#neurok

[boyd-speaks]

New video with Bee.

Features some cool card designs and some art I'm really happy with.

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Neurok Commando

"There's no more time for secluded study. Answers are there only for those with the courage to take them."

Artist: Matt Stewart TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Neurok Commando by Matt Stewart

[socialpoison]

One day I'll clean this up, but posting short Ellidus comic.

This could honestly be what's running through their head while they're being compleated.

Their technopathy is turned into a hive mind to control a legion of machines with, hence them feeling a certain way about having once been told they are the only them there will ever be.

[ask-the-praetors]

Have any of you seen a housecat? And if not, what do you think they look like?

The Neurok cohabitated with domesticated felines in their quarters, yes. Fleshy as they were, one cannot help but admire their resourcefulness, and thus I repurposed them appropriately as tools of the Great Synthesis. They are quick, agile, and stealthy, and effective for purging vermin of all kinds, albeit lacking in... obedience. -J

IT'S JUST LIKE YOU TO TURN AN APEX PREDATOR INTO ONE OF YOUR PATHETIC, NEEDLY TOYS. -V

[littjara-mirrorlake]

Plane Shift: New Phyrexia - Human Subraces

For the past 2-3 years, I've been working on a homebrew D&D 5e supplement for New Phyrexia, and it occurred to me that I could publish/share it in installments here on Tumblr! Today, I'll put up human subraces. Core-born Phyrexians and playable myr (among other things) to come! PS:NP was written to take place during Scars of Mirrodin block or earlier, since that's when my campaign is, but its contents--including these subraces--are forward compatible with other points in the timeline.

--

Like their relatives on other planes, the humans of Mirrodin are ingenious, ambitious folk who strive to leave their mark on the world. They are divided into five distinct ethnic groups: the Auriok of the Razor Fields, the Neurok of the Quicksilver Sea, the Moriok of the Mephidross, the Vulshok of the Oxidda Chain, and the Sylvok of the Tangle. Your Mirran human character has the following traits.

Type. You are a Humanoid. You are also considered a human for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be a human.

Ability Score Increase. One ability score of your choice increases by 2, and another increases by 1.

Age. Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and live about a century.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice (except  Phyrexian).

Size. Humans vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Ethnic group. Choose one of the five Mirran human ethnic groups for your character to belong to.

Auriok

The Auriok are a nomadic people, specializing as warriors, spellcasters, and diplomats who form alliances between tribes and with the other races of the Razor Fields. Each Auriok tribe is led by a champion who is responsible for their people's well-being. Auriok skin is bronze-colored and embedded with gold, and their hair is bleached white by the constant light of the suns.

Auriok Combat Training. You are proficient with the longsword and shortsword.

Diplomatic. You have proficiency with Insight and Persuasion.

Neurok

Having thrown off the yoke of slavery under vedalken masters, the Neurok have risen to a dominant position in the chrome-spire settlements on the Quicksilver Sea, based in their capital at Lumengrid. They are scientists and inventors, among the first to notice and study the increasing amounts of glistening oil on Mirrodin's surface. Silvery, chrome-like metal adorns Neurok skin, and their hair, often hidden under elaborate, multi-eyed headdresses, is brown, red, or blond.

Breadth of Knowledge. You gain proficiency with any combination of three skills or tools of your choice.

Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it (choose when you select this race).

Moriok

Carving out a living in the inhospitable swamp of the Mephidross, the Moriok endure constant exposure to its necrogen gas and battle the harsh urges its fell magic draws out. Lead-like metal emerges from underneath their skin, often forming visors over their eyes. They are tall and pale, decorating their bodies with dark leather and ornaments of tooth and bone.

Inured to Necrogen. You are resistant to poison damage, and you have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned.

Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can choose to drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Vulshok

Renowned blacksmiths, warriors, and geomancers, the Vulshok people create armor and weapons of the best quality that can be found on Mirrodin. They are divided into six tribes based on their smithing specialization: Anvil, Blade, Hammer, Helm, Shield, and Spear. The iron spikes on their skin afford them a degree of natural armor. Vulshok are heavyset and sturdily built, and ember cores are embedded in their chests, glowing red-hot in moments of strong emotion.

Expertise of the Forge. You have proficiency with smith's tools.

Heart of Flame. You have resistance to fire damage. In addition, you know the produce flame cantrip. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it (choose when you select this race).

