Grixis: Difference between revisions
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'''Grixis''' is one of five [[shard]]s of [[Alara]]. It is primarily [[black]]-aligned, with [[blue]] and [[red]] as secondary [[color]]s.<ref>{{DailyRef|arcana/shard-preview-grixis-2008-08-14|Shard Preview: Grixis|[[Magic Arcana]]|August 14, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{DailyRef|looking-out-number-one-2008-10-20|Looking Out For Number One|[[Mark Rosewater]]|October 20, 2008}}</ref> | '''Grixis''' is one of five [[shard]]s of [[Alara]]. It is primarily [[black]]-aligned, with [[blue]] and [[red]] as secondary [[color]]s.<ref>{{DailyRef|arcana/shard-preview-grixis-2008-08-14|Shard Preview: Grixis|[[Magic Arcana]]|August 14, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{DailyRef|looking-out-number-one-2008-10-20|Looking Out For Number One|[[Mark Rosewater]]|October 20, 2008}}</ref> | ||
==Description== | ==Description== | ||
Grixis is a world of death, darkness, [[undead]], hatred, envy, and a lot of other bad things. It is dominated by [[demon]]s, [[horror]]s, [[necromancer]]s and other forms of [[undead]].<ref>{{DailyRef|latest-developments/specter-present-2008-09-12|The Specter of the Present|[[Mike Turian]]|September 12, 2008}}</ref> Due to the predominance of undeath, it is possible to find undead versions of [[Bant]]'s [[Cat#leotau|leotaus]] and [[Jund]]'s [[viashino]]s in Grixis. | Grixis is a world of death, darkness, [[undead]], hatred, envy, and a lot of other bad things. It is dominated by [[demon]]s, [[horror]]s, [[necromancer]]s and other forms of [[undead]].<ref>{{DailyRef|latest-developments/specter-present-2008-09-12|The Specter of the Present|[[Mike Turian]]|September 12, 2008}}</ref> Due to the predominance of undeath, it is possible to find undead versions of [[Bant]]'s [[Cat#leotau|leotaus]] and [[Jund]]'s [[viashino]]s in Grixis. Grixis means "traitor" in the ancient Vithian language, a name given to it by the knights and paladins who were killed during [[Sedris]]'s defection to the demonic inhabitants after the [[Sundering]].<ref name="Alive"/> | ||
Grixis’s skies are purple-gray, stormy, and ominous, riddled with pink heat lightning.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/><ref>{{DailyRef|feature/panoramic-view-2008-10-21|Panoramic View|[[Wizards of the Coast]]|October 21, 2008}}</ref> Its hills are drifts of bones, its valleys are decaying flesh, and its seas are murky, polluted deathtraps. Its cities are lairs of undead hordes and necromancer barons, and every parcel of land between them is a battlefield for their constant power struggles. Because of ancient enchantments, decay is slowed to a crawl on the plane, allowing the landscape to fester for centuries.<ref name="Visual Guide">[[Jay Annelli]] (2022). ''[[Magic: The Gathering - The Visual Guide]]'', [[Wikipedia:DK (publisher)|DK]]. ISBN-13 978-0744061055.</ref> | |||
'''Incurables''' are the Ogres on Grixis, inflicted by a terrible form altering curse that happened | Most necromancers use their powers to create minions and use those minions to search for more sources of life.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/> Almost all necromancers are capable of animating dead tissue to do their bidding, but mages might practice more variants of necromancy on Grixis than on any other plane. Fleshcrafters {{-}} artists and artisans in the medium of death {{-}} create bizarre implements from flesh and bone. Lethemancers steal vis through the thoughts and memories of living beings, leaving amnesiacs and lunatics in their wake. Ghostslavers specialize in trapping and binding the restless spirits that haunt Grixis, while gale mages control the death gales, the entropic winds that scour the plane. | ||
