The Fall of Elspeth

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

We had provided a summary and review of the latest Magic: the Gathering eBook 'Journey Into Nyx, Godsend Part II' by Jenna Helland in this post here.  What we attempted was to avoid speaking about any major spoilers until the community at large had an opportunity to give this book a read.  Given all the attention on various forums and blogs, we think it safe to yatter about this now, so if you had not read Godsend yet, avert thine eyes now.

In summary, it appears that everyone's favourite planeswalker, Elspeth, met a sticky end on the plane of Theros with Erebos, God of the Dead claiming Elspeth's soul.  We suggest you may be well served by having a look at the 'Stinger' video posted by WotC which shows all Three Theros Block Trailers, with Additional Content at the end.  This Journey into Nyx video now shows some additional memories from Elspeth’s life, before she was killed by Heliod and claimed by Erebos. And there’s a short “stinger” after the Journey video that confirms Elspeth’s presence in Theros’s Underworld.  What we see is quite clearly Elspeth's weapon 'Godsend' had been fashioned into a funerary death mask which the Returned use in their afterlife.

Doug Meyer who has the popular Voice for Vorthos on Tumblr had this to say -

Like other mortals who die on Theros, she went to the Underworld, where she will reside for eternity unless she’s able to find some way out. She’s unable to planeswalk out of there, sort of in the same way she wasn’t able to planeswalk directly into Nyx — those realms have special properties that are not travel-able by planeswalking. Elspeth will have to find some other way out of the Underworld if she ever wants to planeswalk again someday.

The conclusion of the Journey into Nyx stinger shows a mask with two gems, similar to the shape of Elspeth’s sword / Godsend weapon. So Elspeth’s Returned mask is indeed forged — but she isn’t wearing it. Escaping the Underworld as a Returned, at the cost of her identity, is an option that may be open to her, but obviously it’s not a very palatable one.

As we now conclude the Theros story, Elspeth retains her identity along with the other deceased in the Underworld, in the clutches of Erebos.

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The cliffhanger here really is that we see the death mask but not Elspeth.  Some speculate on the words from Erebos within the stinger video 'true heroes never die', which is followed by a nearly inaudible whisper 'or do they?'.  We think that this may not be the end of Elspeth just yet, and similar to that of the Angel Avacyn (on the plane of Innistrad), she emerges her former self but tainted from her sequestration.

Anywhoos, all very good fodder for speculation.  We'll wrap up with some very cool artwork from Peter Mohrbacher illustrating some alternate death masks for Elspeth.  Singles from the Theros block are available from MTG Mint Card to help supplement your love of the game's storyline.

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Godsend Part II

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

We've just finished the newly released eBook by Jenna Helland, Journey Into Nyx, Godsend Part II and are ready to provide a review.  For a sample chapter to whet your appetite, pop on over to this post on the Daily MTG Magic Arcana.  Journey into Nyx Part two provides an epic conclusion to the first Theros Godsend eBook, and is available on Kindle and Nook for just $1.99 as well as Google Play.

 





If you've been reading our almost daily posts here on MTG Realm since 2008, then you will know that we are deeply appreciative of storyline ('vorthos') which is part of the Magic: the Gathering game.  In fact, we've had a handful of fun casual games at the kitchen table where a house rules required a player to read the flavour text on a card if it had it in order for the spell to resolve.  Anywhoos, let's get on with our brief review of the latest eBook Journey Into Nyx, Godsend Part II by Jenna Helland.

In the previous eBook, the stage was set and gods, heroes, monsters and other denizens of the ancient Greek mythology inspired Plane of Existence  were introduced.  Our hero, the Planeswalker Elspeth had joined forces with the Meletian oaracle Daxos who had defeated a mostrous Hydra at the book's conclusion.

The Akroan royal couple Anax and Cymede are introducted at the opening of Godsend part II and provides us with an insight of the chaos and turmoil now being experienced in every corner of the mortal realm as the gods of the pantheon move to indifference or to outright malevolence to the mortal inhabitants of the world.

The power of the Satyr Planeswalker Xenagos grows as does his insatiable appetite for power.  An army of creatures is fabricated by the Nyx-born creature Petros for Xenagos to sweep away humans.  A contrived allegiance is struck with Xenagos and Minotaurs but there appears to be concealed dark agendas at work here.

Daxos and Elspeth make a brief and perhaps unproductive foray into the underworld which we feel if expanded would have added wonderfully to the story.  Back in city of Meletis, Daxos and Elspeth learn just how bad things are becoming further afield from Anthousa of Setessa and seek guidance from the Sphinx Medomai the Ageless.

Events move rapidly which culminate in a wonderfully described siege and battle of Akroas by the Minotaur hordes.  The day is won by the humans but all appears lost as Xenagos harnesses enough mystical energy to ascend into the god realm of Nyx.  Jenna had constructed a solid understanding of the mechanics employed by Xenagos to propel the mortal creature into Nyx. 

At approximately the third quarter mark the story introduces a variety of other lesser but no less important storyline characters including Brimaz, the leonin King of Oreskos, the Planeswalker Ajani, and the Planeswalker Kiora as well as a number of notable locations.  We personally feel that at this point, the author was directed / required to deliver a conclusion very soon.  It almost feels that there was a list that needed to be checked off and events constructed to invite just about every outstanding character to the storyline.  We think readers would have enjoyed an expansion into a third novel to accommodate additional material on Brimaz, Ajani and Kiora.  Those characters like King Macar, Tymaret, and even Ashiok not addressed in the first or second book may have been provided a measure within a third novel.  

At the conclusion of this book, we feel that George RR Martin was providing counsel to Jenna in concluding the book which although provides much speculative fodder to the Magic: the Gathering community / fans but left me wanting more of an assurance as to the final state of characters and their environment.

In all, we most definitely enjoyed reading this and provide a '3/5 stars' suggest that Magic: the Gathering players like us who love the storyline, pick this up.Jenna Helland is a writer and editor for Wizards of the Coast in Renton, Washington. Before moving to the Northwest, she was a journalist in Missouri, Virginia, and California. She has a history degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and a journalism degree from the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, Missouri. 
 
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Theros Novel Godsent

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Happy Sunday MTG peeps,

We spent a great afternoon today reading Theros: Godsend, Part 1 - the eBook by Jenna Helland for Magic: the Gathering's latest block.  Perfect timing we think as the very first official previews for the last set in this block, Journey into Nyx, is scheduled for tomorrow.  This book is a perfect companion to those players, who like us, not only enjoy the game but love the storyline behind this Greek mythology themed block.  Here's the 'trailer' to get things going on our review - 

On Theros, Elspeth hopes the gods will keep her safe from the evils of the Multiverse. But the powerful planeswalker comes to the attention of the sun god, Heliod, who believes she is destined to be his champion. As the gods quarrel with each other, Elspeth must face a massive hydra that was unleashed from the realm of the gods.  

We've been a fan of the fantasy writings from Wizards of the Coast for some time and make it a point to pick up each novel / eBook as they come out.  Meaning to read Godsend latter this week in between our daily posts on new Journey into Nyx spoilers and previews, we glossed over the Prologue but found that we simply could not put down our reader.

The Magic Creative Team has posted a sample chapter of Theros: Godsend, Part 1 last Wednesday but take it from us, pick up the eBook at Amazon (Kindle) or Barnes and Noble (Nook) to start at the beginning - the prologue, where this truly engaging story has its genesis - this is where we meet the Planeswalker Elspeth and Daxos of Meletis, both in their youth, in a brief but power encounter which sets the stage for what is an exciting story.

If we had one criticism of this novel, we would say its brevity.  The story drops off with the slaying of the hydra Plukranos as the mortal world is about to clash with that of the Nyx or god world.  We are counting down the days until Part 2 is release, scheduled next month on 13th May, 2014.

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Godsend Part 1 eBook

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

It's April Fools' day apparently today and in case you have not had enjoyed any pranks of this informal holiday, we'll share ours.  A colleague who will remain nameless ran into our office this morning and told us our tire had been slashed out in the parking lot.  She had us for all of a half-minute . . .

