But on second thought, there's not really existing support in the set for a land archetype. If we're gonna put it in there, it should be in . Having it in doesn't really make sense. (I know, Swamp matters and all that, but that's a monocolored thing anyway.)

enchantments and ins/sorceries are easy to get behind.
RW artifacts is a stretch, but it could work.
lands and creatures though are right out. I can't think of any sort of reason for those to work. We could solve the problem by ditching land in favour of a mastery faction that encourages you to balance your card types or a card types in graveyard goyf faction. A faction is pretty hard to find a fit for though.

I was thinking that the elementals of Illpyre could perhaps be the result of leftover enchantments being exposed to all that sunlight/unstable mana flow. Either they become supercharged and destabilized or else their physical elements have long since eroded away and the mystical energies (read: the enchantmentiness) have bounded to the heat and light of the sun instead.

Also, is it too late to change the name of the plane? Velnaria is already in a card name and that could cause problems. But, the word "Velnaria" was chosen before we finalized the South American theme. If we can't change it, then I propose that "velnaria" was the name of Baharaz's home plane (or else the name of his multiplanar empire) and as the guy in charge he decided to call it "(New) Velnaria".

OK so Elorians are clearly the enchantment creature tribe. So why aren't there any Elorians? From a flavor perspective, looking at what we've laid out, the enchantment deck should absolutely be a enchantment creature beatdown deck with range.

I feel like they need an enemy. Bahraz and Chronicler Sphinx are way cooler than Glacinorak and Anjomeddon. Also Wanuranti is basically just Bahraz so why do we have two characters doing the same thing. I think that Bahraz would work better as an affably evil villain who caused the Starstill because somehow, his immortality is dependent upon the planet not moving. That's a much more villainous reason than "we were bored and got tired of the seasons."

It'd be freaking dope as f if the Chronicler Sphinx were reimagined as a Legendary Creature, sort of like the eyes and ears of Bahraz. Like if they were on the same side in the story as well as in our decks.

And like, the spiritual Elorians () are in Illpyre trying to get the planet moving again (thru prayer or whatever)

While the technological Chroniclers () are trying to keep the Starstill active in the name of preserving everything.

And I feel like Maraka could definitely get a flavorful workover. I think it would be more interesting if they preserved and defended a massive wall separating Illpyre and Frostwynd

and omg those place names still totally suck

it should be like

Scorchbane and Chillmyre

Oh snap and what if the Elorian Temple were like a haven in the middle of Illpyre
Like it's reallllly hot but also protected by Elori's magic
called Eloria (duh)

to balance out Frostblight (which can be Barhaz's palace)

Then the dichotomy actually has a flavorful purpose
instead of having the bad guys be inhabitants of either side of the split.

Elorians as the enchantment dudes- yeah, the flavour totally supports this.
i do really see Baharaz and Waruranti as overly similar. One wants to regain his lost empire by repairing his ancient superweapon, the other is a self-loathing and amoral archivist.
I like the idea that that the dragons messed up the seasons just to become more powerful (and comfortable). The pettiness of it really highlights there villainy for me. Not sure what the consensus on that is.
I think the worldbuilding is stronger if pretty much everybody agrees that the Starstill is not a great state of affairs. Otherwise (unless one faction is very clearly wrong) there's not much reason to root for the heroes trying to undo the Starstill.
Maraka... I honestly don't know how to feel about it. It is, however the one place name I do like.
I really like the idea of the Elorians having their centre of worship being based in the middle of a scorching desert, made liveable only by magic. That is one very strong form of defense right there and the flavour is just ripe for picking.

I think our biggest mistake in this set, flavorfully, is inhabiting Maraka with primarily monstrous creatures. So much of the identity of Maraka is tied up in Treants and Beasts. Maraka, as it were, adds nothing to the story from a character perspective. We can picture an Elorean disciple, blind from staring at the sun too long, yet sightful in a way much higher, wandering faithfully thru the desolate sands of Illpyre. We can picture a Frostblight vampire working the frostscapes as a tireless assassin, desperately resisting the temptation of licking the blood keeping his face warm off of his beard. But there's no one particularly in Maraka to imagine the scenes that happen in it. The most interesting thing in there is the Borderland Ranger dodging the Blood Grove Ancient's tentacles.

