Coin Empire

Coin Empire
History
Founded on	Unknown
Status	Perished
Organization
Purpose	Colonization
Membership
Founded by	Fomori
Notable members	Loot

The Coin Empire is the tentative name of an ancient civilization that once spanned many planes in the Multiverse by or before -5000 AR. On Ixalan, they are known as the Kisik and the Colonizers. The name "Coin Empire" was given to them by the planeswalker Quintorius Kand in his studies; in the flavor text for Master's Manufactory and Cartographer's Companion, they are identified as the Fomori from Ir.

Description

Coin Empire members are massive humanoid giants with gray skin, horns, thick legs, and person-sized hands that end in curved talons. They wear rust-colored armor.

The Coin Empire arrived on Ixalan in massive semicircular ships shaped from a single piece of metal. Within the ships, multiple floors with tall ceilings housed large, oblong furniture. On the lower level, massive tanks held members of the Coin Empire in stasis.

History

Origin

The Fomori are said to be native to Turri Island on Ir. They built and still protect the fortress of Turri Island, because it is said to be a "mana haven", and is often assaulted by planeswalkers.

Invasion of Ixalan

Long before New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, the Coin Empire invaded Ixalan's Core. Initially pleading for refuge in the Core, the Coin Empire soon turned hostile against the Oltec, eventually caging the inner sun Chimil within an assembly of their invasion ships. Mobilized against their invaders, the Echoes, and subsequently the Oltec, waged The Night War against the Coin Empire. This went on for 320 years and was ultimately brought to an end when their final assault against the prison weakened its infrastructure enough for Chimil to destroy it. Cosmium metal would bleed out from the sun in the aftermath of the conflict, mixing with some debris of the destroyed ships to form the reef that currently encircles it.

Collapse

At some point after the invasion of Ixalan, the Coin Empire suffered a major collapse. The civilization's end left coin-like relics, ruins, and vaults like Maag Taranau scattered across planes. The cause of the Empire's collapse is unknown.

Rediscovery

Although long lost to history to most, a few like Tamiyo were aware of the empire, through its relics and stories studied and collected across the Multiverse. Two years before New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, Tamiyo met Jace Beleren in Ravnica, months after the War of the Spark, where she shared what she knew of the empire.

A year after New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, evidence of the empire was rediscovered by planeswalker Quintorius Kand in the form of strange coin motifs which he found during his travels.

Despite tracking leads through various planes, the people who belonged to the civilization were still an enigma to the loxodon, who began referring to them as the Coin Empire. Quint was later contacted by Saheeli Rai via a courier system between Arcavios and Ixalan and told that evidence of the Coin Empire was found in the caverns below Orazca. Upon arriving on Ixalan, Quint confirmed that the symbols on the tablets that the Sun Empire had found did indeed belong to the same people.

Quint joined the expedition to the Core of Ixalan where he hoped to find more clues on the Coin Empire. The first thing they found was a massive corpse. After making contact with the Oltec, Quint was hopeful that their didacts could shed some light for his research.

Through his exchanges with the didacts, he was told stories of the Colonizers' original invasion. Quint's journey brought him to Colony's End, the wreckage of a Coin Empire invasion ship. There, he discovered the same coin motif belonging to the Coin Empire. He found little he was able to understand but came across a Giant held in stasis similar to the corpse he had seen much nearer to the surface. However, it suddenly moved when Quint approached it, prompting him to make a quick escape.

Heist of Maag Taranau

For unknown reasons, a living child with connections to the Empire was sought by the planeswalker Jace Beleren. With the help of Vraska, and disguised as Ashiok, Jace used the fae planeswalker Oko to assemble a team of rogues on Thunder Junction to break into Maag Taranau. Once the team had opened the vault, Jace found the child in stasis and proceeded to re-awaken it. With his objective complete, Jace and Vraska left the other members of the team and disappeared with the child.

In-game references

Associated cards:

• Construct (BIG token)
• Fomori Vault
• Golem (BIG token)

Referred to:

• Cartographer's Companion
• Master's Manufactory
• Torpor Orb (The Big Score, #57)

Maag Taranau relics:

• Ancient Cornucopia
• Collector's Cage
• Esoteric Duplicator
• Legion Extruder
• Nexus of Becoming
• Simulacrum Synthesizer
• Sword of Wealth and Power
• Torpor Orb (The Big Score, #57)
• Transmutation Font
• Worldwalker Helm

Trivia

• "Fomori" is the name of a mythological adversary-race in Irish mythology. Like the cards that name them, they were at one point depicted like giants, and like their role in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan's backstory, they were also raiders from another world.
• Maag Taranau combines the old Irish "mag" for "plains" and the Welsh "taranau" for "thunder", giving another link to the Celtic mythology surrounding the Fomori.

Gallery

• 

  Unused concept art of Coin Empire "spacesuits" for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.