Hagra
| Hagra | |
|---|---|
| Hagra Swamp | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Plane | Zendikar |
| Colors |
 |
| Type | Swamp |
| Part of | Pelakka, Guul Draz |
| Formerly part of | Makindi Empire |
Hagra, also known as Hagra Swamp, is a vast, fetid swamp and ancient water basin in the Pelakka Karst on the continent of Guul Draz on Zendikar. It is also home to Malakir, the vampire capital of Zendikar.[1][2]
Description
Much of Guul Draz is covered by the enormous Hagra Swamp, a sprawling mire of murky water, rotting organic matter, and moss-draped trees that shroud the sun under a gloomy canopy. Its stagnant pools often glow a sickly green, thick with foul decay. Low trees and rising mist conceal the swamp’s dangers, including deadly plants like giant carnivorous lilies and snaring algae that drag prey into the depths.[2]
The Hagra’s flora is infamous for its hunger: greed lilies lie in wait among harmless giant water lilies, curling shut to dissolve any creature that steps on them. Snap fens are seemingly solid rises surrounded by reeds that lash out with razor-sharp stalks that impale and drown careless travelers or passing boats, their victims feeding the swamp’s hungry waters. Opportunistic merfolk bandits sometimes lurk near snap fens, luring barges into these natural traps to scavenge what remains.[2]
Underground, vast fungal caverns produce spores that poison or confuse the Eldrazi broods while leaving native creatures mostly unharmed, creating a strange refuge of corrupted life amid the rot. Filth bursts—patches of ground that conceal pockets of noxious gas and sludge—can explode if disturbed, releasing toxic sludge that kills outright or sometimes twists survivors into monstrous horrors.[2]
Among the swamp’s natural predators are massive creatures like the Hagra Crocodile and the dreaded Pelakka Wurm. Tribes of savage ogres roam the region, dwelling in ancient Hagra ruins and preying on the living and the undead alike. They are known to be as cruel as the vampires that dominate Guul Draz.[2]
At the edge of the swamp lies the Hagra Cistern, an ancient merfolk-built structure once meant to cleanse Eldrazi corruption by flooding and purifying the tainted land. This is a post-Eldrazi ruin, meaning it is less than 6000 years old.[3] Its broken magic now seeps pollution back into the swamp’s waters, drawing ogres and demons who treat the cistern as a portal to the underworld.[2]
History
Hagra was once part of the ancient Makindi Empire. Later, merfolk engineers and lullmages constructed the Hagra cistern shortly after the Eldrazi’s first escape to reclaim land overrun by broods. Though the cistern’s powerful spells reshaped the terrain and created the Pelakka Karst, its filters and drains failed over centuries, leaving the swamp a festering mire of stagnant corruption and forgotten magic.[4][2]
In-game references
- Represented in:
- Associated cards:
- Referred to:
References
- ↑ Magic Creative Team (October 21, 2009). "A Planeswalker's Guide to Zendikar: Guul Draz". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-26.
- ↑ a b c d e f g James Wyatt (January 5, 2016) - The Art of Magic: The Gathering - Zendikar, WotC.
- ↑ James Wyatt (April 2016) - Plane Shift: Zendikar, WotC.
- ↑ Ari Zirulnik and James Wyatt (September 1, 2020). "Zendikar: Things Have Changed". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.