#stensia

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Stensia

Artist: Vincent Proce TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[mask131]

Magic the Gathering: Innistrad (Innistrad block)

My favorite Land cards

The plane of Innistrad is divided in four great regions, called the "Provinces".

The first province, Gavony, is the "safest" area for humans in Innistra, and thus the province with the highest number of humans. Gavony is home to Thraben, the High City. Ah, Thraben! The largest city of the continent. The center of the Church of Avacyn. A fortress built to resist all supernatural attacks. It is here that Avacyn the Archangel once resided, wthin Thraben's Great Cathedral, and the city is located on the mesa of a lake known as the "Lake of the Herons" (in Innistrad, herons are believed to the the birds of the moon, and by extension symbolize goodness and Avacyn's power). At the northern edge of Gavony, Thraben is a city of cleanliness and order, inhabited mostly by clerics, merchants and artisans. Everything is neatly divided and organized within the city, usually in ways reflecting the social order. Take the Great Cathedral. During worship, it divides itself in three parts: the Chapel of Noble Peers (opulent, gilded chapel for high-level clergymen and nobility) ; Midvast Hall (larger and less opulent hall, for ordained people and the lesser clergy) ; Common Cloisters (covered corridors alongside Midvast Hall, where commoners stand during worship). The divisions extends to the numerous walls that surround Thraben - some old, some recent, some well-kept, some in ruins, some great, some small, they form a complex interwoven puzzle. There are five main walls: the Outer Wall (main defense of the city, thick and high wall that has been several time expanded to avoid the overcrowding of the city) ; the Merchant's Wall (a series of halls that acts as the market square and commerce-center in the city) ; the Bloodless Wall (a prison for vampires, where they are chained to the wall and left to starve to death) ; the Fang Wall (an execution ground for werewolves, their fangs are embedded between the stones of the wall) ; and the Child's Wall (Thraben's oldest wall, surrounding the Old Cathedral, with the name of every child born in Innistrad engraved on it - it is a pilgrimage site for new parents, who believe having their child's name on the wall expands their life).

From Thraben, all sorts of "smaller towns radiate outward", throughout Gavony's rocky moors, and rolling hills and heaths, dotted with "small copses of trees". Safety is the main concern and currency in Gavony: the rich, wealthy and powerful live comfortably within fortified manors, while the poor spend all of their money on talismans, magic wards and blessings of the Church (because the Church does ask for a bit of money in exchange of their heavenly power). And while there is a growing resentment towards the Church's greed and self-centeredness (the higher ups of the Church, with sheltered and comfortable lives, tend to not understand the harshness of the rest of the continent), there is still a very strong sense of community within humanity in the province, and the Church stays the basis of human society. As the Guide to Gavony explains: the basic social unit of Gavony is a parish, organized around a local chapel, and they can be as tight as clans. In Innistrad, the Church is the State and the State is the Church: judges and lawyers are ordained by the Church, and in return the Church keeps confirming and supporting the rule of the law. All education across Innistrad is the domain of the Church. Merchants and artisans are the only jobs that are technically free and independant from the Church, but even them have to respect the Church, because their guilds and organizations (called "fellowships" have to be sanctioned by the Church.

Unfortunately, having a high population of humans also means Gavony has the largest numbers of cemeteries across Innistrad - which also means more undeads and more geists than elsewhere on the continent.

The second province is Kessig, the "vast, wooded hinterland" of Innistrad. It is said that autumn is perpetual within these deep woods, for the green constantly mixes itself with golds and muted reds ; and at night, under the moonlight, everything become "stark and steel-like". Humans carved themselves farming villages and rolling farmlands within the dense, dark woods ; and if they are not farmers, they will be hunters and trappers. But everybody knows that it is a suicidal act than to venture in the woods at night: Ulvenwald, the misty woods, are haunted by both ghosts and werewolves. Ulvenald is almost "supernaturally dense" - no normal wood can have so much aspen, birch and maple trees growing in such a dark, sinuous and compact ensemble. Travellers of the forest at best will be haunted or attacked by spirits and beasts - at worst, they will mysteriously disappear in the mist.

