Lorwyn–Shadowmoor

Lorwyn–Shadowmoor
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Information
First seen	'Lorwyn'
Last seen	'Eventide'
Status	Fused; otherwise unknown

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.

The indigenous wildlife of the Lorwyn is dominated by eight sentient races: elves, kithkin, merrows, flamekin, boggarts, treefolk, giants and faeries. ^[1] ^[2] In addition, Lorwyn supports a menagerie of animal and supernatural life, including wisents, springjacks, cervins, a semisentient race of mimics known as changelings and the majestic greater elementals. All of them thrive in Lorwyn's temperate environment and unending growing season, preserving the plane's character as an unspoiled natural wilderness. ^[3]

Each of the 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.

Lorwyn is a backwater world rarely visited by planeswalkers. Those who know of its existence regard it as an idyllic paradise. 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).

Boggarts

Lorwyn's race of goblins are called boggarts. Boggarts have greater diversity of morphology than other planes' races and sub-clans of goblins. Some of them have curving horns, others have stubby ones or none at all. Some of them have long snouts or goatlike muzzles. Some have broad, floppy ears; some have the sharp pointies. Their skin varies from green to blue to beige to purple to red. ^[4]

Boggarts are organized into warrens: Stinkdrinker warren, known for "its stockpile of stolen goods", and "its boggarts' penchant for sneaking past even giants to steal their prizes"; Squeaking Pie warren, known for "its culinary adventurousness — they bake mice and other delectables into their pies, and will go to any lengths to find bizarre new recipes and ingredients"; Mudbutton warren, "a particularly chaotic and loud warren that appreciates a good party — even if comes at the expense of a few of their members"; and Frogtosser warren, a "group of boggarts so emotionally changeable that the other warrens think them insane". ^[4]

Boggart warrens are led by nominal leaders called Aunties. The Auntie is usually the oldest boggart in the warren, and is usually female (some are male, yet are still called "Auntie"). The Auntie knows many tales, like fables, that they tell to educate their warren, pass on crucial boggart teachings, and adjudicate disputes. The most famous Auntie fables are about Auntie Grub, a folk hero to the boggarts and probably a real ancestor. Auntie Grub's tales are particularly helpful for informing young boggarts about racial enemies, dangerous predators, poisonous plants and fungus, and the like. ^[4]

Boggarts are described as being "collectors of sensation", and that, "while they aren't particularly intelligent thinkers, they are extremely perceptive, in that they perceive a lot." ^[4] When it comes to arming themselves, they improvise what they can't steal. ^[5]

About the only law in boggart culture, in fact, is the pressure to share new sensations with others of their kind. A boggart that refuses to share — a hoarder — will be cast out of boggart society for the sin of keeping a new treasure to himself. Since boggarts are so social and convivial among their own, exile is considered a terrible sentence. ^[4] ^[6]

Tribes

Changelings
Elves
Faeries
Elementals
- Flamekin
- Greater Elementals
Giants
Kithkin
Merrows
Treefolk

Locations

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.