Plane Break: An Unknown World
Chapter 1: A new land
This is the multiverse. A collection of planes, all feeding off of one another, influencing each other in subtle ways, but never coming into contact. Some believe the multiverse to be boundless, with ever new planes ripe for discovery. Others believe it to be finite, with planes too numerous to count in a single life time. Whichever belief you fall under let it be known that the multiverse is a dangerous and hostile place, wars rage on almost every plane from Ravnica to Kamigaya. Violence does not belong to a single species, but is an energy that swells with time. To the denizens of these planes, the multiverse is not but a legend, a tale they tell children, the plane they live on is their whole world. However there are few who can navigate the multiverse, who can use their power to leap from plane to plane, not held in place by the walls of separation. These beings are called Planeswalkers. Mighty mages and warriors whose very presence can influence those around them. Our story begins on the plane of Ixalan, a savage world home to thunderous beasts and deadly pirates. Four factions vie for control and the world is seeped in chaos and war...
The dense jungles of Ixalan were hard to navigate if you did not know your way. One would easily be caught off guard, caught in a maze of trees and vines. It was a natural defense against invaders, or any sort of ill mannered folk who would think of venturing too far in. This was his home, Jol Uk, a merfolk, a planeswalker, a hero to his people. Like most planeswalkers he was a powerful mage, able to create devastating spells and traverse the multiverse at will. An adept in green and blue mana he was as much a trickster as he was a beast master. Using his mastery of illusions and mind altering magic to gain an advantage in battle. While his mastery of the dinosaurs of Ixalan and the almost living jungle made him a force to be reckoned with. In this time of war he was invaluable to his people, keeping them safe, pushing back against the march of the Legion of Dusk. They were a horde of vampires and humans from a land far across the sea, here in search of an ancient artifact known as the Immortal Sun. They believed it would give them true immortality, saving them from the curse of undeath that had wrapped its icy grip around them for millennia. Battling them for it were the Sun Empire, humans who once ruled these lands, but have grown weak and soft. They seek to reclaim their lands using the power of the Immortal Sun. Between them were the Brazen Coalition, a collection of pirates who only want one thing, wealth. They pillage and plunder whatever they can and believe the Immortal Sun will bring them riches beyond riches.
To them, The River Heralds, the merfolk who had been here long before the humans, some say before the dinosaurs themselves, the Immortal Sun was a sign of protection. They had been tasked with guarding the golden city from outsiders and keeping the Immortal Sun safe. So far they had done just that, Jol was instrumental in keeping them at bay. Those foolish enough to venture into the jungle, to seek the golden city, were never heard from again. This caused the three factions to be at a stand still, merely poking at a sleeping Rex while battling each other when they could.
That was about to change. Word had reached Jol that a vampire planeswalker, known only as Vex, had joined the Legion and was carving a path of death straight to them. Normally Jol would let the advance crash against the jungle like water against rock, but with this planeswalker they could very well make their way deeper then before. He gathered a group of warriors and led them out hoping this would be enough to stop their advance. Merfolk were not normally fighters, Shaman, healers, mages these were merfolk, war was not in their nature. Yet this time of war had pushed many of them to take up arms, to be ready to fight, luckily their natural biology did lend itself to fighting. Merfolk were near giants, standing almost 8 feet tall with an imposing physique. Their fins had long since become useless, more for distinction rather then purpose. The older the merfolk the longer their fins were. They flowed like hair or more accurately, like water. The fins sprouting from their elbows and legs stopped short, but the ones one their heads grew long, almost dragging on the ground behind them. They merfolk managed to work this into their fighting style, distracting the enemy with brightly colored scales and fins before striking deadly blows.
Like his brothers Jol too shared these traits, standing the tallest among his brothers, with green scales that shimmered in the light and long translucent fins flowing from him, tipped with blood red markings. He wore his peoples traditional jade armor and carried a trident of a rare glass type rock. His webbed fingers gripped it tightly as his war party reached the edge of their lands. They were some 250 strong, each worth 3 of the enemy, they had faith and they were ready. He motioned for them to stay hidden in the trees and brush of the jungles edge as he looked out onto the green fields that stretched before him. The sight that greeted him would send even the most devout warrior running. Marching across the green plains was a massive army of vampires and humans, at least five thousand strong. Their marching feet rumbled across the valley, behind them plumes of smoke swirled into the sky.
