Zhalfir

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Zhalfir
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Jamuraa.jpg}}|250px]]
Information
First seen March of the Machine (as a plane)
Last seen March of the Machine
Rabiah Scale 5[1]
Status Extant as a plane replacing Mirrodin
Demonym Zhalfirin[2]

Zhalfir (zhal-FEER[3]) was a more than five thousand-year-old militaristic kingdom on Dominaria. It was located along the western plains, forests, and coasts of Jamuraa. After being phased out, its former location is now known as the Zhalfirin Void.[4] It became a plane of its own in the aftermath of New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse.[5]

Description

Zhalfir made up the northwestern coast of Jamuraa's western continent. Its coastal sands give way to a dune forest, eventually leading to scrubland dominated by low, wide-canopied trees.[6] Further inland, it has markets. It is bordered by low mountains on its eastern edge and by rocky plateaus on its north. Its earth is red-colored.[7]

While phased out of Dominaria, it had no moons.[6] Now, it is orbited by the former suns of Mirrodin.[5]

The kingdom is ruled by a monarch, currently, Queen Wezna, who is advised by the kingdom's general, currently Mageta, and a council of five high wizards, one from each of Zhalfir's Creeds.

Its merchants use coins as currency.[6]

An old Zhalfirin gesture of gratitude involves kissing one's fingers, touching them to the forehead, and placing one's hand over the heart.[6]

Its military is organized into Sidar generals, askari soldiers, akinji irregulars, and altali, fleetfooted medics clad in bright white whose sole job it is to see bodies returned home.[6][2] Its soldiers wear enchanted lizard-skin armor and war paint.[8]

History

Long ruled by the royal family from its capital Ki’pamu, Zhalfir benefited from its magical strength. The Zhalfirins pioneered the five colors of mana on Dominaria and, unlike the rest of the plane, escaped the ravages of the Sylex Blast, the Ice Age, and the Flood Ages. Zhalfir possessed a large standing army (personified by the Knightly Order of Askari) but was also constantly the site of internal squabbling by its contentious and powerful noble class.

The Golden Age

For many years, Zhalfir was the home of the great mages Teferi and Jolrael. Teferi was the counsel to the ancient kings and queens of Zhalfir. History did not record that his tenure as a court mage ended unhappily. He did not like to discuss the circumstances that led to his falling out with the king and the end of his career as a court mage.[9]

The Creeds of Magic

Teferi's final act before his departure was the creation of the Creeds of Magic, originally called Guilds.

  • {W} Civic Creed
  • {U} Shaper Creed
  • {B} Shadow Creed
  • {R} Armorer Creed
  • {G} Granger Creed

The Femeref secession

When Teferi returned some thirty years later, he found the continent on the brink of war. While Zhalfir at this time was ruled by a king, southern Zhalfir had split off and formed the theocracy of Femeref because the churches didn't agree with the fact that Teferi had left control of the dead in the hands of the Shadow Creed.[10] When Femeref had found gold in the mountains, the northern country of Suq'Ata had invaded part of Zhalfir and had driven the dwarves there from their mountain homes. When the dwarves had aided Femeref in harvesting the gold, increasing their efficiency greatly, Zhalfir felt cheated out of their rightful portion of the gold. Teferi tracked down and tutored a capable girl of royal descent. After crowning her as Queen Yormeba, she brought peace to the nation but failed to unify it. Tired of the petty squabbles of his people, Teferi left with a group of trusted advisors, sages, artificers, and sorcerers. They sailed for a hidden realm in the Chaza Isles, where Teferi wanted to manipulate time to make it easier to summon creatures.

Phased out

The Zhalfirin Void
Map showing the chunk of land left in northwestern Jamuraa. Map generated using an overlay of the modern map.

At the time of the Phyrexian Invasion, Zhalfir was the most advanced nation on Dominaria and was ruled by Queen Wezna. Because of its powerful magic, technology, and military, Urza intended it to take the brunt of the attack. The leaders of Zhalfir thought they would triumph, but Teferi thought otherwise.[11] He phased out Zhalfir alongside the rest of northwestern Jamuraa because he wanted to spare it from the horrors of the Phyrexian assault.

When Teferi reappeared on Dominaria three hundred years later, he found the plane torn apart by temporal fissures and rifts. To prevent the plane's destruction, he had to find a way to close the temporal rifts created by cataclysmic events in the past. Two major rifts had been created by his phasing of Zhalfir and Shiv. He managed to close the Shivan rift by sacrificing his planeswalker spark.

