Akoum

Akoum
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Akoum.jpg}}|250px]]
Information
Plane	Zendikar
Status	Geologically unstable
Formerly part of	Makindi Empire

Akoum is one of the seven continents of Zendikar, mainly aligned to red mana. The sprawling region is geologically unstable; at the center is a massive supervolcano.

Description

The circular Akoum is a mountainous continent where magma glows from crevasses in the earth. Crystalline fields shimmer beneath the sun, but the sharp edges of most surfaces will slice through skin and bone. In some areas, the temperatures are extreme — burning an explorer's skin during the day and causing frostbite during the night. Gases occasionally spew from the ground, and around these vents, bizarre trees and plant life have arisen in pockets of weird biomes. The region is plagued by geological instability caused by the Roil, causing magma geysers to erupt unexpectedly and shards of rock to rain down unexpectedly. Insect-like creatures and carnivorous plants dominate the fauna and flora.

Akoum connects to the subcontinent of Bala Ged through underground rivers. A small sea separates Akoum from Ondu.

The Life Bloom

Beneath the surface of Akoum is an impossibly old world, and many layers beneath the surface lay trapped pockets from ages past. From time to time a volcanic burst will bring gases and earth trapped for centuries up onto the surface. For a year or two, the surface of Akoum will burst into beautiful and often bizarre flora. The elvish pilgrims that tend these regions refer to the event as a "Life Bloom".

Often a life bloom will end when a lava flow erupts nearby. Occasionally, a particularly fast-moving flow will leave behind what's known as an igneous glen; the plant life is essentially "flash fossilized", leaving a region of statues of the plants and animals that once lived there. While kor and humans see these regions as beautiful and a sign of good luck, the elves will often destroy them when found, feeling that monuments to the destruction of life should not stand.

History

Akoum once was part of the ancient Makindi Empire. As the Empire crumbled, the Kargan tribes mastered the dragons of Akoum and rode them to victory against the kor, shattering the Akoum Skyclave.