Jol stepped out, the feelings of wet grass against his webbed feet would normally be a welcoming feeling, but now in anticipation of the coming battle it was merely a sensation lost in the anxiety. He stopped a few feet from the jungle itself and began to stamp the hilt end of his trident against the ground. It sent out a sound, like metal on metal, that echoed in the jungle behind him. Soon three large Rex broke their way out of the tangle of leaves and vines stopping in line with him letting out bone shattering roars. This did nothing to effect the marching army who kept pace.
As they grew closer Jol got a good look at who was leading them, the one he assumed was Vex. She was riding on a white horse at the head of the encroaching army. She was pale white with black hair hidden beneath a golden helm that had a type of fin down the middle with with stretched edges that came to a point at the front and back. She wore bright golden armor adorned with screaming faces.
"Vex I presume!" Jol called out as they got within ear shot, about one hundred yards away, his voice barely above the sound of marching feet. Vex held up a fist and the entire force stopped in unison the silence that followed was deafening.
The vampire stepped from her horse, arms out stretched to her sides, calling him to behold her and her army, "So you have heard of me," she replied her hands falling to her sides, one gripping the hilt of her sword, "That saves me the trouble of introductions and we can get right to the good part." she drew her sword, a silver blade that seemed to shine with a light of it's own, "We are the Legion, we are here for Orzca, for the Immortal Sun, you WILL stand aside." she pointed her sword at him demanding he move.
Jol stamped his trident again beckoning the Rex to unleash another shattering roar. From the trees his merfolk brethren stepped, blue mana streamed from him into the ground quickly creating illusionary copies making it seem like his force was stronger standing a thousand men or more. His reply was simple, "And if we don't?"
Vex raised her sword high, pointing to the clouded sky. She slashed and seemed to cut the cloud in two letting light bathe the battlefield. She raised her hand as if holding something, white mana swirled and sparked around her arm. With a thrust toward Jol a beam of white energy surged outward. Jol brought his arms across his body quickly, vines shot from the ground creating a shield against the attack. She pressed, pushing hard against his defense, but it held sturdy. Still Jol did not know for how long, he could see the vines stressing and snapping, growing red and breaking as she pressed. Suddenly she stopped, an evil wicked smile crossing her face as she moved to mount her horse again. Jol dropped his shield and stood ready, this was going to be a battle for the ages.
Raising her sword high, pointed at Jol's heart she shouted one word, "Charge!" and the silence of the valley again was ravaged by the sound marching feet. The vampire army ran, swerving around Vex like a rock in a river.
Jol gritted his teeth and scrambled up the side of a Rex standing atop it, his trident at the ready, "Today we fight for our home, forward!" he called out, the Rex went first thundering down toward the enemy, the merfolk, both fake and real, followed close behind.
There a split second of silence, before the sound of clashing armies grew to a crescendo. The Rex stomped and stamped over them cutting a swathe through them. The merfolk clashed sword on sword, their jade weapons ringing softly with every strike. The illusions couldn't hold their form as they were cut and bashed by the enemy, exploding into a rush a of water disorienting their attackers. Jol didn't stop, he pushed his Rex forward, beckoning him on, crushing vampires and humans beneath it's feet, making a bee line for Vex who stood calm and ready. Turning their attention to the massive lizard the legion grabbed onto it, stabbing and slashing at it's legs swarming over it like insects over a fresh kill. Jol focused green mana into his hand and laid it onto the dinosaur's head infusing it with power. The massive creature grew larger and more ferocious, losing any sense and attacked wildy. With the beast on a rampage Jol lept from it's head toward Vex. His trident surged with blue mana, sparking and glowing as he fell. Vex held up her sword, a shield of light surrounded her and her horse, impenetrable from any types of magic. Jol didn't care, landing on the shield he gripped his trident with both hands raising it above his head and bring it down onto the shield.
