Class is in Session
Lore forum
Posted on March 25, 2021, 4:49 p.m. by Hardhitta7
First Strixhaven story came out today. What’s everyone think of it?
I enjoyed it a bit but it just seems to be using every Magic School trope in existence. I guess that’s to be expected though.
Y’all think the masked group is connected to the Raven Man?
Stuff could get pretty crazy with all the Planeswalkers running around.
DemonDragonJ says... #3
This week’s story revealed some very interesting lore; first, Kasmina is not originally from Arcavios, the plane on which Strixhaven is located. Second, Liliana was a student there, a long time ago, likely shortly after she ignited her spark and before she made her pacts with he demons, which explains why she is there; she must regard is as a secure and familiar location. We also learned that Liliana has heard of both Kylem and Eldraine, but has not been to either of those planes.
It is only the first chapter of the story, and, already, there is trouble brewing at Strixhaven; obviously, there are similarities to trouble brewing at Hogwarts in Harry Potter, but this reminded me much more heavily of members of the Black Ajah infiltrating the White Tower in The Wheel of Time, and the good aes sedai attempting to expose them.
We now know that Liliana and the Kenrith twins have never met, before now, so I wonder what relationship they shall forge; we know that Liliana is fond of men who are much younger than herself, as seen with her relationship with Jace, so I wonder if she shall regard Will as a replacement for him? Also, the Kenriths should not be blurting out the names of other planes in front of the other students, because, even if the student of Strixhaven are aware of the existence of other planes, the Kenriths should keep their origins secret, and reveal that information only to people whom they know who they can trust.
I wonder what Lukka is doing on Arcavios? He has no connection to this story, so I shall be very interested to see what role he plays in it. I shall presume that the Oriq wish for him to enroll in Strixhaven and steal valuable information from it, for their own sinister goals.
I am excited for this story, so I hope that it does not disappoint; I did enjoy the stories of both Kaldheim and Zendikar Rising, but they both felt rushed and disjointed, so I hope for more from this story.
March 25, 2021 8:09 p.m.
Hardhitta7 says... #4
Wow, all great points DemonDragonJ! Way better analysis then I could come up with. I’ve never been good at that even though I read a ton.
I forgot to mention the part about Liliana attending the school when she was younger. That’s definitely interesting.
I like the comparison to the Black Ajah. (Reminds me I need to finish the WoT series)
I didn’t read the Kaldheim or Eldraine story. I kinda quit reading the stories after War of the Spark, the books just disappointed me so much I quit keeping up with it. I may go back and read what I missed. Is it worth it?
March 25, 2021 8:19 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #5
Hardhitta7, the stories for both Kaldheim and Zendikar Rising are five chapters each, and fairly light reading, compared to heavy fantasy such as The Wheel of Time or A Song of Ice and Fire, so reading them will not take too much time. I did not read the story for Throne of Eldraine, so I cannot comment on it.
March 25, 2021 8:38 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #6
Was it ever clearly stated to which house Liliana belonged when she was a student? Some players have said that she was in Witherbloom, but I always thought that Silverquill matched her personality far better.
Also, what is the hierarchy in each house? I noticed that each house has several legendary creatures associated with it, so how do those characters rank in comparison to each other?
March 25, 2021 11:26 p.m.
Hardhitta7 says... #7
I’m not sure about which house she was in.
For the legendaries I know the Dragons are the founders and the MDFC are the deans. Each house has two deans, on one card.
March 25, 2021 11:52 p.m.
RicketyEng says... #8
Liliana did reflect to herself in the story that she was in Witherbloom. She was a healer before she sparked so it makes sense for her to study at the school which includes medicine and necromancy. I wouldn't be surprised if she got along with or even had a few friends in Silverquil.
March 26, 2021 9:48 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #9
Hardhitta7, in that case, who are the multicolored legendary creatures, such as Breena, Zaffai, and so forth? Where do they rank in the school's hierarchy?
RicketyEng says... #2
I did start to think of the Raven Man a little bit. Parts of his description also reminded me of Davriel, but I'm not convinced the character fits.
Enemy colour pairs of magic work a little bit differently on Arcavios which I'm pretty sure is what Will noticed about his and Rowan's paired spells. I really enjoyed Will's eagerness to learn all the things.
I found it a bit strange that Lilianna was once a Witherbloom student. Then I noted that Witherbloom is the school that encompasses healing and possibly necromancy so sure, that fits. I hadn't noticed her headdress in the background of her card art until I saw the large version on the story page. I think that's a nice touch.
I'm really looking forward to seeing some Quandrix math magic in the story at some point.
March 25, 2021 5:53 p.m.