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xantchaslegacy · 6 years ago

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MTG Month of the Ship Day 7 - Embrace

(I’m dipping into the pre-canon novels for day 7 (Shattered Chains, specifically). I loved the Whispering Woods trilogy, but they killed off one of their best characters…

…or so they would have us believe ;). Sorry if this one takes a little while to get to the embrace itself. Also, if anyone knows the actual names of Ordando’s wives, feel free to call me out. I don’t remember the novel actually naming them~)

Ordando thought she had died in that alleyway.

How could it have happened any other way? Every blasted knight in Benalia had been there, trying to stop their escape. She’d broken about half of their faces, and taken almost as many cuts and stabs in the process. In the end she’d been buried under the weight of them, and passed out from the sheer number of her wounds.

That had been the fun part.

The year of imprisonment that followed? Less so. The Benalish pigs had at least had the decency to put their best healers toward patching her up, if only to put her through all nine spheres of torment afterwards. That ugly son of a slug with the broken nose had even come around once, spitting furious. Ordando didn’t mind any of that. Their anger was proof that her sacrifice had meant something. That Gull and Lily had managed to escape with Commander Rakel.

The threats and the blows she could weather. What truly pained her was the sitting. The waiting. The thinking that had come with it. It had seemed obvious and easy to throw herself at a small army to protect her commander, and she would have done it again in a heartbeat, but to know that Raine and Tyria would think her dead…

“Prisoner 456!”

Ordando’s head snapped up. She didn’t recognize the knight standing outside the cell.

“Where’s the warden?”

“You’re looking at him.” The knight’s gaze swept the inside of the cell, full of disgust. “New year, new caste. Get up.” He turned to one of the guards Get her in irons. We’re taking her up.”

Up. That meant execution. Ordando stood immediately, and the knight backed up a step. From Ordando’s spot on the floor, he clearly hadn’t realized she had almost two heads in height on him.

She reached up around her neck and grasped the only thing they had left her with – a thin strap of leather stung through two small brass rings. She ripped the strap off and clenched the rings in her fist. One ring from Tyria, another from Raine. She wondered if her wives still had hers. She hoped they were happy. That Gull and Greensleeves had kept them safe.

“Well? Let’s go then.” She glared down at the knight. She would go, but they would not see her cower or beg.

***

“Prisoner 456, name not given…charged with assault of over four dozen knights of Benalia, and at least seven additional deaths.” The woman in white robes pursed her lips. “Very embarrassing for the ruling caste at the time…almost as embarrassing as Sabriam’s face.” There was barely-suppressed laughter from the knights along the walls of the council chamber; a room Ordando had never thought she’d see again, and not one she particularly cared to visit a second time.

“In any case,” the woman continued, “You are now pardoned and given full release.”

Ordando cocked her head. “What?”

“You are released, with our full apologies. I think it’s clear to everyone present-” and here the woman raised an eyebrow at all the other councilmembers, “-that the buffoonery of past ruling castes can hardly be a proper reason for enforcing a life sentence.You will be transferred to the college of Lat-Nam by a delegation of knights representing Benalish interests, and there be released.”

“Lat-Nam? The magic academy from fairy tales?”

The benalish behind the bench exchanged looks. One of them leaned in toward the woman in white and muttered something.

“Hm, of course, you wouldn’t know.” The woman folded her hands on top of the paper-strewn desk. “The wizard Greensleeves has established a new community of magic-practitioners on the recently, ah…uncovered ruins of Lat-Nam. You will accompany them as part of our goodwill outreach. We hope you will be able to speak highly to the care you received during your stay, given the violent nature of your…”

She kept prattling on, but Ordando wasn’t listening. She looked down and uncurled her hand, where the rings had pressed two distinct circles of red into her palm.

***

Lat-Nam certainly looked like something out of a fairy-tale…beaches of obsidian sand glittered before deep forests of palm trees. A makeshift harbor was set atop it, with boardwalks leading further inland, and ships of all sorts at dock. A massive ogre and a man with a flaming eagle swooping about his head were directing boats and cargo.

Ordando gripped the ship’s railing tight, trying to settle her nerves.

The knights had kept her belowdeck for most of the voyage, not that Ordando much minded. She had spent the days trying to calm her stomach, a task complicated by her suddenly much more generous diet, the unfamiliar toss of the waves after over a year of pitch-black stillness, and the renewed fear for the well-being of her wives.

It had meant the world to her to know that, no matter what dangers her mercenary work had exposed her to, Raine and Tyria had each other to rely on if she couldn’t return. But the stories the benalish had been telling all voyage…armies of wizards descending on Gull’s army with lightning and swamp-monsters and all manner of nightmares…dragon machines bursting from the ground and setting fire to the camps…

“You better have kept them safe, Gull…” Ordando growled.

As the ship docked, Ordando felt her stomach drop further and further. She didn’t recognize anyone here. They’d said that thousands had flocked to join Greensleeves, but she hadn’t considered having to pick through so many strangers just to find someone who could tell her if her wives were even-

“ ‘Dando!”

Her heart leapt. The cry had come from the other side of the deck, and she sprang across the ship, bowling aside every knight to slow to move out of the way.

Tyria. Raine. Her wonderful, clever, beautiful wives. They’d avoided the crowded docks altogether and found a small rowing-boat to take out from the beach. Raine caught sight of her first, and looked well like she might have fainted there and then. Tyria gave a loud holler, and nearly leapt up out of the boat.

“Ho! Move away there!” One of the benalish hefted a crossbow and reached for a bolt. “Keep your distance or-”

Ordando took the crossbow and smashed it against the railing. Then, not waiting for the knights to respond, she vaulted over the side of the ship and into the water.

The boat was even smaller than she’d realized, and she nearly flipped it over into the water as she seized the edge to pull herself up. Raine and Tyria each took one of her hands, and Ordando flopped gracelessly into their arms, rocking the boat roughly from side to side.

She didn’t care. Two sets of arms engulfed her, wrapping around her waist and neck. Raine was sobbing, tears mingling with the saltwater, her long hair plastered against Ordando’s neck. Tyria was shouting her name, over and over again. Ordando wrapped an arm around each of them, pulling them close to her chest.

“They said you were dead…” Raine choked the words out, her face buried in Ordando’s shoulder. “I thought…we never thought…”

“Shhh…” Ordando lifted Raine’s face to her own and planted a kiss on her cheek. She did the same for Tyria, running a hand through her dark curls. “It’s fine. I’m back, and I’m never leaving you two ever-”

The ship turned on a wave and deposited all three of them into the water. Ordando lost them both briefly in the surf, but they’d washed up in the shallows, and she breached easily. Tyria came up next to her, cursing and spitting water, while Raine struggled with her now-waterlogged dress. Laughing, Ordando scooped them up in each arm and carried them up onto the black sands. Her legs, still weak from malnourishment, gave out a few steps in and they collapsed in a head together.

“My poor, brave, Ordando,” Raine sniffed, cupping her face. “They must have starved you.” Her brow suddenly furrowed, and she stared daggers up at the benalish ship. “I’ve half a mind to-”

Tyria and Ordando both pulled her back down onto the sands, and she fell with an angry pout into Ordando’s arms. Ordando planted small kisses into her wife’s brine-soaked hair while Tyria draped herself over Ordando’s shoulders.

“Never mind that, my loves.” Ordando sighed; wet, covered in sand, but content for the first time in years. “I’ll be eating my fill soon enough, as a returning hero deserves.” She took Tyria’s hand and swung her into her lap as well, where she could hug them both at once. “Gull owes me a feast after all this, I figure.”

The above is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

#mtgship #mtg #MTG Flash Fan Fic #Ordando #Shattered chains #mtg precanon #whispering woods #gull #greensleaves

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inventors-fair · 4 years ago

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New Year’s Resolutions: Group commentary

Welcome to the group commentary! As I said in the winner’s post, there were a lot of white cards in the inbox, and that’s an obvious sign that white needs a small rework to keep up with its buffed up brothers.

@misterstingyjack White does lover its planeswalkers and tying card draw with a powerful card type could be reasonable since card draw is white’s main weakness. However I would like it more if this loyalty extension was offered by a creature, so at least you can keep the game rolling.

@askkrenko MaRo has mentioned the “elemental” supertype quite a few times in podcasts etc, but its really too late to add this element to the game. But we’re here to dream and create, and Strike Twice would be a sick card, if not a staple, in that parallel universe. Also this is the most badass a Pichu has ever been XD

@ignorantturtlegaming There were no additional notes other than this crazy card in the inbox, so I can only guess that the creator wants more group-hug effects in red. I want to say Fires of Renewal is on the expensive side, but the effects it offers unconditionally are all very impactful. The Melvin in me appreciates all the instances of “2″ in the card!

@wolkemesser gave life to an ancient mtg character from the Shattered Chains book and boy, she’s a truly solid card. Ordando has decent stats and gives some additional staying power to monowhite decks. I like the whole flavor that is so tough that she can protect others and come back again, but the execution feels a little off to me, as discard and mill decks can abuse her in non white ways. Since we’re going for the flavor win, I would like it more if in order to protect something she exiled herself with a promise counter (which in turn allows her to be cast from exile.)

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes A disgustingly evil win more card? Sign me up! The philosophy of the card plays very nicely in black, especially with low cost high stated creatures that ask for their tribute every upkeep! Counterspells in black are a big stretch in my opinion, but no one can’t deny this card is a big flavor win!

@col-seaker-of-the-memiest-legion Speaking of counterspells, here’s another suggestion for them being in white. Many protective cards can be treated as counterspells, so we could find a loophole and treat this as a very wide protective spell. I think we could have cards like this in the future, but it’s still treacherous terrain because they must be so efficient that might replace blue’s role in the game.

@naban-dean-of-irritation I have mixed feelings about Korair. Flavor text matches with the card’s name quite nicely but it doesn’t connect with the actual gameplay. Also venturing into the unexplored “emblems matter territory” is surely exciting, but I don’t like the fact that is creates emblems by itself, and with that ease to boot!

@mardu-lesbian Hindsight is pitched as the blue/red shared keyword ability. I view it in a positive light, meaning I think it’s both flavorful and makes sense for those two colors, but it’s a bit unexciting that it matters only once in the creature’s life on the battlefield, while other shared keywords are combat related and have a greater impact in the game.

@deafeningsandwichpeach Hexproof for player is a rare sight, usually preserved for white and green, but there’s also Leyline of Sanctity and Witchbane Orb and this changes things to the point I would even tell this card is overcosted. Cost aside, I really like Seal into Darkness!

@snugz I would really love blue getting a combat ability that’s not straight evasion, but going full throttle to lure all creatures is a bit much, given that existing cards are usually uncommon. It could be like old fashioned provoke ( forcing a one on one fight) or even a numbered mechanic, like lure 1 or 3 etc, forcing 1 or 3 creatures to block.

@hypexion Lapse of Certainty is definitely a card, but there’s a reason why it was not repeated. Here, Mean’s to Delay, like Unexpectedly Absent, is an X spell where usually the correct way to ply it is for X=0, turning it into a slightly better counterspell. Not against counterspells in white, but be cautious.

@deg99 With this Angrath design, deg wanted to build more on the Rakdos color combination, through caring about stolen creatures and you know accidentally sacrificing them before returning them to their rightful owners. The power level is quite high, but it’s so enticing that I would gladly playtest this card to enjoy the crazy ride!

@hiygamer Sooner or later, we will see this card printed, I’m sure! When that time comes, I hope it costs a little less, and also that it has an equally inspiring flavor text! Really nice design!

@thedirtside Our friendly snailbear wanted magic to be a little more weird, and what’s weirder than a procrastinating Eldrazi, looming over the battlefield, doing it’s own things. Given, its practically impossible to interact with it and this takes away a lot of points per say, but I love suspend and bizarre triggers that feel like a disturbance in the Force. But we must cling to simpler things to make it happen.

@stormtide-leviathan The proposal of this design is sponsored by “Horse United” inc and pushes WOTC to pass an errata to merge all Pegasi, Unicorn and Horses into one race XD On the actual design, Swifting Steed is a real treat for limited!

@teaxch here tacling on the big issues of mtg, the shared keyword for blue and black! Feint is surely flavorful and it would make combats really interesting, but the main requirement for a shared keyword is to be able to mix with the other established keywords of the color pair. Blue and black have a lot of evasive abilities so an ability that matters when you’re blocked might not get the green light. That said, I definitely want to see this ability here and there in sets. A little guile spices things up! Also, neat flavor text XD!

@dimestoretajic With a quick read I was quite thrilled, but then I realized that you had collective care about itself. That leads into being a bit clunky, and also it goes from 0 to 100 in 1 sec because it’s either you have not 3 collective so no draw for you, or you got 3 , which means 3 triggers and thus 3 cards!! With a small tweak, this brave insect could be holding the fair’s coveted trophy!

@corporalotherbear

It’s true that there are some dryads that care about multicolored shenanigans, and I really like Manatwist Dryad playing into this space and establishing this trend. Because if green can’t care about multicolors, who can?

@fractured-infinity Edit: I forgot the commentary for this entry last night. My sincere apologies! A new card type is always an exciting gift for our inbox! Strongholds can die from damage like planeswalker do. They make sense in white and I could see them secondary in blue as large structures are products of community and science.

Watcher’s tower has two passive abilities, the vigilance granting requires 0 effort, while the buff requires you to “man” the stronghold with the garrison activated ability. I wish phasing was still relevant so the creatures would phase out instead of exiling themselves, because things can quickly get out of hand with blink shenanigans.

The +2/+2 buff might be a bit much because it isn’t that hard to get it online on turn 3. But all in all, Watcher’s Tower is very interesting and I hope Wizards will explore this space in the future.

@partlycloudy-partlyfuckoff Sometimes you see a mechanic and it’s not in the color it deserves to be. Mentor in Green seems like a perfect fit, and the non human clause gives this Leonin a greater sense of camaraderie. All in all a good design and future proposal.

@gollumni I saw this card in a very positive light with the first read. I like investigate after all, and I had good memories of it pulling its weight in Shadows over Innistrad, giving White a taste of the forbidden fruit that is card draw. But with the second read, I feel the card is too efficient, taping two creatures and two lands for an instant speed draw is quite good, and adding the overrun option felt a bit too much. But other than power level concerns, I really dig this design.

@corillion This might seem like an everyday card without context, but the change suggested involves first strike and double strike being relevant in fights. I’m all for it, but I got a feeling that the closer we will get to this is like a first strike lord that allows only first strikers deal damage in fights.

@kytheon4-4 said let there be hatebears, but we got hatebirbs instead XD but instead of harassing your opponent, this feathered boi plainly protects your side of the board so you get to play uninterrupted, but only on your turn. Fair and square.

@reaperfromtheabyss Ending the same way we started, with planeswalker support, this time in Red, as it is proposed to be the secondary planeswalker matters color. I can get behind this idea, as red has a sense of wanderlust thematically, and in terms of game, it cares about noncreature spells so planeswalkers are game too. On the card itself, the etb trigger is quite nice, even dealing two damage is fine. About the alternative loyalty ability, a mere ping is something that you would encounter on a weaker planeswalker, so it could at least be a + 2 loyalty ability, to ensure the survival of your planeswalker, as red isn’t really good at defending.

#new years resolutions #group commentary #mtg #magic the gathering #Inventor's Fair #custom magic card #that's a lot of white cards

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