Minamo

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Minamo
Information
Plane Kamigawa
Colors Blue mana
Status Unknown
Part of Kamitaki, Yumegawa River
Scryfall Statistics

Minamo (mee-NAH-moh;[1] Japanese: 水面 (みなも) (いん) ; rōmaji: Minamo-in; literally: "Water Surface") was a wizard academy built around and above Lake Kamitaki near the waterfalls of the same name.[2] A major blue-aligned location on Kamigawa, the academy was comprised of both ordinary buildings and buildings held magically aloft. It was the first place where the kami manifested at the outbreak of the Kami War.

Description

Above the Academy was located the soratami capital Otawara (Oboro), and the moonfolk frequently visited the academy—officially to share their wisdom, but actually to maintain control of the academy when using it to pursue their secret agenda. The Minamo Academy is a school that teaches powerful spirit and human magics. It was built upon the largest waterfall in Kamigawa, north of Eiganjo and the Jukai forest.[3] Minamo is led by the Soratami, who guide the headmaster and his faculty and are often prayed to by the staff of the school. The school was besieged and ravaged by Hidetsugu, an ogre whose pupil was killed by a Minamo student. Minamo Academy was guarded by Keiga, the Tide Star, before its decline after the Shattered States Era, after which it was replaced by Otawara as Kamigawa's center of technology.[4] Kairi, the reincarnation of the Tide Star, refuses to guard Otawara out of suspicion of the moonfolk's intentions. A less-traveled path between Eiganjo and Minamo skirts the northwest edge of the Jukai Forest. It is about a day's ride on horseback.[5]

History

Before the Kami War, Minamo was largely unknown, considered a legendary location shrouded by the mists of the sacred Kamitaki Falls.[6] Kamigawa's most promising jushi traveled to the school to study.

At the outbreak of the war, Minamo became a frontline, as the Falls held a curtain between the material and spirit worlds from which huge, bizarre kami manifestations emerged.[6] The Minamo Academy trained both archers and mages for the conflict. The headmaster of the academy was Sensei Iki Hisoka; his deputy was Madame Azami, the Lady of Scrolls.

During the events leading to the climax of the Kami War, Choryu, a Minamo student and friend of Princess Michiko Konda, made a grave mistake when he killed Kobo, a member of the Hyozan Reckoners and apprentice of Hidetsugu. Obedient to the Hyozan oath, the ogre proceeded to execute a complete reckoning for that crime. The ogre attacked the academy with his yamabushi hunters, defeated the guardian dragon Keiga, and destroyed the academy, killing anybody who got in the way. Some of the inhabitants escaped this fate, but Hisoka himself was decapitated (and consumed) by Hidetsugu.

Whatever was left of the Academy was further destroyed in the battle between O-Kagachi and the All-Consuming Oni of Chaos.

After the war, the Minamo School was rebuilt, as evidenced by the fact that Mariko, niece of the Brothers Yamazaki, was said to be studying at Minamo.[7] Minamo Academy was rebuilt with the promise of transparency to conduct research that would improve lives.[8] However it would eventually decline after the Shattered States Era, replaced by Otawara as Kamigawa's center of technology to the point that Kairi was offered to guard it instead (which he refused).[4] Its current status is thus unknown.

Minor locations

  • Yumegawa River (yoo-may-GAH-wah).[1] The largest and longest river on Kamigawa, which contains the Great Falls; means “river of dreams.”
  • Lake Kamitaki
  • Kamitaki Falls (kah-mee-TAH-kee).[1] Kamigawa's largest waterfall; means “waterfall of the kami.”
  • Akagi River (ah-KAH-gee).[1] A smaller river near the Kamitaki Falls where a famous battle between humans and kami took place.

Notable students and faculty

Gallery

In-game references

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Associated cards:
Referred to:

References