There isn't a single part of those first two paragraphs that doesn't sound awesome.
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Vorthos Cartography - Check out my completed maps of Zendikar and Innistrad!
"You say 'learn from history,' but that does not mean 'learn the same bull***** the people in history learned alongside phrenology and alchemy.'" - The Blinking Spirit
The Brothers' War Part I is out. Little mix up in the release order, so part II will be out in two weeks, followed by World of Zendiker Part IV-VI and The seven part Remember the Weatherlight.
Just an FYI - no Archive Trap this week. Word of Command is taking our slot, but the next two weeks will be Archive Traps.
Here is the tentative release order (releasing roughly every two weeks):
Finished, Drafted or In Progress:
World of Zendikar Parts 5 & 6 (BFZ and OGW) Awaiting Publishing
Remember the Weatherlight by Shannon Rezendes Parts 1-7 (Still the best Weatherlight Saga summary out there) Awaiting Publishing
The World of Alara Parts 1-4 Drafted waiting on Editing
Karn & Phyrexia Parts 1-3 (Tentative Title, Thran through Mirrodin Prologue from Karn and Phyrexia's perspective) In Progress, 60%
The World of Innistrad Part 2 & 3 (Released when EMN's story ends) In Progress, 30%
The Ice Age In Progress, 5%
Concepts (These are the ideas I have for more almanac-style articles, but no work has been done yet outside of maybe outlines):
The World of Kamigawa (with small afterward on Umezawas on Dominaria)
The Mending (Needed to talk Ice Age, Karn & Phyrexia, and Kamigawa first)
The World of Mirrodin
The World of New Phyrexia (May combine into a single article or series with Mirrodin)
The World of Theros
The World of Ravnica (Two parts minimum)
The World of Tarkir
The World of [FUTURE BLOCKS]
I know this ends up being quite of bit of pre-mending lore that I'll miss, but Squirle_Master covers that so well in his blog that it's not worth me treading into a lot of it. I just want to focus on what's important, story-wise, for what comes later.
Once I get through all of these (sometime in 2017 - but most should be written by the end of this year, I'm already half a dozen articles ahead), I'm going to start expanding my scope beyond the usual Almanac-style 'The World of' articles. Some ideas are:
What's Old is New (Comparing and contrasting pre-mending characters and places with their post-mending spiritual successors)
Magic and India (Discussing Indian cultural influences on the game)
The Real Cultures of Tarkir (Similar to the above, but talking about the cultural influences on Tarkir specifically)
[Creature Types] of the Multiverse (articles focusing on Goblins, Angels, Elves, etc.)
Please, let me know what you think. If there is a subject you want to see, want something sooner, etc, let me know. Do you all want to see more regular updates like this?
Kaburi and I are expanding Archive Trap with Archive Trap Mini! There are a lot of topics we’d like to talk about but don’t justify a 2,500 word count. Enter: Archive Trap Mini. This blog will include all the things you love about Archive Trap (presumably because if you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t be reading this). There will be posts talking about storyline topics in the same style almanac style as the big articles. There will be posts with snarky or informative captions for Magic Art. There will also be things you won’t find in Archive Trap: Theories & Speculation, Detailed Reading Guides, Primers, Opinion Pieces, and Reviews.
So, I recently snagged a copy of The Myths of Magic Anthology from 16 years ago. It's a great read. As the title suggests, most of the short stories are just myths passed down by the people of Dominaria, but one of them, Phyrexian Creations, provides some insight as to how the Phyrexians view Yawgmoth, as well as a bit of his true backstory. Is that something you could use in the Phyrexia article? If so, I could probably whip up a paragraph or two to add.
Kaburi and I are expanding Archive Trap with Archive Trap Mini! There are a lot of topics we’d like to talk about but don’t justify a 2,500 word count. Enter: Archive Trap Mini. This blog will include all the things you love about Archive Trap (presumably because if you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t be reading this). There will be posts talking about storyline topics in the same style almanac style as the big articles. There will be posts with snarky or informative captions for Magic Art. There will also be things you won’t find in Archive Trap: Theories & Speculation, Detailed Reading Guides, Primers, Opinion Pieces, and Reviews.