We voted not to have any Elves because the inhabitants of Maraka didn't have an identity. I'm here to throw one out there:

() Dwarves.

Maraka is full of forests with giant trees. Velnaria's Dwarves live inside these trees. Maraka was a temperate forest area at the time the Starstill occurred, and suddenly these tree dwarves (whose trees are giant fortresses sprawling thru the bark the same way most dwarves would do with their mountains) found their pleasant weather being envied by the rest of a scarred world. They had no choice but to protect their beautiful trees from the invading lizard warriors to the west. Being Dwarves, they also dug themselves far underground, and when the Starstill occurred, started building their tunnels to the east, where the warmth of being closer to the center of the earth counteracted the cold temperatures of the frozen wastes to the east.

Thus, the kniving rogues of Dallowholm (my new name for Frostwynd), requiring shelter, formed an uneasy alliance with the wary Dwarves. The Marakan guards are quick to kick out into the cold of Dallowholm any human or vampire intruders who offend them in any way.

On the western edge of Maraka, the Dwarves face an intense war with the Viashino. The Viashino attack their tree fortresses in scores, and even burrow underground thru the sand to the outposts underground. The entire border is an inpenetrable war zone, with anyone trying to cross necessarily risking their life.

Isn't that a lot more interesting than a faceless forest where a bunch of scary things try to eat you?

I always saw Maraka as a "last remnant of Eden" thing, a contrast from the stark extremes of Frostwynd and Illpyre. I'm not sure where you got the "giant tentacle monsters" impression from.

I think the fact that we disagree demonstrates how vague we were in establishing Maraka as a setting.

Still, the point is that there are no Dryads and such to actually focus a narrative around. All of the action takes place in Illpyre and Dallowholm (seriously is that a better name for Frostwynd or what!)

I think the biggest mistake we did flavor-wise was never solidly establishing anything except the initial premise of the plane, so a lot of people ran around on different assumptions. I made a thread to try and confirm my suspicions, but only one person replied, so idk if it's true.

I'd suggest having public discussions with polls, and then compile everything we establish in the wiki, so people can look it up and we can reference it. I'd probably also just say "screw it" and start over from the ashes, trying to get a more cohesive framework instead of having to define the plane according to what cards people vote in (which, while interesting, leads to inconsistencies and a lower overall quality.)
Getting traction for the project now is probably going to be difficult, though.

I have to agree with this. There was never any sense of consensus. People swirled around the same issues again and again, unable to put anything to rest when nobody had the power to officialize anything and nobody even knew what the group consensus was.
I always imagined Maraka as a fairly small place. Not the planet's whole equatorial band, but its last remaining forest. A big forest maybe, but not anything state-sized.
I also really regret that elves got voted out. Arguments that they were old enough to remember the Starstill accurately swayed me against them briefly. Then I realized it didn't matter if they experienced it or not, the important point was that they didn't know why it happened. Heck, even if they knew that, it wouldn't preclude other peoples from denying the truth. Unfortunately, before I could reverse my vote the poll ended- in a tie, which got tie-broken against the elves.

How 'bout the four of us just team up and develop it ourselves, now that we've had a year to reflect on what happened?

This was a community-designed set. No one ever said the whole community had to develop it, too.

I could probably get behind that.

I could also get behind that.

CKY?

I can be development consultant, I suppose.

So, where do we start? I assume we all agree that Frostwynd, Illpyre and Maraka all exist in the general sense (frostscape, desert and lush forest), if not maybe the names.

I was gonna wait until Pro Tour YMtC was over, but if you'd rather we start now, I'm down.

I was going to wait until term end, but I guess we can do some of the basics.

So uh out of curiosity is this still a thing where you're looking to utilize M:EM assets or is that pretty much dead in the water at this point?

I mean I'm pretty sure Aloise is now otherwise preoccupied within the M:EM's overarching narrative...