The humans who live in Kessig have a life strongly focused on work. You need to work to survive: Kessigers learned to be self-reliant, pragmatic and plainspoken. They are farmers, millers, weavers and stonemasons: they don't purchase their tools, they do it themselves ; they do not learn mathematics or history, they learn the harvest cycles and the edible weeds. They are hard-headed and unpretentious - and are part of Avacyn's religion in their own way. They do not trust the cathars (holy warriors) of the big cities ; they do not like the Gavony ghost-hunters who are too pritine and shiny ; they do not understand the decrees of the aristocrats of the High City of Thraben... But they believe in Avacyn with all their heart, and their motto is: "The worked earth below us, the hand-hewn stone walls around us, and the angel above us". This is their world. Given superstition and fear rules in Kessig, it is polite when you meet someone for the first time to show that you wear an item made of silver (unfortunately there is a lot of "counterfeit" silver going around, especially sold at Nephalia). Wreaths of living wood are a common gift, and are placed on the door of homes where a child was just born. Before going onto a journey, people either fast up to a whole day, or eat sour root soup : it is believed it makes humans less appealing for werewolves and hungry beasts. To be fat and well-fed in Kessig is to become an easy prey. A local tradition in Kessig is the "Sleep Revel". On the anniversary of a person's death, they are celebrated - or rather, one successful year stayed in the ground is celebrated. The "undisturbed sleep of one's ancestors is seen as almost a greater blessing than the continuing birthdays of one's living relatives".

The werewolves are the main dangers in Kessig, because they haunt the woods in packs or as lone wolves. It is known that the "howlpacks" as they are called wane and waxe with the moon, and that many werewolves live secretly among Kessigers (causing a lot of suspicion and speculation among Kessig's human communities). Add to that the fact nobody agrees on how to detect, hunt or cure werewolves - let's just say persecution and prejudice can run rampant around. Kessig is also a land plagued by geists - but not "regular" geists like other provinces, oh no! These are green-aligned geists, that is to say not ghosts of the living, but wild spirits of nature opposing the civilized life. Mischievous poltergeists, blood mists that devour the living, surreal fires that burn of a cold flame, beautiful nature spirits of vine and thorn, feral possessed beasts... Due to the omnipresence of werewolves and nature spirits, most of the other supernatural threats are banished, but it doesn't mean they are not absent... For example, at the foot of tall stone hills, a smoking and boiling fissure called the "Devil's Breach" is known to cause minor and sporadic demonic activity.

Trivia: Due to not having much around, Kessigers consider zombies as symbols of the "evils of the big city", and in their mind they associate and equate "necromantic alchemy" with all the other vices of "big cities": murderous conspiracies, black market, religious heresy, and prostitution.

I will place the two other provinces under the cut:

The third province is Stensia, which is fully and completely under the control of vampires. Stensia is known as the "darkest" part of Innistrad, figuratively and literaly. The sun never manages to fully shines beyond Stensia's perpetual cover of oddly-colored clouds - only the light of the moon can truly appear. It is a very mountainous area dominated by the "Geier Reach", a mountain chain of impossibly high peaks of indigo and black rocks. The forests there are of evergreen, forested midlands of black pine "riddled with whisps of thick fog". The mountains split the region into two distinctive valleys with a dusky pastoral charm, and two distinctive bogs, where old graves and dead conifers slowly sink. The mountains also separate the wary human villages inhabited by fearful, if not paranoid humans, who stay however loyal to their land and passionate about their lifestyle ; from the vampire manors and the blood-thirsty rulers of the region. Right in the middle of the mountains, you can find Ashmouth, a deep chasm glowing with magma at the bottom - and a literal gateway to Hell...

Stensia is divided between "human culture" and "vampire culture". The human villages are prepared for vampire attacks: they are all circled by moats (that vampires cannot cross when the moon is out), and they have nearby hawthorn tree groves to keep access to "living wood". Large cottages and rich people place mirrors on their frontdoors, and build their house near a hawhthorn tree, that the eldest child of the family must care for. Due to the rocky soil and dim light of the region, Stensia humans are not farmers, but relies on sheep for their woll, milk, leather and meat - Stensian wool is said to be the finest of all Innistrad, and thanks to the vampires' presence, werewolves do not haunt the area. Generations of seeing their children and neighbors die, and of living near the vampire threat, made humans stoic, non-expressive and non-demonstrative. They are proud and fervent, but will seem rude, violent and cold to outsiders.

