Games - Shandalar

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	Games - Shandalar

In Magic: The Gathering, a plane of Dominia, where mana flows like water. It is a small plane, one of the most Mana-rich in all of Dominia. Host of countless planeswalker wars, it is unstable, constantly spinning out of position. It is a rogue plane that was the center of a plan to shatter the Shard of Twelve Worlds, which trapped planeswalkers within the twelve immediate planes of the multiverse, when it briefly entered the Shard.

Shandalar was the setting of the Microprose: Magic, the Gathering. Refuge for Faralyn, Tevesh Szat, Leshrac and Lim-Dûl after the end of the Ice Age.

The coming of Lim-Dûl

For most of its existence the plane of Shandalar prospered alone. The magical energy in this plane is so rich that in ancient days wizards were able to create creatures of pure mana. Those creatures and their decendents, the dragons, still roam the plane. The richness and the purity of Shandalar's mana is the reason that the use of magic is commonplace, lesser spells are used every day by the common people. In the happy backwater that Shandalar used to be knowledge of the rest of the multiverse was a secret worry of a select few powerful wizards. Among them, Kenan Sahrmal was the most skillful. A planeswalker who chose to preserve rather than to prey on his home plane, Sahrmal was practically immortal. Shortly before the war that became the focal point of Shandalar's history the cunning necromancer Lim-Dûl came in desperation to Shandalar, escaping the Shard with Tevesh Szat and Leshrac. Sahrmal managed to chase away the two demons, but was wounded in the battle by Lim-Dûl. The hero had been weakened, and had no defenses left. Sahrmal's body disappeared, but his followers immediatly beheaded Lim-Dûl. Both were presumed to be dead.

Lim-Dûl's War and the Great Barrier

Twelve years later, Lim-Dûl reappeared with an army of undead at his side and attempted to seize dominion over the entire plane. Lim-Dûl's War lasted for years and it decimated Shandalar. Every major city save one was laid waste and destroyed, but even without their protector, the Shandalarians refused to submit. Sahrmal wasn't dead either, but his magical ability was nearly gone. In secret he trained two adepts to take his place. One was Azar, the name of the other has never been revealed.

Ardestan, greatest city of Shandalar, and the last bastion of hope, came under siege. It was clear that soon Shandalar would fall to the invader. Nevertheless Sahrmal counseled patience, he told his students they were not ready. Unwilling to believe and unable to face the tragic consequences of inaction, Azar fled their hidden sanctuary and went to the defense of Ardestan. When they discovered this, his teacher and his fellow pupil hurried to the rescue, but they were too late to stop the casting of the great spell Azar had stolen from Sahrmal. Huddled in the questionable refuge of a circle of protection Azar prepared his Casting. Rather than mounting a futile direct attack on the young wizard Lim-Dûl waited nearby. His plan was to use the same trick with which he had survived his beheading- a simple, last-second transfer of his spirit into Azar's body. Unfortunately for both of them, Azar's spell was targeted at the necromancer's spirit, not his body. It should have imprisoned Lim-Dûl in his body, drawing out all his power and using it to erect a Great Barrier around the plane of Shandalar. It worked, but Lim-Dûl was in Azar's own body at the time. Designed by Sahrmal as a temporary ward against planeswalkers, the immense energies tapped from the two imprisoned wizard's spirits made Shandalar virtually inpregnable. Ardestan lay in ruins and Azar's body lay paralysed. Trapped in the same body the two spirits fought for control. Convinced that it would be forever so, Sahrmal secretly buried the body. The existence of the Great Barrier depended on the continued confinement of Lim-Dûl.

the Guardian's Peace

Before long Azar's fellow pupil ended his training. Sahrmal chose to invest all his remaining power in his apprentice, making him immortal. Thereafter Sahrmal vanished. Known now only as The Guardian the young wizard took up his role of Protector of Shandalar. In time, Shandalar learned to trust the Guardian and accepted him in Sahrmal's place. He established five guilds which were responsible for teaching and policing the use of the five colours of mana. The first leader of each guild was chosen in a great contest. Each Guildlord serves until his skill lapses with age, and a new champion is selected.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Shandalar ]

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