Well, considering the manipulative and secretive nature of Villadan (he should be a blue-black character! my fav so far), the most logical path for him to take would be to to impersonate the old Oracle, and thus pitting the dead Oracle against the Grand Vizier while he set out to corrupt the entire society.
Now it could be the child was advised by the previous Oracles not to reveal s/he was the new Oracle and thus, let Villadan to keep on assuming the Oracle was truly dead. Maybe the child was one of the telepath-in-training trained to take care of the Oracle.
The plot could go on like this: The Assassin hired by 'maybe-Aramexus?' to terminate the presently-dead Oracle could be recruited into helping the new Oracle to escape the Blue Plane? Maybe in return, the new Oracle offered a knowledge the Assassin had been looking for his/her entire lifetime?
Or am I going too far here?
EDIT: Oh, this is getting way too delicious. Apparently, attempts to think small failed in the face of overwhelming brainstorming.
EDIT2: Well, based on the proposed plot so far, the idea to open up the Blue Plane could actually come from Villadan himself, spread through the dead Oracle to sow chaos in preparations for future plans. And yes, it would be nicer if we could name the Planes for flavor reasons instead of referring to them by colors.
What if the current Oracle of the Blue Plane is a kid? Maybe a 10 to 12 years old boy or girl? Traditionally, the consciousness of the previous Oracle was passed on to the most capable of the present telepath. Now, supposing the previous Oracle was afflicted with an incurable disease and was slowing wasting away and the most promising of candidates was still a child. In fact, that particular child was very highly desirable as s/he was a talent that emerged every millennium or so. The previous Oracles were all grown men and women who understood the need of the nation and people far surpassed their own. They were content with gathering knowledge and passing it on to the future generations so that everyone would benefit from it. For them, the political power which the Grand Viziers held interested them not at all and they desired not civil wars.
However, for the first time in memory, a child held the position of the Oracle. And with absolute knowledge, mixed in with the idealism of a child, the Oracle desired a society where utopia existed, where everyone could freely share their knowledge and happiness with each other, regardless of which plane one came from. And thus, s/he advocated the idea out, heedless of the impact it would have on the stability of the society as a whole. The idea was revolutionary and enthusiastic young people who knew not the problems of the past in setting up the current nation, caretakers/worshippers of the Oracle who absolutely adored their charge, the Grand Vizier's political opponents who desired change all took up the banner of the Oracle. And thus for the first time in history, there existed a schism between two of the Blue Plane's most powerful individuals.
Of course, from here we could add in other characters already proposed, like maybe the assassin Shadow hired to eliminate the Oracle/Grand Vizier or a secret alliance proposed to the Oracle/Grand Vizier by the demon mage Villadan.
It was all just a plot idea of course. But tension always makes the story goes round and round and round.
P.S. Just out of curiosity, if I were to be interested in posting short stories on 'Inaugural Season', do I post them in this thread? Not that I have anything to post yet. I want more of the settings and locations expanded first before I attempted that.
Dagger of the Envenomed Mark1
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, that player gets a poison counter.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a creature, put a -1/-1 counter on that creature.
Equip 1
Undulating Whisperer 1GG
Creature - Centaur Shaman
Flash
When Undulating Whisperer comes into play, prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn.
2/2
Mana Refinery
Legendary Land
When Mana Refinery comes into play, sacrifice a land. t: Add 1 to your mana pool. 1: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Hi, I am new here but I would like to contribute something to this thread.
Blue Plane: Location
Location: The Eternal Pillar
The Eternal Pillar was a vast patch of sea in the north-eastern quadrant of the Bleak Sea, roughly circular in nature where water moved upward in a lethally fast never-ending torrent. This gravity defying movement of water had fascinated Sages and Research-Mages for centuries, none of which could agree on exactly when this unusual phenomenon started. Old archives unearthed had shown that there was once a relatively isolated island on that particular patch of sea. Whether it was still hidden within that impregnable wall of water or had already been born upward into the sky was still subjected to endless debate. Needless to say, it was a place of superstitions and misfortunes and fishermen avoided that area like a plague. A rather popular claim by conspiracy theorists was that a mage of great power from another plane cast a powerful self-sustaining spell to draw water from the water-abundant Blue Plane to fuel some twisted experiments on his or her home plane. Dissenters claimed it was impossible due to the sheer length of the spell; who can cast a spell that lasted centuries without renewal? Others claimed it was a powerful wizard of the Blue Plane itself desiring a solitary life who cast the spell. Many suspected gravity magic was utilized though none could confirm that claim. Magic simply didn’t work in a conventional manner near the area. Most of the time, magic worked in a reverse manner. A correlation there perhaps…?