Notable locations

• The hazardous cliffs of the coasts of Akoum are a deathtrap to travelers. Seismic activity and spires of volcanic glass make landing a ship on the mainland a near impossibility.
• The Teeth of Akoum is a series of northern mountain ranges that are essentially impassable without some means of flight or a very experienced and clever guide. Sentient residents of the Teeth include Zendikar's humanoid races, an occasional sphinx, and a golem that went rogue from its original function.
  • Affa, a mostly human settlement at the base of the Teeth, though elves, kor, and even the occasional vampire will call it home for a time. A river flows from the Teeth and provides the town with one of the few reliable sources of fresh water on the continent. Affa's bazaar serves as the major trading hub in the region, and goblins, especially from the Lavastep warren, bring materials for trade.
    • The Affa Inn, run by Hion and location of the Names of the Lost Travelers.
    • The Akoum Expeditionary House
  • The Spikefields, an area covered by sharp stones.
  • The Windblast Gorge or Drake Ravine, a dangerous passage into the mountains known for its dangerous drakes. The gorge was originally carved by the passage of Zhulodok through Akoum's mountains.
  • A small settlement of explorers can be found high in the Teeth. It's a small training camp founded by the League of Anowon. Largely unreachable save by griffin from Affa, the camp attracts the most prestigious adventurers. Teachers are usually former adventurers who retired following a career-ending injury. The camp is frequently shut down for months at a time due to drake attacks, mana storms, earthquakes, or magical artifact detonations.
  • Fort Keff, a high-walled encampment built at the mouth of a deep ravine.
  • The Eye of Ugin, a secret underground cavern.
• Goma Fada, or "The Walking City", literally "The City that Walks," an enormous caravan of wandering kor, humans, and a few elves that moves at a slow pace through Akoum. Composed of hundreds of carts and several thousand inhabitants, it is technically one of the continent's largest settlements. Packbeasts and hurdas pull enormous wagons carrying cisterns full of water or granaries full of food - some even grow fig trees and similar hardy plants directly in dirt-filled carts.
• Tal Terig, or "The Puzzle Tower", a famous ruin site rising hundreds of feet high out of Akoum's basin. The tower's exterior is a pillar of seemingly randomly assembled geometric shapes of all sizes ranging from tiny cubes to enormous tetrahedrons. The angles and lines of the tower appear to defy logic; some have reported headaches and nosebleeds after looking at its surface for short periods. The majority of the ruin's height lies below ground: only twenty stories stand above ground, while 200 are buried below it. Spirits haunt the halls, as do many constructs and traps placed to guard against graverobbers. Magical traps line every hall, magic causes the halls to rotate and cycle, ensuring that no trap stays the same for long. The sound of grinding stone carries for miles from the tower, alerting explorers that the ruin's layout has changed.
• Ora Ondar, sometimes called "The Impossible Garden", is an exceptional Life Bloom that has lasted almost a hundred years. The site is also home to a mid-sized settlement of roughly 8,000 inhabitants who are primarily elves. The grove's tenders, called "nourishers," tend its plants. The kolya trees that grow in Ora Ondar contain the raw, wild magic of Zendikar and mutate those who eat their fruit, causing changes ranging from greater strength or intelligence to phosphorescent blood or changed eye color. After years of eating the fruit, fatal mutations generally develop. A cult of elves, led by the druid Sef Amaran, believe the kolya tree to be a gift from the gods and eat the fruit religiously.
  • The Khalni Stone, a powerful ancient mana refractor at the heart of Ora Ondar that feeds its Life Bloom.
• Glasspool, the only fixed body of water of any notable size in the region — a huge lake, strangely hexagonal, over two miles across. Seismic activity somehow fails to affect it. Most sentient creatures avoid the cool, clean, and clear water, although amphibious drakes are known to make the lake their home, drawn perhaps to the only reliable source of blue mana in the mountain range. During the eldrazi's return, kor gathered in the area around Glasspool, carving dwellings out of the peaks surrounding the lake and protecting it with a webbing made from hooks and ropes.
  • Ior, a ruined site at the bottom of Glasspool. It is a sacred pilgrimage site for the plane's Kor and is thought to be the archive of an ancient civilization's magical knowledge.
• Glass Haven, a Kor haven near the Glasspool.
• The Akoum Skyclave, a floating ruin of an ancient fortress. Risen from above the mountains again. Its broken and scattered pieces are uniquely individual sky dungeons, inhabited by various monsters; at least one is a dragon's lair.
• Rogah Throughway, a major route through the continent, created by the Goma Fada caravan.
• Akoum's Belt, a major route through the continent, created by the Goma Fada caravan.
• The Pass of Woe, a major route through the continent, was created by the Goma Fada caravan.

Gallery

• 

  Concept art of the Teeth of Akoum.

• 

  Akoum tower concepts.

• 

  Concept of a rare Akoum waterfall.

• 

  An idol from Goma Fada in Magic: Legends.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Akoum

Associated cards:

• Akoum Battlesinger
• Akoum Boulderfoot
• Akoum Firebird
• Akoum Flameseeker
• Akoum Hellhound
• Akoum Hellkite
• Akoum Refuge
• Akoum Stonewaker
• Akoum Teeth
• Akoum Warrior
• Kargan Dragonlord
• Kargan Dragonrider
• Kargan Intimidator
• Kargan Warleader
• Moraug, Fury of Akoum

Referred to:

• Cinder Glade
• Fissure Wizard
• Glasspool Mimic
• Molten Blast
• Soul Shatter (Zendikar Rising)
• Rockslide Sorcerer
• Stonefury
• Tajuru Blightblade
• Volcanic Fissure

Quoted by Sachir, Akoum Expeditionary House:

• Goblin Tunneler (Rise of the Eldrazi)
• Heat Ray (Rise of the Eldrazi)
• Molten Ravager
• Pyroclastic Hellion
• Sphinx of Jwar Isle (Zendikar)
• Summit Apes

Sources

• Magic Creative Team (January 13, 2010). "A Planeswalker’s Guide to Zendikar: Akoum". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum