Kaladesh, the focus of this fall’s Magic set, is a plane we know quite a bit about despite it only appearing in one story: Magic Origin’s Fire Logic. It’s the birthplace of the planeswalker Chandra Nalaar and the home of the recently revealed - and incredibly popular - Saheeli Rai. This primer is to get lore fans up to speed on what we know, in preparations for this fall.
Do I have to know much about India?
No. Frankly speaking, Wizard’s comments about the plane make it seem like they were worried about a repeat of Kamigawa, where people didn’t ‘get’ the flavor. I imagine they’ll be working hard to make most of the cards something that aren’t intimidating to people unfamiliar with South Asian culture while trying to keep the plane more than superficially South Asian. With that said, there are a few things anyone unfamiliar should keep in mind:
Calling Kaladesh the ‘Indian’ plane is a bit of a misnomer. If you want to refer to the Indian subcontinent and culture (and not just the modern day country), it’s more accurate to use South Asian.
South Asia is defined by a diverse mix of cultures, religions, and languages. While Kaladesh seems to have focused on Hindi as the native language, there are well over a hundred major languages spoken in South Asia.
Kaladesh is not India. While it’ll be great to have South Asian themes, expecting it to adhere strictly to our perception of India as a place would be unrealistic.
What does “Kaladesh” mean?
The name of the plane itself has essentially two possible translations. Kala can mean both ‘black’ (the color) and 'time’ (after the Hindu god of Time and Death - roughly speaking). The suffix -desh means Nation or Country. While Kala is typically used to mean ‘black’, I believe Kaladesh is intended as ‘Country of Time’ as a clockwork pun.
The main city (that we know of), Ghirapur, actually has four possible interpretations. Ghira could mean encircled or beleaguered. A Ghirani is a pulley. Taken phonetically, 'Ghir’ is a nod toward Gear. The suffix -pur means town or city.
Again, due to the steampunk theme of the plane, I prefer the Country of Time/Gear Town translation. Someone from Kaladesh would be called Kaladeshi.
What is life like on Kaladesh?
Most of what we know about Kaladesh is really just about Ghirapur. We know the city is teeming with inventors, and that aether is a vital resource. A group called the consuls control Ghirapur and the surrounding area, although it’s not clear whether they’re an occupying force (such as the British Raj) or just an oppressive regime. It’s possible that consul is simply their title, and the group has a different name.
Regardless, the consuls own factories that produce automatons used throughout the city. They control armed forces that patrol the city, carrying aether detectors for finding illegally transported aether. The illegality of the aether trade is accompanied by an outlaw on magic. The consuls don’t want anyone to have the power to rival their forces, and so they restrict things that would allow just that.
Devices appear everywhere on the plane, but it’s important to note that unlike Esper (which has a similar filigree style), people are not fused with the artifice (that we know of). Much of it seems to be elaborate costuming, rather than something functional - but the similarities to Esper’s etherium can’t be ignored.
It’s a resource that fuels the artifice we’ve seen on Kaladesh - and I use the term ‘fuel’ on purpose since it seems to be an expendable, and relatively limited, resource. Large, spiral shaped aether collectors appear to pull it out of the sky, but presumably there isn’t an infinite supply whenever they need it. And of course, with any restricted resource, there’s a thriving underground of people trading in it illegally. This artifice drives a lot of what we’ve seen of Kaladesh, with elegantly filigreed artifacts filling roles as servants, pack animals, airships, and even small thopter drones called ‘whirlers’.
What is the story on Kaladesh?
The one story we’ve gotten about the plane is rather simple. The Nalaars are artificers and aether bootleggers who send their daughter, Chandra, on an illegal aether delivery run. Chandra’s impulsiveness leads her to being hunted by the consuls’ forces - which is no surprise to anyone when you send an impulsive child on an illegal smuggling mission.
The chase ends in the destruction of one of their factories. Captain Baral pursues her family into the countryside, using whirler spy devices to eventually track them down. When he does, he kills Chandra’s father and burns down a village to frame Chandra. At her execution, he prevents Chandra from using pyromancy - revealing his own magic abilities. Chandra’s fury at her situation results in her spark igniting, transporting her to the plane of Regatha.
Who do we know on Kaladesh?
The Nalaar Family - The Nalaar were a family of inventors (going back generations) until Pia and Kiran discovered that their daughter was a Pyromancer. Chandra’s father, Kiran - whose name means “ray of light” - is a metal worker, while his wife Pia, whose name means “love” or “beloved”, is an artisan. While Kiran is killed by Captain Baral, Pia is simply not seen before Chandra’s spark ignites and is only presumed dead. Chandra’s name means “moon”, which seems like a flavor fail but it is also the name of a Hindu god associated with a lot of ‘red’ concepts.
Nalaar is a lot trickier, but amusingly ‘Na’ at the end of a statement means ‘Isn’t it?’, and Laar is saliva. Their name could mean ‘’Isn’t it spit?”.
Captain Baral - Baral is a captain in the consuls’ forces and is described as a large, emotionless man with a soft, hoarse voice. He’s secretly a mage and rather single minded in his pursuit of Chandra because of her nature as a pyromancer. He continues on the chase after the consuls have requested he desist. He murdered Kiran Nalaar, and it’s unclear whether or not he died after Chandra’s massive fire spell when she ascends as a planeswalker. Baral is a surname common to gold merchants.
Mrs. Pashiri - Mrs. Pashiri is another link is the aether underground. While Chandra doesn’t realize it herself, when Mrs. Pashiri gives her shelter in the Consuls’ factory (that eventually explodes), Mrs. Pashiri immediately steps up and takes steps to disable the Consuls’ forces’ pursuit. Her quick thinking and action make it likely that this wasn’t her first rodeo - she’s experienced. At Chandra’s execution, she makes a Nalaar salute to Chandra (hands on the forehead to look like goggles), and could very possibly be someone who sparks the revolt we will see in Aether Revolt.
Saheeli Rai - We know next to nothing about Saheeli, but she’s likely a member of the Kaldeshi elite. How do we know this? Well for one thing, her name means “Friend of the King” (although I’ve heard her first name to translate roughly to seashore instead of friend). But more substantively, up until now very few people have that gold filigree - usually it’s reserved for artifacts or seemingly important people. Saheeli’s gold filigree is far more elaborate (and non-practical) than anything we’ve seen before, which is a good sign of wealth or prestige.
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