#mtg alpha

Funny - Goblin Balloon Brigade

“From up here we can drop rocks and arrows and more rocks!”

“Uh, yeah boss, but how do we get down?”

Worldbuilding - Llanowar Elves

Whenever the Llanowar Elves gather the fruits of their forest, they leave one plant of each type untouched, considering that nature’s portion.

Emotional - Wall of Swords

Just as the evil ones approached to slay Justina, she cast a great spell, imbuing her weapons with her own life force. Thus she fulfilled the prophecy: “In the death of your savior will you find salvation.”

Few positions within a kingdom are as highly coveted or feared as that of the royal assassin. A special cold-blooded brand of killer, a royal assassin works directly for the rulers of a kingdom, acting as a blade in the dark to swiftly end the lives of those who pose a threat, physical or otherwise, to the stability of the kingdom they serve. A royal assassin never knows any life other than one of servitude and murder, and this usually leaves them dark and humorless, with little desire for personal connection.

From the Beginning. Each royal assassin is specially trained for their position, taken from a young age and raised in the presence of the court by the previous royal assassin. These children are often given high-class educations, taught the politics of the land they serve, as well as how to blend into the culture of it and other kingdoms. They are often taught to discard any notion of the self, submitting their entire being to servitude under the royal family, no matter who happens to sit upon the throne. For a royal assassin, ensuring the continuance of the kingdom is of the highest priority. To this end, their tools of choice are lightweight and easily hidden weapons, tactical displays of acrobatics, and poisons of deadly potency.

The creation of angels is a complex and mysterious process, and little of it is understood by the world at large. These powerful beings are born into the world in a burst of radiant light and warmth, given a purpose from the moment of their creation. To defend a source of good and purity, to engage in combat with the forces of darkness- the reasons for the birth of an angel are many and varied. Angels are most frequently born at the will of a god, as most deities are the only thing strong enough to create an angel. For no god is this more true than Serra, a divine figure that thousands turn to for holy protection, and said to be the source of creation for hundreds of different angels.

Born of Serra. An angel created by the divine will of the goddess Serra is referred to, rather predictably, as a Serra angel. But for such an angel, their source of creation is a point of immense pride. Few deities offer the same level of protection which Serra grants to her worshippers, and this fosters an intense belief in the ideals that the religion of Serra preaches. But for many, standing for what is right, protecting the weak and the innocent, and aiding those in lesser fortunes hardly require intense spiritual dedication. Because of this, the religion of Serra is popular among the common people, and it tends to spread quickly wherever it is introduced.

Blessings of the Light. Perhaps because Serra angels are created so frequently, most tend to be weaker than the average angel. Their blows hold less divine power behind them, and they are more easily injured than other divine creatures. But make no mistake, facing a Serra angel in combat is still a terrifying task, and most evil-doers who encounter one are likely to give up on the spot. Those who don’t find themselves faced with a battery of blows from enchanted longswords, thrown by a creature who moves at blazing speeds in flashes of light. A Serra angel is always on their toes, and tend to strike quickly at the few who do manage to break their defenses. Like other celestials, a Serra angel is also capable of drawing upon divine magic, but their magic holds greater focus on the defense and aid of others- another blessing for which the common people are greatly thankful, and another reason the angels are treated with such reverence.

Undead are not an uncommon phenomena in some parts of the world, and just as with other corpses, they sometimes serve as a food source for other small creatures. Diseases can be easily spread by the bite of insects that have previously fed on the flesh of an undead zombie, but what of other creatures which feast on carrion? In these cases, the curse of necromantic magic itself can be transferred through the consumption of undead flesh, resulting in terrifying swarms of skittering undeath filled with waste and disease.

Foul Origins. For some beasts, the shambling undead present an easy source of food, as few zombies care to defend their rotted flesh from the pricking bite of vermin. In small quantities, an animal the consumes the flesh of an undead is unlikely to suffer many negative effects, as it varies little from their standard diet. But in some lands, where the curse of the undead is a plague which raises dozens of bodies from freshly-dug graves each night, undead flesh can become a staple of a beast’s diet. When this occurs, the creature risks becoming influenced by the same necromantic energy animating the undead, turning mere vermin into other unholy terrors.

Spreading Sickness. Beasts turned by the constant consumption of undead flesh are afflicted with a terror all their own. The instinct to bite at prey is turned on larger and still-living creatures, and the undead flesh that hangs in such a creature’s mouth can spread sickness to those it attacks. The sickness is only moderately difficult for a body to fight off, but is magical in nature, leading it to kill quickly. The magic of the disease is also necromantic in origin, and any who die from its effects are animated shortly after as more undead, offering yet more food for vermin to feast on. A group of plague beasts are not hard to kill, but being bitten several times in a short span seems to reduce the chances of a victim’s body being able to naturally fight off the disease, and plague beasts only ever travel in swarming packs.