Naya

Naya
Information
First seen	Shards of Alara
Last seen	Conflux
Status	Merged with the other Shards

Naya is one of five Shards of Alara. It is primarily green-aligned, with red and white as secondary colors. Naya is Ajani's birthplace.

Description

Life, passion, community, and the wild — these are what flourish without the influence of black or blue mana. In this lush land, life is celebrated and nature is revered. Naya is a glorious tropical jungle-plane peopled with perfect specimens of the human, elvish, leonin and minotaur races. Naya boasts the most varied forms of life of all the shards. It seems like a paradise, but that is a deceptive view. Naya tremors with peril. Behemoths taller than buildings lumber through Naya's rainforests, crushing acres of vegetation — or civilization — casually underfoot. Yet somehow, Naya's sentient races revere these gargantuans, relegating them to the pinnacle of their religious beliefs and ascribing to them a sacred ineffability.

Races

Humans inhabit the forest floor — the most dangerous place in Naya. While many still live in primitive dwellings carved out of the trees, more and more humans are building permanent villages and clearing land for agriculture. These sunseeders use trained gargantuans called plow beasts, and wage a constant war against the rampant jungle growth in their quest for open space. Despite the constant threat of predators, the humans have developed ingenious ways to survive in the jungle. Human life here is about pleasure — pleasure of the hunt, pleasure of the body, pleasure of celebration, pleasure of competition. Drumhunters hunt in packs, using the sonic properties of the jungles' buttressing roots to communicate over long distances. Exuberants are humans who celebrate life in all its forms, caring little and usually wearing even less, spending their days in their sandstone ziggurats and jungle cities. All humans come together in open areas to play games, most notable of which is Matca. In this game, two humans will attempt to wrestle each other to the ground in an attempt to pin them. The advanced Matca fighters wear spike armor.

The nomadic Cylian elves live in the tree canopy and gather around dewcups, pools of water that form in the canopy's giant ferns. There are many of these oasis-like gathering places in the canopy, and it is here that the elves camp. Led by Mayael the Anima, the elves worship the gargantuans of the plane. Godtrackers carefully monitor their movements and offer sacrifices to keep them placated. The elves believe that the behemoths' actions are signs from Progenitus, an enormous five-headed hydra who sleeps under the ground in the Valley of the Ancient. The elves are expanding their territory in Naya and have surpassed the Nacatl as the dominant race on the plane. There is more hostility between them now that the Wild Nacatl are moving down from the mountains into the lowland jungles.

At one time, the Leonin Nacatl were the most civilized race in Naya and the undisputed rulers of the plane. In its heyday, the Nacatl's Empire of the Clouds had an extensive system of roads, bridges, and aqueducts. But internal strife destroyed the empire. A revolutionary group known as the Claws of Marisi waged a guerrilla war, shattering the rule of law and bringing Nacatl civilization to its knees. The Cloud Nacatl still have a few strongholds left in mountains, such as the city of Qasal. In these cities, they still retain allegiance to the Coil, a complicated system of laws that were once recorded on a massive stone wall. By the time the empire fell, the Coil had become so convoluted that most Nacatl couldn't understand it or follow it even if they wanted to. The Coil was enforced at first by societal pressure. Eventually the Pride of Judges, an elite group of Nacatl, threatened the citizens with physical harm unless they followed the letter of the law. Soon there was open warfare in the streets as the Claws of Marisi and the Pride of Judges fought for dominance. In the end, Marisi's revolutionaries triumphed and the Coil was broken. During the destruction of the city, the wall was defaced and in some parts destroyed. For the members of the Claws, it was a symbolic breaking of the strictures of society that kept them down and subjugated their true nature.

Geography

In the lower elevations, the jungle is the undisputed king. With heavy, intermittent rainfall as the lifeblood of the jungle, the rampant vegetation is in a constant race, always clawing upwards in the competition for sunshine. The canopy of leaves is laced together by massive lianas — thick, woody vines that connect the trees together and can grow up to five feet in diameter. Animals, humans and elves use these lianas as highways to travel across the jungle. Amid the massive buttress roots are termites, fungi, and oversized logger-ants who hunt by scent using coordinated movements and can easily take down an unsuspecting human or elf. A permanent, pale mist known as the Whitecover hangs over the rainforest, punctured by ranges of steeply sloped mountains.

Whatever lives on the jungle floor must survive on what falls from or through the canopy. When a tree falls it creates an opening in the canopy, and thousands of seeds fight for the chance to grow in the rare shaft of sunlight. The jungle is constantly trying to outgrow itself: whatever can get the highest has the best chance of survival.

Notable locations

• Empire of the Clouds, former Nacatl empire
  • Antali, its capital
• Qasali Valley
• Qasal — the last known stronghold of the Cloud Nacatl
• The Valley of the Ancients — the resting place for the hydra-god Progenitus.

History

Conflux

When the Conflux occured, black mana from Jund and blue mana from Bant flooded into Naya. Even though the powerful gargantuans kept intruders at bay, they could not stop the black and blue mana. Naya is now flooded with all five colors and Progenitus has awoken, roving the lands for inscrutable purposes. Naya's borders continued to run into the borders of Jund and Bant until it had completely connected to the other five shards, becoming part of New Alara.

In the wake of the Conflux, the lofty jungles of Naya have become haven for the weak and wicked alike. Demonic cults have taken root among the towering roots of the trees, and the only thing keeping them in check are the Leonin prides, many who claim allegiance to Ajani, though he is merely the source of their inspiration.

After the Shards realigned and Alara was reborn, some vedalken heretics from Esper migrated to Naya, while the coatl snakes were created from the influx of blue mana.

Planeswalker visitors

• Ajani Goldmane
• Nicol Bolas
• Domri Rade

In-game references

Represented in:

• Naya

Associated cards:

• Naya Battlemage
• Naya Charm
• Naya Hushblade
• Naya Panorama
• Naya Sojourners
• Naya Soulbeast
• Obelisk of Naya
• Sigil of the Nayan Gods

Referred to:

• Ajani's Mantra
• Beacon Behemoth
• Bloodthorn Taunter
• Bull Cerodon
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• Cavern Thoctar
• Corrupted Roots
• Cradle of Vitality
• Cylian Elf
• Druid of the Anima
• Goblin Outlander
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• Knotvine Mystic
• Lush Growth
• Meglonoth
• Messenger Falcons
• Nacatl Outlander
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• Rakeclaw Gargantuan
• Reborn Hope
• Relic of Progenitus
• Sages of the Anima
• Spearbreaker Behemoth
• Spellbreaker Behemoth
• Vagrant Plowbeasts
• Volcanic Fallout

External links

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