I think the best place to begin exploring the lore of Magic the Gathering is to make some comparisons between the early history of Dominaria with the technology of the three most recent human empires in the world of Toril and bear with me, this is pretty nerdy stuff. Still, it helps me to put it all into context using something I already know a fair bit about.
The Thran were an ancient empire of highly skilled artificers and genetic engineers on Dominaria, they were humans who fit very comfortably into the role of a Creator Race. The Thran developed a technology that used Power Stones to activate magical machines much more efficiently; though the power stones were not used to fuel the devices they boosted, they were vital for their technology, even though they suffered the serious drawback of creating dangerous Powerstone Radiation which could rot the flesh and warp the mind of people exposed to it. Getting stabbed with a shard of Powerstone inflicted a long and painful death that could take several years, so the medical branch of Thran science studied ways to treat the wasting sickness inflicted by Powerstone exposure and one of the more infamous of those medical researchers was a man called Yawgmoth.
The inspiration for Powerstone sickness, known as Phthisis (THEYE-sis) is tuberculosis and radiation sickness, but there is an element of social stigma to it similar to leprosy in the early years when the Thran operated a massive Mana Rig in the Shiv Desert, it was only a matter of time before workers developed the disease and were exiled as untouchables to the dreaded Caves of Koilos, also known as the Caves of the Damned. Unknown to the powers that be, a planeswalker named Dyfed built a portal between the world of Dominaria and a parallel dimension called Phyrexia, using a power stone ritual, and this portal served to transport quite a lot of people to the new world of living metal and a fate other than wasting away in agony.
One occupant of the Caves of the damned was a Thran rebel named Gix, who was responsible for an attempt to assassinate the pioneer of power stone technology, which he effectively did by stabbing him with a power stone shard. The wife of the victim summoned the medical genius Yawgmoth to try and save her husband's life; even amid riots and strife caused by the rebels, Yawgmoth claimed to have discovered a miraculous cure for Phthisis and extracted an oath of perpetual service from Gix and any who would receive this cure. You see, during this time, the planeswalker Dyfed had already shown Yawgmoth the portal to the dimension of Phyrexia, more like a super demi-plane with some exciting properties around necromancy, living metal, and an innate drive towards a state of perfection. The entire plane was artificial, constructed by an unknown planeswalker who favored the physical form of a Dragon, who was dead and gone quite sometime before Dyfed discovered the plane of Phyrexia.
Yawgmoth claimed Phyrexia as his own and Gix became the first living being to undergo radical physical alteration, becoming a being fused with the living metal, necrotic flesh, bone and conduits remaining after radical and intensely painful vivisection at the hands of Yawgmoth, rising as a true, compleated phyrexian monstrosity, a necrotic cyborg demon Praetor. Yawgmoth eventually descended into the core of Phyrexia to become merged with the entire plane, transforming into a form of god by the conclusion of the Thran-Phyrexian war, signaled by the destruction of the portal to Phyrexia, trapping Yawgmoth and his forces there for the next five thousand years.
OK, a good start, obviously a lot went on over those five thousand years, As we delve deeper into the annals of Dominaria's history, we transition from the era dominated by the Thran and their catastrophic dalliances with Power Stones to a period marked by strife and ingenuity: The Brothers' War. This pivotal conflict reshaped the landscape of Dominaria all thanks to the rivalry of two brothers who ended up bringing the world to it's knees.
Two siblings, Urza and Mishra, are prodigious artificers who relentlessly search for the secrets of the ancient Thran technology, unlocking untold power through their discovery of ancient Thran Relics. Among these relics were the Mightstone and the Weakstone, remnants of the very Power Stones that once fueled the Thran Empire's technological marvels. The division of the stone between the brothers served as a catalyst for their rivalry, each artifact imbuing its holder with formidable powers and an insatiable desire for dominion.
As the conflict grew, so too did the brothers' reliance on the very essence of what once made the Thran great—and led to their downfall. Once a tool for creation and advancement, the artifice became a weapon of war. Automatons, golems, and mechanical monstrosities stalked the battlefields and infiltrated their warped number, the necro cyborg demons of the parallel dimension of Phyrexia, weaving their cruel tendrils of influence and corruption. Gix the Praetor of the brotherhood, the fanatical cult of Yawgmoth's vision, manipulating events behind the scenes, and once more, Gix the Rebel fanned the flames of the two brothers' war, pushing them to ever greater atrocities until a true cataclysm wiped out nearly everything on Dominaria.
In the final hours of the Brother's war, Urza unleashed the Golgothian Sylex, an ancient artifact that created a terraforming explosion, reshaping the landscape in its path and decimating the population. The effect on Urza was extreme; the energy involved awakened his innate planeswalker spark, granting him god-like powers to move between dimensions and space.
Another terrible era came to a close on Dominaria. The devastation of The Brothers' War left Dominaria a scarred realm, its civilizations in ruins and its peoples weary of artifice and war. Yet, the shadows of Phyrexia grew ever longer, their designs undeterred by the conflict's end. Yawgmoth's ambitions, though momentarily stalled, continued to fester in the dark recesses of his mechanical hell, awaiting the moment to once again reach across the multiverse.
