Tazeem

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Tazeem
Information
Plane	Zendikar
Status	Recovering from the Eldrazi
Formerly part of	Makindi Empire
Scryfall Statistics
artworks

Tazeem is one of the seven continents of Zendikar. Here, sunlight is obscured by large hedrons that float in the sky.

Description

Surrounded by unstable, scrub- and lichen-covered calcite flats, Tazeem is a perilous combination of reef-rock forests, deep inland seas, wide rivers, and a great white-water gorge that bisects the continent. Wide rivers, born from bubbling springs and mist-shrouded lakes, wind through Tazeem’s verdant plains and teeming forests. Rushing waters plunge through narrow canyons and cascade down towering cliffs into the sea, while dismal swamps trap the waters that can’t find their way out. Peninsulas jut into the ocean, and narrow land bridges arc over rivers or bisect vast lakes.

The largest city on the continent, Sea Gate, is built not on dry land but atop an ancient seawall that divides the inland sea of Halimar from the ocean beyond. This immovable wall and the Umara River Gorge offer rare bastions of stability on Zendikar’s restless landscape, providing relatively secure shelter for its people, primarily humans and merfolk. Thanks to this stability, these sites have always been the main centers of civilization and habitation on the continent.

Tazeem is dotted with ancient ruins that settlers and refugees often repurpose as temporary or permanent shelters. Some ruins are prominently visible and co-opted by the denizens of Tazeem; others remain hidden, holding mysterious artifacts and dormant forces that might still hold sway against the Eldrazi.

Tazeem is the native home to most of Zendikar’s merfolk.

Notable locations

• The Bulwark — a steep ring of rocky highlands just inland from the Calcite Flats, highest at Tazeem’s north end, where it gives rise to the Umara River. This massive natural and once-fortified wall, dotted with crumbling watchtowers, is now contested by rival nomad and raider factions who sometimes raid Sea Gate.
  • The Lun Bulwark — a large mountain range.
• The Calcite Flats - wide, treacherous beaches of crunchy white calcite crystal that hide patches of unstable sand and mud, with scattered rocky outcroppings that serve as lush oases for wildlife and nomadic camps. Though untouched by the Roil, the Flats occasionally catch falling hedrons, which nomads harvest and repurpose for trade or weapons.
  • The Sunspring - a hidden marble fountain oasis in the Calcite Flats beneath the Bulwark, its glowing, pure waters guarded by a moss-covered stone eagle. Legends say its enchanted spring can heal wounds, cure sickness, and restore hope to weary travelers. The Sunspring is one of six sites known to be pre-Eldrazi, meaning it was made before about -1400 AR.
• Emeria, the Sky Ruin — also known as Em's Realm — a large plain of floating, broken land and hedrons. The merfolk believe it was once the home of Emeria, the goddess of the sky. When the sky-castle was destroyed in a cataclysmic upheaval, its enchantment lingered, leaving its remnants suspended until the compleated planeswalker Nahiri took control of them, only for them to crash back to the earth. Emeria is from the Eldrazi era, meaning was created around -1400 AR.
• Hadatown
• Halimar — a vast, deep artificial inland sea reaching depths of 500 feet, enclosed on three sides by rocky cliffs and on the fourth by an ancient 500-foot-tall seawall. The sea teems with colorful fish, tusked seals, massive leviathans, and is the safest route between Sea Gate and the Umara River Gorge. Followers of Ula, the merfolk water god, believe he swims endlessly here, flanked by Ula’s Guardians.
  • The Halimar Sea Caves — breeding grounds for giant squids and dumping grounds for hardened criminals.
  • The Jade Room — an underground ruin near Halimar’s banks, stalked by a faceless monstrosity.
  • The Seawall — a massive ancient dam that divides Halimar’s waters from the ocean.
    • The Lighthouse — a 20-story white-stone cylindrical tower rising 350 feet above the seawall’s eastern edge; the primary center of learning for all of Tazeem.
    • Sea Gate — the largest settlement in Tazeem and Zendikar’s main hub for commerce and culture, built atop the seawall. It is where The Gatewatch was formed.
  • Sky Rock — a massive hedron suspended near Sea Gate, serving as a refuge for survivors fleeing the Eldrazi.
  • The Ula Temple - a sunken ruin near the mouth of the Umara River, where a merfolk expedition led by Noyan Dar searches for signs of a connection to the sea god Ula and the Eldrazi. This is a post-Eldrazi ruin, meaning it was made after about -1400 AR. So far, the divers have only encountered massive krakens and other deep-sea creatures guarding their depths.
• Oran-Rief, the Vastwood — a gigantic, tangled reef-rock forest that dominates Tazeem’s interior. Vegetation grows explosively in sunlit patches—a phenomenon known as Em’s Blessing. This vastwood was blighted by Ulamog.
  • Umara Skyfalls — the source of the Umara River floats high above Oran-Rief, its waters pouring down into the jungle below.
• The Pit Caves - deep vertical shafts scattered across Tazeem lead into swampy underground caves that serve as nesting sites for birds and makeshift shelters for elves; some contain fresh water reservoirs accessed by pulleys, while others hide deadly mists or erupt with scalding geysers.
  • Ruins of Ysterid — ruins at the bottom of a pit cave near the Magosi Falls.
• Tikal Harborage - a half-submerged merfolk outpost upriver from Sea Gate where skilled mages use hedrons from Emeria to study and contain Eldrazi threats, creating a guarded refuge with kor assistance. Led by the knowledgeable former adventurer Thada Adel, it serves as a hub for sharing ancient Tazeem ruins lore in exchange for exploration discoveries and profits.
• The Umara River Gorge — a deep, relatively stable chasm carved by the fast-flowing Umara River, which originates in the northern Bulwark and the Oran-Rief forest. The gorge’s rapids, waterfalls, and protective rocky walls create safe havens for human, merfolk, and elf settlements; strong winds sweep through the canyon, allowing merfolk to travel downstream by glider.
  • North Hada — a lawless, violent outpost in the northern highlands near the Umara River’s source, notorious for thieves, slave trading, and the ready availability of dark magic and artifacts. It serves as a hub where Calcite Flats nomads trade pathway stones and Bulwark raiders procure weapons and armor.
  • The Umara River — a powerful river flowing down to Halimar, dropping over 800 feet in waterfalls through the deep gorge.
    • Coralhelm — a floating coral landmass shielded by the surrounding gorge, upriver from the former Merfolk Enclave.
  • The Magosi Portage — cliffs used to carry boats past the Magosi Waterfall; a vital market for pathway stones and merfolk spell scrolls, though travelers sometimes vanish—likely victims of the serpent Verazol.
  • The Magosi Waterfall — a dramatic 300-foot cascade, home to Verazol.
  • Wren Grotto — a network of cliffside caves along the Umara River gorge, expanded by merfolk mystics into ornate dwellings with gilded facades. An elite group trains giant falcons there—once used for high-altitude exploration, these mounts now serve as powerful aerial defenders against flying Eldrazi.

