The Art of Magic: the Gathering - Dominaria Lore Round-Up
This week marks the release of The Art of Magic: the Gathering - Dominaria, and man is this Art Book everything I wanted it to be. The worldbuidling of the recovering Dominaria runs deep, and it’s clear a lot of thought went into how to unify the planes’ disparate elements. Rather than regurgitating the Art Book (you should really get it if you liked Dominaria, it’s by far the best Art Book so far), I’m going to highlight some of the things I found really interesting.
There’s a five page timeline at the beginning of the art book, which gets this off on the right foot. It’s not incredibly detailed but it places most major events in Dominaria’s history, and it gives the date on modern Dominaria! Present Day is 4560 AR!
Raff and Danitha’s father’s name is Aron Capashen, the head of their noble house. The island nation of Avenant, which was once at odds with Benalia, is now one of the seven noble houses. The Legend Aryel, Knight of Windgrace conquered Estark, and Sursi is a Benalish Colony. That makes most of Aerona part of Benalia these days.
Reya Dawnbringer was one of Serra’s first angels. There’s not a lot here not covered elsewhere, but it’s cool that Serra’s death resulted in her essence imprinting on Sursi. It also confirmed her death as being 3780 AR.
The Tolarian Academies are nations unto themselves, with citizenship bringing voting rights for the leadership of each academy. Citizenship isn’t hereditary, for the most part.
Tolaria West has a Thrull Breeding experiemnt and is rumored to have a live sample of Glistening Oil taken from Koilos. That sounds… bad, if true. Tolaria of the Depths (the ruins of the original Tolaria beneath the sea) teaches Cephalids in addition to Merfolk.
The Shadow Academy uses a pocket dimension to escape notice by the campus proper. A Society of Mishra adherents look to augment themsevles with technology (see: Rona, Disciple of Gix) and adherents to Gatha conduct unethical genetic experiments in secret.
Oddly, one of their major forms of income is agriculture, thanks to their magic and technology.
Empress Galina reappeared in 3307 for ‘unknown reasons’ but died in the Phyrexian Invasion. Since her death, their autocratic Vodalians have been shifting toward Democracy, although it’s a pendulum swing in their history. They’re still worried about the Homarids, who swarm the colder coasts and deep-sea trenches.
The Urborg Resistance is headquartered in Vhelnish, the hidden necromancer city that has lain empty since its last master, Dralnu, was killed for betraying the Alliance during the Phyrexian Invasion. A woman named Marivel discovered it and has become the foremost Necromancer on Urborg, sheltering the resistance against the Cabal.
The Cabal attempted to summon a demon to communicate with lost Kuberr, but the ritual was so powerful it allowed Belzenlok to escape the realm he was imprisoned in. They thought they could control him, but he took over the Cabal instead. Kuberr was Belzenlok’s student that Belzenlok considers to be a failure.
It also notes that Belzenlok isn’t as powerful a sorcerer as Lim-Dûl or Nevinyrral.
The Ghitu are direct descendants of the Thran who had settled the Mana Rig millennia before. The Ghitu raised the new reincarnation of Darigaaz, who has memories of his previous lives. Darigaaz is the leader of the Shivan Dragons, but the Bladewing clan wants to usurp him one day. The Shivan Nation consists of a democratic alliance of Humans, Goblins, Viashino, and Dragons, founded by Jhoira and Darigaaz. Goblins are the first to speak out on unequal distribution of power in this new government, with their long experience as being persecuted for being goblins.
Llanowar Elves can live to over 1,000, but half of the current population is under 60. There’s a lot of detail on the Elfhames here that I can’t summarize well, but my favorite are the Kelfae (Marywn and Hallar) and their bond with the Kavu, as well as the borderland elfhame that intermarries with humans regularly.
Yavimaya has expanded as far as Koilos, and Karn was excavating at Koilos, which makes Return to Dominaria sending Chandra across a body of water even weirder, and it’s even less clear if the Cylix is the original Sylex or not. The Phyrexian Woodfolk have a city in the heart of Yavimaya!
Homarids are unhappy with Yavimaya attempting to reclaim the sea and connect the islands of shattered Terisiare again. The Magnigoth Mangal (Yavimaya’s extension into the seas) drops detritus to the ocean floor, slowly rebuilding the ground. This has prompted Homarid attacks attempting to dismantle or destroy the Mangal.
This book was really, really good. It was great for old vorthos and new, and definitely covers a broad range of Dominaria. Terisiare and Jamuraa didn’t get a ton of coverage because they’re not heavily involved in the set, but overall this was fantastic.
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