Serra's Realm
| Serra's Realm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| First seen | Urza's Saga |
| Last seen | Urza's Legacy |
| Rabiah Scale | 9[1] |
| Status | Collapsed, possibly recreated |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
Serra's Realm was an artificial plane created by the planeswalker Serra from pure white mana as a heavenly ideal.[2][3]
History
Serra made the Realm in the hopes that she could make a haven where suffering could be avoided forever. It was the original home of the famous Serra Angels and existed in peace and worship of its creator for some time.
All of that changed when Urza fled after a failed attack on Phyrexia. He spent five years healing from that attack and learning about the nature of artificial planes, which require constant maintenance from a planeswalker or other powerful being to keep from being consumed by entropy.[4] After Urza left, the Phyrexians attacked. Though they were repulsed, their black mana forever tainted the realm, causing Serra to propose a massive exodus to the realm inhabitants and flee.
Collapse of Serra's Realm
After Serra left, her head archangel, Radiant, took control of the plane with increasing militancy and religious paranoia. In her quest to expunge all Phyrexian influence, Radiant became an unwitting tool of the Phyrexians and began exterminating loyal Serrans. Urza returned to Serra's Realm with the newly-built Skyship Weatherlight, rescuing thousands of Serran refugees before finally collapsing the plane into the ship's powerstone core, giving it enough power to travel the planes.[5]
Recreation of Serra's Realm
In 4308 AR, Karona, Sash and Waistcoat traveled to what appeared to be another Serra's Realm. It resembled the original with the floating islands and drifting meadows, but the sky was notably bright blue instead of sunset-golden, and the world contained gryphons, phoenixes, and deer, not just angels and humans. There, they met a beautiful angel who called herself Serra, and seemed to be of comparable power to Karona. She told Karona that her realm had been trapped in the Skyship Weatherlight's power stone for 1000 years until it exploded during the Phyrexian Invasion of Dominaria, and Serra had been working to rebuild the realm since then.[6]
Implosion of the power stone
After the Compleation of the Weatherlight in 4562 AR, the powerstone was used in the Temporal Anchor where it finally imploded.[7]
Geography
Serra's Realm was a plane where the sky was in a perpetual golden dawn.[4] The sunrise came from various angles at once, and it was impossible to tell one's position. Landmasses floated throughout the sky, carrying large meadows with boulders and berry-producing vegetation. These flying lands never collided with each other, each seeming to move along a fixed path. It was also impossible to reach the end of such a landmass on foot because, like Mercadia, the laws of physics had been altered, and moving in one direction to reach the end of the floating island would result in one's repositioning back where they started.
There were cities scattered here and there, created and supported by Serra.
Serra's Sanctum was a notable landmark of the plane, suspended somewhere in its infinite sky. The Sanctum was the dwelling place of the famed planeswalker herself. It was a massive palace of crystal, marble, and opal, taller than most structures on other planes.[4] Powerful artifacts run through white mana and have white-related functions, such as the Cocoon, which could be found here. The Sanctum focused on the realm's white mana, generating a powerful healing light. At the top of the Sanctum was the aviary, where Serra could see the entire plane through powerful lenses that kept an eye on her world. Only planeswalkers could comprehend all these images simultaneously. Leading down from the aviary through the rest of the Sanctum was a spiral staircase that ended at the base of the building. It was here that the main plaza was presumably located. The plaza contained a water fountain that reached five stories high, carved with skillfully rendered angelic effigies. Art, discourse, freedom, and peace were words on the fountain. These are the ideals that Serra herself sought after and wished to center her world around.
Notable locations
- Jabboc - an aerial island[8]
- The Arizon colony - a staging ground for the evacuation from the Realm[8]
- The Jumbles - a cluster of floating islands that were thought to contain the single largest infestation of Phyrexians in the Realm, but only harbored scared and hunted refugees.[8]
- Serra's Sanctum - Serra's original palace, shaped like an inverted question mark. Later taken over by Radiant.[8]
Demographics
Humans existed in Serra's Realm, though their origins on the plane are uncertain.[4] They mainly lived in Serra's Sanctum, though villages were scattered across the floating meadows. The primary focus of these people's lives was the worship of Serra. Men and women also served as both knights and soldiers in her army. Many worked as artists and musicians, two professions that pleased Serra deeply.
Angels were iconic of Serra's Realm. The angels were created by the planeswalker as guardians of her plane and the embodiments of all the virtues that she valued. They joined mortal humans in the veneration of the Lady. Angels were divided into five orders: Law, Grace, Reason, Duty, and Truth. Each order was made to regulate a certain color of magic. Law and Grace, two of the most famous, were charged to control Red and Black mana and fought in battles with the Phyrexians.
Culture
The primary religion in Serra's Realm was the worship of Serra. All of the beings of the plane adored the Lady and wished to do as she pleased. All were also to love each other, and marriage and childbirth were encouraged. Children were sent to Lady Serra to be taught and raised, where they would all live communally and learn empathy.
The arts and music were the favored hobbies of Serra. Paintings, angelic sculptures, and stained glass windows were found throughout the plane, and songs could be heard everywhere. Women joined the Sisterhood of Serra, an organization of priestesses devoted to none other than the Lady herself. In general, females played a large role in Serran communities, often serving as military personnel and holding various offices of authority.
Inhabitants
Sapient races
Domesticated
Wildlife
Artificial
Planeswalker visitors
Non-planeswalker visitors
In-game references
- Represented in:
- Depicted in:
- Referred to:
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 29, 2016). "The Rabiah Scale". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Doug Beyer (September 02, 2009). "The Planes of Planechase". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2019-03-01.
- ↑ Scott McGough (March 21, 2011). "From the Ground Up". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-10-20.
- ↑ a b c d Will McDermott (November 1998). "A Time for Remembrance". The Official Guide to Urza's Saga
- ↑ Will McDermott (April 1999). "Scars of the Legacy". The Official Urza's Legacy Game Guide
- ↑ J. Robert King. (2003) Scourge, Wizards of the Coast. ISBN-13 0-7869-2956-1.
- ↑ Seanan McGuire (October 26, 2022). "The Brother's War - Chapter 5: Exodus". Magicthegathering.com.
- ↑ a b c d e J. Robert King (1999) - Time Streams, Wizards of the Coast
- ↑ Seanan McGuire (2022). Magic: Nahiri the Lithomancer. Wizards of the Coast.