#dragonlord dromoka | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shardssystem · 2 years ago

Text

A Planeswalker Story - Overview

I recently asked for advice on how I should approach an ongoing writer’s block and drain of enthusiasm, and collating the results suggests that people want to see the overall plans I have for going forward, and hoping I can get to a point that I feel engaged to continue. So with that in mind, let’s go from the top:

First, the published pieces:

Chapter One: Once Was Lost - Set on the plane of Melenas, common farmer Liya al-Amundi runs afoul of a deserter in the ongoing war between two nations, ending up being falsely accused of unlawful use of magic and condemned to death by hanging. At the instant of her demise, her spark ignites, severing spirit from body and allowing her to persist past death. She uses her new-found possession ability to watch over her now orphaned son as he lives his life and gains a family of his own, using his passing as her cue that her time to remain on her home plane had come to an end, and ventured forth to explore the Multiverse with eternity ahead.

Chapter Two: Dream A Little Dream - Liya travels to Theros, inhabiting Myka, a terminally ill child with a connection to Nyx. She gets noticed by Erebos, due to her undead nature, and enlisted into service to usher souls to his domain across the planes. She uses the opportunity of a renewed youth to learn to read, making friends with another child, Spiros. The two learn of a plot to assassinate the king, which Liya sacrifices herself to disrupt, knowing that Myka would have been dead already if not for her possession. As she dies for a second time, she reveals that Spiros has he skill of magic within him as Myka did. In the future, Spiros, a now renowned warrior hero, is visited by a mysterious individual seeking information.

Chapter Three: Future Past - Liya travels to Tarkir, possessing Chaka, an outrider scout of the Abzan house. A spokesperson of the Temur summons Liya to attend a vision ceremony after one of their seers foresaw her arrival. She receives a prophecy cryptically concerning her personal future and how she might overcome the dangers ahead. Liya pretends to be magically weakened to cover for her lack of combat ability to train. As predicted, a Sultai force presses into Abzan territory, as Liya is given command. She encounters a fearsomely skilled foe who recognises her by name. Confused, she doesn’t notice as a dragon descends to blast the Sultai. The mysterious combatant melts into an oily-substance before disappearing in a similar, planeswalking fashion before Liya’s eyes. Before she can investigate, the dragon condemns the Abzan for engaging with necromancy, sensing Liya’s spiritual presence and using that as evidence before obliterating the entire troop, and reporting to the Dragonlord Dromoka, potentially setting the future of the clan in jeopardy. Liya attempts to apologise as her spark pulls her home.

Chapter Four: Pulling Loose The Threads - Further honing her combat skills, Liya trains on Melenas until an eclipse signals her need to planeswalk. She travels to Innistrad, finding the body of Claude, a hunter, an experiences the opposite side of the gender divide for the first time. She returns Claude to his home in Gavony and spends time with Claude’s wife Cynthia, culminating in her first shared sexual experience since her death, and first time ever as a male. Upon waking, Liya learns that she had spoken in her sleep, revealing names of people from other worlds. She attempts to confess her existence to Cynthia, but is thrown out of the house instead, the names believed to be women in other villages. Liya takes a young boy, Derrich, on a hunt as an excuse to be out of the home situation. Unfortunately for Derrich, nightfall reveals Claude to be a werewolf, and losing control, Liya kills and devours the boy. In the morning, her form reverts to that of Claude, and she respectfully buries the boy’s remains. Still needing to know the next step of the prophecy, she retreats into the woods, away from town. Liya learns that by accepting the transformation, she retains control. She also encounters Nahiri, the shaper mentioned in the prophecy, and follows her to witness her confrontation with Sorin Markov. Liya gets cornered by Avacyn, and confined to the Helvault alongside Nahiri in her spirit form, causing 1000 years of soul-rending pain as her spark fights to recall her to Melenas while the Helvault fights to keep her contained. When the Helvault is destroyed, Liya returns home, finding her magic changed. No longer able to choose a host at will, she is now placed into one at random; a fact she discovers inadvertently by traveling to Ravnica, and taking over an aspiring Rakos entertainer Jasen. She is overwhelmed by the sudden situation and runs into the streets, her new-found claustrophobia and fear of angels causing her to faint at the sight of a Boros guard.