Iron Skin. You gain a +1 bonus to your AC when you aren't wearing heavy armor.

Sylvok

The most insular of Mirrodin's humans, the Sylvok are druidic hunter-gatherers who place emphasis on tradition, nature, and harmony. Unlike the canopy-dwelling elves, Sylvok inhabit the undergrowth of the Tangle, subsisting off gelfruit and the meat they hunt. They view artifice as a form of worship, using their skills to venerate the natural world through imitation. Their skin is decorated with intricate patterns of copper that imitate the look of plant growth.

Expert Navigator. A lifetime spent in the twisted growths of the Tangle has made you sure-footed and adept in tough travelling conditions. You ignore nonmagical difficult terrain.

Sylvok Magic. You know the druidcraft cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the animal friendship spell once per day; you must finish a long rest in order to cast the spell again using this trait. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells (choose when you select this race).

Tangle's Lore. You gain proficiency in a skill of your choice from among Animal Handling, History, Nature, Religion, and Survival.

[danco110]

“No, not the myr- AH!”

The Neurok rebel cried out in pain as a second bolt flew, removing their ring finger and its ring from their hand. They waited for a finishing blow, but upon looking up from their wound - already dripping with glistening oil from the spell - they saw a chrome-plated Phyrexian merely waving them away with a silvery claw.

“Goodbye, Gel,” the Phyrexian hissed forcefully.

Gel gritted their teeth. “What, no…preaching about Phyrexia today, Sarnvax? No follow-through, either?”

“No to both.”

“No…?”

Gel hesitated, but pain ultimately turned their full attention to their oil-slick injury. Though Sarnvax’s faceplate was but featureless chrome, his posture radiated annoyance as he watched Gel flee.

—

“And stay out!”

Sarnvax’s shield spell deflected the incoming lightning. A squadron of Quiet Furnace goblins cackled madly on the other side of the barrier, but trailed off as they found themselves stumped by the shield.

“So we can’t…oh…” The goblin at the head of the formation banged a metallic fist against the barrier, but to no avail. Disappointed, it and its friends beat a hasty retreat, leaving Sarnvax chuckling quietly at the halfhearted attack.

“They are gone!”

A nervous squeak came from behind Sarnvax. As he dispelled his shield, a second Phyrexian stumbled into view,, with all manner of chrome wires embedded in their back.

“Thank you, I-”

“It is just my job, Gel. Although, I always did like you.”

“I noticed,” Gel chuckled. “You let me go as a Mirran, and still accepted me later, when I’d already turned.”

Sarnvax shuddered. “It is better that way. Jin-Gitaxias saves his more ‘experimental’ procedures for captives. I am glad I helped, but I wish I could do more…”

“Well…” Gel waved a four-taloned claw, “you helped me plenty…even if your way of helping was quite annoying, with all the counterspells.”

“Apologies.” Sarnvax’s faceplate betrayed nothing, but his tone held immense gratitude for the attempted pep talk. “But it is always so satisfying.”

[Dang, Sarnvax has been stopping Sol Rings since 2011!

Also, just speaking from experience with my playgroups, if you don’t win or lock fast, sometimes it really is a mercy to get your t1 Sol Ring countered, so you don’t get ganged up upon!]

[inventors-fair]

Stunning New Marvels Full Commentary

Hey everyone! I was able to get commentary done quickly this week, so let’s get into it!

Silverheart, Neurok Hideout by @just--a--penguin​

Art Direction: Neurok scientists study within this secret base, filled with artifacts of Mirran technological stylings, especially those of the Neurok, such as camouflage and vision enhancement.

Oh this is sweeeet. I like how well the stun counter payoff works with the proliferate effects you probably already want in a charge counter deck. And I love how this encourages a charge counter deck. It does it in a very good way, where it works okay on its own but works far better with it. The tappage is very good too, cause it means you’re not encouraged to move *all* your charge counters to this. Maybe it would be better to have the tap be part of the counter moving ability though; even with the limitation of legendary it’s very comboable, and would further discourage the “move all your charge counters to this” gameplay that i don’t think would be particularly fun.

Weaponized Towershell by @horsecrash​

Durdle Turtle is back baby!!! I think this is a lot cleaner execution of the concept, and an appropriate statline for it. I like this.

