Constellari

"Born under the moon, the second child will stumble on temptation and seek power in the dark places of the heart." —Codex of the Constellari
Fellow creative team writer Jenna Helland came up with the flavor text for these, inspired by the classical, "illuminated manuscript" look of Nielsen's art. I've been thinking about these prophetic pieces of prose, and the farsighted Constellari and their Codex, ever since.

To me they sound like a race of prophets, a nonhuman species cloaked in mystery, honored and exalted by all who dwell in the plane around them for their stunning accuracy at predicting the events of the future. In my head they're a tiny minority, only a few thousand in number, but more real and palpable than remote gods—a living religion.
When the Constellari came and codified their visions into the Codex, they lifted the world out of a time of shadow, bringing good harvests and an end to bitter war. The world's horrors were driven back, and the people flourished. The people hailed the Constellari as saints, and trusted their utterances as law, and gave them authority as year counters, grain blessers, and prayer poets. Their uncanny accuracy removed all doubt in their origins or purposes, and for a long while the plane thrived in unity.
But it's hard for the human mind to embrace another's judgment so completely. Skeptics wondered what force could predict so perfectly. And some found chinks in their wall of perfect truth.
"There is one who can tell us the answer." "Father, please silence your doubt. We'll contact one of the Fatemerge, and they'll know what to do." "That's just what they'd predict us to do, isn't it? No. We're going to the Old Mountains." "You can't go there. It's forbidden. Father..." "We're both going there. And we're seeking out the efreet." "No! He's the wishmonger of destruction, father! He's the Lieteller." "He's the only one they can't predict."
All of you who followed the Shards of Alara block storyline probably suspect—and all of you who read Alara Unbroken know—that I'm fascinated by prophecy, and false prophecy in particular. There's something so hopeful in the idea of the ability to see the future—so many of our lives' woes would seem to be avoidable if we could remove the future from its shroud of mystery. Magic of this kind would be so comforting, so powerful—either you can see the doom heading your way in time to evade it, or you already know in advance that things are going to work out okay. And yet prophecy, ultimately, is limiting; it cuts off possibilities that may have once existed, reducing a fanning delta of choices down to a one-way stream of bounded history. I think that's why so much fantasy literature centers on prophecy—it's tantalizingly hopeful, yet causes our human will to rebel, focusing the spotlight on our need for a free future. We yearn for freedom even at the price of perfection.
All that I'm getting from a couple of core set Auras? Yeah. That's the inexplicable brain-bomb for you.
Holy Strength art by Terese Nielsen
"Born under the sun, the first child will seek the foundation of honor and be fortified by its righteousness." —Codex of the Constellari
"The efreet has spoken, father. Are you convinced now?" "I don't ... I don't understand. He confirmed everything. Everything they told us. 'The child will stumble on temptation, and seek power in the dark places of the heart.'" "Though it was forbidden, I'm glad we went now, father. I think it's helped you to see." "Are you serious? I'm more muddled than I've ever been. Could it have been an efreet's trick?" "To tell you the Constellari's truth? Father, you finally know now what we all know." "What, that we should have let the child die? I'll never believe that." "Hm, maybe we shouldn't have. Maybe the Second Child needs to live, to grow up." "For them to be right. For us to fulfill their blasted prophecies for them." "For history to run its proper course. We don't know the future. Only they do." "Bah." "Leave it for now. Let your mind rest." "I can't ... I can't reckon it. Am I the puppet of prophecy? Or merely an accomplice in its grand charade?" "Come, father. The Sun Solstice is almost upon us, and we have yet to visit the birthplace of the First Child." "Very well. I suppose we'll have to nurture him and teach him well, so that he can grow up to save us from that ... baby." "Yes, father."

Since it's Favorite Flavor Week, I wanted to leave you today with a selection of some of my favorite new art from M10. I'd like to hear from you—what are your favorite new pieces in the set?

Parent Organization

Zodiac Barons