Besides the necromancers, a group of humans called the '''Vithians''' actively hunt the undead. They uphold the ways of a lost kingdom. The still-living beings on Grixis are called '''Vitals''', and the life-force of those beings is called '''Vis'''.<ref name="AlaraGuide">[[Doug Beyer]] & [[Jenna Helland]] (2008). ''[[A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara]]'', [[Wizards of the Coast]]. ISBN-13 978-0786951246</ref> Vis suffuses a living creature's tissues and bodily fluids but is not itself a physical material. Vis empowers Demons and fuels all of the magic on Grixis. Vis can be consumed directly from a living host via magical means but is usually gathered through the blood or thoughts of the living. Necromancers actively hunt down [[Human]] and [[Ogre]] encampments to take slaves to obtain this Vis through arcane rituals. They hunt for the ultimate power to conquer all others.<ref name="Commander 2017 Commanders">[http://magic.wizards.com/en/products/commander-2017-commanders ''Commander 2017'' Commanders]</ref> Demons have the power to drain a vital of its' vis at will. A Human or Ogre whose life force has been drained is still considered alive. These '''Damned''' oftentimes aren't distinguishable from real living. The damned have an ashen, gaunt appearance and greatly diminished mental function, but are physiologically alive.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/> As such they can pass for normal humans for a short time, but are completely controlled by their demon masters—making them dangerous spies. Hermitages of the living test for the Damned with rigorous questioning and magical detection. | |||
Despite its intangibility, vis is the most important resource on Grixis.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/> The mana of Grixis is entropic, and self-destructive, without white and green mana to protect and strengthen it, it dissipates over time. As a result, Grixis, the plane of death, is dying. The only thing that extends its survival is vis. | |||
'''Incurables''' are the Ogres on Grixis, inflicted by a terrible form-altering curse that happened soon after the [[Sundering]].<ref name="ALAGuide"/><ref name="AlaraGuide"/> <c title="Dreg Reavers">Dreg Reaver</c> are huge undead designed to lay waste to other armies or necropolises in times of war. '''Banewasps''' are [[insect]]s that feed on carrion and are used by necromancers as a weak source of Vis. Demons employ [[devil]]s as torturers, slave drivers, and masters of packs of undead, using their skills in tormenting others to their motivational advantage.<ref name="ALAGuide"/> | |||
==History== | ==History== | ||
Before Grixis split off from the mega-plane of Alara, things were different. White and green mana still flourished there. The land was called '''Vithia''', a white-aligned empire of humans and other races, a land proud of its dynasty of wise and honorable monarchs.<ref>{{DailyRef|savor-flavor/alive-and-unwell-2008-09-24|Alive and Unwell|[[Doug Beyer]]|September 24, 2008}}</ref> Much like the kingdoms that make up the Shard of [[Bant]], Vithia functioned on a | Before Grixis split off from the mega-plane of Alara, things were different. White and green mana still flourished there. The land was called '''Vithia''', a white-aligned empire of humans and other races, a land proud of its dynasty of wise and honorable monarchs.<ref name="Alive">{{DailyRef|savor-flavor/alive-and-unwell-2008-09-24|Alive and Unwell|[[Doug Beyer]]|September 24, 2008}}</ref><ref name="AlaraGuide"/> Much like the kingdoms that make up the Shard of [[Bant]], Vithia functioned on a system of [[Bant#Caste system|castes]] and had a focus on [[knight]]hood and chivalry up until the sundering occurred. Vithian paladins were known for their crusades against the necromancers of old. | ||