In the wake of the devastation wrought by The Brothers' War, Dominaria found itself at a crossroads, its scars barely healed when the whispers of Phyrexia began to resurface. Gix, the Phyrexian demon once thought vanquished, emerged from the shadows, his presence a harbinger of the dark designs Yawgmoth had set in motion. It was during this precarious time that Urza, now a planeswalker, encountered Xantcha, a sleeper agent who defied her Phyrexian creators. Their alliance, born of necessity and shared enmity towards Phyrexia, would become a key piece in the complex puzzle of Dominaria's defense.
Meanwhile, in yet another parallel dimension, Yawgmoth's ambitions took shape in the form of Rath, an artificial plane crafted from the very essence of Phyrexian ingenuity. Flowstone, a processed form of nanomachine mass, the lifeblood of Rath, allowed the plane to expand, to grow and shift, becoming such a close match for the topography and energies of Dominaria, that the two would reach a harmonic match and the plane of Rath would fully merge with Dominaria, allowing the entire phyrexian invasion force to arrive on Dominaria, without even having to move a muscle. Rath, ruled by the enigmatic Volrath, became a crucible for Phyrexia's twisted experiments and a haven for its most fearsome warriors.
Meanwhile, over all this time, phyrexia was transformed into Nine nested realms, becoming known also as the Nine Hells.
Let's take a swift dive through these concentric circles of necro-mechanical horror shall we?
In the First Sphere, what was once a paradisiacal landscape morphed into a grotesque mechanical jungle, where oily rains fall and streams of oil cut through the land. This sphere, once vibrant with life, now hosts mechanical creatures and dragon engines amidst the backdrop of rusting artifacts and soot-laden skies.
Descending into the Second Sphere, we find ourselves amidst the remnants of the first, a realm of scrap and ruin illuminated by the eerie glow of smokestacks. This sphere serves as a grim repository for the detritus of its upper neighbor, bathed in an acrid atmosphere, scavengers and the literal underword and true lowlifes of Phyrexia revel in attrocities and sordid flesh pits.
The Third Sphere presents a labyrinthine network of metal pipes, a maze that distorts space and thwarts planeswalking, patrolled by the horrors that stalk its confines, a testament to Phyrexia's darker aspects.
In the heart of Phyrexia lies the Fourth Sphere, the populous core where the bulk of Phyrexian life is nurtured and transformed. Vat facilities and smokestacks dominate the landscape, where newts are forged into the warriors of Phyrexia under the watchful eyes of vat priests.
The Fifth Sphere, known as the Boiling Sea, is an expanse of glistening oil, serving as both a breeding ground for newts and home to massive steam creatures, a bizarre ecosystem of oil and metal.
The Sixth Sphere houses the elite of Phyrexia, the Inner Circle, where demons and praetors dwell amidst fields of barbed wire "grass" under a stark white sky, a realm of governance and power.
Descending further, the Seventh Sphere reveals itself as a furnace of eternal flames, a punishment sphere for those who have failed Yawgmoth. It's a hellish domain of torture and retribution, overseen by the few who have survived its trials.
The Eighth Sphere remains shrouded in mystery, known only as a domain of pure energy, its secrets closely guarded and its purpose enigmatic.
Finally, the Ninth Sphere stands as the control center of Phyrexia, the heart of Yawgmoth's dominion, where plans for the invasion of Dominaria were meticulously crafted, a sphere that once pulsed with the dark god's presence.
Each sphere of Phyrexia reflects a facet of Yawgmoth's grand design, a complex structure of order and chaos, creation and destruction, all woven into the fabric of this mechanical hell.
Right, so, the stage was set for an invasion of unprecedented scale as portal ships tore through the skies of Dominaria, heralding the arrival of Phyrexia's war fleets. Under the command of Tsabo Tavoc, the Phyrexians unleashed their fury upon the lands of Benalia, Koilos, and beyond. The Coalition forces, rallied by the likes of Gerrard and the silver artifact golem planeswalker known as Karn, mounted a valiant defense, but the onslaught of Rath's overlay threatened to tip the scales irrevocably in Phyrexia's favor.
In the face of overwhelming odds, Urza, driven by a combination of guilt, obsession, and a desperate desire to safeguard his world, assembled a cadre of planeswalkers known as the Nine Titans. Armed with titan engines, these powerful beings launched a daring assault on the heart of Phyrexia itself. Yet, within the ranks of these would-be saviors, betrayal lurked, setting the stage for a confrontation that would alter the fate of both Dominaria and Phyrexia.
Amidst the chaos of battle and betrayal, a final showdown unfolded between Urza and Gerrard, a fateful reflection of The Brothers' War that set these events in motion, culminating in an act of sacrifice that ignited a mighty Legacy Weapon, a beacon of hope and destruction that targeted the very heart of Phyrexia's corruption.
As the Legacy Weapon unleashed its purifying light, Yawgmoth, the god of Phyrexia, met his end, and with him, the dark empire he had built crumbled. Dominaria, though scarred and weary, breathed a sigh of relief, its people spared from the total dominion they had faced. Yet, the shadow of Phyrexia lingered, its essence seeping into the very core of another plane, Mirrodin, another world of living metal and great potential, hinting at a resurrection of the Phyrexian nightmare in a new guise.
I will be exploring and bringing you more of the unique creatures and cultures of the Magic the Gathering universe and its many parallel dimensions, as Dungeons and Dragons is supposed to be a world where strange creatures from other realities can show up anytime and anywhere, I think its a waste not to make full use of all that juicy, underappreciated lore and all that gorgeous artwork on the playing cards.
My name is AJ Pickett, thanks for joining me once again, and as always, I will be back with more for you, very soon.
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