Dimensional Convulsion by @spooky-bard​

Oh this is neat! Cool combination of effects that feels very white-blue. You could probably word this as “Creatures entering the battlefield under an opponents’ control this way enter tapped with a stun counter on them.” Which is better for digital and doesn’t leave room for weird tapping shenanigans while the ability is on the stack. I quite like this though!!

Kushala the Enchantress by @ambermetalicscorpion​

Formattingwise, there should be a comma between hexproof and lifelink and lifelink should be lowercase, and the second ability should be worded “Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, put five stun counters on target creature”. Five stun counters is enough to practically be full removal, but done in a way that doesn’t feel particularly green or black, and repeatable removal like this is scary. Taking out a creature whenever you cast an enchantment spell is gonna be devastating; you’re gonna lock players out of the game, which is scary enough, and the hexproof makes it even harder to deal with. I also wish the flavortext said a bit more; not as in more words, but as in, i wish it told me more about who this character is.

Polar Vortex by @bergdg​

Oh this is cool! Flavorful and simple effect. It’s a bit worse than ghostly prison, since they can pay 2 *or* not attack with it next turn, but it gives you the destroy tapped creatures ability to make up for it. I do think that ability needs some restrictions though; repeatable removal is always dangerous. Bare minimum, I think it should have an activate only as a sorcery type deal so they can at least guarantee the damage.

Will and Rowan, Heroes by @fractured-infinity​

Minor formatting stuff first: The “Then discard” clause should be a separate sentence from the draw two cards clause because of the unless clause, and the damage of the last ability needs to specify a source. Power level wise, unconditional card draw is a strong plus for a 4 mana walker- usually even a single card has a small condition as a plus ability at that mana value, and this is that and pretty often *two* cards.

Aurora Devotee by @stupidstupidratcreatures​

This card is very reminiscent of devoted druid, which I’m guessing is intentional given the name and the flavor. Given that, I think you could word this as “Put a stun counter on ~: Untap ~.” And I might like to see it as a 0/2 as well, to match more closely. It’s not always worth matching just for the callback but in this case I think it is, cause the difference isn’t too much and making this less combat viable might actually be good since it’s really good as a mana dork. Compared to devoted druid though, I quite like it. Druid only lets you squeeze one extra mana out of it under normal circumstances, but is more comboable, whereas this is more of a steady value card. This is quite cool.

Stensia Spite-Haunt by @railway-covidae

This is a cool roleplayer, though not sure it has the splash I’d want out of a mythic; this feels more rare. Colorpiewise it’s a lil odd but probably fine; they did experiment with this kind of effect in red for a little while and while they stopped that, it doesn’t really do anything red shouldn’t. The nonbasic clause is definitely a good call here, as is the double red; definitely shows what kind of environment this card encourages.

Crawl to the Surface by @hiygamer​

Very cool!! We don’t tend to see much 4 mana reanimation these days but I think this is safe enough. I just wouldn’t put it in current standard with atraxa lol.

Ice-cursed Mage by @halfsilveredmirror​

Oh this is *cool*. This is awesome. I like the decisions it has you make and the planning you have to do. This seems like a hard card to use correctly, but fun all around. However, I do think it’s an issue that you can do the tap/untap loop as many times as you want while the stun counter trigger is on the stack though; that doesn’t seem the intention and circumvents the fun parts of this card.

Enlightenment by @little-red-rabbit​

Wow this is a lot going on. It does all work together well, which is good. The general vibe of this seems to be as a control finisher; tap all your opponents stuff down, probably for a long while, draw some cards, and attack with a big beater you have cause of those cards. I’d probably cut the bit about “If a stun counter was removed from ~ this way”, to lean into that playstyle and focus the card a bit. I’d also make it only distribute stun counters on creatures your opponents control, so that if you do your job as a control deck and keep stuff off the board you aren’t punished for that by having to tap down this. I do like how this encourages you to keep creatures on your opponents board, cause if you put a stun counter on three creatures, you’ll draw three cards next turn. Seven counters may be a lot though.

Gutter Gripper by @grornt​

Six spirits is a lot, I might see if that can be toned down a bit. Otherwise though, I really like this. This is a cool card though, and very spirit feeling

Angered Megatherium by @pocketvikings​

I think a 2 mana 5/5 is just a bit too much, even with the downside. I think I’d like this better as a 3 mana 5/5 with trample. The clock feels a little less immediate that way.

Archetype of Torpor by @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​

This is a very white way to use stun counters, riffing on the “enters the battlefield tapped” effect it gets. I don’t think you can say “lose all stun counters” as part of a static effect like this; you’d have to do it as an ETB trigger. I also think this is just a mana too much; this could probably be 4 mana safely.

Awaken the Giants by @helloijustreadyourpost​

I wonder if this would be more fun if it presented a choice rather than make it mandatory. I think it’s a bit too risky as is; it’s big, but really slow, and that might put people off from playing it.

Parasite Prime by @wolkemesser​

Oh this is interesting. Proliferating stun counters is a neat potential synergy and I like how this leans into it. I think it has just the right difficulty of hoop for the trigger. I’m curious about the death trigger though; stunned creatures aren’t really much of a threat, and they’re not gonna be getting into combat. It seems odd gameplay to encourage.

Neural Restructure by @real-aspen-hours​

I worry that this doesn’t really have a home. I don’t think it’s strong enough for standard, and in formats with a larger card pool, I don’t think it compares favorably to other control magic effects, even more recent ones. The card’s fine, I’m not sure it could be costed any less, it’s just unexciting. Maybe three mana for more stun counters would have a bit more excitement factor? Or maybe it’s just me

Regenerative Pugilist by @stareyedesper​

Art direction: An averagely muscular troll is seen from behind his larger opponent. They are both wearing boxing attire. His body is a mosaic of bruises, lumps, and calluses. Despite this, he is completely focused.

I like this card, but I think it could do better by picking one ability or the other and leaning into it. Personally, I like the trolly flavor where it doesn’t die no matter how hard you hit it, but it might take a while to recover. But you could lean into a pacifist-fighter type angle with the other as well. But the first ability I think wants to be a bit overstated (it’s probably more of a downside than an upside even with the difficulty to kill), and maybe some additional way to untap it (like, three mana). Or the tapping down your opponents’ stuff is also interesting, but that probably wants a small power and maybe vigilance or something. But I think putting them together kinda makes them fight for space.

Slow by @izzet-always-r-versus-u​

You misspelled the card name, it should be “slow mercy”. Easy mistake to make. The card seems fine though, a solid roleplayer. Discourages attacking, and slows your opponent down, but doesn’t stop it outright. Probably safely a rare though, doesn’t have the splash to be mythic imo.

Iset Ipnu Ambusher by @bread-into-toast​

I like how the card draw ability works with both stun counters and the older doesn’t untap effects. Very fun with exert cards which is presumably intentional given the flavor, though it’s not in great colors for it. I wish the enabling effect was more of a cost for a beneficial effect like exert is than using a removal-esque effect and targeting your own creature.

Dune Warden by @curiooftheheart​

Nice little twist on a banisher priest type card; the stun counter is a nice way to make this a little more effective as removal since even if they kill the dune warden their card’s still out of commission for a little. Given that, I don’t think the ward is really necessary tbh, but that’s pretty small nitpick.

[art-the-gathering]

neurok hoversail

[mtg-exo-daily]

Lumengrid Gargoyle

"Anything that watches without sleep and fights without fear is a valuable ally against the Phyrexians." —Kara Vrist, Neurok agent

Artwork by Randis Albion

[ivyaltdrachen]

(Artblock ask) can you draw a Neurok from magic the gathering? I can send a reference.

this ask took too long 2 answer because i was trying to decide which reference i should’ve gone off of so i eventually just combined all of them into uh.... this??? here you go i guess

[planar-echoes]

Human Cultures of Mirrodin (Mirrodin) By Doug Beyer (11/17/10)

Mirrodin simmers with conflict. More of the foul Phyrexians emerge every day, boiling out of the hidden spaces of the world, gathering their forces for a major offensive that will carve their unequivocal mark on the surface of the plane. Mirrodin teeters on the brink of a history-scarring battle; scant hours separating it from the impact of a full-scale Mirran-Phyrexian war.

Today, as the shadow of war threatens to blot out the suns, we take a moment to observe some of the Mirran cultures—the five cultures of humans on Mirrodin. Think of this as a museum exhibit of humanity, a collection of artifacts and anecdotes meant to capture and document a people's existence at one crucial moment in time. In the coming weeks, as Phyrexia's full might comes to bear on the plane, no experience will be spared. No account of history will remain unchanged. No life will fail to bear a scar.