Perhaps one of the most memorable April Fools' shenanigans we can remember was the special product announcement from the mothersite back in 2008 - the Priates vs. Ninjas Duel Decks.  It's unfortunate that Wizards did not print just a few of these cards, we would have likely purchased as much as we could at MTG Mint Card.
 

Yeah - that was pretty awesome.
Speaking of awesome, we are really excited about the release of Godsend, Part 1 - the accompanying eBook for Theros block - 

April 1st, Part 1 (of 2) of the Theros novel written by R&D Creative Team member, and ex-Uncharted Realms author, Jenna Helland. Godsend, Part 1 officially released today.

    On Theros, Elspeth hopes the gods will keep her safe from the evils of the Multiverse. But the powerful planeswalker comes to the attention of the sun god, Heliod, who believes she is destined to be his champion. As the gods quarrel with each other, Elspeth must face a massive hydra that was unleashed from the realm of the gods.

Godsend, Part 1 is available for order on Amazon.com for Kindle and BarnesAndNoble.com as a Nook Book for $1.99.

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We can't wait to dig into this.  We've already had a peak at a sample preview and are definitely setting aside some time this weekend.

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The Secretist Part 2

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,

This is post number two of two (first one here) of our exploration of Doug Beyer's book series 'The Secretist' which provides Wizard of the Coast's literary back-drop to Magic: the Gathering's Return to Ravnica set.  Previously, WotC had published paperbacks to accompany select sets but have moved this to eBooks in keeping with the times.  The first book, 'Return to Ravnica: The Secretist, Part One' sets the stage for a re-introduction of the plane of Ravnica and provides some components which resulted in printed cards found in the first set of the Return to Ravnica block. In this post we'll loook at 'Gatecrash: The Secretist, Part Two'.  Buy your eBooks online - these are significantly less expensive than previous paper copies, and you don't even require a eReader as you can read within a browser.  If you are like us here at MTG Realm, you will likely not only want to bathe in the flavour of the story line but have the actual game card as well.  Drop by MTG Mint Card to pick up Magic: the Gathering Singles from this set and others.
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Summary:
 
When we last left our telepathic protagonist Jace, he had discovered a code inscribed in ancient stone in Ravnica's historic Tenth District. It points at something called the Implicit Maze, and as Jace delves deeper, he finds that this mystery connects to the mysterious project of the brilliant dragon Niv-Mizzet and the Izzet guild the dragon commands.

This information is so dangerous, so likely to warp the equilibrium of the ten guilds in this post-Guildpact world, that Jace has taken extreme steps to extricate himself from the whole matter.
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Here are some notes from 'Gatecrash: The Secretist, Part Two'.  Read the eBook, and drop us a line in the comment thingy to discuss.

Chapter 1 - A Wanted MindJace and Emmara are confronted of Mirko Vosk who discovers that Jace had purged his mind of his research. Niv-Mizzet has Ral Zareck switch gears on the Maze project.  The demon Rakdos has the blood-wtich Exava initiate a riot. 
Chapter 2 - Unfamiliar Depths
Isperia, the Sphinx guild leader of the Azorius reassigns Officer Lavinia to a desk job.  The vampire Mirko Vosk is punished by the Dimir guild leader Lazav. 
Chapter 3 - Stirring Up the Past
Jace and Emmara meet Trostani, Jace makes no friends, especially with the Selesnya Elf Captain Calomir.  Ral Zarek and Skreeg piece together Jace's investigation at his destroyed study.  

Chapter 4 - Aid from an EnemyThe Rakdos, lead by Exava riot while Jace meets with Lavinia at New Prahv.  Ral's search dead-ends at the Forum of Azor, seeds of suspicion are sewn within Emarra and Jace needs help from the two headed Ogre Ruric Thar.

Chapter 5 - Changes of Heart
Selesnya prepares to march against the Rakdos, while Niv-Mizzet and Ral begin to understand the Implicit Maze. 

Chapter 6 - Armies in the Streets
Rakdos, Gruul, Selesnya and Boros clash in the streets.

Chapter 7 - Rough CrowdsJace is captured by Exava and then in turn by Captain Calomir while Niv-Mizzet makes an important announcement.

Chapter 8 - Unmasking
Lazav reveals himself to Jace and promptly imprisons him.

 - cliffhanger -
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