Thursday, March 29, 2018

Dominaria Geography: Locations and Continents


Dominaria is one of the largest worlds of the multiverse, and is often known as the hub world of Dominia.  It is home to numerous continents, and many Magic sets have all taken place on it.  Below we will describe the important continents which appeared in a variety of sets, and point out locations on maps that are generally more well known to players of Magic through card names and flavor text.  Dominaria once had two moons orbiting the world, its natural moon, as well as the Null Moon, a Thran artifact for gathering white mana and information, on which all inhabitants died when Phyrexians overthrew the Thran. 

 We will be covering the continents that are circled below.  Not that these maps may have inaccuracies, as well as updates for the new 2018 expansion: Dominaria.  You'll also notice that as maps have been made, there are some new additions, or changes to what appears on them. 



Terisiare

The Continent of Terisiare was the location of early Magic, where the brothers Urza and Mishra fought for dominance of the continent.  It was also location of the Thran empire which spawned Phyrexia, as well as the events of the Ice Age saga with the Archmage Jodah, and many other locations throughout Magic's history.  The main events that occurring on Terisiare are covered in another article.   Terisiare used to be one continent, but now it has broken up into three after the Ice Age and Yavimaya moving to Aerona in the Phyrexian Invasion. 



Sarpadia


Sarpadia (SAR-PA-DIA) is the continent where the Fallen Empires expansion took place.  Five different civilizations all collapsed with the coming ice age, over run by more wild species.  Not much else is known about Sapardia, as we have never truly revisited the continent.

Sapardia is a southern landmass island on Dominaria, and was one of the last areas to succumb to the ice age after the Brother's War.

The Elves and the Order of the Ebon Hand both fell to races they created, the Thallids and Thrulls respectively.  Orc and Goblin hordes overran the dwarf kingdoms, and Icatia fell to conflict between the Farrelites and the Order of the Ebon Hand, but then also Orcs and Thrulls.  The cooling waters gave biological advantages to the Homarids (a lobster based race) over their aquatic adversaries, the Vodalian merfolk. 


Aerona

Also known as the Domains, Aerona is a continent of islands with many well known locations, such as Benelia, the Hurloon mountains, Keld, and Llanowar. Centrally located, Aerona is close to Madara to the south, and Jamuraa to the East.  It was one of the main spots to attack for the Phyrexian invasion.  Some include the Spice isles as part of Aerona, as they are just off the coast of the continent to the west, and also included the island of Tolaria.  The new academy is also built in the Spice Isles, and was named Tolaria West to commemorate the famous school founded by Urza and Barrin.


A black and white map to highlight commonly known areas. 

This map comes courtesy of Phyrexia.com, and was taken originally from a magazine. 



Jamuraa



The continent to the East of Aerona where Teferi originated, the three main countries of Suq'Ata, Zhalfir, and Corondor fought a war over the discovery of phasing magic, near to Teferi's Isle.  The Jamuraan continent is more tropical than most other continents on Dominaria, and has a distinct real world 'Africa' vibe, in human cultures, biology, and climate. Zhalfir no longer exists on Dominaria, having been 'phased out' by Teferi's magic, its time rift was incorrectly sealed, and it simply ceased to exist instead of returning to the world. 




Madara


The island to the South of Jamuraa was once controlled by Emperor Nicol Bolas.  Emperor Bolas ran an Imperial Empire to use as a base of operations for his control over Domnaria.  At the coast are two gigantic pillars shaped like whale ribs- they are all that remains of the defeated Leviathan Planeswalker ages ago, when Nicol Bolas defeated it.  Bolas was defeated by the Imperial Champion, Tetsuo Umezawa, and sealed away in an artificial plane connected to Dominaria- The Meditation Plane.






Otaria

The setting for the Odyssey and Onslaught blocks, Otaria is a continent battled over by two main factions, the Order and the Cabal, with the Cephalid kingdom on the coastline influencing it from the sea.  Otaria had a prophesy to the coming of a god of Magic, and Karona, False God, was born of that prophesy.  Her coming opened a time rift and drained much of magic from the world, and she was eventually killed by her own servants with help from the Mirari.


Shiv
Shiv seen in two different time periods.  On the right, is Shiv at the start of the Phyrexian war, 4205 AR.  To the left is the present day Shiv, at around 4566 AR.  The mending occurred in 4506 AR, 300 years after Teferi and Jhoira phased Shiv out.  Jeska used Radha's spark to safely return Shiv to Dominaria, closing the time rift above it. 

Home to Shivan dragons, Shiv is a volcanic continent of mountains and fire to the Northeast of Jamuraa.  The Thran forge/rig was located here, and the continent is home to Viashino, lizards, and Goblins as well as dragons. 




The next article will cover the large, world-rending changes that occurred on Dominaria, often scarring landscapes and changing the maps as well as civilizations.

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