Lorwyn–Shadowmoor
Lorwyn–Shadowmoor was a plane with two aspects. While Lorwyn represents day, Shadowmoor is night. Lorwyn switched to Shadowmoor cyclically every few centuries, an unnatural event triggered by the Great Aurora.
Lorwyn
Lorwyn is one of two aspects of the plane, and setting of the Lorwyn block.
The known portion of the plane is heavily forested and ringed by high mountains, outside of which lay the mysterious Primal Beyond. The world has no oceans or large lakes; all of its water comes from a system of rivers and streams connected by the subterranean Dark Meanders. Lorwyn is a world without winter and without night, locked in a perpetual late spring where the sun never quite dips below the horizon.
Each of its nine races, known as the Tribes, live in an uneasy state of peace; skirmishes and small battles occur from time to time, but full-scale war is unknown. The Tribes are highly provincial and distrustful of those outside their race; all are wary of the cruel and powerful elves, who function as the plane's de facto rulers. Late in Lorwyn's history, the barriers between the Tribes began to break down as individuals from different races came together in new tribes based on common goals (soldiers, wizards, and so on).
Lorwyn is a backwater world rarely visited by planeswalkers. Those who know of its existence regard it as an idyllic paradise.
At the end of Eventide, the Great Aurora is no more, and both planes have fused, although the exact nature, and remaining species haven't been disclosed yet.
Tribes
Locations
- Gilt Leaf Wood
- Glen Elendra
- Kithkin clachans:
- Mount Tanufel
- Murmuring Bosk
- Porringer Valley
- The Primal Beyond
- Velis Vel
- The Wanderwine
- The Dark Meanders
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Shadowmoor
Shadowmoor, the setting of the Shadowmoor block, is the other facet of the plane.
The inhabitants of Lorwyn don't recall their previous lives, and remember having always lived in Shadowmoor. There are, however, a handful of beings who retain their memories; for example, in the storyline's latest Great Aurora: Ashling, Brigid Baeli, Maralen, Oona, the Vendilion Clique, Rosheen Meanderer, and The Sapling.
Another difference between the two planes is that some creatures who are nonexistent in Lorwyn are active in Shadowmoor, while others have been expunged from the new plane. Ouphes, korrigans, pucas, kelpies, scarecrows, and nightmarish, mythical beings that had slumbered beneath Lorwyn's surface have reemerged in the ambient night. What races have survived the change have been thoroughly altered by the tainted darkness covering Shadowmoor. In particular, the demeanor of each race has taken a turn for the worst. The kithkin have become withdrawn and distrusting of the other inhabitants of the plane and the boggarts are now violent brutes. The flamekin, now called cinders, have lost their passion and become hateful shadows of themselves; giants have lost their intelligence, and rely in their basic instincts; the merrows are spiteful pirates and raiders who lurk in their murky rivers; the treefolk are warped skeletons of bark and branches; and the playful changelings have become the malicious mimics.
The elves, in contrast, were one tribe to experience a more positive difference. They became the last remnant of Lorwyn's older, idyllic environment. Pressed upon by hostile conditions, the elves were forced to battle for their very existence. Rather than lording over the plane and oppressing the other species to conform to their values of beauty and grace, the ironic reversal in their situation shifted the elves from arrogance to humbled self-preservation.
The only race that remained mostly the same are the fae, because they are protected by Oona's magic, and thus have remained mischievous and unpredictable.
At the end of the Eventide, the Great Aurora is no more, although the resulting plane's structure and races hasn't been disclosed yet.
Creatures of Shadowmoor
Humanoid races
Monsters
Locations
- The Dark Meanders
- Kithkin clachans
- Glen Elendra
- Mount Kulrath
- Velis Vel
- The Wanderbrine
- Wilt-Leaf Wood