The Zhalfirin rift suffered a different fate. Jeska, manipulated by Leshrac, used Radha as a mana lens, forcefully closing the Zhalfirin rift without realizing the consequence of her actions. Without precise timing, the phased lands of Zhalfir were lost seemingly forever, cast into oblivion, although Teferi said that he could probably save it if he was still a planeswalker. The legacy of the Zhalfirin culture partially lives on in the nations of Femeref and Suq'Ata.

Over three hundred years after the kingdom was phased out when Teferi met the planeswalker Wrenn, she explained how he could unravel his spells and promised to help him with returning Zhalfir.[12]

Found and Returned

When Teferi was disconnected from the Temporal Anchor in his search for answers to New Phyrexia's looming invasion of the Multiverse, he ended up in Zhalfir, realizing that only a decade had passed there and that the Zhalfirans were still preparing for the first Phyrexian Invasion of Dominaria.[6] He discovered that The Wanderer had been able to reach the land as well, indicating that it had become a pocket plane. He reconnected with Sidar Jabari and Queen Wezna and found that Kaervek had escaped his Amber Prison. It gave him a new resolve to battle the Phyrexians. Wrenn would find Zhalfir once she bonded with Realmbreaker during New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, reuniting it with the rest of the multiverse and allowing the Zhalfirin army a way to attack and combat the Phyrexian forces on New Phyrexia.[13]

Wrenn and Realmbreaker swapped New Phyrexia's and Zhalfir's places in the Multiverse, allowing Zhalfir to become a plane of its own.[2] Due to the merging only affecting the landmass of each plane, the sky of New Phyrexia remained in place and Mirrodin's five suns now orbit Zhalfir.[14] The survivors of Mirrodin have been welcomed into the new plane as refugees, having evacuated through the Omenpath that Wrenn opened between Zhalfir and New Phyrexia.

Geography

Locations in Zhalfir:

Languages

Inhabitants

Sapient races

Others

Flora

  • Acacia[7]
  • Afiya, a common tree[5]
  • Baobabs, ancient and gigantic trees[5][7]
  • Mangoes[7]
  • Marula, upright and unfaltering trees[5]
  • Mitab, a bulbous, pale-green fruit that grows on vines, is a particular favorite of the planeswalker Teferi Akosa.[17][6]
  • Wellwood, burned as incense in creedhalls.[6]
  • Yews, flexible and mystic trees[5]

Planeswalkers

Native

Residents

Visitors

Non-planeswalker visitors

In-game references

Represented in:
Associated cards:
Depicted in:
Referred to:

References

  1. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 10, 2023). "With Zhalfir back as it's own plane, where does it fall on the Rabiah scale?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  2. ↑ a b c K. Arsenault Rivera (March 28, 2023). "March of the Machine - Episode 9: The Old Sins of New Phyrexia". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. ↑ Matt Cavotta (March 22, 2007). "Speak the Word, the Word is All of Us". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017.
  4. ↑ Martha Wells (March 21, 2018). "Return to Dominaria, Episode 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n K. Arsenault Rivera (March 28, 2023). "March of the Machine - Episode 10: The Rhythms of Life". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Miguel Lopez (January 17, 2023). "Alone". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. ↑ a b c d Grace Fong (May 1, 2023). "March of the Machine: The Aftermath - She Who Breaks the World". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. ↑ Michael G. Ryan (October 1996). "The Horizon Shimmers: The Making of Mirage." The Duelist #13, p.58-61.
  9. ↑ Scott McGough (2006), "Time Spiral", Wizards of the Coast
  10. ↑ Will McDermott (April 1999). "Scars of the Legacy". The Official Urza's Legacy Game Guide
  11. ↑ Martha Wells (April 18, 2018). "Return to Dominaria, Episode 6". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. ↑ Seanan McGuire (September 03, 2021). "Tangles". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. ↑ K. Arsenault Rivera (March 24, 2023). "March of the Machine - Episode 8: Wrenn and Eight". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. ↑ WeeklyMTG - March of the Machine: The Aftermath (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (May 2, 2023).
  15. ↑ J. Robert King (1998-1999). "Born to Greatness" The Duelist #29, 32, & 34.
  16. ↑ Wizards of the Coast. "The Story of Jamuraa". wizards.com.
  17. ↑ Reinhardt Suarez (October 21, 2022). "The Brothers' War - Chapter 1: Stronghold". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
Mirage block
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Zhalfir 2023
Zhalfir storyline
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    • {W}
  • Shaper Creed
    • {U}
  • Shadow Creed
    • {B}
  • Armorer Creed
    • {R}
  • Granger Creed
    • {G}
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