#andalor

[leonin-pal-adin]

Set design is difficult. I really want to figure out what the mechanics are for Andalor... I have Bushido/Valiant and Populate for certain, but what else...?

[leonin-pal-adin]

An Aftermath card I designed! The mechanics associated with each of Andalor’s factions are Populate (Spring’s Wake), Valiant (Summer’s Grace), Flashback (Autumn’s Rest), and Aftermath (Winter’s Night). Thanks to @kopala-warden-of-tumbr and @bobstropajo!

[leonin-pal-adin]

Family Outing

(Sean is @a-smol-future-boros-named-sean and owned by @a-boros-named-seamus)

“Mmn, five more minutes, Pa…” Sean grumbled a bit as he woke up. I smiled softly at the grumpy expression on his face, and patted his back.

“Lobitito, I think you’ve had enough sleep,” I said gently. I could still hardly believe I was a father, especially to such a clever, sweet boy. “I have a surprise to show you today, anyhow.”

“Huh?” That got Sean’s attention. He rubbed the bleariness out of his eyes and sat up, blinking softly. Helping him out of bed, I waited for him to get dressed before continuing.

“I’m taking a day off from Boros work, and your Dad and your Papa have given me leave to take you off-plane,” I explained, straightening the stomach plate of my armor slightly, the montanite gem in it twinkling in the morning light.

“Really?!” He brightened- Sean had always been in possession of a curious mind, and he loved being off Ravnica, whether it was during our sojourn to Ixalan aboard the Tempest or simply taking a stroll in Lorwyn while the sun was out. I had no doubts that he would love this. “What are we waiting for, Pa? Let’s go!”

“I have to help you get there, son,” I chuckled, patting his head. I took his hand, making sure to hold it firmly, and I affixed my eyes out the window, looking towards the horizon.

I murmured a prayer of thanks for the generosity of life in giving me Sean.

The world drifted away, and we fell.

I was used to my personal style of planeswalking now, long after that first fall into Ravnica’s thread of existence, but Sean was not. I held him tight as we drifted through the Blind Eternities, heading towards a vivid green thread that I knew to be my old home.

“Pa, what’s going on?!” he called to me, voice everywhere and nowhere in the aether. “Is this the Multiverse?!”

“It’s okay, son, this is merely how I planeswalk!” I reassured, patting his back. All the same, he still braced himself against me, unintentionally shifting into werewolf form in his fear. We made contact with Andalor and fell into its reality, and on instinct I roared out another prayer, one for fine weather. As it always did, the wind responded, wrapping itself around us and guiding us gently downward. Sean kept his eyes closed all the way down, until we touched the ground, and I gently turned him around. “We are safe, darling. You can open your eyes now.”

He did- and he gasped. What lay before him was a forest of Andalor in all its glory, its thickets kissed by autumn’s red and dappled in golden dawn sunlight. Fruit hung heavy off the boughs of the trees, and squirrels and foxes frolicked through the understory, half hidden by shadow. The sight brought tears to my own eyes. Surreptitiously wiping them, I murmured, “Do you like it?”

Sean took some time to answer. “Pa… I love it!” he breathed, still in awe. “What is this place? Have you shown Dad or Papa? Can we go in there?”

“In order, it is my home plane of Andalor, Seamus and Aspen do not know yet, and we most certainly can!” I laughed, all too happy to sate my child’s curiosity. Only ten years old and so full of questions! I strode confidently towards the forest, Sean tagging along and staring with glee at everything unfamiliar. It was nothing like the dark, enclosed forests of other planes, where horrors unfathomable lurked. It was a safe, happy place, as long as you were careful. A child could find all they wanted here- fruit to eat, fish to hunt, shade in which to rest, leaves to crunch underfoot. I knew my boy would be happy here, and I longed for the day when my entire family could come. There was so much of Andalor to show Sean before nightfall, though! Even if I dared not take him near the kingdom of Summer’s Grace and its rotten court where I was forever a fugitive, I knew Autumn’s Rest would treat him well.

“Highest heavens, thank you for this life I lead,” I said softly, watching Sean cavort among the leaves and the beasts, happy, unharmed, unafraid.

[leonin-pal-adin]

A small, poorly done painting of Andalor. I fear I shall never perfectly capture it, but... this is practice.