Vampires meanwhile, are self-centered narcissists who believe themselves the guardians and "shepherds" of humanity, and that the sacrifice of their humanity is somehow something humans should "honor". Vampires are basically the most decadent nobility you will ever find, living in days of feasts, balls and parties, keeping all sorts of grudges and organizing betrayals just to amuse themselves, demanding the finest and most luxurious items for themselves. Olivia Voldaren, a prominent vampire of the area (I posted her card in the Multicolor section), invented a disturbing three-days feast called "The Court of the Vampire King/Queen". The principle is simple: kidnap a human being, bring him to the greatest gathering of vampires of Stensia, and name them "King of the Vampires" or "Queen of the Vampires". This is a vampire's Carnival or Feast of Fools: the mock-queen is served the best foods and drinks, entertained by all sorts of shows, and the vampires around must obey the human's every command (except those of making the ruler "abdicate"). At the end of the three days of party, the human is killed and their blood shared among all the revelers.

The last province is Nephalia, the coastal side of Innistrad. Nephalia is the watery region of the continent - nearly treeless, it faces the foggy and dark sea of Innistrad, and all the rivers of the inland end up here, creating all srots of deltas, marshes and bogs. The beach is made of a silvery sand, the towns are all here small or medium-sized ports, and the region is filled by a system of tunnels, underground pathways and sea-caves known as the Erdwal or "The Ditch". It was originally a set of trenches between the three main towns to resist zombie and werewolf attacks. Then it became a "network of defensible walkways" to transport the goods and ensure the trades in a region filled with hungry zombies, angry geists and demons. Merchants turned this system into the true "artery of trade", and then a "bustling underground economy" appeared within it, "in all manner of grey and black market goods". On the Erdwall you can buy assassins, human blood, curses, necromancy spells... It is a "trench marketplace of colorful rogues, seedy merchants, filfthy sailors and gaunt stangers, all doing business in dark alleyways and roughly hewn tunnels branching off the main trench". Alchemists, skaberen and ghoulcallers have a notably active presence there - selling human blood, buying pieces of corpses for their flesh golems, dealing with transmutation of base metals into pure silver... Sometimes a "defective" creation of a skaberen can get loose and slaughter all those in the tunnels. Nephalia managed to create a cold "understanding" and an uneasy "truce" with the Church of Avacyn - as long as those dark dealings happen below the ground, the Church won't do anything. This is why it is commonly said that "sloughs, sea mists and mysteries cloak Nephalia's commerce and crimes".

Nephalia is notorious for being the most "mixed" province in terms of population. Human, geists and vampires alike haunt the region, seeking business, secrets, or solitude. It is money and commerce that unites them. Nephalia needs the Church of Avacyn to maintain a general order ; but they also buy or sell human beings to vampires as "food". Skaberen and ghoulcallers profit of the illegal "corpse market" of the region, and can find little secretive places where they carry on their experiences - as long as they stay discreet and hidden. The "metzalar", the merchants of Nephalia are truly the glue that maintains the region cohesive, keeping each party separated from each other, and yet linking them all in a web of exchanged goods and money flow.

There are many more info about Nephalia on Magic's official Guide to Innistrad, but a last trivia: the region suffers from the "Breath of the Sleepless", a phenomenon where the spirits and geists come and go with the tide. Given the tide is related to the moon, its ebbs and flows have something mystical that attracts or repels ghosts. While there are many geists in Nephalia, the most common types are "niblis" (frost phantoms) and "marei" (the ghosts of drowned sailors).

[andante-espressivo]

[dailyadventureprompts]

Suggested character backgrounds for my Innistrad/Bloodborne campaign, divided by region.

Character concepts

Gavony 

I was already a hunter, but after I let it slip I was isolated from my friends and family. I’ve come to Zhava to make a new start

Once a member of the Cathars, soldiers of the church, but I was kicked out for ungodly conduct and this seemed like a good enough place as any to ply my skill with a blade

A refugee from Thraben, when I close my eyes I can still see the endless hordes of undead. ( I might be a necromancer)

I was minding my own business robbing a tomb when I picked up the wrong sword. Now I’ve got the ghost of a saint whispering in my ear about doing good. 

I was raised in a cell of Avacynian cultists, preparing for the day the angel returns to purge the world of mortals. I’ve escaped but cultlife didn’t prepare me for much else. 

Kessig

There aren't many workshops in the Uvenvald and my village is too small to host one anyway. I’m here to learn everything I can so that I can go back and protect them with my knowledge

My family has been killing beasts for generations before the moons went wrong. Its in my blood

A witch from the natterknolls told me to be here as repayment for a favour she did for someone I love. 

I’m a werewolf and if i’m going to go on a moonlit rampage it might as well be one I’m not going to be blamed for. 