Now we get to the unfinished pieces:

Chapter Five: A Tale Of Two In The City - Damzak, goblin tinkerer experiences a strange event causing her to pass out, but awakens with her mind racing with new thoughts and ideas that eventually get her a position with the Simic Combine as a biomancer, specialising in Ooze metaphysiology, and begins work in constructing a serum of immortality based on the ooze’s ability to reproduce, to many failing attempts, leaving herself immutably morphed into half-ooze. Meanwhile, Zoe has trouble dealing with her burgeoning abilities of precognition. After a sharp impact to the head, she encounters a strange boy who looks after her. As they spend time together, he reveals his name to be Kolya. Zoe recognises the feelings of gender dysphoria as she grows, without knowing the cause, an Kolya helps her on a path to transition, teaching her, now him, what it means to be a boy, and taking him to a therapist that helps Zoe fully realise his intent. The two grow closer as friends. Zoe asks his parents to help with the medical/physical side of his transition, but they refuse, denying his rights. Zoe runs away from home, intending to live alone. As he tells Kolya, Kolya reveals that he is nothing more than a hallucination caused by the injury combining with the precognitive powers, and is essentially his own future self guiding him along the path to where he could be happy. Zoe eventually accepts this, and changes his name to Kolya as he recognises it to be the name of his own grandfather, an a name he had been considering anyway. The newly minted Kolya signs on with the Azorius guild; his precognitive abilities useful to them. Struggling on his wage to afford transition, Kolya enlists the help of an underground Rakdos-aligned surgeon to handle his top surgery, but is unable to o further. The surgeon guides him towards Damzak, who is still working on her theory. In return for providing a sample of genetic material for transitioning hormones to be synthesized, Damzak would provide Kolya with what he felt he needed to become a man. Secretly, Damzak also used this sample in her project, getting results for the first time. However, the project goes awry as the ooze awakens and kills its creator before fleeing into the sewers. Though his supply of hormones had been secured through Damzak’s will to maintain progress on all her experiments, Kolya feels he owes the goblin closure, and seeks out the escaped ooze. He encounters it in the sewers, awakening to its own sapience. It reaches out telepathically, recognising Kolya as its genetic donor and introduces itself as Caidi, an alteration of the project designation “KD”. Unwilling to slay the creature, Kolya takes them home, and learns more about them and their abilities. One day, Kolya encounters a screaming elf in Rakdos colours being questioned by an angelic Boros Legionaire, and takes him away to a nearby doctor.

Chapter Six (Ravnica) - Liya awakens on Ravnica, being assisted by one of the Azorius, Kolya. She tries to explain, but ends up sounding mentally unwell. Not heartless, Kolya takes Liya to see the therapist that had helped him in his dark times, Ji’maz. In confidence, Ji’maz reveals himself to Liya to be a planeswalker like herself, using telepathy so she can communicate as herself, not through her host body. Liya recalls that upon possessing Jasen, she heard his voice whisper that he “just wants to be accepted”. As time goes on, Liya adjusts to her new understanding as Ji’maz helps her get over the accumulate traumas of her planeswalking life to date. Liya gets set up with a job in a bakery, utilising her homemaking skills, under the guidance of former Selesnya guildmember Elnaya, who is also brought into the circle of people who know Liya’s true identity and planeswalking situation. Liya makes friends with Kolya and Caidi, eventually using Caidi’s skill in telepathic construction to form a more serious relationship between the two and they become lovers on a mental level. Liya gets Jasen accepted to the Selesnya under Elnaya’s recommendation after finding out that’s what his goal had been before she had possessed him; he was too nervous to go against his family’s wishes to join the Rakdos. Feeling Liya had reached a level of comfort with her abilities, Ji’maz suggests she take a planeswalk for her own mental health, to prove that it’s not all bad out there, and to emphasise that imprisoning people against their will via possession might not be the healthiest thing. Liya agrees, and resigns herself to being less connected each time she visits a plane for her host’s sake.

Chapter Seven (Kaladesh) - Liya inhabits the body of Elra, a skilled Dwarven pilot and racer recovering from a near-fatal crash leaving her with an artificial arm and leg, imparting Liya with a desire to “just win one more time”. Liya uses Elra’s inherent magic to modify her racing engine with the help of her pit crew, and sets her up to race in an upcoming tournament by qualifying on Elra’s behalf.. Following her win, Liya is congratulated by a pale woman with an odd accent before leaving the plane, her adventure successful.

Chapter Eight (Lorwyn) - While possessing the form of Galumvol, a treefolk, Liya encounters Yri, a faerie who is curious about her friend’s sudden movement; Galumvol is apparently known for being a stationary figure, and self-proclaimed defender of the forest. Thinking this has something to do with her request to “warn everybody” that the treefolk left her, they team up to investigate the potential problem. The pair discover that a lingering remnant wave of the Great Aurora is soon to pass over the land of Lorwyn; not changing it back to Shadowmoor, but acting as a refresh, erasing the memories of all the residents of the plane, save those in the palace of the fae. Yri and Liya try to save as many people as they can in the time they have, but get caught outside as the wave approaches. Yri freaks out, not wanting to lose her memories, and her spark ignites, catching the slower-moving Liya in its wake. She “awakens” still in Galumvol’s body, but the whisper tells her that her job is done; she can go and he can rest as easy as he could. Confused, Liya planeswalks away.

