Jund

Jund
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Jund.jpg}}|250px]]
General Information
First seen	Shards of Alara
Last seen	Conflux
Status	Merged with the other Shards
Game Information
Colors
Mechanics	Devour

Jund is one of five shards of Alara. It is primarily red-aligned, with black and green as secondary colors.

Description

Jund is composed of active volcanoes, sharp mountain ledges, and lush jungles. It has a pungent sulfuric atmosphere. The hot climate, bubbling tar-baths, and volcanic activity combine with the reptilian populace to create a sense of a primeval world. The land has deep-cut valleys in it that resemble huge claw marks if seen from above. These deep gashes in the land are where the jungles and swamps are found, The active volcanoes add difficulty to the lives of its human, viashino and goblin inhabitants, but are of great advantage to the dragons that dominate it.

According to the creatures and shamans of Jund, Jund is a world of pure freedom. Every animal can do whatever they want to do. There is no authority of Jund, and therefore the world has become crazy and wild. Since Jund lacks white and blue mana, there is no peace and thought. Instinct is the choice over control and deliberation.

The food chain

Life on Jund is a never-ending struggle of survival of the fittest. It is a voracious, creature-eat-creature world - almost every living thing on the plane is both predator and prey at once, constantly on the lookout for the bloody fare while trying to avoid becoming someone else's. The dragons are at the top of the food chain and feed on everything and anything below them. Fiercely territorial, they will fight over any scrap of food taken from their territory. No creature on Jund is a natural predator of dragons, although humans occasionally undertake Life Hunts against them. When a dragon becomes too ancient to protect their territory, they perform a ritual called the Shriek of Flame where they plunge themselves directly into an active volcano, causing that volcano to erupt- often eradicating much of the prey left in its territory. Some residents believe all volcanic eruptions are caused by the death of a dragon.

Second, on the pecking order are the Crocodile-like Viashino. Stronger than the other humanoid races, Viashino can occupy the deep jungles and swamps where hunting is harder for Dragons. They are muscular brutes that form tribes called Thrashes.

Humans are next on the food chain. They form nomadic tribes that are necessary for survival. Humans live in the small jungles at the base of mountains and in the scarred volcanic flats. At the age of ten, humans undergo a dangerous rite of passage where the warriors will climb an active volcano and are forced to bring back a glass shard to become a warrior. Shamans take a dangerous drug called Dreamfire Draught which attracts elemental entities. The young shaman must bargain with the elemental for a cure to this poison to become a Shaman. With either test, failure results in death. Humans have developed reptilian features such as forked tongues and scales covering some of their skin. In battle, a human warrior will mark a victory by weaving part of their hair into a small braid and binding it with a piece of their enemy's flesh. Occasionally, clans will gather their warriors to embark on a Life Hunt, an often suicidal hunt for the shard's enormous prey, that can even end in an entire clan's disintegration. Reaching the age of fifty is nearly unheard of among Jund's humans.

The rat-like Goblins are last on the food chain, and are so used to being devoured by dragons, that their culture has become one that glorifies death and recognizes itself as "divine food". Goblins inhabit the highest regions of the mountains which are easy prey for young dragons.

Conflux

When the Conflux occurred, blue and white mana flooded into Jund. The food chain became disrupted and fell apart. Creatures became less violent and more thoughtful, but this created more wildness. The angry shamans struggled to keep control as the dragons flew to new lands to destroy more. New creatures and plants emerged, and the instinct of several of Jund's creatures disappeared. As Jund's edges merge more and more with the other shards, it becomes part of the new Alara.

Notable locations

• The Bloodhall, a huge, sangrite-rich cavern sacred to Jund's human warrior-clans and frequented by hungry slimes and oozes.
• Varakna is the deepest tar-swamp in Jund.
• The Worldheart Chalice, the lair of Nicol Bolas.
• The Pit, the deepest valley in the land, over two miles deep.
• Hellkite's Pass

Planeswalker visitors

• Ajani Goldmane
• Sarkhan Vol
• Nicol Bolas

In-game references

Represented in:

• Jund

Associated cards:

• Godtracker of Jund
• Jund Battlemage
• Jund Charm
• Jund Hackblade
• Jund Panorama
• Jund Sojourners
• Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
• Obelisk of Jund

Quoted or referred to:

• Algae Gharial
• Bloodpyre Elemental
• Canyon Minotaur (Conflux)
• Charnelhoard Wurm
• Corrupted Roots
• Drag Down
• Dragonsoul Knight
• Esper Stormblade
• Fiery Fall (Conflux)
• Flameblast Dragon (Shards of Alara)
• Gluttonous Slime
• Goblin Mountaineer (Shards of Alara)
• Magma Spray (Shards of Alara)
• Mycoid Shepherd (Alara Reborn)
• Ooze Garden
• Rhox Brute
• Rockslide Elemental
• Savage Lands
• Scarland Thrinax
• Scourge of Nel Toth
• Spellbound Dragon
• Spore Burst
• Sprouting Thrinax
• Talon Trooper
• Toxic Iguanar
• Tukatongue Thallid
• Unstable Frontier
• Yurlok of Scorch Thrash
• Zombie Outlander

External links

• Magic Arcana (May 21, 2009). "The Style of Jund". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.