I’m looking for the most impressive trophy to win over my sweetheart back in Lambholt. This year I’ll win the hunting competition FOR SURE

Nephalia 

I was one of the Skiltfolk mercenary hunters for a while, but this gig pays better, and I don’t have to gruntwork for necromancers anymore. 

The hunt gives me a perfect place to test out my wild new inventions. They’ll rue the day they kicked me out of the academy

As an alchemist, do you have any idea how much money you can make selling eldritch horrors off piecemeal as potion ingredients? Untapped market if you ask me

I’ve sworn vengeance against a beast that did me grievous injury then got away. One of these nights I’ll find it. 

I may or may not have angered some very powerful people and/or pirates and or/ghosts out on the coast, heading inland and accepting protection from the workshop seemed like the best idea. 

Stensia

As the bastard offshoot of one of the vampiric houses, I’ve grown tired of the gossip and powerstruggles of home and want to actually challenge myself for once. 

I stared too deeply into one of the moons and my family sent me to the Sanitarium in Griar Reach. I’ve learned to control the visions now and they’ve led me here after the Sanitarium collapsed in on itself. 

A vampire owns my family in blood-debt, I do this as a favor to help pay it off. 

I met a devil while traveling along a narrow mountain road and couldn’t solve his riddles. Now I’m cursed and stockpiling enough blackpowder to blow the horn-headed bastard back to hell 

For the past several years I’ve wandered after a really big bird came and stole my whole village one night. I don’t know if this has anything to do with the moons but honestly I’m just taking thighs one day at a time.

[arvadthecursed]

I've been thinking about this for a bit so here's a post about why Saint Traft and Rem Karolus is an awesome flavor win of a card.

So for this we're going to be looking at the tokens these two make. First, the 1/1 red human.

In the Planeswalker's Guide To Innistrad: Stensia, it was mentioned that Rem spent much of his time in the region. He only took orders from Thraben when he agreed with them, instead choosing to ride around on his horse Jedda and help the folks of Stensia.

Crimson Vow is the first time we see the 1/1 red human token in the precon. The woman depicted is also in the art for Stensia Uprising; she's on the right-hand side of the art.

Rem helped these people. He spent most of his career protecting them. Of course they'd come to his aid when he needed them.

Next, the spirit token.

The obvious bridge between the geist himself and the human who, funnily enough, refused to be bonded to a spirit during the Battle of Thraben in the Travails. The Order is essentially the only real Cathar force left, with Avacyn's church in shambles following the inquisition and the ousting of its Skirsdag infiltrators, like Jerren. Some spirits are still clearly willing to help to humans, as we saw in Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow.

Finally, the angel.

Saint Traft was Beloved of Angels, and he was followed by an angel until his demise. Those he chose were also blessed by that angel. In Invocation of Saint Traft, we see the young girl he died rescuing taking up his mantle. (Many have said this art is Grete, but it's not. Notice her ring finger is missing the top knuckle -- the cultists who captured the little girl cut off her finger to taunt Traft. She later became a Cathar and was blessed by him.)

So the tokens are a really awesome, flavorful way to connect these characters. From the common man that Rem inspired to the angel that watched over Traft, the tokens are absolutely perfect for this team up.

[two-energy-counters]

“Sorin Markov,” Thalia gritted, her hand already at her saber’s hilt. “You are not welcome on hallowed ground.”

He didn’t even turn to face her. “The Phyrexians destroyed so much. This is the only remaining balcony this side of Stensia suitable for brooding.”

[nightmarist]

Ohh since @argyleheir's been reblogging vampire lores:

One of my absolute favorite pieces of vampire lore comes from Magic: the Gathering's Innistrad vampires:

When vampires feed, they will sink their teeth into any exposed flesh. Usually the neck is most convenient, but an arm or even a cheek will do. But the siring bite is special. Vampires want to avoid marring the appearance of their future peers, so often a siring bite is made in some out-of-view location, such as on the upper thigh, the torso under the arm, or the bottom of a foot (although in this last case the victim must be special indeed to be worth the vampire's self-humiliation). — A Planeswalker's guide to Innistrad: Stensia and Vampires

I love the idea that the location of The Bite has special meaning!

I also think it can add to the hierarchy of vampire spawns and bride-grooms. A vampire can cultivate a coven/bloodline/what-have-you of sired spawn, but I think a hierarchy can exist between "lower status" vampires bitten on the neck versus a sired vampire without any visible markings (and thus can "pass" as original vampires since Innistrad's first vampires were changed via ritual, but sired vampires thereafter were bitten), or perhaps they would want to flaunt their special marking by wearing, purposely, low or odd-cut blouses and bodices, or above-ankle trousers and skirts.