For my part, this is where I'm planning on some of those non-almanac style posts I mentioned a few days ago.
I read it, very nice and interesting!
I don't know if this is the right place, but I had a quirky theory about the Nalaar surname. To me it reminded the sound of a Mongolian word, so I checked in a dictionary. Well, "nalaar" isn't there, but "nal" appears in ruby, which is "nal erdene" ("erdene" means gem). So, Nalaar could sound like "through/by means of a ruby", and I find a ruby to be quite fitting to Chandra's colours! I know, I know, this explanation is quite wacky and I hope I got the dictionary's entry right, but maybe this word wandered into Mongolian from Tibet or the Indian subcontinent, so...
So, I recently snagged a copy of The Myths of Magic Anthology from 16 years ago. It's a great read. As the title suggests, most of the short stories are just myths passed down by the people of Dominaria, but one of them, Phyrexian Creations, provides some insight as to how the Phyrexians view Yawgmoth, as well as a bit of his true backstory. Is that something you could use in the Phyrexia article? If so, I could probably whip up a paragraph or two to add.
Yeah, go ahead and PM me. I evaluated whether or not the anthologies were worth picking up, and while they have some cool world building ultimately they weren't worth the cost for Archive Trap (especially when things like Shattered Alliance run for $40(!) these days.
I don't know if this is the right place, but I had a quirky theory about the Nalaar surname. To me it reminded the sound of a Mongolian word, so I checked in a dictionary. Well, "nalaar" isn't there, but "nal" appears in ruby, which is "nal erdene" ("erdene" means gem). So, Nalaar could sound like "through/by means of a ruby", and I find a ruby to be quite fitting to Chandra's colours! I know, I know, this explanation is quite wacky and I hope I got the dictionary's entry right, but maybe this word wandered into Mongolian from Tibet or the Indian subcontinent, so...
That's interesting! I suppose it's possible, haha.
Yeah, go ahead and PM me. I evaluated whether or not the anthologies were worth picking up, and while they have some cool world building ultimately they weren't worth the cost for Archive Trap (especially when things like Shattered Alliance run for $40(!) these days.
Ok, cool. I figured as much. Funny story, I just randomly stumbled upon a beat-up copy of the anthology at Half-Price Books for four bucks.
Yeah, go ahead and PM me. I evaluated whether or not the anthologies were worth picking up, and while they have some cool world building ultimately they weren't worth the cost for Archive Trap (especially when things like Shattered Alliance run for $40(!) these days.
Ok, cool. I figured as much. Funny story, I just randomly stumbled upon a beat-up copy of the anthology at Half-Price Books for four bucks.
Our republishing of the classic Remember the Weatherlight series has begun! It'll be taking the place of the main Archive Trap articles for the next 12ish weeks (although I'll probably interrupt it just prior to Kaladesh for a Chandra and Kaladesh-centric article).
What is happening with the main Archive Trap? Fear not! It's just giving me a chance to get ahead. I've completed the draft of Alara, and what I'm now calling my Artifacts Cycle Summary and my Ice Age articles are nearing completion. Once those are out of the way, I'll be moving on to my own Weatherlight Saga Summary (a single article told from the perspective of the characters that survive and reappear later - Karn, Jhoira & Teferi) before moving on to Mirrodin, New Phyrexia and then Theros to wrap up the 'B' plot (the 'A' plot being the stories of the Origins Five).
And don't forget: Archive Trap Mini has weekly content from myself, usually one large article (about half the size of a regular Archive Trap) and one small article on Archive Trap's off weeks, plus random content sprinkled throughout.
So...I'm not sure how up to date you want to keep your articles, but your second Zendikar article says the Eldrazi that destroyed the plane at the start of The Lithomancer is implied to be Ulamog. The titan's identity was confirmed in Stone and Blood.
