The Lore of Zendikar: The Roil
“Zendikar’s terrain is racked with violent and erratic changes. The land itself seems alive, and it’s surface and botanical life often writhe as though in pain, causing tectonic chaos, extreme weather, and sudden destruction. Waves of geological upheaval sometimes wash across the world, leaving nothing unchanged in their wake. All this volatility is collectively referred to as “the Roil.”
The Roil always seemed to be a natural phenomenon, one of the peculiar characteristics of Zendikar that was perhaps tied to its unique mana, the hedrons, or its own fierce ecology. Planeswalkers recognized this volatility as what kept Zendikar dangerous and untamed - free of large cities, sophisticated commerce, and other trappings of well-developed civilization.
The rise of the Eldrazi intensifies the Roil, and it soon becomes clear that the Roil is Zendikar’s own effort to fight off the Eldrazi. The violent upheaval sometimes seems to target the Eldrazi broods, leading some survivors to try to follow the Roil as a means of protection against swarms of Eldrazi, but the Roil’s movements are too unpredictable to follow - and it’s all too easy to get caught in its tempests when it suddenly shifts direction.
The Roil’s effects are violent, enormous, and extreme. They include the following:
Rock Crags. Large boulders and shards of rock erupt from the earth, then subside when the Roil shifts away. These spikes vary in size - from large hills to gigantic peaks. The crags can uproot forests and destroy settlements.
Dust Storms and Tornadoes. Winds generated by the Roil can kick up dust, debris, and vegetation and turn them into a fierce, scouring wave or a devastating funnel cloud.
Tidal Waves. Over large bodies of water, the Roil creates tidal waves that can crash into the high cliffs and flood the forests beyond, or whirlpools that can suck a boat to the bottom of the sea.
Sinkholes. Ground that has been disrupted by the Roil often opens into sinkholes, as large sections of land unexpectedly plummet into the ground.
Gas Geysers. When the earth is displaced, geysers of noxious, sulfurous gas can erupt from underground. Some of these geysers are toxic and can kill nearby life.
Meteoric Growth. Because the Roil is magical in nature, it can affect biology as we as geology and meteorology. Under the influence of the Roil, a tangle of undergrowth can double its size in a day. Occasionally this growth persists; usually it dies down after the effects of the Roil pass.
Tectonic Upheaval. At its strongest, the Roil can dislodge entire plates of earth and create new ridges and peaks. These dramatic upheavals send shock waves through the entire continent and can change miles of landscape in mere minutes.
Occasionally the Roil takes on a literal life of its own. Elementals - animated forces of land and nature - are common enough on Zendikar, but when the Roil itself animates as an elemental, the result is a living vortex that devours everything in the vicinity, even the souls of the living.
Most of Zendikar’s inhabitants have no way to predict the approach of the Roil, though many animals seem to be able to sense its approach earlier than most humanoids. Flocks of birds might fly screeching out of the trees, or herds of oxen might stampede toward shelter. The Roil sends powerful tremors through water, so swimming creatures - including the merfolk - often have more warning of its approach than those confined to land.” - James Wyatt
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