Chapter Nine (Equilor) - Immediately following the events of the previous chapter, we follow Yri as she experiences her first planeswalk, exploring the deceased plane of Equilor. She meets the only other living being on the plane, a pale man with an odd accent who is studying the plane to learn about its existence, and why it seems to be at the end of its life. He explains what being a Planeswalker is to the faerie, how it works, and introduces himself as Neris. Together, they explore more and learn the history of Equilor that is left to learn. Seemingly disappointed he didn’t get what he was seeking, Neris departs, but tells Yri of a place where she might “find a friend or two to help her”: Ravnica.

Chapter Ten (Ravnica) - Liya inhabits the body of Zoda, a Loxodon cleric of the Orzhov. She meets back up with Kolya, who is untrusting at first, until Caidi’s magic reveals the truth. Kolya recieves reports of a troublemaker in the markets, and Liya follows to find Yri trying to steal food, not knowing about the concept of money and trade. A small spark of memory flashes in Liya’s mind as she recalls Yri’s name. After a brief questioning, Yri learns about Liya and is brought into the inner circle using Caidi’s telepathy to show her true from and learn of their adventure on Lorwyn and Yri’s first planeswalk. Yri gets a job as a messenger with the secretive Dimir syndicate owing to her illiteracy and tiny size. Though Liya is enjoying her growing relationships in her home away from home, she starts experiencing nightmares of hurting people, culminating with a belief that she had planeswalked in her sleep, until she realises she’s possessing the body of the deserter that invaded her home on Melenas, leading to her own death. She learns that the man’s name was Vasil Iashvili, an orphan from the neighbouring country that her husband had been drafted into war against. Whenever Liya tries to avoid interacting with her past self, she reverts to the beginning. She tries a variety of methods to change her own fate, all of them unsuccessful. She finally gives in, and reenacts the memory as it originally happened, and learns that the intruder was killed by the townsfolk after her past self was taken away to be hanged, but he possesses a similar power to Liya. Instead of being a spirit though, he remained in his own body; a living corpse. Not lonog after this discovery, she is taken by a force of creatures hidden beneath the earth of Melenas, learning that they are Phyrexians attempting to reach their home. They torture and maim Liya’s host in a process they call “compleation”, causing the man’s spark to ignite properly. Liya learns the man ended up traveling to a Phyrexian stronghold on Dominaria; information that is imparted to her host, and subsequently her, during the remaining compleation process and mental domination. Liya is flung out of the memory to learn it was just a dream engineered by a shadowy figure who simply laughs at her pain. The figure reveals that they had gotten this information from the man himself, and thought it would be fun to deliver more than his warning that he was coming. They also show Liya another nightmare; the man believes that if Liya hadn’t managed to planeswalk away when she did, she would’ve been the victim of the Phyrexian’s research, and the figure shows what could have been: Liya, Herald Of The Phyrexians. Liya wakes up screaming.

Chapter Eleven (Ravnica) - Still shaken by her nightmare, Liya tries to calm down. She brushes Kolya, Caidi, and Yri aside and tries to walk it off. Out of nowhere, she is knocked down by a tackle from behind. The assailant reveals himself to be a cloaked skeleton, dripping a thick black ooze. As soon as her calls her by her real name, she recalls the voice: the Sultai fighter that vanished before the dragon attack on Tarkir. He goes on the mention that she is the cause of his pain, and the pieces fall into place; this isn’t some random assailant, this is Vasil out for revenge. Vasil mentions that he felt the pull to Ravnica, following Liya’s travels but alsoo from an external source. Liya apologises to the dormant Zoda in her own mind, and attempts to planeswalk away to save herself and seek help, only to find her ability blocked by the appearance of the Immortal Sun. War had come to Ravnica. The two undead planeswalkers struggle for a moment before they feel a calling. They slavishly follow it, walking together, finding the dragon Nicol Bolas and the necromancer Liliana Vess summoning an army of zombies. Curious as to their appearance, Liliana learns of both of their true natures, stops Bolas from killing them right there, and commands them to join join the Dreadhorde on their mission to find planeswalkers and harvest their sparks. They would of course sacrifice themselves too, but after they were useful. Between Vasil’s natural combat abilities and Liya’s borrowed clerical healing, they proved an effective team. Unable to control her own body, Liya meets Ji’maz, and throws him to the metaphorical wolves, as Vasil takes his spark and life. They encounter the trio of Kolya, Caidi, and Yri trying to help civilians. They were pleased to see Liya was okay until Caidi tried to reach out, warning the others of the danger. Before Liya and Vasil could catch Yri, their spark-wielding target, the compulsion was broken. While the chase had been going, the Gatewatch had succeeded in ending the threat. Vasil took his opening to escape, not fancying his chances against Liya with her friends to back her up. In the following cleanup, Jace Beleren senses Liya’s domination of Zoda, and reads her mind, learning of her role under Liliana. She is given a chance to explain herself, and reveals her true name and nature to the mind-mage. Apologetic that she had gotten caught up in their conflict, Jace asks the elementalist Nissa Revane for a favour. Nissa entwines Liya’s spirit to the leylines of Ravnica, granting her a proper home on the plane which would counter Melenas’s ownership of her soul and restoring her magic-borrowing capabilities. In return, as she fades back to Melenas, temporarily unable too be heard, she swears a her version of the Gatewatch Oath, overheard from a conversation between Jace and Gideon.

Chapter Twelve (Ecruna) - Liya travels to the plane of Ecruna, a plane of endless daylight. She discovers that she is in her own form, not possessing anyone. This is due to the nature of death on the plane; direct sunlight destroys the dead, but they otherwise continue to live normally. Liya learns of a ritual designed for people who no longer wish to linger as one of the shadowkin, and witnesses one such event as a person is conveyed to a cave and engulfed in light. Some people go missing, and Liya assists in the search. She discovers a secret tunnel in the cave and finds that the people who seek their final end aren’t being given that at all, but kept prisoner by a mad scientist trying to research how to reverse the effects of the plane, and allow him to walk in the sunlight without fear. Liya tricks the scientist into standing in direct light and he is destroyed. Before she can free the others, she finds them already freed, but mostly annihilated. She asks a survivor what happened, and they tell her of a place stranger who wanted to talk to the scientist, and lashed out when they discovered Liya’s intervention. She departs the plane, mulling over the new information.

Chapter Thirteen (Ravnica) - Liya takes time to rest and spend time with her friends, and try to overcome her fear of angels as she possesses the body of Brakne, an angelic Boros legionnaire. Yri shows her some of her favourite spots around the city, usually all but impossible to access without flight. The two bond as Yri talks about her honest feelings regarding her spark.

Chapter Fourteen (Sym-Po) - Liya travels to the plane of Sym-Po, having to adjust to life without sound due to the plane’s effects. She learns rudimentary sign language, and enters into the Harvest Festival, choosing cooking as her specialty, but is outclassed by the aesthetic styles of the competition. Liya picks up some tricks to improve her technique for her part-time job at Elnaya’s bakery.

Chapter Fifteen (Dominaria) - Vasil recovers and plans, as he recalls his life. We learn that time moves a lot faster on Melenas than other parts of the Multiverse, and that Vasil played a significant role in the Phyrexian conquest of Mirrodin, as well as other nameless worlds.

Chapter Sixteen (Amonkhet) - Liya travels to Amonkhet, and assists with the restoration efforts. The surviving god of the plane, Hazoret, senses Liya’s presence and asks for an explanation. She explains herself, and has a discussion about the nature of deific entities, as it relates to Erebos’s deal with her.

Chapter Seventeen (Arcavios) - Liya travels to Arcavios, to visit Ji’maz’s homeland. She has to balance her host Aavai’s study schedule with her own desire to explore and learn from other departments. While there, Liya meets the pale woman she last saw on Kaladesh, who gives her name as Syren. She is interested in necromancy, but is drawn to Liya after Liya lets slip that they’ve met before.

Chapter Eighteen (Mercadia) - Liya travels to Mercadia and gets embroiled in a plot between rival merchant families.

Chapter Nineteen (Plin) - Yri gets bored and begs Liya to take her on a planeswalking adventure. She agrees, and the two arrive on Plin and have to adjust to the dual-bodied nature of the plane’s magic. They discover the history of The Coterie, and the dangers they represent.

Chapter Twenty (Alara) - Liya travels to Alara

Chapter Twenty-One (Fiora) - Liya travels to Fiora. A confrontation with The Coterie is teased, but the three escape before Liya can seek aid.

Chapter Twenty-Two (Dominaria) - Liya travels to Dominaria and ends up in the body of a Sliver, corrupted by an external hivemind. Struggling to make sense of the alien sensations, Liya ends up completing the sliver’s mission to betray its entire colony to the other hivemind. Liya feels terrible that this seemed necessary.

And this is what I currently have, even as my brain attempts to spin more. But at least now anyone who was every interested in Liya’s story is roughly on the same page I am, stuck as I am on Chapter 5.

#mtg oc #mtg community #fan writing #fanwalker #fanplane #Liya al-Amundi #yri #Vasil Iashvili #kolya #caidi #The Coterie

10 notes · View notes