With Zendikar coming out in a little over a month, I thought I would take some time and talk out my ideas on where I hope and wish the story for the plane would go. Zendikar is easily one of my faovirte planes, being the first place we saw the Eldrazi and how much I love those titans. The last time we saw the plane is was in ruins and the battles that were waged had taken its toll on the plane itself. The Gatewatch was victorious in killing off the two titans they had lured back but that was not the original plane.
The first plan, and what they attempted first, was to bind the titans into Zendikar itself, but when they tried this the titans began to assimilate the plane into themselves. With this, the plan had to change and Chandra used her fire and used the leylines of the planet to burn the titans till all that was left was the ash that rained from the sky. But this leaves us in an interesting place… is there any of the titans essence in the plane? Did part of the assimilation take? What did that one moment do the the very essence of Zendikar?
We have seen a “Leak” of a new Nissa planeswalker card where she is Golgari. Using black mana for the first time on a card. We have seen her dabble in black mana in the story before in her time on Lorwyn. So while a bit surprising, it’s not something unheard of, but it is where we will start with in what I would do if I was writing the lore for Zendikar Rising. So let’s begin:
With Nissa returning home for the first time in a while and leaving the battle on Ravenica behind, she comes back home to a world still rebuilding. Things are not as advanced though as she would have imagined they would be with all the time that had passed. The land still looks tattered and torn from the battles. Between the Eldrazi themselves and the final blow that Chandra had dealt to them, the land had taken quiet the beating. With little left, the people left are in a state of constant fighting over resources and good land. The longer Nissa is home the more she feels the pull of the land, crying, and calling out to her to help.
She finally relents and begins using not only her powerful ties to green mana to help the plants and land heal but goes a touch deeper and slowly begins to bring that black mana she dabbled in so long ago to the forefront. She uses it to bring back the wildlife and flowers. She beings to rebuild the world she loves so much, simply needing to feel home and safe again, but the more she taps into the plane and into the black mana something begins to grab a hold of her. She can feel it, more and more, crawling, like tentacles in her mind.
Jace comes to her, seeing what the land and creatures are becoming the more she uses this power. He begs her to stop and realize what she is doing, but it is too late. Nissa, either under a spell like infulence or just fully into the power of the black mana decides that she is not done, not until her home is back to what it was before Jace failed her. After all, it was him that refused to let the Eldrazi be taken away from her home. This was all his fault. She turns on her Gatewatch partner and at this moment seems even too powerful for Jace to stop alone.
This is where Nahiri comes into play. Jace goes to her, where she is helping the Kor rebuild and make a new life after the fighting. Jace thinks that if he can bring someone that is also from Zendikar to Nissa that maybe she will listen. Maybe they can stop her before she goes to far. Just maybe…
Now as fun as it would be to sit and write out the entire story plot point by point, that would make for one long article. What do you think about my idea? What would you do with the story if you were in charge? Let us know in the comments and thanks for taking the time to read it! Until next time!
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