Innistrad Real Estate - A Brief Overview

Happy Thursday everyone. Today we have some more great Innistrad previews for you and some background history of the plane. Let's go!



Innistrad is divided into four provinces - Gavony, Stensia, Kessig, and Nephalia.



GAVONY

The province of Gavony is where humanity remains safest and strongest. It is home to Thraben, largest city in the known world, which houses the mighty Cathedral of Avacyn, seat of religion in the world and the place where the great archangel, Avacyn, once presided. Smaller towns radiate outward from Thraben across Gavony's rocky moors. Small copses of trees dot the landscape of rolling hills and heaths. While settlements on the outskirts are constantly under assault, Thraben and its massive Cathedral remain relatively safe.



With Avacyn missing, geists of the dead rise in droves to torment the living. Because more of the dead are buried here than anywhere else, Gavony is plagued by ever-

growing undead hordes. Ghoulcallers and skaab-stitchers ply their unholy trade even inside the walls of Thraben while secret cults conspire to serve demonic powers.



Mikaeus, the revered Lunarch, attempts to keep the citizens calm, but he is a pale mote of dust compared to the light of Avacyn. Without the archangel's grace and guidance, his power wanes, and he relies heavily on Thraben's holy warriors to fight off the werewolves and vampires with steel and silver. Mikaeus frantically attempts to solve the mystery of Avacyn's disappearance, but the darkness is fast approaching and time is running out.

    

STENSIA

The province of Stensia is the darkest on Innistrad, both literally and figuratively, but also the most dramatic, the most storied, and the most unexplored. Its valleys range from pastoral rangelands to black bogs into which dead conifers slowly sink. Its forested midlands, riddled with wisps of thick fog, show colors from deep green to purple to orange-gray. Its far-flung indigo and black mountains disappear into the clouds, and humans can only imagine what dwells in the shrouded peaks. The sun never quite seems to break through the oddly colored clouds.

    

The ruling powers of Stensia, the vampire bloodlines, reap the benefits of the region's isolation. The Geier Reach mountain range that dominates the province separates the valleys from each other, making them easier to monitor and control. The long-suffering humans of Stensia have an illogical loyalty to their homeland, but truth be told, most have little choice; they are trapped between the province's narrow mountain passes and bound to their time-honored lives of herding and gathering.


KESSIG



Innistrad's vast, wooded hinterland is called Kessig, a province in a state of perpetual autumn. The deep woods are king here, although small human communities have carved out farming villages, and groups of hunters and trappers venture into the forest to make a living. Even new arrivals to Kessig know not to venture out at night. Even if the wilderness weren't haunted, it wouldn't be safe—werewolves prowl the province, sometimes alone and sometimes in packs.

NEPHALIA

This coastal province is home to a number of small-to-medium port towns, most situated at the mouth of a river that leads further inland. Nephalia's sloughs, sea mists, and mysteries cloak its commerce and crimes; it is populated mainly by humans, geists, and vampires, all of whom seek business, secrets, or solitude. The province's silver sand beaches, punctuated with rocky promontories and sea caves, afford easiest access to its fog-shrouded ocean.

Those Innistrad denizens interested in commerce are attracted to Nephalia. Caravans of merchants ply the busy trade routes between Nephalia's cities, and unscrupulous alchemists and necromancers traffic in nefarious items via Nephalia's underground corpse market. Many of Nephalia's port towns are subject to the ever-present Nebelgast, the salt-soaked fog that rolls in and out with the tide, bringing with it a host of geists from unnamed shipwrecks.

In Nephalia, skaab-stitchers and ghoulcallers alike can find out-of-the-way places in which to practice their art with little interference from suspicious townsfolk or Avacynian authority. Both must remain highly secretive, as their trade is still feared within the general human populace. The Stromkirk vampires and Nephalia's merchants see money to be made, however, so their arcane trinkets and dark services are tolerated as long as they remain
only rumor.

    

    

For four weeks starting on September 28 the Savor the Flavor column on Daily MTG will be showcasing the different provinces of Innistrad in detail - one each week. I know that I'll be checking it out and if today's blog post sparked your interest you should too!

Until next time, may you always choose real estate wisely so that you don't have to live with vampires, werewolves, or evil spirits... unless that's your kind of thing.

- Brasif