Black Plane: Character
Character: Daz’el, Fall-from-Grace
Daz’el, Fall-from-Grace, was a fallen angel of the Angelic Chorus, cast out from it by the Triumvirate. It was generally known among the Chorus that Daz’el disagreed with the approaches of the Chorus with regards to the other inhabitants of the White Plane as well as the rest of the planes. She advocated a more active and cooperative participation in the life of the ‘lesser’ races and was largely ignored as a result by the rest of the Chorus. She was cast out in permanent exile after a particularly heated argument with the members of the Triumvirate themselves. Bitter and angry, she left the White Plane totally during the previous seasonal convergence of the White Plane with the Black Plane and made the Black Plane her permanent home.
Black Plane: Location
Location: The Obsidian Minaret
The Obsidian Minaret is the legendary home of Daz’el, Fall-from-Grace. This silent ominous tower was situated on the southernmost peak of the Bittermaw Ranges of the Black Plane. It was a gleaming black spiraling tower with a pair of vast obsidian wings encircling its compounds. Its compound comprised mostly of well-tended gardens, the majority of which black roses was planted. How they survived in a plane devoid of natural light and where water was a scarcity was still a great mystery. Legends had it that Daz’el sacrificed one of her pair of wings and a part of her eternal soul to forge the tower in an unholy ritual out of shadows between the revolving planes. Rumors had it that Aramexus, the Demon Lord, took an interest in the Obsidian Minaret within his domain when he first heard of it and tried to claim it as his own. After three months of laying siege to the tower, he gave up in disgust trying to penetrate its defenses and allowed Daz’el to live out her life in reclusive peace. There was also a lesser known rumor that Villadan met up with Daz’el once every month in the Obsidion Minaret to have tea together and chit-chat. It was dismissed by most as being too absurd. Villadan would not be interested to meet up with a fallen angel previously of the White Plane, right…?
Now it could be the child was advised by the previous Oracles not to reveal s/he was the new Oracle and thus, let Villadan to keep on assuming the Oracle was truly dead. Maybe the child was one of the telepath-in-training trained to take care of the Oracle.
The plot could go on like this: The Assassin hired by 'maybe-Aramexus?' to terminate the presently-dead Oracle could be recruited into helping the new Oracle to escape the Blue Plane? Maybe in return, the new Oracle offered a knowledge the Assassin had been looking for his/her entire lifetime?
Or am I going too far here?
EDIT: Oh, this is getting way too delicious. Apparently, attempts to think small failed in the face of overwhelming brainstorming.
EDIT2: Well, based on the proposed plot so far, the idea to open up the Blue Plane could actually come from Villadan himself, spread through the dead Oracle to sow chaos in preparations for future plans. And yes, it would be nicer if we could name the Planes for flavor reasons instead of referring to them by colors.
What if the current Oracle of the Blue Plane is a kid? Maybe a 10 to 12 years old boy or girl? Traditionally, the consciousness of the previous Oracle was passed on to the most capable of the present telepath. Now, supposing the previous Oracle was afflicted with an incurable disease and was slowing wasting away and the most promising of candidates was still a child. In fact, that particular child was very highly desirable as s/he was a talent that emerged every millennium or so. The previous Oracles were all grown men and women who understood the need of the nation and people far surpassed their own. They were content with gathering knowledge and passing it on to the future generations so that everyone would benefit from it. For them, the political power which the Grand Viziers held interested them not at all and they desired not civil wars.
However, for the first time in memory, a child held the position of the Oracle. And with absolute knowledge, mixed in with the idealism of a child, the Oracle desired a society where utopia existed, where everyone could freely share their knowledge and happiness with each other, regardless of which plane one came from. And thus, s/he advocated the idea out, heedless of the impact it would have on the stability of the society as a whole. The idea was revolutionary and enthusiastic young people who knew not the problems of the past in setting up the current nation, caretakers/worshippers of the Oracle who absolutely adored their charge, the Grand Vizier's political opponents who desired change all took up the banner of the Oracle. And thus for the first time in history, there existed a schism between two of the Blue Plane's most powerful individuals.
