Next chapter of Redeem the Fallen and MtG terms · 6:06am Aug 23rd, 2014
First I'd like to thank everyone who liked and favorited my story. It means so much to me to have all of your support. Second, my plans. I plan to release at least a chapter a month, maybe two, but I just started university this monday and its a little hard on me. I promise you all that I'm working on chapter 2, it's on the way. At the moment it's about 2,000 words long. I plan on it being anywhere from 3.5k - 5k words in length. And finally, some people said that they either haven't been involved with MtG in a while or that they don't know some of the terms, so i'll list them out below. If a word may spoil something, I'll just say spoiler next to it.
Theros- Similar to Hellenic Greece, Theros is a plane governed by the gods of Nyx, where heroes face monsters, the sea rages, people offer burnt offerings and adventures take place. It is defined by mankind's struggle against the primal forces of the world, and mankind's conflict with the many other sapient races that populate the world.
Heliod- He radiates with pride and self-assurance. His presence fills the sky with light, blocking mortal access to the dark, starry view of Nyx, and in person he has the same overwhelming aura of awe and brilliance. He is convivial and gregarious, making friends and forming bonds easily but can be fickle in his loyalty. He represents law, justice, retribution, and the bonds of kinship. Heliod presides over matters of family honor, questions of morality and virtue, speeches, marriages, acts of protective bravery, dawn meals, and self-sacrifice. Heliod's name is often part of legal proceedings, and sacrifices to him are made in times when the greatest aid — or the strictest justice — is needed. Heliod wields Khrusor, the Sun Spear, a weapon blessed with his power that can be pitched down from the heavens to any point on Theros. Heliod's devoted worshippers are mainly humans and Lagonna Band centaurs, although some Leonin are said to still worship him.
Godsend- The Godsend is the swordspear that is wielded by Elspeth Tirel on Theros. Once upon a time, when the God Purphoros raised arms against Heliod, he crafted the Sword of Chaos which was capable of damaging the substance of Nyx. When Heliod and Purphoros clashed, it damaged the celestial resting place of Polukranos, World Eater and the hydra fell to Theros where it was sealed by Nylea and Heliod under Nessian forest. At the moment of the clash, Elspeth just had planeswalked to Theros for the first time. She saw the Sword of Chaos falling from the sky, grasped it and planeswalked away. When she returns to Theros, ten years later, Heliod is angry at her at first. But when the God realises she might be the Champion of the Sun reborn he reforges the sword into the Godsend.
Nyx- A paranormal realm associated with dreams and the subconscious, a literal and proverbial nightsky where the gods dwell. Nyx is so closely tied to the plane's deities that, whenever they manifest, where they should be shadowed they instead display the glorious starlight of the nightsky. Dreams are seen as gifts from the gods, and so are enchantments, due to their connection with this realm; whenever mortals sleep, they are said to be "visiting Nyx". Tales of the gods can bee seen played out in the constellations
Erebos- He is associated with death, misfortunes, ill fate, begrudging acceptance, envy and bitterness. Born from the first shadow cast from the Sun's light, he was banished by Heliod to the Underworld, and is notable for not being connected to the realm of Nyx, in spite of black's association with darkness. Erebos wields Mastix, a golden-handled whip with an impossibly long lash. The whip is a means of inflicting pain when he must, but its more frequent function is as a snare to pull the reluctant dead into his realm. The god of the underworld is worshipped by those who exalt death, those who desire wealth, and those who pray for acceptance of their fates. Because the dead leave their earthly wealth behind, Erebos has become associated with that wealth, as well as with the abundance of gold in his realm.
Underworld- A subterranean realm beneath the "Rivers That Ring The World", where the dead end up and dwell. It is governed by the god Erebos, cast into the place by a frightened and paranoid Heliod after his birth. Although the Underworld is dark, it is ironically not connected to Nyx, as it lacks the night as much as it lacks the Sun. The Rivers That Ring the World are five rivers that form a boundary between Theros and its Underworld.
Eidolon- The remains of the identity and soul of the Returned who've escaped Underworld.
Brimaz- The king of the Leonin on Theros.
Leonin- Varied races and tribes of anthropomorphic felines.
Planeswalker- Planeswalkers can be born at random in any sentient race, with no outward signs of their latent power. However, there is an incredibly remote chance that any given sentient, natural being will be born with a planeswalker's spark. When that being is put through a period of extreme stress—in many cases death—the spark can trigger, causing the individual to ascend and become a planeswalker. Planeswalkers had incredible magical capabilities, surpassing all but the most powerful mortal wizards. Their lives could last indefinitely, and their physical forms were matters of will as they were energy projections of a center of consciousness. Through intense effort, planeswalkers could create their own artificial planes. Because of planeswalkers' prolonged life spans and immense power, some are worshipped as gods; many end up insane, or, at the very least, they come to regard the lives of mortals in low-esteem, if even at all.
The new breed of planeswalkers no longer display the near-omnipotence of their predecessors. While they are usually powerful mages, they are still physical beings that in general age normally, can be harmed, and need the same sustenance as other mortals. This is in stark contrast to the earlier planeswalkers. Some of them have managed to suppress or avoid some of these limitation by magical means; however, these are specific to each planeswalker.
Planeswalk- The defining trait of planeswalkers is the ability to travel between separate universes with ease, while the vast majority of people throughout the multiverse are not even aware that other worlds beside their own exist.
Spark- A planeswalker's spark is a latent power inborn into a very small number of sentient creatures across the Multiverse, which if activated permanently turns the bearer into a planeswalker. A planeswalker is granted the ability to travel between the planes of the Multiverse. Planeswalkers were also gifted with other powers before the Mending occurred. While this power can lie within anyone, it is usually undetectable except by another planeswalker. The spark is triggered by extreme stress, often a near death experience in which it triggers to protect the individual. This process can be called "Triggering," "Flaring," "Igniting," or "Ascension."
I am willing to wait some time between chapters.
Leonin is a term used for any humaniod big cat, now excluding the cat demons Rakshasa of Tarkir.
Actually, an Ignited Spark does not turn the 8eing into a pl8neswalker permanently. It is possi8le to lose pl8neswalker status, 8y giving up your spark to someone else. For example, Venser g8ve up his Spark to free Karn from Phyrexia. Although he also g8ve up his life, I don't think the two are insepara8le.
TL;DR: I would, instead of "which if activated permanently turns the bearer into a planeswalker.", put "which m8kes the 88rer a pl8neswalker for as long as that person has an Ignited Spark.
~Vriska Serket
2394022
See that's what we call an exception. And implied information. There is no need for the modifier "as long as they have an ignited spark." Because if you lack a spark, you aren't a planeswalker; if your spark isn't ignited, you aren't a planeswalker, and the circumstances were a planeswalker has shifted from planewalker to normal mortal are, based on numbers, low like %0.0000035. And that's If you low-ball 2 million planeswalkers vs the planeswalkers who lost their spark or are suspected of such. And it's not like something of the sort is easy or common knowledge.
Permanent is something the mind cannot truly fathom and as such, things we call permanent are likely are not. Calling something permanent is the implication of immutability, actual or intended. For practicalities sake, a being with an ignited spark will be a planeswalker until the day they die.
2393856
Indeed, we have leonin in every variety of cat person.
Somewhat interestingly, I recall Doug Bayer once saying that because Ajani had grown up using the word Nacatl instead of Leonin (that being his native language's word for his species), he still self-identifies as a Nacatl.
2394752 leonin is used on Alara it was just that Ajani's tribe called themselves nacatl
2393856
I meant feline, I don't know why I said lion when Wild Nacatl is not a lion...
Take your time! I certainly don't mind; and it's fairly considerate of you to provide a keyword glossary for those non-MtG players that are interested in reading the story!
I don't think everyone reads blog posts; I might recommend linking this in the author's note of the next chapter.
2401386
Good Idea.