Alara

Alara is a plane in the Multiverse. It was once a serene plane with few internal conflicts, but the Sundering broke the world into the five Shards: Bant, Esper, Grixis, Jund and Naya. The event known as the Conflux reunited the shards, causing much chaos and mayhem to their respective residents.

The Sundering
Alara was once a vast plane whose realms, including an ancient kingdom known as Vithia, flourished in an era of peace and wisdom. But many centuries ago, an unknown Planeswalker plundered Alara for its mana. The drain on the plane's mana shattered something deep in its metaphysical structure, causing it to undergo a radical planar refraction. The plane broke into shards along mana lines, diffusing into its component parts like light refracted in a prism - and shattering Alara's civilizations and ecologies along with it. Whatever agent caused this destruction abandoned what remained of the plane, its spell presumably finished.

Conflux
The shards reunited, a jagged fusion of now poorly-fitting pieces. As the Conflux progressed, it became not the same Alara that had once been, but a new world, a patchwork plane composed of five distinct microverses—Alara, but reborn. As the barriers between worlds dissolved and lands overlapped in chaotic incursion zones, the denizens of the five shards ventured forth, meeting their long-lost fellow Alarans for the first time. Prejudice gripped these races that were once allies, made strangers by history and fate. The rejoined plane flows with all five colors of mana once more. Waves of raw power crash across the former planar boundaries, bringing long-forgotten magics to all the shards and mingling them in unprecedented ways. As the boundaries between the shards dissolve, cultures clash, and wars ensue.

The forces of Esper invade the other shards looking for carmot, an element necessary to create more of their dwindling etherium. Hordes of Grixis undead mount an assault to maim, enslave, and drain the life energy from other shards. The warriors of Jund extend their "life hunts" to the newfound game throughout Alara's vast hunting grounds. Naya's forces follow the elves' decrees and march out of the jungle, searching for answers to the Anima's prophetic visions. And the armies of Bant clash with the horrors swarming over their borders, defending their homeland in the name of their guardian angels.

The Maelstrom
At the point where the five Shards met, a chaotic storm of mana came into existence: the Maelstrom. Nicol Bolas, the ancient dragon Planeswalker, planned this all along. He came to Alara to feed on its rich mana and, in one massive ritual, restore his lost power. He was ultimately stopped from destroying all of Alara by Ajani Goldmane.

Trivia

 * Alara is a planar subtype for plane cards in Planechase.
 * An Alara Premium Foil Booster pack contained fifteen foil, black-bordered cards from Shards of Alara, Conflux, and Alara Reborn. It was released on January 8, 2010 (MSRP: $11.99).
 * A return to Alara is probable but complicated by the facts that three-color focused sets are difficult to design and that the shards were more popular than the reintegrated plane.

Languages Spoken

 * Nacatl

Native
• Ajani Goldmane (Naya)

• Sifa Grent (Grixis)

• Tezzeret (Esper)

Visitors
• Dack Fayden (Grixis)

• Domri Rade

• Elspeth Tirel

• Gideon Jura (Bant)

• Liliana Vess (Grixis)

• Nicol Bolas

• Ral Zarek

• Sarkhan Vol

• Tibalt (Esper)

• The Wanderer

• The Unluckiest (Grixis)

• Vronos (Esper)