Take a moment to read through these esoteric facts, documents, and observations about each of the five human peoples of Mirrodin. Much of this text is taken directly from the Scars of Mirrodin style guide, the document used to create the storyline and flavor aspects of the card set. Many Bothans died—I mean, many world-building writers toiled—to bring you this information. I hope you enjoy.

 The Auriok

The Auriok are the white-aligned humans of the Razor Fields, a resourceful, persistent, and resilient people. Auriok skin is naturally deep bronze, flecked with glimmering, deep golden and silvery metal. This is then reinforced with gold panels and jagged plates. Their white hair bleaches to help reflect the almost permanent sunlight that falls across the Razor Fields.

The Accorders. The Auriok are not a unified nation; each settlement is essentially its own tiny city-state, with rules and governance largely unto itself. In lieu of a grand military force, Auriok settlements are protected by the Accorders—a troop of traveling Auriok soldiers and spellcasters that move from community to community as needed. The Accorders enforce Auriok law impartially, following the principles of the Accord of Equity, a sort of statement of rights for the Auriok people.

Banesaints. If an Auriok ever calls you their banesaint, take offense. Each young Auriok chooses a reviled figure from Mirrodin's history, their banesaint, to serve as an exemplar of evil, a cautionary tale of choices to learn from and not to follow. The Auriok studies the life and mistakes of the banesaint, shouldering some responsibility not only to avoid the evil values that their banesaint represented, but also to ease and correct some of the harm caused by the banesaint's actions. Sometimes an Auriok's banesaint is related to him or her by blood, such as an ancestor who brought shame to the family; taking on a familial banesaint is considered especially conscientious. It's traditional to adopt only dead figures as banesaints; when the term is applied to a living person, it's to be taken as a slur or curse. Banesaints need not be human; any sentient being with a history of wrongdoing can serve as one's banesaint. Some especially notorious villains have been taken as banesaints by many Auriok; other Auriok choose more obscure figures, helping to warn their generation against lesser-known wickedness.

Bladehold. The largest Auriok settlement is Bladehold, a center of commerce and artisanship built on a mesa above a huge swath of particularly tall and sharp razorgrass. The most celebrated Auriok fighters train in the dense razorgrass. Bladehold soldiers invented a technique called mirroring, in which one uses one's reflection in the surrounding blades of razorgrass to confuse an enemy and gain positional advantage.

 The Neurok

The blue-aligned Neurok have found themselves in an impossible position on Mirrodin. After the fall of the planar caretaker Memnarch, the Vedalken, and their brain trust known as the Synod, solidified their power over the Quicksilver Sea and its surrounding realms—leaving the Neurok as second-class citizens. For years the Neurok have relied on the thought-expanding power of the serum, a liquid extracted from Mirrodin's blinkmoths. But as the blinkmoth populations have plummeted and serum becomes more precious, the Synod laid claim to all the serum on the plane.

Quicksilver Spires. Curving, forking spires of chrome rise out of the Quicksilver Sea, some reaching hundreds of meters tall. Metal catwalks and bridges connect many of these spires, and the spires themselves are filled with chambers, balconies, and staircases formed from the metal that comprises them. These spires are used as dwellings by vedalken and Neurok alike.

Neurok Networks. Without access to serum, some Neurok saw themselves destined to become a class of slaves. The Neurok began to form secret sects to undermine the vedalken. These sects of assassins, thieves, and other rogues became known simply as "networks." The most powerful of the networks were the Covalt network (led by Vy Covalt) and the Vrist network (led by Kala Vrist). The networks became masters of pilfering and producing illegal serum, stealing from vedalken archives and even assassinating Synod members. The more clever networks also procured vedalken Synod secrets and used the information for blackmail purposes.

Litera Phials. The Neurok networks soon learned that older vedalken libraries were less well guarded. These libraries were not filled with books or scrolls but small vials of a magical liquid metal known as quicksilver. Thieves soon learned that when these vials were emptied onto a flat surface, the quicksilver formed symbols—and together, they formed whole libraries of knowledge. Through the Litera Phials, as they were called, the Neurok gained a competitive advantage over the vedalken, even learning the secret to destroy a key vedalken weapon.

The Battle of the Synod. The Neurok struck a blow to the vedalken, issuing a code that powered down the hoverguards and wanderguards—the vedalken's floating, magically constructed enforcer drones. This led to a massive battle between the Synod and the Neurok. The Synod was defeated, but hundreds died on both sides—and vedalken leaders moved quickly and secretly to fill the vacuum of power left by the Synod.

Uneasy Truce. Leaders between the Neurok and the vedalken reached an uneasy truce. They agreed that the Neurok would share a small amount of their captured serum with the vedalken, while the vedalken would share fragmented pieces of their knowledge from the mysterious Knowledge Pool. It has become common to see Neurok merchants haggling for bits of information from vedalken sages in the halls of Lumengrid, the capital of the Quicksilver Sea. Today vedalken primarily inhabit the upper portions of Lumengrid, and the lower, broader portion of the city is populated by Neurok. Some Neurok leaders wonder now whether their efforts were worth the cost.

 The Moriok

The Moriok are humans who have adapted to life in the Mephidross. As they remain in or near the Mephidross, their skin grows pallid, and eventually patches of lead-like metal emerge from beneath the skin. They now live in scattered tribes in the tainted landscapes at the edge of the Mephidross. Few roam deeper into the fen, unless they seek some old secret or wish to face the vampire warlords who vie for power within. The only exceptions are the Disciples of Geth, who live in Ish Sah, the Vault of Whispers.

Smaller Tribes Within the Moriok.

Ghost Maw clan. This tribe of Moriok follows the edicts of ghostly leaders trapped within reliquaries created by vampires known as the Bleak Coven.

Black Blood clan. Members of the Black Blood tribe ingest sludge from the Glistening Dunes, believing it will inhibit the effects of necrogen. Unfortunately it has the side effect of driving the tribe's members mad with hunger.

Veiled Eye clan. Many Moriok are blinded by the necrogen gas, but the members of the Veiled Eye tribe intentionally blind themselves to gain "greater vision." Some gain gifts of precognition and clairvoyance through these eldritch blinding rituals, and those who don't become their acolytes.

Gray Ladies clan. The warrior-women known as the Gray Ladies trade the sons born among them as currency with undead that feed on the living or with the living who need living subjects for their necromantic magic.

Even for a culture that lives in the necrogen-choked Mephidross Swamp, the Moriok have had to endure more than their fair share of death and pain. The undead of the Mephidross have wreaked great harm on the Moriok of late. Here is one account of the Nim Onslaught, which occurred after the Vanishing, the event in which the elder generations of Mirrans disappeared.

 *****

"When the Vanishing wracked Mirrodin and ended the Leveler War, the machines stopped lifeless in an instant. The levelers ground to a halt as one. It was as if each of our fathers and mothers took a dozen—nay a hundred!—of the spirits of the machines when they fell. If only those sacrifices had ended the conflict.

When the Leveler War ended, the Nim Onslaught began.

The machines stopped, and the nim stopped as well. They dropped to the earth, lifeless as their rotted flesh should be. Those quick of wit and strong of spirit didn't hesitate to take advantage and cut down as many nim and machines as their exhausted bodies and minds could bear. Most of us stood dumbly staring about or cowered in cover from the falling machines.

The machines never awoke, and their corroding hulks still lie scattered across the landscape. But the nim—the nim merely slept. I have often wondered what their rotten minds comprehended in those moments. Did they hear their brethren's bodies being hacked apart? Did they see us weep in fear and confusion? Did our weakness make them hate us, or were they simply hungry for our lives?

Eventually, even the stoutest hearts tired of the butchery. Even the most war-madden or grief-enraged warrior dropped his sword and sought comfort among those who survived. And it was then that the nim awoke.

In the darkness of the setting suns, they came at us—first as single slaughterers but then in vast waves. Our leaders killed or vanished, more than three-quarters of our number dead or gone—order had gone with them. None were prepared.

The history of the Nim Onslaught cannot be carved into the Great Stone as a series of glorious battles. No generals marshaled ranks in the field. The Massacre was countless struggles for survival. Thousands of desperate individuals or small groups fighting just to live long enough to see the next sun drift above the horizon."

—The Moriok known as Xanafar, from his Journal of the Dawn Age

*****

 The Vulshok

The humans of the Oxidda Chain have undergone a more dramatic transformation than Mirrodin's other humans— Vulshok hands, feet, and heads are covered in heavy, angular, mutable iron, and their internal temperatures can spike hot enough to melt or ignite many other materials (besides their own flesh). The Vulshok have adapted greater muscle mass and bone density to compensate.

Among the Goblins. Goblins have thrived in Oxidda, all but squeezing out the Vulshok with rapid procreation and expansion. Although the goblins take great pride in their dominance of the region, the Vulshok have maintained a small but stable population and have avoided getting embroiled in some of the plane's larger conflicts. The Vulshok tribes are isolationist and scattered, separated from each other by terrain as well as areas of goblin control.

Content with Less. Although Vulshok are mercurial and have extreme emotional responses, they are neither ambitious nor competitive. As a result their population and tribal structures have remained constant for many decades. They have not made significant gains in territory or in artifice, and that suits them just fine.

Heart of the Forge. As Vulshok social groups stabilized, permanence and endurance were increasingly valued, and the forge became the primary symbol of those values. Vulshok smiths take great pride in their craft, and Vulshok "fruit of the forge" is judged by its weight, durability, and the honesty of its manufacture. This valuation of permanence comes through in how Vulshok deal with outsiders, too: If a Vulshok surmises that a relationship is temporary or circumstantial, they will be gruff and detached. Why bother with something so transient? Lasting relationships, like lasting weapons, take time and care to forge.

Alloyed, Allied. Because the Vulshok value stability and craft, over time each tribe has developed specializations in their smithing, and Vulshok smiths avoid directly competing with one another. This division of duties also encourages the tribes to depend on each other and to mutually visit when items are needed. In fact, over time the tribes discarded their family identities in favor of their smithing ones.

Forge-Tribes. Six so-called "forge-tribes" exist in the Oxidda Chain, although the Vulshok are insular enough that this structure isn't at all clear to outsiders, nor are the Vulshok inclined to explain it.

Spear. This highland tribe creates weapons and tools with points, spurs, or piercing function. They are quick to act and quick to anger. Their shamans tend to wield lightning magic.

Hammer. This lowland tribe specializes in blunt instruments and armaments. They are natural wielders of earth-magic. Also are able to use the metal of the mountains themselves as a weapon.

Blade. Smiths of the Blade tribe are experts at creating edged tools and weapons. Although others think of the highland-dwelling Blades as arrogant, their ability with fire magic is unmatched and unquestioned.

Shield. The Shields are semi-nomadic, moving from region to region to serve the other tribes. They are builders of houses, walls, shields, and other protective elements. Their magic tends to bolster endurance and resolve.

Helm. The forges of this lowland tribe produce armor but also finer instruments—things that require care. Members of the Helm also conduct intertribal unions, both social and nuptial. Helm mages wield emotions as weapons, able to cause fits of rage or fear.

Anvil. The Anvil tribe occupies the deep valleys and ravines of Oxidda, and they refine and supply metals and smithing goods for all the other tribes. The Anvil tribe also resolves conflicts and disputes. Their shamans are valued for their battle magic.

The Anvil Cracks. After years of relative peace between the forge-tribes, the ingots forged by the Anvil tribe turned brittle and inconsistent. Something was wrong with the molten metal of Oxidda, all of which passed through Kuldotha itself. The tribes, deprived of their work and their meaning, turned on each other. For the first time in generations, there was open war among the Vulshok.

Enter Koth. A young leader emerged, not from the Helm or Anvil tribes, as was the custom, but from the Hammer tribe. The young man was a savant of earth magic and believed he could purify the ore, even if it was only one day's worth at a time. He approached the Anvil and offered his help. With the solidity of the metal restored, the skirmishes between tribes slowed. It took all of Koth's ability to purify enough ore to meet the renewed demand, and the fighting that persisted was often over which tribe should be supplied next.

 The Sylvok

The Fifth Dawn era propelled the humans of the forest-like Tangle, the Sylvok, in a new cultural direction. While some of their leaders were involved with Glissa and the battles against Memnarch, these individuals disappeared in the Vanishing, leaving the Sylvok with little information about the cause of the new sun or what was going on in the rest of Mirrodin. During the leveler attacks, and later during a bitter conflict between the vedalken and elves, the Sylvok were exposed to forms of artifice they'd never seen before. Instead of hating or fearing artifacts like the elves, they co-opted them into their belief system about the natural world. The Sylvok began to try to find "perfect" representations of the natural world as a form of worship.

Post-Dawn Radix. In the aftermath of the Fifth Dawn, the Sylvok built a shrine around the green lacuna that was once known as the Radix. They called it the Araneas Altar, an eight-sided construct to honor Lord Araneas, a mythological spider-lord from Tangle folklore. Crafted from found metal, the Araneas Altar resembles a giant metal spider when viewed from above. The "heart" of the spider is the giant hole that was formerly the Radix. The elves also consider the Radix a sacred place, particularly because of the lamina, which are strange, metallo-organic growths that sprout up like foliage from inside the planar core.

Druidic Rule. The humans of the Tangle are potent shamans and druids who prefer to fight with spells rather than weapons. The Sylvok adopted a hierarchical system of rule based on a chosen group of druids, much like the Tel-Jilad Chosen. Powerful druids are revered and have the most power in Sylvok society.

Animal Worship. Half the Sylvok population disappeared in the Vanishing, and almost all of the most powerful druids disappeared. One of the few remaining skilled druids, a young man named Benzir, became the de facto leader. Using the poison of a needle-snake, Benzir embarked on a vision quest in an attempt to find the Vanished. In his vision, he saw a woman take the form of a copper-plated wolf with the horns of a stag. Based on this, Benzir told his tribe that spirits of the Vanished had been housed in animal bodies. He believed they had "ascended" to a higher form in the natural world. This has led to a culture of animal worship among the Sylvok; to the Sylvok, every creature is potentially the current form of a missing elder.

The Times to Come

That's the state of the human cultures during the first appearances of Phyrexia on the plane. Now these five proud, durable cultures face the ravages of infectious, oil-blooded nightmares that crawl from the pits and shadows of their world. As is our custom, the next set, Mirrodin Besieged, will crank up the stakes and the conflict, and with them, the potential for both tragedy and hope. It will be a true test of what it means to be Mirran—and a horrifying test of what it takes to remain human.

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Neurok Spy

From the murk of Mephidross to the heart of Kuldotha, the vedalken send their servants forth to gather knowledge from every inch of Mirrodin.

Artist: Daren Bader TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[dailymtgflavortext]

"Why should I be bound by rules when I can see so far beyond them?" 

-Neurok Prodigy

[socialpoison]

Another Order of Heliud OC, Ellidus!

They're an artificer/technopath from Mirrodin! They're a half-auriok, half-neurok human. Their metal plates are electrum, an alloy of gold and silver. Their magic lets them know things about devices, and if they are controlled via magical or digital input, they can control them! They amplify this power with a helmet they made! backstory under the cut:

They had two moms, one an Auriok accorder, another an artificer for a Neurok network. Growing up, they resented having to constantly refer to the Auriok Accord of Equity to consider what they were doing, what resources it would take, who it would benefit, when all they wanted to do was make new things.

They sparked after they made their helmet and they could feel their magical sensing stretch out further than it ever had. After the planeswalk, they found themself on Kamigawa.

They studied with the Futurists, and got to be incredible with their network magic. But then they saw how goods were made such that the buyers would constantly be customers of the Futurists. How much the Futurists fought for monopoly power. How they would try to hide the defective nature of certain products. Technology without morals could only entrench divisions and injustice. They switched to the Imperials, because they believed in regulation. The Order of Heliud discovered them, and recruited them to study artifice the worlds over, to find solutions to problems that only they can! Until recently, they watched over a listening post on New Phyrexia, meant to monitor the movements of planeswalkers to and from the plane.

[ask-the-praetors]

To all praetors- What do you think of the Mirran's technology? Is that something the legions of Phyrexia could incorporate?

The Mirran people are capable of great acts of artifice. It is what finally convinced me that Phyrexia is not, cannot be, the end of perfection. The goblins and other willing converts of my sphere joyously mix the technologies of their old and new lives, but unfortunately the other spheres do as well, to oppressive ends. -U

There is some merit to the rudimentary stirrings of vedalken and Neurok minds. Their quicksilver canisters resemble our own oil-based informational storage. Of more value than their products, however, are their minds themselves. The great Meldweb, the apex of the Progress Engine's computing technology, is developed from countless integrated vedalken brains. -J

Mostly ineffective toys, but fun to see my gladiators wield. -S

All that is Mirran will be embraced in the Phyrexian unity, as the Etchings dictate. Through us, their bodies and their technology will all be elevated as pieces of our grander purpose. -E

MIRRAN OR PHYREXIAN, ALL ARTIFICE IS THE SAME. A LIE TO BE DESTROYED. -V