The crackle of energy overpowered the sounds of battle. Arcs of pure energy bolted out from the point of impact. They cut swathes in the ground, through both armies vaporizing those it touched laying waste to the land around them. Jol let out a primal scream and forced more mana into his trident, the tree prongs swirled with blue and green power. The shield began to crack slowly. Vex gritted her teeth and pushed back against him letting out a scream of her own, focusing all her power into the shield. One of the three prongs from the trident broke through and Jol pushed harder. As the shield was pierced a wave of energy surged outward, knocking away those closest and getting the attention of those farther away. Suddenly the battle was no longer two armies clashing it was two, almost otherworldly powers, smashing against one another.
"Your March," Jol cried out, his trident breaking further in, "Stops here!" the shield was cracking more and more, straining to stay up. Vex was getting desperate, her mind raced with possible escapes anything to get her out, she was not ready to die here.
"You win this round, fish boy," she said as she made a motion with her hand creating a tear in this reality, an escape to another plane, "We'll settle this soon," before she could escape Jol's trident shattered the shield with a deafening boom. The breaking created a ripple of powerful energy that warped the very air around it. As it collided with the portal there was a bright blinding flash of light and then silence.
Jol was floating, or falling, he couldn't tell which. All he saw around him was white, blankness, nothing. He couldn't tell what was up or down just that he was falling, or was it floating, hard to tell. The last thing he could recall was an explosion, like a burst of light and a ringing in his ears. When he opened them he was blind, not blind, but unable to see. There was no sound, simply silence, nothing in whatever void he was in, maybe he had gone deaf. He held his webbed hands in front of him, not blind he could see them, and began to snap, not deaf he could hear it. The explosion of energy mixed with the portal must have launched him somewhere, An empty plane maybe? He thought to himself.
Suddenly the sound of rushing air filled his ears, replacing the silence. The white blankness was replaced with a bright blue, as if he had fallen from a cloud. Now he knew was falling, it wasn't for too long as there was a stinging in his in his back. He had hit a branch of a tree, it snapped under his weight and the power form his fall. There was another snap and stinging as he hit another and another, replaced with an all over body pain as he slammed into the ground. His trident clanged and clattered as it fell next to him and he just laid there. He thought for a second about getting up, but wasn't sure if his legs sill worked.
Fighting through the pain he pushed himself up and grabbed his trident using it to lift himself to his feet leaning on it a little. With a stiff neck and groggy eyes he looked around trying to find out where he was. He was surrounded by strange trees, the likes of which he had never seen before. The world around him seemed so out of place, so foreign and he felt so weak. Shaking himself out of it he called on his power and made a motion with his hand. Yet nothing happened. Again he swiped the air, waiting for his portal to open, but it did not. He stared at his hand, willing mana to come to it, but nothing happened. Before he had a chance to figure out why he heard a screaming, someone calling for help. Gathering what strength he could he moved towards the sound coming from over the hill. As he crested the top and looked down he saw a most strange sight. A girl, blue with horns, goat feet and a tail running from what appeared to be an orc patrol, but they were so different. He had never seen a creature like her, or orcs that looked that ugly. She fell, tripped over something and was at their mercy, it was obvious they meant her harm.
With a push he slid down the hill and jumped between them, "Stop!" he called out standing to his full height a good few heads above these orcs. The four of them stopped, they were holding weapons and chains, but were hesitant to approach Jol, he could see in their eyes that he was as strange to them as they were to him. He raised his trident towards them, "Leave this one alone,"
One of the orcs pushed another, he seemed to be their leader, "Oh yeah?" he asked, his common tongue was broken, and choppy, "Who is gonna be makin us den?"
In response Jol swung his trident like a battleaxe willing green mana into the tip. As it impacted the rough armor the orc was wearing, the glass like crystals shattered and he was holding nothing more then a jade staff. The lead orc laughed loudly and swung his fist impacting Jol's jaw, hard. Then the was blackness.