr might have worked too, and from my perspective would have been an interesting choice as well, but I don't really find it "better" per se. But again, I guess this comes down to preference.
I am really not sure what else should have been in there as far as underground tropes are concerned, but seems this too comes down to expectation and preferences. Not really a fail if it is resonating with some people (and it certainly did so for me).
I fully, totally agree with you on the guide though, wish we would get that for basically every world from here on out.