The cultural implications of hiding them in non-vampire society vs flaunting them (with jewelry? bespoke clothing? makeup?) in vampire society are interesting!

The thigh bite has more overt sexual implications, being so close to the genitals. Under the arm can have fetishistic implications (breast related or armpit related, especially for queer vampires), but it is also very near the ribs and thus heart. The actual torso near the heart can be romantic, and seductive, without being overtly sexually implied. The foot or ankle I think imply something special for two reasons: the obvious one being that the foot in western culture (as these particular vampires are based in the classic Victorian Gothic sense), the foot is seen as dirty for touching the ground.

But I also think there's an additional submissiveness involved, prostrating oneself Below the person you are siring, essentially on your hands and knees (I'm sure there are more comfortable positions but that I find is the intuitive assumption, like kissing the ground or the feet in reverence). Plus, it's one of hardest bites to see when you're wearing long trousers or gowns, boots, or tall socks + garters where the neck is almost always exposed save for chokers, the under arm can be exposed in working garments or simple shirtlessness, and revealing/low cut or open blouses can reveal chest bites. The other unnoticeable options would be the upper legs or lower abdomen, which again have more sexual and seductive implications compared to the reverence of the foot or ankle bite.

I'd like to add that an additional bite location, the Wrist, could be seen as very romantic and perhaps even chaste, more special than the neck but not as special as the ankle given its visibility.

[wifelinkmtg]

Neon Dynasty Kami- wait hang on

Are we still on Innistrad? I thought we did Innistrad last time. Excuse me while I review the previous post.

***

Yes, it seems we started Innistrad, but I got sidetracked by talking about all the corrupted angels from Shadows block. Odd. When I try to remember the process of writing the last post, there aren’t any specifics, just this... warm, hazy thrum. That’s probably fine, right?

Anyway.

INNISTRAD: MIDNIGHT HUNT + CRIMSON VOW, CONTINUED

Henrika Domnathi (art by Billy Christian)

It really is so easy to make vampires hot, isn’t it? Like there’s a formula: take a pretty woman, give her opulent clothes, put a little trickle of blood from her mouth as a crack in the facade of controlled civility, right, just to indicate that she may look like nobility but is in fact a decadent animal, and then give her a wine glass full of blood and have her hover a bit. There you go: buttons pushed, hotness achieved.

Henrika, Infernal Seer (art by Billy Christian)

Oh, by the way, Henrika apparently drinks demon blood exclusively, which is a cool character detail I thought you should know. There is something very Mardi Gras about this whole look, which just makes me want to reread some of Caitlín R. Kiernan’s New Orleans short stories. Actually, you could do a very interesting Innistrad reskin using Kiernan’s mythology, their dog-like ghouls and Southern vampires in houses with decaying wallpaper. Wizards of the Coast did a bunch of alternate versions of cards from Crimson Vow as Dracula characters - I’m imagining something similar with Jimmy de Sade as Sorin, Salmagundi as Avacyn, and so forth. Free Secret Lair idea, if Wizards want to make a product with a target audience of one.

MUCH LIKE THAT WHOLE PARAGRAPH. LET’S MOVE ON, PLEASE.

Gisa, Glorious Resurrector (art by Yongjae Choi)

You know, there is something really compelling about a woman who is passionate about her art, even if that art is raising the dead. Not a lot of fun to be had on Innistrad, generally speaking, but Gisa is having the time of her life: bloody cleaver, picnic basket full of hands, horde of adoring undead, evil shovel. Some respond to the horrors of Innistrad by retreating to the safety of ritual or religion, hiding in their hamlets, hands gripping axe or torch, mouths set in grim hope. Gisa responded to the horrors by saying, “I could do your job better, actually,” and it is working out great for her. Apologies to Olivia Voldaren, but Gisa is Innistrad’s premier girlboss and it is not close.

Bat Whisperer (art by Jodie Muir)

I’m sure the other vampires get judgy about how Sabrina’s always getting fully contoured and dressed to the nines just to go lounge around on rooftops with bats, but frankly she has captivated me with her #AutisticGirlSwag. I am so excited to learn all about the difference between bat species in Nephalia and Stensia.

Saryth, the Viper’s Fang (art by Igor Kieryluk)

There aren’t any gorgons on Innistrad, so Saryth has decided to DIY it. About eighty percent of the sex appeal here is the massive, luminous constrictor. That’s not just me, right? Igor made the snake really hot, right?

