Omenpath

Omenpath
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Open the Way.jpg}}|250px]]
Information
Plane	Multiversal

Omenpaths are planar portals originally created by Kaldheim's World Tree and later by New Phyrexia's Invasion Tree. After New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse and the Desparkening, these passages are now the main way to travel between planes.

Description

Omenpaths are trans-planar arteries that are naturally occurring on Kaldheim, where they received their name. They can vary in appearance. Some can be tiny, some huge. Some permanent, some temporary. Some stable, some moving. They present a great risk for non-planeswalkers, as there's no promise of a way back. Not every plane is connected to every other plane, so some trips can be quite a journey. Some could be one-way. It is possible to navigate and map Omenpaths to some extent, given Saheeli Rai was able to locate Ixalan in under a year. Niv-Mizzet and Ral Zarek were able to construct a way to transmit information through Omenpaths, setting the grounds for interplanar communication.

Nissa described an Omenpath on Zhalfir as a glowing blue light hovering in the air and pulsing to the beat of the leyline song. Its edges resemble ragged cloth as if someone cut the fabric of reality. Kellan described one on Eldraine as a swirling series of interlocking triangles, something like a cloudy mirror, standing free. Amalia Benavides Aguirre described one on Ixalan as a sparkling circle wider and taller than a human floating above the ground and swirling with lights.

Despite the Omenpaths being a way to connect the Multiverse further, other planeswalkers such as Jace Beleren and Vraska, regard them with disdain. To the pair the Omenpaths should not exist, as they jeopardize the work the Gatewatch was formed in order to keep the Multiverse safe from threat. Since the threats Gatewatch prevented were contained on individual planes, the Omenpaths offered a grim future of conquerors collecting planes, cretins smearing violence across the Multiverse, with no way to stop them. In essence the Omenpaths would hinder the corralling and curbing threats on planes. And certainly allow those threats a path to escape punishment.

Loot, a Fomori child, can see the endpoint of every Omenpath and planes coming to life from a World Tree and also returning to darkness in the Multiverse in real-time.

History

On Kaldheim

On Kaldheim denizens of one realm could always cross the dangerous Cosmos and enter another realm. As realms shifted on the World Tree, Omenpaths sometimes opened between realms. Inhabitants of one realm could use an Omenpath to reach another one. Sometimes this was as simple as walking through a shimmering light on the landscape, but other Omenpaths were more treacherous and involved crawling through shifting tunnels and being deposited unexpectedly on the mountaintop of an unfamiliar realm. Once an Omenpath between realms had opened, some powerful mages could close and reopen them at will. The opening of an Omenpath often was a precursor to the two realms overlapping in a violent Doomskar.

Because of the Cosmos Elixir that makes the gods what they are, the gods of Kaldheim were immune to the disorienting effects of the Cosmos and could cross between the realms more easily than other races. Shapeshifters' ability to change form and the Omenseekers' rune-enhanced longboats also enabled passage between realms. On the other hand, a Planeswalker's ability to travel to other planes could not be used to traverse the Cosmos, with Kaya requiring Cosima's longboat and Tibalt using the Sword of the Realms.

New Phyrexia's Invasion

During New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, the Phyrexians created Omenpaths with Realmbreaker to transport their troops in seedpods. The Angels of New Capenna traveled through these Omenpaths to aid other planes.

After the Invasion

After the Invasion, these new Omenpaths have become a lasting Multiversal phenomenon. According to Saheeli Rai, Omenpaths are less flexible than planeswalking.

While the destinations of many Omenpaths are risky and random, some have stabilized to lead to specific planes. One such example is an Omenpath that connects the planes of Arcavios and Ixalan. The regularity of the Omenpath appears enough to allow couriers to travel between the planes to establish consistent communication.

Ravnica and the Omenpath Project

With Omenpaths opening across Ravnica and other worlds, Niv-Mizzet recognized their patterns as a significant threat to his plane. The Firemind began to study the portals and secretly employed agents across the Ravnican guilds to facilitate his research. Following a string of murders, including the death of one of Niv-Mizzet’s agents, Kylox, the detective Alquist Proft began investigating evidence that uncovered the Firemind’s plans. During a meeting with Proft and Etrata, Niv-Mizzet acknowledged his intent to regulate the Omenpaths and to position Ravnica as a locus of the multiverse. Proft and Etrata were contracted to assist the Firemind with his "Omenpath Project."

Thunder Junction Colonization

The access of Omenpaths played a role in connecting various planes throughout the Multiverse. Non-planeswalkers became more familiar with the extensiveness of the Multiverse and navigating it, along with the existences of far-flung planes such as New Capenna, Ravnica, Kaldheim, etc.

In some cases, this led to unspoiled planes, which became new frontiers for exploration such as Thunder Junction. A myriad of people and cultures began to come through the Omenpaths and settle the uninhabited plane like the nomadic Atiin. The congregation of people created settlements near major Omenpaths such as Omenport. Factions from other planes such as the Riveteers, aided in the development of the transportation system of the settlements by crafting a train network. The Omenpaths made planes more interconnected, to the point where peddlers have begun plying wares of spices from Naktamun and cookware from Fiora.

While some used the Omenpaths to reach Thunder Junction to begin new lives, unfortunately, the plane has become a hotbed for outlaws from the various planes only kept in check by the Sterling Company, a private mercenary group. Despite the criminality of the plane, it became the test site of Ral Zarek and Niv-Mizzet's relay tower project to develop a way to communicate through the Omenpaths. The technology was regarded to be of interest to various criminal groups on Thunder Junction, but on other planes, as whoever gained control of the communications hub first would become unimaginably wealthy. Hence the Sterling Company invested in the research.

Geralf's Research

The stitcher Geralf Cecani pondered the effects of trans-planar travel on non-planeswalkers in his monograph The Effects of Trans-Planar Relocation on Individual Magical Manifestations. He believed that every plane of existence has its own rules of magic and that every magic user over time will have their magic adapt itself to the natural rules of the new plane. He referred to this process as "naturalization" or "planar acclimatization."

Trivia

• While Kaldheim's Omenpaths were round, those after New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse are triangle-shaped. This shape was chosen because it is the "strongest shape" and the Omenpaths are meant to "hold the weight of the multiverse."
• The "Omenpath Arc," beginning with Wilds of Eldraine, is the first part of a three-year Magic story arc following the Phyrexian Arc.

Gallery

• 

  Concept art of Tibalt opening an Omenpath.

• 

  Tibalt opens an Omenpath from the Aldergard forest to Immersturm.

• 

  Tibalt opens the Omenpath in the Kaldheim trailer.

• 

  The Omenpath.

• 

  Tibalt enters the Omenpath.

• 

  Kellan enters an Omenpath.

In-game references

Associated cards:

• Omenpath Journey
• Open the Omenpaths
• Step Between Worlds

Depicted in:

• Another Round
• Extraordinary Journey
• Forest (Standard Showdown, #5)
• Island (Standard Showdown, #2)
• Kraum, Violent Cacophony
• Lassoed by the Law
• Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot
• Mountain (Standard Showdown, #4)
• Open the Way
• Plains (Standard Showdown, #1)
• Svega, the Unconventional
• Swamp (Standard Showdown, #3)

Referred to:

• Discerning Peddler
• Omenport Vigilante
• Quick Draw
• Runecarved Obelisk
• Scalestorm Summoner
• Sword of the Realms

^† Scryfall does not record flavor text for digital cards. See Alchemy: Thunder Junction/Flavor text.