History

Tazeem once was part of the ancient Makindi Empire. The Makindi reign ended when the archangel Iona destroyed the Tazeem Skyclave, creating the Sky Ruin of Emeria.

The expeditionary houses

Before the rise of the Eldrazi, five expeditionary houses used the city of Sea Gate as a launch point for regular excursions into the wilds. Named for the destinations of their first expeditions, they are:

• The Valakut House
• The Pelakka Foundation
• The Akoum Expeditionary House
• The Murasa Expeditionary House
• The Bala Ged Expeditionary House

Each maintains hostels in various settlements, serving as resources for adventurers and explorers who need to hire guides or purchase supplies.

Rise of the Eldrazi

Within two years of the release of the Eldrazi, Sea Gate was overrun and destroyed. Oran-Rief died; and the Halimar basin was emptied.

The formation of the Gatewatch occurred on Tazeem, on a cliffside overlooking Sea Gate, which also gave its name to the Gatewatch.

Zendikar Rising

In the wake of the Eldrazi's fall, the waters began to stream again, and a plan was needed to rebuild Sea Gate. Unfortunately, the Sea Gate Reconstruction Project found itself with few plans and too many. Each of the five expeditionary houses presented its vision for a wonderful new city. Fed up with the houses' infighting, Commander Tazri drafted a plan of her own. The angel Linvala immediately stood behind Tazri's proposal, and the word of an angel swayed even the stingiest expeditionary house. Within a year, the city was restored.

Around the same time, an expedition of adventurers ascended through the ruins of Emeria and discovered the remnants of the Skyclave, which the merfolk had once claimed was the castle of their goddess. In the course of their exploration, they triggered the magical defenses of the ancient Skyclave — and awakened the other six.

The discovery of the Skyclaves has set off an exciting furor among the expeditionary houses of Zendikar. The adventurers who first breached Emeria returned with powerful magical weapons crafted by ancient stoneforgers, and they formed the nucleus of a new expeditionary house:

• The Sea Gate Expeditionary House.

This house is made up of the best, brightest, and toughest of Zendikar's adventurers and plays a key role in the exploration of the Skyclaves. The leader of the Sea Gate Expeditionary House is the veteran explorer Kesenya. Unknown to virtually anyone, the house's benefactor is Nahiri, who was in search of powerful artifacts to counteract the Roil.

After Nissa Revane's use of the healing power of the Lithoform Core, the recovery of the continent was accelerated.

March of the Machine

Zendikar was a target in the New Phyrexian Invasion. The now-compleated planeswalker Nahiri arrived at the Emeria Skyclave and began realigning the plane's hedrons to facilitate Realmbreaker's incursion into the plane. As she worked to transform the Skyclave once more into a weapon of war, the Roil rose to meet her and was defeated, until the landscape below shifted to the gray uniformity of bed-rock for miles, eventually replaced with sinew and metal rent with rivers of oil. As Phyrexians poured into Zendikar, Sea Gate was defeated once more.

Gallery

• 
  Coralhelm
• 
  Emeria
• 
  Halimar
• 
  Oran-Rief concept
• 
  Oran-Rief
• 
  Sea Gate
• 
  The Seawall

In-game references

Represented in:

• Tazeem

Associated cards:

• Guardian of Tazeem
• Tazeem Raptor
• Tazeem Roilmage

Referred to:

• Dread Statuary
• Giant Mantis
• Netcaster Spider
• Sea Gate Banneret
• Skyclave Aerialist
• Sunken Hollow
• Timber Gorge (Oath of the Gatewatch)

Sources

• Magic Creative Team (December 02, 2009). "A Planeswalker's Guide to Zendikar: Tazeem and Merfolk". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-11.
• Doug Beyer (September 02, 2009). "The Planes of Planechase". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2019-03-01.