ANYWAY, YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THE CROSSBOW SEGMENT OF OUR SHOW.

Apprentice Sharpshooter (art by Steve Prescott)

Personally I think it’s good to have to watch out for spikes when you kiss a pretty woman. There’s a lovely textural contrast between cold pointy metal and the softness and warmth of fur and skin. More spikes on women in 2023, please.

Bloodthirsty Adversary (art by Heonhwa Choe)

Yes, like that, exactly! Spiked pauldron, spiked hips, double crown of thorns, and we’ve escalated to two crossbows. She will kill you, unfortunately, but you’ll get to experience several interesting and different piercing sensations on the way out.

Sawblade Slinger (art by Joshua Raphael)

And speaking of escalation, um. Look. We can argue about whether the Fuck-Off Buzzsaw Hurler is technically a crossbow, but I hope we can all agree that it is an Effective Visual Metaphor for the best goddamn strap game in Innistrad.

THIS HAS BEEN THE CROSSBOW SEGMENT OF OUR SHOW. THANK YOU.

Creepy Puppeteer (art by Marie Magny)

If you’re not at least curious about what it would feel like to get double-teamed by a lovely hammer-wielding maniac and her mannequin duplicate, you might be reading the wrong blog. Hey Marie, this is pretty good, but can we get the horny turned up a couple hundred percent?

Blood Hypnotist (art by Marie Magny)

Amazing, thank you so much. Where to even begin with this? I don’t know exactly what blood hypnosis entails, but I would very much like to learn. The dominating eye contact, the blood-soaked talons, the coy little heart in blood on her previous victim’s face (”previous” because what this image communicates above all else is “you’re next,”) fat braids straining against their prison of riveted leather strips, the way the outline of her head irresistibly suggests a praying mantis head (that one’s just for me, thank you!), and - why not - fat tits into the bargain. Honestly, the only thing that could possibly make this any hornier would be the visible bulge of her thick cock, which I’m sure they only didn’t do because this game is 13+. Then again, they printed this card as-is, so I guess Magic: the Gathering is real educational, huh? Tap lands, cast spells, make friends, feel things about card art you can’t yet identify but which will shape whole swathes of the rest of your life.

Alright, that’s been Innistrad, a welcome change of pace from almost two years of mostly-neutered art. Thanks for going on this journey with me!

NEXT TIME: CYBERPUNK, ART DECO, AND TAMIYO'S HOT GIRL MAKEOVER COMES AT A TERRIFYING COST!

[inventors-fair]

Stunning New Marvels Entries 19-27 of 27

@railway-covidae - Stensia Spite-Haunt

@real-aspen-hours - Neural Restructure

@reaperfromtheabyss - Rustmaw Hellkite

@sombramainexe - Stunning Plateau

@spooky-bard - Dimensional Convulsion

@stareyedesper - Regenerating Pugilist

@stupidstupidratcreatures - Aurora Devotee

@wizard-of-interesting-failure - Overdraw

@wolkemesser - Parasite Prime

[oops-prow-did-it-again]

Her home was gone.

The Eye of Ugin was gone.

Zendikar was gone.

The multiverse was gone.

She bellowed, a kor’s call, one of fury, one of battle. It rang and echoed off the walls, making the unsteady, battered rocks around her rumble and threaten to fall. The earth below rumbled with sympathy to her rage.

There was only one way forward for her now, then. Kill or cage the monster that had caused all of this. No matter what it took. An eye for an eye could leave the world blind, but… Glaring down at the broken Eye of Ugin, thinking about the Eldrazi and how they would eventually take their scourge beyond Zendikar, she couldn’t help but spitefully think, if the world was already blind, what did it matter?

“As Zendikar has bled,” Nahiri started, voice as deep and grating as stones scraping against one another, as she turned away from the shattered Eye. She started to push at the bounds of Zendikar around her, started to send pulses of mana beyond her body, through the dead stones of her former home. “So will Innistrad.”

She dragged her superheated blade through the ground again as she started to walk away. She left a trail of red-hot molten steel in her wake.

“As I have wept, so will Sorin.”

She smelled the rot of the swamps of Stensia. She felt the sickly, cloying humidity of the air. A shower of stony dust started up around her.

“And as I have died, so will Sorin.”

The dead Zendikar melted away from her view. Her next step forward put her ankle-deep in noxious, black water, her boot sinking into mud. Pale moonlight filtered through a canopy of dead tree branches, washing her in silvery light. Her superheated blade hissed and threw up a plume of steam as it plunged into the bog water. Meanwhile, Nahiri turned her face to stare up at Innistrad’s great silver moon.

[antique-symbolism]

4 and 24 for magic asks!

4. Favorite card(s)?

Olivia Voldaren and General Tazri (because favourite characters), Edgar Markov (because there's a very sentimental story behind how I acquired the card), Stensia Masquerade and Shark Typhoon (love to use these in my decks), and Wedding Ring (because I think it's very funny to act like I'm proposing to someone at the table every time I play it).

24. Have you read any of the Magic novels? If so, which ones?

I read Sundered Bond and it's the reason I hate Lukka so, so, so much.

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Stensia

Artist: Vincent Proce TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[lord-of-innistrad]

Spirits of Innistrad

A Midnight Hunt/Crimson Vow Fic

Chapter Two

It was months now since Eternal Night had settled over the plane of Innistrad. Vampires demanded blood tithes. Werewolves attacked unchecked. And it was all Tessa could do to not pull her hair out as she traveled all over her home trying her best to prevent everything from falling to pieces.

From fighting wolves in Kessig, to vampires in Stensia, to geists in Gavony, to everything under the moon in Nephalia.

That blasted moon. Tessa cursed it regularly, despite it being the only regular source of light these days. If Emrakul had never been imprisoned in it, this wouldn't be happening!

She stopped that train of thought as soon as she noticed it. If Emrakul had never been imprisoned in the moon, she would have destroyed the plane entirely. Innistrad was many things, but it was also her home, flawed though it may be.

Today, or tonight, she found herself travelling under the light of the moon through Nephalia. Reports had come to her of a necro-alchemist who had killed and replaced a local governor. She kept an eye on the sky as she walked along. Sea-kites hunted along the roads, less brazen than they had been before, but still brazen enough.

At least this road was travelable now.

As Tessa arrived at the gate to the town, a crow eyed her. She knew this town well enough. A Stromkirk vampire lived here. Kindly enough towards humans, by vampiric standards, he kept away from the Stromkirk manor, instead being a wealthy patron here. The buildings reflected this, being even finer than even the normal standards of the region.

Perhaps he had been her source of information.

One of the townsfolk saw her, standing there in shining cathar armor and her trusty tricorn, and scurried off, probably to warn others that a cathar had come.

As she waited outside the locked gate, a crazed woman came careening around a different corner, armed with some sort of apparatus. This must be the necro-alchemist. She cackled and set it churning.

A geist was consumed and spiritual energy crackled towards Tessa. She unsheathed her blade and stood there at the ready.

The expression on the woman's face turned sour as Tessa stood her ground. Most ordinary Cathars would have fled.

Tessa was no ordinary Cathar.

The blade met the bolt of energy, just a show for the townsfolk, because Tessa simply divided the spiritual energy to avoid getting blasted by it.

She said a quick prayer for the poor soul that had been used, and began climbing the gate.

The alchemist started fleeing.

Tessa landed on the other side of the gate, to various cheers from the townsfolk. She ignored them and ran after the alchemist.

The woman knew the town better than her, running this way and that, almost shaking off Tessa, but being slower than the planeswalker, and having to stop to breathe.

And then a figure stepped out of the mist.

The alchemist froze in fear.

Tessa sighed. "Don't kill her yet."

The Stormkirk vampire glared at Tessa. "It wasn't my plan."

Tessa came up behind the woman. "I'm going to give you a single choice. Surrender, and leave this place. Or die."

The woman seemed to acquiesce, collapsing to the ground. Before pulling a dagger and attempting to stab Tessa. The weapon clashed against Tessa's Cathar armor, and Tessa, not one to give second chances, ended her life.

She cleaned off her sword and watched as the vampire pulled illusions around himself to be disguised as a human again.

"Maximillian."

"Tessa."

"Glad to see you have some restraint."

The man laughed mirthlessly.

"Glad to see you answer my call."

Tessa sighed. "It's all just been so much. Keeping Innistrad together."

"I know. But you're not going to like what I have to tell you."

Tessa groaned. "What?"

Max presented a blood red invitation.

"No."

"Oh yes. I am cordially invited to the wedding of Olivia Voldaren and Edgar Markov."

"NO"

"Oh yes. But this invitation is special. I'm allowed to bring a plus one. And I'm particularly upset at this... union."

"Yeah no shit, Max."

"So if you can be disguised as not a cathar for a little bit, I can get you in as my plus one, and we can see from there what we can do."

Tessa agreed.

[prosperity-post]

[theseeker-oftruth]

@josephkabox reblogged your post and added:

“Isobel. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” As she explained her situation, Joseph took mental note of her body language and reason for being there. So far, she seemed honest enough. She didn’t seem to be keeping anything from him, and she did help him out after all.

He genuinely smiled as she began to look embarrassed over the situation. He was ready to speak up, when she pointed out his injury and directed his attention towards it. “Oh! Right, well. I suppose I lost focus for a moment in the heat of the fight there, and it got a decent hit on me.” The tear in his pants exposed a rather bloody wound on his exposed thigh, though it’s depth was hard to determine. “It doesn’t hurt too bad. I think I have something for this.”

Getting on his knee, he dropped the satchel he had been carrying to the floor at his side and began to rummage through it, the time he took making it seem as if the bag was deeper than it let on. “Here we go.” From his bag, he pulled free a small jar of salve and a roll of bandages. “Always good to come prepared, you know?”

As he took care of his wound, he continued speaking. “So you’re looking for something. If you want,” He winced slightly as he touched the tender flesh on his leg. “Ow…If you want, I could possibly lend a hand and help you look for what you’re searching for. Might be good to keep you company in a place like this.” Could be fun too, he thought. Tying the bandage off around his wound, he stood up and put the items away in his bag. “What do you say? You don’t have to worry about a cut of the plunder either, if that’s what you’re in it for. Haha.”

She gave a soft smile as he stood back up. It seemed her nonthreatening jesters had won him over. Especially now, one could never be quite sure how someone might act on Innistrad. Was there a chance he would go mad? Berserk? The mage was still unsure, but she couldn’t sense any malice in his current state. 

Isobel gave a soft chuckle, “Well that is good to know. Unfortunately, the items I’m looking for aren’t really worth all that much in regards to coin, but I do appreciate the company~” 

It had actually been sometime, since she had a traveling companion. Even if it was a short time, she didn’t mind it the least bit. Isobel found her missions sometimes lonely and boring, so this would be a good change of pace.

“Would be smart to have someone else too that can fight. I feel that these two things aren’t the only danger to be found in this place.”

Focusing outwards, Isobel’s eyes glowed a strange eerie magenta color, which trailed from her eyes and faded into nothing. The mage felt out for the pathways of light once more. They would lead her to the items she sought. 

When she had a clear path, she moved to exit the room and head down the halls. It seemed that she would need to head down into the lower levels of the manor.

“Looks like we’ll be heading into the belly of the beast~”

[nightmarist]

Sorin, Nahiri, Avacyn, & Innistrad Stories

It's difficult to make Just a post about Just Innistrad when Sorin is so heavily tied to it and likwise Avacyn and Nahiri are tied to him among others, but I did my best to filter out what I could.

Planeswalker's Guide to Innistrad

PLANESWALKERS GUIDE (Split Up in Sections) Introduction | Gavony | Humans Kessig | Werewolves Nephalia | Undead Stensia | Vampires

Planeswalker's Guied to Avacyn Restored Part 1 Planeswalker's Guide to Avacyn Restored Part 2

GENERAL

The Lunarch's Journal

The Lithomancer

Stirring from Slumber

Sorin's Revelation

Sorin's Homecoming

SHADOWS OVER INNISTRAD & ELDRITCH MOON

Under the Silver Moon

A Gaze Blank And Pitiless

Unwelcome

Sacrifice

The Mystery of Markov Manor

The Drownyard Temple

Promises Old and New

Liliana's Indignation

Games

The Lunarch Inquisition

Stories and Endings

I Am Avacyn

The Archmage of Goldnight

Stone and Blood

Emrakul Rises

Innistrad's Last Hope

Campaign of Vengeance

Saint Traft and the Flight of Nightmares

Battle of Thraben

The Promised End

MIDNIGHT HUNT

Witch of the Woods

Motives of the Wolf

The Fall of House Betzold

Harvesttide

Night Closes 'Round

CRIMSON VOW

Tithes and invitations

The Dolorous Weight of Pleasantries

Forever Hold Your Peace

The Wedding Crashers

Til Death Do Us Part

CARDS & ARTWORKS Innistrad | Dark Ascension | Avacyn Restored Shadows Over innistrad | Eldritch Moon Midnight Hunt | Crimson Vow

Note: The cards often have flavor text (story) regarding the scenes depicted on the cards.