Of course, from here we could add in other characters already proposed, like maybe the assassin Shadow hired to eliminate the Oracle/Grand Vizier or a secret alliance proposed to the Oracle/Grand Vizier by the demon mage Villadan.
It was all just a plot idea of course. But tension always makes the story goes round and round and round.
P.S. Just out of curiosity, if I were to be interested in posting short stories on 'Inaugural Season', do I post them in this thread? Not that I have anything to post yet. I want more of the settings and locations expanded first before I attempted that.
Creature - Centaur
Bloodthirst 1
1/1
Functional reprint, perhaps?
How about this?
Dagger of the Envenomed Mark 1
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, that player gets a poison counter.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a creature, put a -1/-1 counter on that creature.
Equip 1
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+0
Equip 0
Creature - Sliver
All Slivers have "0: Return this creature to its owners hand.
3/3
Next: Spellshaper Sliver
Land
t: Add 2 to your mana pool. You lose 3 life.
Creature - Centaur Shaman
Flash
When Undulating Whisperer comes into play, prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn.
2/2
Legendary Land
When Mana Refinery comes into play, sacrifice a land.
t: Add 1 to your mana pool.
1: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Creature - Centaur Warrior
Whenever another creature comes into play, you gain 1 life.
2/1
Blue Plane: Location
Location: The Eternal Pillar
The Eternal Pillar was a vast patch of sea in the north-eastern quadrant of the Bleak Sea, roughly circular in nature where water moved upward in a lethally fast never-ending torrent. This gravity defying movement of water had fascinated Sages and Research-Mages for centuries, none of which could agree on exactly when this unusual phenomenon started. Old archives unearthed had shown that there was once a relatively isolated island on that particular patch of sea. Whether it was still hidden within that impregnable wall of water or had already been born upward into the sky was still subjected to endless debate. Needless to say, it was a place of superstitions and misfortunes and fishermen avoided that area like a plague. A rather popular claim by conspiracy theorists was that a mage of great power from another plane cast a powerful self-sustaining spell to draw water from the water-abundant Blue Plane to fuel some twisted experiments on his or her home plane. Dissenters claimed it was impossible due to the sheer length of the spell; who can cast a spell that lasted centuries without renewal? Others claimed it was a powerful wizard of the Blue Plane itself desiring a solitary life who cast the spell. Many suspected gravity magic was utilized though none could confirm that claim. Magic simply didn’t work in a conventional manner near the area. Most of the time, magic worked in a reverse manner. A correlation there perhaps…?
Black Plane: Character
Character: Daz’el, Fall-from-Grace
Daz’el, Fall-from-Grace, was a fallen angel of the Angelic Chorus, cast out from it by the Triumvirate. It was generally known among the Chorus that Daz’el disagreed with the approaches of the Chorus with regards to the other inhabitants of the White Plane as well as the rest of the planes. She advocated a more active and cooperative participation in the life of the ‘lesser’ races and was largely ignored as a result by the rest of the Chorus. She was cast out in permanent exile after a particularly heated argument with the members of the Triumvirate themselves. Bitter and angry, she left the White Plane totally during the previous seasonal convergence of the White Plane with the Black Plane and made the Black Plane her permanent home.
Black Plane: Location
Location: The Obsidian Minaret
The Obsidian Minaret is the legendary home of Daz’el, Fall-from-Grace. This silent ominous tower was situated on the southernmost peak of the Bittermaw Ranges of the Black Plane. It was a gleaming black spiraling tower with a pair of vast obsidian wings encircling its compounds. Its compound comprised mostly of well-tended gardens, the majority of which black roses was planted. How they survived in a plane devoid of natural light and where water was a scarcity was still a great mystery. Legends had it that Daz’el sacrificed one of her pair of wings and a part of her eternal soul to forge the tower in an unholy ritual out of shadows between the revolving planes. Rumors had it that Aramexus, the Demon Lord, took an interest in the Obsidian Minaret within his domain when he first heard of it and tried to claim it as his own. After three months of laying siege to the tower, he gave up in disgust trying to penetrate its defenses and allowed Daz’el to live out her life in reclusive peace. There was also a lesser known rumor that Villadan met up with Daz’el once every month in the Obsidion Minaret to have tea together and chit-chat. It was dismissed by most as being too absurd. Villadan would not be interested to meet up with a fallen angel previously of the White Plane, right…?