When Grixis was separated from the rest of Alara and cut off from white and [[green]] mana, the [[demon]]s, witches and necromancers gained power in the ensuing chaos. However, even though the powers of Vithia's [[mage]]s were losing their potency, there was still a chance for the kingdom to survive, due to the martial skill of its many [[knight]]s. [[Sedris]] was once the good and righteous king of Vithia during the early years following the [[Sundering]]. It is unknown when exactly he fell from grace, but when demons tempted him with dreams of power, he submitted. Sedris handed thousands of innocents over to the demons, killed his own family and [[advisor]]s, and performed a <c>dark ritual</c> that allowed his consciousness to continue into unlife. Vithia's [[paladin]]s, unable to stop the fallen monarch, fled the kingdom | When Grixis was separated from the rest of Alara and cut off from white and [[green]] mana, the [[demon]]s, witches, and necromancers gained power in the ensuing chaos, while its angels soon went extinct.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/><ref>{{EzTumblr|https://dougbeyermtg.tumblr.com/post/69618038037/did-bant-esper-grixis-jund-and-naya-exist-as|title=Did Bant, Esper, Grixis, Jund and Naya exist as cultural and/or political entities before Alara was split into five shards?|December 10, 2013}}</ref> However, even though the powers of Vithia's [[mage]]s were losing their potency, there was still a chance for the kingdom to survive, due to the martial skill of its many [[knight]]s. [[Sedris]] was once the good and righteous king of Vithia during the early years following the [[Sundering]]. It is unknown when exactly he fell from grace, but when demons tempted him with dreams of power, he submitted. Sedris handed thousands of innocents over to the demons, killed his own family and [[advisor]]s, and performed a <c>dark ritual</c> that allowed his consciousness to continue into unlife. Vithia's [[paladin]]s, unable to stop the fallen monarch, fled the kingdom. Vithia was overrun by demons and the [[undead]] shortly afterward, and the capital was transformed into the now greatest necropolis on the plane. Sedris still rules this dark city of the dead, as the most powerful [[lich]] warlord on the plane. | ||
===Conflux=== | ===Conflux=== | ||
When the [[Conflux (event)|Conflux]] hit the shards, the life energies of [[green]] and [[white]] mana flooded into Grixis. The process of harvesting vis was disrupted, and the creatures became fueled with energy by the power of the life that was coming in. They invaded the nearby planes, turning dead soldiers into new undead of their own. Meanwhile, the great Dragon, [[Nicol Bolas]], had already disrupted the other shards, and the plane fell into chaos. It has become part of the New [[Alara]], and cults of demon worship have risen all across the new landscape, with the most notable being dedicated to [[Nefarox]]. | When the [[Conflux (event)|Conflux]] hit the shards, the life energies of [[green]] and [[white]] mana flooded into Grixis. The process of harvesting vis was disrupted, and the creatures became fueled with energy by the power of the life that was coming in. They invaded the nearby planes, turning dead soldiers into new undead of their own. Meanwhile, the great Dragon, [[Nicol Bolas]], had already disrupted the other shards, and the plane fell into chaos. It has become part of the New [[Alara]], and cults of demon worship have risen all across the new landscape, with the most notable being dedicated to [[Nefarox]]. After the death of the plane's de facto leader, [[Malfegor]], chaos reigns, with factions vying for control of the former shard.<ref name="Visual Guide"/> | ||
===New Phyrexia's Invasion=== | |||
Alara as was targeted by [[Elesh Norn]]'s [[Machine Legion]] as part of [[New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse]] with a simultaneous strike on Bant, Esper, and Jund.<ref name="Panel">{{YouTubeRef|-y3G-nFhN0I|First Look at March of the Machine|channel=[[Magic: The Gathering]]|date=February 19, 2023}}</ref> At some point during the invasion, the [[Maelstrom]] itself awoke to fight on behalf of Alara.<ref><c>Awaken the Maelstrom</c></ref> The role and fate of Grixis' demons and undead in the invasion is unknown. | |||
==Geography== | ==Geography== | ||
Grixis features a vast | Grixis features a vast swamp where degeneration is slowed to a crawl known as the '''Dregscape''', made up of the remains of various large corpses, eroded earth, and the stench of death. The carcasses of centuries-old beasts and people linger here, slowly becoming a thick ichor.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/> The Dregscape is the main feeding ground for the [[Bird#Kathari|kathari]], a race of scavenging vulture-people who occupy the islands out to sea, and a wellspring of black mana and corpses for necromancy. The [[mutant|mutated]] [[ogre]]s, known as incurables, dwell high in the mountains. | ||
The few living humans take shelter in small, hidden brick cities known as ''hermitages''.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/> Some hermitages, wracked with the amnesia-magic of lethemancers and faced with the daily horrors of the plane, become nothing more than insane asylums. A precious few, such as the mountain fortress of Torchlight, are reasonably well-defended with sword and sorcery, but the renegades who maintain them are constantly under siege by flesh-hungry undead and tempted by the promises of demons. | |||
If there is any true civilization on Grixis, it's in the necropolises, cities of the undead.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/> Most necropolises are ruled by liches or demon lords, but others are run by living necromancers. Rulers of necropolises, called barons, constantly war with one another, trying to expand their boundaries and hoards of resources. Some necropolises are built over enormous, labyrinthine systems of caverns that serve as dungeons for the living and storage for the dead. | |||
===Notable locations=== | ===Notable locations=== | ||
* The '''Boneheaps''', the dumping grounds of the Kathari. | *The '''Boneheaps''', the dumping grounds of the Kathari. Once the kathari are done gnawing on a corpse, they fly the skeletons piece by piece to enormous hills of bones<ref name="AlaraGuide"/>. There, rats and other vermin clean the rest of the meat from the bones, leaving only clean, dry, clattering remains. The kathari can then use the pieces to construct animated skeletons, jewelry and armor, and bone golems. Bone heaps can be good sources of red and black mana, and are often scoured for valuables by the minions of necromancers and liches. | ||
* The '''Droning Isles''', the massive hives of the banewasps. | *The '''Dregscape''' | ||
* '''Kederekt''', a necropolis of undead-afflicted, half-sunken manor houses near a greasy sea. | **'''Loamlair'''<ref><c>Dregscape Sliver</c></ref> | ||
* '''Sedraxis''', once the shining capital of Vithia, now the | *The '''Droning Isles''', crumbling towers of ashen crust that are the massive hives of the banewasps.<ref name="ALAGuide">(2008). ''[https://archive.org/details/shards-of-alara-players-guide-magic-the-gathering-2008 Shards of Alara Player's Guide].'' [[Wizards of the Coast]].</ref><ref name="AlaraGuide"/> Banewasps construct their hives in the middle of murky, shallow seas, which help protect their developing larvae from predators such as kathari and plague bats. The constant buzzing of these larva warehouses gives the Droning Isles their name. | ||
* '''Torchlight''', the greatest hermitage of living beings. | *'''Kederekt''', a necropolis of undead-afflicted, half-sunken manor houses near a greasy, acidic sea.<ref name="Graduation">{{DailyRef|savor-flavor/graduation-day-2009-06-10|Graduation Day|[[Doug Beyer]]|June 10, 2009}}</ref><ref name="AlaraGuide"/> Facetiously called "Seaside" by still-living Vithian humans. The manor houses have sunken into the silt so they're tilted at odd angles. The residents are all undead, and Kederekt naturally divides them into those who live above and below the water line. | ||
* '''Unx''', a necropolis most well known for the massive [[dragon]] skeleton that circles the city. | **[[Bolas]]'s hideout beneath Kederekt.<ref name="Unbroken">[[Doug Beyer]] (2009), "''[[Alara Unbroken]]''", [[Wizards of the Coast]]</ref> | ||
*'''Sedraxis''', once the shining capital of Vithia, is now the largest necropolis on the plane.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/> Filled with gothic arches and cobblestone streets, the once-great city is now a deadly maze of crumbling walls, half-collapsed spires, and roofless shells of buildings. The lich king [[Sedris]] rules this place, though he is usually content to let chaos reign within its walls. | |||
*'''Torchlight''', the greatest hermitage of living beings. A mountain fortress.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/> | |||
*'''Unx''', a necropolis most well known for the massive [[dragon]] skeleton that circles the city. Unx was once a grand stadium, but its floor has become a huge sinkhole that leads far down to the magma below.<ref name="AlaraGuide"/> Vampires meet here annually. | |||
*'''Ilsun Gate''', home of [[Eliza of the Keep]]. | *'''Ilsun Gate''', home of [[Eliza of the Keep]]. | ||
*'''Joffik''' | *'''Joffik''' | ||
==Notable inhabitants== | ==Notable inhabitants== | ||
* [[Eliza of the Keep]] | *[[Eliza of the Keep]] | ||
* [[Malfegor]] | *[[Kess]] | ||
* [[Nefarox]], overlord of Grixis | *[[Malfegor]] | ||
* [[Sedris]], the Vithian traitor king | *[[Nefarox]], overlord of Grixis | ||
* [[Thraximundar]] | *[[Sedris]], the Vithian traitor king | ||
* [[Yidris]] | *[[Thraximundar]] | ||
*[[Yidris]] | |||
== Planeswalker visitors == | == Planeswalker visitors == | ||
| Line 54: | Line 70: | ||
*[[Sifa Grent]] | *[[Sifa Grent]] | ||
*[[Tezzeret]] | *[[Tezzeret]] | ||
*[[The Unluckiest]] | |||
==In-game references== | ==In-game references== | ||
{{in-game | {{in-game | ||
|cards= | |cards= | ||
* <c>Grixis</c> | *<c>Grixis</c> | ||
|associated= | |associated= | ||
* <c>Grixis Battlemage</c> | *<c>Grixis Battlemage</c> | ||
* <c>Grixis Charm</c> | *<c>Grixis Charm</c> | ||
* <c>Grixis Grimblade</c> | *<c>Grixis Grimblade</c> | ||
* <c>Grixis Illusionist</c> | *<c>Grixis Illusionist</c> | ||
* <c>Grixis Panorama</c> | *<c>Grixis Panorama</c> | ||
* <c>Grixis Slavedriver</c> | *<c>Grixis Slavedriver</c> | ||
* <c>Grixis Sojourners</c> | *<c>Grixis Sojourners</c> | ||
* <c>Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis</c> | *<c>Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis</c> | ||
* <c>Obelisk of Grixis</c> | *<c>Obelisk of Grixis</c> | ||
|flavor= | |flavor= | ||
* <c>Agony Warp</c> | *<c>Agony Warp</c> | ||
* <c>Banewasp Affliction</c> | *<c>Banewasp Affliction</c> | ||
* <c>Bant Sureblade</c> | *<c>Bant Sureblade</c> | ||
* {{card|Blightning|Shards of Alara}} | *{{card|Blightning|Shards of Alara}} | ||
* {{card|Bone Splinters|Shards of Alara}} | *{{card|Bone Splinters|Shards of Alara}} | ||
* <c>Brainbite</c> | *<c>Brainbite</c> | ||
* <c>Covenant of Minds</c> | *<c>Covenant of Minds</c> | ||
* <c>Demonspine Whip</c> | *<c>Demonspine Whip</c> | ||
* <c>Dreg Reaver</c> | *<c>Dreg Reaver</c> | ||
* <c>Dregscape Sliver</c> | *<c>Dregscape Sliver</c> | ||
* <c>Dregscape Zombie</c> | *<c>Dregscape Zombie</c> | ||
* <c>Fleshbag Marauder</c> | *<c>Fleshbag Marauder</c> | ||
* <c>Infectious Horror</c> | *<c>Infectious Horror</c> | ||
* <c>Kederekt Creeper</c> | *<c>Kederekt Creeper</c> | ||
* <c>Knight of New Alara</c> | *<c>Knight of New Alara</c> | ||
* <c>Parasitic Strix</c> | *<c>Parasitic Strix</c> | ||
* <c>Shore Snapper</c> | *<c>Shore Snapper</c> | ||
* <c>Unstable Frontier</c> | *<c>Unstable Frontier</c> | ||
* <c>Vectis Agents</c> | *<c>Vectis Agents</c> | ||
* <c>Viashino Skeleton</c> | *<c>Viashino Skeleton</c> | ||
* <c>Voices from the Void</c> | *<c>Voices from the Void</c> | ||
* {{card|Zealous Persecution|Alara Reborn}} | *{{card|Zealous Persecution|Alara Reborn}} | ||
* <c>Zombie Outlander</c> | *<c>Zombie Outlander</c> | ||
}} | }} | ||
Latest revision as of 21:53, 17 June 2024
| Grixis | |
|---|---|
|
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Grixis.jpg}}|250px]] | |
| General Information | |
| First seen | Shards of Alara |
| Last seen | Conflux |
| Status | Merged with the other Shards |
| Game Information | |
| Colors |
   |
| Mechanics | Unearth |
| Demonym | Grixian |
Grixis is one of five shards of Alara. It is primarily black-aligned, with blue and red as secondary colors.[1][2]
Description
Grixis is a world of death, darkness, undead, hatred, envy, and a lot of other bad things. It is dominated by demons, horrors, necromancers and other forms of undead.[3] Due to the predominance of undeath, it is possible to find undead versions of Bant's leotaus and Jund's viashinos in Grixis. Grixis means "traitor" in the ancient Vithian language, a name given to it by the knights and paladins who were killed during Sedris's defection to the demonic inhabitants after the Sundering.[4]
Grixis’s skies are purple-gray, stormy, and ominous, riddled with pink heat lightning.[5][6] Its hills are drifts of bones, its valleys are decaying flesh, and its seas are murky, polluted deathtraps. Its cities are lairs of undead hordes and necromancer barons, and every parcel of land between them is a battlefield for their constant power struggles. Because of ancient enchantments, decay is slowed to a crawl on the plane, allowing the landscape to fester for centuries.[7]
Most necromancers use their powers to create minions and use those minions to search for more sources of life.[5] Almost all necromancers are capable of animating dead tissue to do their bidding, but mages might practice more variants of necromancy on Grixis than on any other plane. Fleshcrafters — artists and artisans in the medium of death — create bizarre implements from flesh and bone. Lethemancers steal vis through the thoughts and memories of living beings, leaving amnesiacs and lunatics in their wake. Ghostslavers specialize in trapping and binding the restless spirits that haunt Grixis, while gale mages control the death gales, the entropic winds that scour the plane.
Besides the necromancers, a group of humans called the Vithians actively hunt the undead. They uphold the ways of a lost kingdom. The still-living beings on Grixis are called Vitals, and the life-force of those beings is called Vis.[5] Vis suffuses a living creature's tissues and bodily fluids but is not itself a physical material. Vis empowers Demons and fuels all of the magic on Grixis. Vis can be consumed directly from a living host via magical means but is usually gathered through the blood or thoughts of the living. Necromancers actively hunt down Human and Ogre encampments to take slaves to obtain this Vis through arcane rituals. They hunt for the ultimate power to conquer all others.[8] Demons have the power to drain a vital of its' vis at will. A Human or Ogre whose life force has been drained is still considered alive. These Damned oftentimes aren't distinguishable from real living. The damned have an ashen, gaunt appearance and greatly diminished mental function, but are physiologically alive.[5] As such they can pass for normal humans for a short time, but are completely controlled by their demon masters—making them dangerous spies. Hermitages of the living test for the Damned with rigorous questioning and magical detection.
Despite its intangibility, vis is the most important resource on Grixis.[5] The mana of Grixis is entropic, and self-destructive, without white and green mana to protect and strengthen it, it dissipates over time. As a result, Grixis, the plane of death, is dying. The only thing that extends its survival is vis.
Incurables are the Ogres on Grixis, inflicted by a terrible form-altering curse that happened soon after the Sundering.[9][5] Dreg Reavers are huge undead designed to lay waste to other armies or necropolises in times of war. Banewasps are insects that feed on carrion and are used by necromancers as a weak source of Vis. Demons employ devils as torturers, slave drivers, and masters of packs of undead, using their skills in tormenting others to their motivational advantage.[9]
History
Before Grixis split off from the mega-plane of Alara, things were different. White and green mana still flourished there. The land was called Vithia, a white-aligned empire of humans and other races, a land proud of its dynasty of wise and honorable monarchs.[4][5] Much like the kingdoms that make up the Shard of Bant, Vithia functioned on a system of castes and had a focus on knighthood and chivalry up until the sundering occurred. Vithian paladins were known for their crusades against the necromancers of old.
When Grixis was separated from the rest of Alara and cut off from white and green mana, the demons, witches, and necromancers gained power in the ensuing chaos, while its angels soon went extinct.[5][10] However, even though the powers of Vithia's mages were losing their potency, there was still a chance for the kingdom to survive, due to the martial skill of its many knights. Sedris was once the good and righteous king of Vithia during the early years following the Sundering. It is unknown when exactly he fell from grace, but when demons tempted him with dreams of power, he submitted. Sedris handed thousands of innocents over to the demons, killed his own family and advisors, and performed a dark ritual that allowed his consciousness to continue into unlife. Vithia's paladins, unable to stop the fallen monarch, fled the kingdom. Vithia was overrun by demons and the undead shortly afterward, and the capital was transformed into the now greatest necropolis on the plane. Sedris still rules this dark city of the dead, as the most powerful lich warlord on the plane.
Conflux
When the Conflux hit the shards, the life energies of green and white mana flooded into Grixis. The process of harvesting vis was disrupted, and the creatures became fueled with energy by the power of the life that was coming in. They invaded the nearby planes, turning dead soldiers into new undead of their own. Meanwhile, the great Dragon, Nicol Bolas, had already disrupted the other shards, and the plane fell into chaos. It has become part of the New Alara, and cults of demon worship have risen all across the new landscape, with the most notable being dedicated to Nefarox. After the death of the plane's de facto leader, Malfegor, chaos reigns, with factions vying for control of the former shard.[7]
New Phyrexia's Invasion
Alara as was targeted by Elesh Norn's Machine Legion as part of New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse with a simultaneous strike on Bant, Esper, and Jund.[11] At some point during the invasion, the Maelstrom itself awoke to fight on behalf of Alara.[12] The role and fate of Grixis' demons and undead in the invasion is unknown.
Geography
Grixis features a vast swamp where degeneration is slowed to a crawl known as the Dregscape, made up of the remains of various large corpses, eroded earth, and the stench of death. The carcasses of centuries-old beasts and people linger here, slowly becoming a thick ichor.[5] The Dregscape is the main feeding ground for the kathari, a race of scavenging vulture-people who occupy the islands out to sea, and a wellspring of black mana and corpses for necromancy. The mutated ogres, known as incurables, dwell high in the mountains.
The few living humans take shelter in small, hidden brick cities known as hermitages.[5] Some hermitages, wracked with the amnesia-magic of lethemancers and faced with the daily horrors of the plane, become nothing more than insane asylums. A precious few, such as the mountain fortress of Torchlight, are reasonably well-defended with sword and sorcery, but the renegades who maintain them are constantly under siege by flesh-hungry undead and tempted by the promises of demons.
If there is any true civilization on Grixis, it's in the necropolises, cities of the undead.[5] Most necropolises are ruled by liches or demon lords, but others are run by living necromancers. Rulers of necropolises, called barons, constantly war with one another, trying to expand their boundaries and hoards of resources. Some necropolises are built over enormous, labyrinthine systems of caverns that serve as dungeons for the living and storage for the dead.
Notable locations
- The Boneheaps, the dumping grounds of the Kathari. Once the kathari are done gnawing on a corpse, they fly the skeletons piece by piece to enormous hills of bones[5]. There, rats and other vermin clean the rest of the meat from the bones, leaving only clean, dry, clattering remains. The kathari can then use the pieces to construct animated skeletons, jewelry and armor, and bone golems. Bone heaps can be good sources of red and black mana, and are often scoured for valuables by the minions of necromancers and liches.
- The Dregscape
- Loamlair[13]
- The Droning Isles, crumbling towers of ashen crust that are the massive hives of the banewasps.[9][5] Banewasps construct their hives in the middle of murky, shallow seas, which help protect their developing larvae from predators such as kathari and plague bats. The constant buzzing of these larva warehouses gives the Droning Isles their name.
- Kederekt, a necropolis of undead-afflicted, half-sunken manor houses near a greasy, acidic sea.[14][5] Facetiously called "Seaside" by still-living Vithian humans. The manor houses have sunken into the silt so they're tilted at odd angles. The residents are all undead, and Kederekt naturally divides them into those who live above and below the water line.
- Sedraxis, once the shining capital of Vithia, is now the largest necropolis on the plane.[5] Filled with gothic arches and cobblestone streets, the once-great city is now a deadly maze of crumbling walls, half-collapsed spires, and roofless shells of buildings. The lich king Sedris rules this place, though he is usually content to let chaos reign within its walls.
- Torchlight, the greatest hermitage of living beings. A mountain fortress.[5]
- Unx, a necropolis most well known for the massive dragon skeleton that circles the city. Unx was once a grand stadium, but its floor has become a huge sinkhole that leads far down to the magma below.[5] Vampires meet here annually.
- Ilsun Gate, home of Eliza of the Keep.
- Joffik
Notable inhabitants
- Eliza of the Keep
- Kess
- Malfegor
- Nefarox, overlord of Grixis
- Sedris, the Vithian traitor king
- Thraximundar
- Yidris
Planeswalker visitors
In-game references
- Represented in:
- Associated cards:
- Quoted or referred to:
- Agony Warp
- Banewasp Affliction
- Bant Sureblade
- Blightning (Shards of Alara)
- Bone Splinters (Shards of Alara)
- Brainbite
- Covenant of Minds
- Demonspine Whip
- Dreg Reaver
- Dregscape Sliver
- Dregscape Zombie
- Fleshbag Marauder
- Infectious Horror
- Kederekt Creeper
- Knight of New Alara
- Parasitic Strix
- Shore Snapper
- Unstable Frontier
- Vectis Agents
- Viashino Skeleton
- Voices from the Void
- Zealous Persecution (Alara Reborn)
- Zombie Outlander
References
- ↑ Magic Arcana (August 14, 2008). "Shard Preview: Grixis". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 20, 2008). "Looking Out For Number One". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mike Turian (September 12, 2008). "The Specter of the Present". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b Doug Beyer (September 24, 2008). "Alive and Unwell". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Doug Beyer & Jenna Helland (2008). A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara, Wizards of the Coast. ISBN-13 978-0786951246
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (October 21, 2008). "Panoramic View". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b Jay Annelli (2022). Magic: The Gathering - The Visual Guide, DK. ISBN-13 978-0744061055.
- ↑ Commander 2017 Commanders
- ↑ a b c (2008). Shards of Alara Player's Guide. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Doug Beyer (December 10, 2013). "Did Bant, Esper, Grixis, Jund and Naya exist as cultural and/or political entities before Alara was split into five shards?". A Voice for Vorthos. Tumblr.
- ↑ First Look at March of the Machine (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (February 19, 2023).
- ↑ Awaken the Maelstrom
- ↑ Dregscape Sliver
- ↑ Doug Beyer (June 10, 2009). "Graduation Day". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Doug Beyer (2009), "Alara Unbroken", Wizards of the Coast
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