Murasa Skyclave

The Murasa Skyclave
Information
Plane	Zendikar
Colors
Part of	Murasa

The Murasa Skyclave is one of the seven massive floating fortresses constructed by the ancient kor empire on the plane of Zendikar. It once hovered above the wild continent of Murasa, serving as a center of military and administrative power. Like the other Skyclaves, it was a marvel of magical architecture, maintained in the sky through powerful kor artifice and ancient levitation enchantments. Though shattered and ruined long ago, its remnants were reawakened during the Rise of the Skyclaves in 4561 AR and now drift once more above Murasa's Sunder Bay.

Description

The Murasa Skyclave was once a massive, ancient kor stronghold originally built to project imperial power into the wilds of Murasa, a region known for its violent Roil activity and unstable terrain. Constructed from carved limestone and shaped by powerful lithomancy, the Skyclave featured austere geometric architecture, including towering pillars, stone bridges, and winding corridors that once housed barracks and command posts.^[1]^[2]

After centuries submerged beneath the sea, the Skyclave rose once more during the Rise of the Skyclaves, emerging over Sunder Bay in broken, floating fragments, where it still floats. Some platforms are large enough to support waterfalls and forests, while others are no wider than a single person. Ancient hedrons orbit the ruin, remnants of the Kor's attempts to control Zendikar's chaotic magic. The Roil has further twisted the landscape, introducing lava flows, jets of flame, and violent tremors.^[2]^[1]

Despite its shattered condition, some sections of the Skyclave remain stable and explorable, though perilous. Crumbling paths, erratic gravity, and deadly traps make navigation treacherous. After Nahiri removed the Lithoform Core from the fortress's heart, part of the Skyclave collapsed, and some of the surrounding terrain was reduced to lifeless ash.^[1] Yet, as Akiri fell from the ruin, the fragments of the Skyclave began shifting and moving — slowly reassembling themselves in midair as if guided by an unseen force. The structure appeared to repair itself, resisting destruction even after millennia of dormancy, and brushing away its damage and ashen stains.^[3]

History

The fall of the Akoum Skyclave occurred over six thousand years ago, during the final century of the Kor Empire. The Skyclave over Murasa was dragged into the sea by an enormous aquatic beast—possibly an ancestor of Lorthos, the Tidemaker, or even Lorthos itself.^[2]

Akiri, Nahiri and Zareth in the skyclave

Thousands of years later, during the Rise of the Skyclaves, the residual magic of the ancient kor structures was reactivated when Kesenya's adventuring party triggered the magical defenses of the Emeria Skyclave. Although the Murasa Skyclave remained broken and scattered, its fragments began levitating again, rejoining the sky among the clouds and mountaintops. This sudden reappearance drew the attention of Expeditionary Houses and adventurers eager to explore its ruins and uncover lost kor artifacts.^[2]

Seeking the lithoform core buried within the ruin, Nahiri led Akiri, Zareth San, Orah, and Kaza on a perilous climb to the Murasa Skyclave. Guided by her lithomancy and an ancient key she had found in the Akoum Skyclave, Nahiri drove the group through collapsing corridors and deadly traps, convinced the Core could restore Zendikar. Deep within the Skyclave, they found the artifact suspended among hedrons and lightning. Nahiri seized it despite Akiri's warnings, triggering the ruin's destabilization and forcing the group to flee as the Roil surged around them.^[1]

The Skyclave crumbled underfoot as a massive elemental, born of Roil energy, attacked. In the chaos, Kaza and Orah were separated but survived. Zareth was killed when Nahiri used the Core's power to destroy the elemental in a devastating explosion that left the ruin in lifeless ash. Overcome with grief, Akiri confronted Nahiri, threatening to destroy the Core. Nahiri paralyzed her with hedron magic, seized the artifact, and pushed Akiri from the ledge, leaving her to fall as Nahiri stood alone, determined to reshape Zendikar at any cost.^[1]

As Akiri plummeted, she attempted to latch onto any structure she could, but found the Skyclave shifting around her — its shattered fragments beginning to reassemble. As she fell with no hope of survival, she was caught midair by a magical bramble and rescued by Nissa Revane and Jace Beleren, who had arrived below the Skyclave. They set her gently onto a magical branch-ladder, and she learned they were planeswalkers, like Nahiri. Upon hearing that Nahiri had taken the Core, the trio prepared to pursue her, their paths then leading away from the skyclave, now rid of its recent damage.^[3]