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Vorthos Cartography - Check out my completed maps of Zendikar and Innistrad!
"You say 'learn from history,' but that does not mean 'learn the same bull***** the people in history learned alongside phrenology and alchemy.'" - The Blinking Spirit
So...I'm not sure how up to date you want to keep your articles, but your second Zendikar article says the Eldrazi that destroyed the plane at the start of The Lithomancer is implied to be Ulamog. The titan's identity was confirmed in Stone and Blood.
I prefer not to go back and change them (in the case of retcons), but instead clarify in a future article. Stone and Blood will be part of The World of Innistrad Part II, where I'll mention it. The only thing I'm going to change are outright mistakes, not things we learn after publishing. That's for a couple reasons, but mostly that the majority of people who are going to read The World of Zedikar Part II have already done so, and so updating it won't help them.
Besides, I'd basically have had to rewrite half of it with all the BFZ stuff we learned.
Just wanted to stop by and say I pointed a few friends your way since they are new and want to learn about the lore, and these seem perfect for the kind of stuff they wanted to know.
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Just wanted to stop by and say I pointed a few friends your way since they are new and want to learn about the lore, and these seem perfect for the kind of stuff they wanted to know.
Thanks! It's always good to hear people find it useful!
Just wanted to say thanks this deep dive into Magic's lore. Just got into the Weatherlight articles from 2005 and am really enjoying it. Will have to jump into the other series soon after I'm done. As a writer myself, and an aspiring Magic vorthos who came to the game and story later in its life (2013), this is exactly the kind of connective tissue I was looking for!
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"You say 'learn from history,' but that does not mean 'learn the same bull***** the people in history learned alongside phrenology and alchemy.'" - The Blinking Spirit
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Here is the tentative release order (releasing roughly every two weeks):
Finished, Drafted or In Progress:
Once I get through all of these (sometime in 2017 - but most should be written by the end of this year, I'm already half a dozen articles ahead), I'm going to start expanding my scope beyond the usual Almanac-style 'The World of' articles. Some ideas are:
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Our first piece up is a Kaladesh Primer written by me!
For my part, this is where I'm planning on some of those non-almanac style posts I mentioned a few days ago.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
I read it, very nice and interesting!
I don't know if this is the right place, but I had a quirky theory about the Nalaar surname. To me it reminded the sound of a Mongolian word, so I checked in a dictionary. Well, "nalaar" isn't there, but "nal" appears in ruby, which is "nal erdene" ("erdene" means gem). So, Nalaar could sound like "through/by means of a ruby", and I find a ruby to be quite fitting to Chandra's colours! I know, I know, this explanation is quite wacky and I hope I got the dictionary's entry right, but maybe this word wandered into Mongolian from Tibet or the Indian subcontinent, so...
That's interesting! I suppose it's possible, haha.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Ok, cool. I figured as much. Funny story, I just randomly stumbled upon a beat-up copy of the anthology at Half-Price Books for four bucks.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
What is happening with the main Archive Trap? Fear not! It's just giving me a chance to get ahead. I've completed the draft of Alara, and what I'm now calling my Artifacts Cycle Summary and my Ice Age articles are nearing completion. Once those are out of the way, I'll be moving on to my own Weatherlight Saga Summary (a single article told from the perspective of the characters that survive and reappear later - Karn, Jhoira & Teferi) before moving on to Mirrodin, New Phyrexia and then Theros to wrap up the 'B' plot (the 'A' plot being the stories of the Origins Five).
And don't forget: Archive Trap Mini has weekly content from myself, usually one large article (about half the size of a regular Archive Trap) and one small article on Archive Trap's off weeks, plus random content sprinkled throughout.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
"You say 'learn from history,' but that does not mean 'learn the same bull***** the people in history learned alongside phrenology and alchemy.'" - The Blinking Spirit
Besides, I'd basically have had to rewrite half of it with all the BFZ stuff we learned.
Thanks for the comment, though! Good looking out.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath