Terisiare

For the modern location, see Terisian Isles.

Terisiare
Terisiare Map of Terrain and Locations during the Brother's Wars
Information
Plane	Dominaria
Status	Broken into Terisian Isles
Later part of	Gulmany New Argive Almaaz Yavimaya Lat-Nam Shattered Isles of Argoth
Card art	art:"Terisiare"

Terisiare was a large continent in the northern hemisphere of Dominaria, positioned in the middle of the ocean, halfway between Shiv and Aerona. Terisiare is the setting for the expansions Antiquities, The Dark, Ice Age, Alliances, and Coldsnap, as well as portions of the Urza's block and the novel The Thran. In the Modern Age it is sometimes referred to as the Lost Continent or as the Terisian Isles.

Current geography

The original continent has been broken into smaller islands. The Sea of Laments and the Sea of Almaaz now lie in the middle of the old continent. To the west lie the Lat-Nam Straits, and the Ilesemare Sea beyond, eventually leading to Otaria, to the north lies the Endless Sea, northeast lies the Videnthian Sea and Greater Videnth, to the east lies the Visceral Sea, and to the south the South Sea and the Shielded Sea and the continent of Sarpadia. Across the Visceral Sea, the Domains lie six thousand miles east.

History

Early history

A population of dwarves have lived in Terisiare since prehistoric times — at least before the Thran, and possibly before any human habitation on the continent. The earliest known humans to occupy Terisiare were the subjects of the cruel and powerful Primeval Dragons. These people overthrew their draconic masters and formed a large empire based in Otaria.

The Thran

At the time of the Thran, five thousand years before the birth of Urza and Mishra, their Empire stretched across the entire continent. The elves of Terisiare fled the expanding empire to the island of Argoth. The empire was ultimately destroyed by Yawgmoth, ruler of Phyrexia.

• Halcyon - the capital. A beautiful city.

The Brothers' War

At the time of The Brothers' War, 5,000 years after the Thran-Phyrexian War, Terisiare managed to largely rebuild into a dynamic and modernizing force on Dominaria. That is until the war came along.

• Almaaz - one of the most ancient kingdoms during the time of the Brothers. The only country that didn't collapse in the wake of the War.
  • The Borderlands at the edge of the desert
    • The Chimes - a magical valley inhabited by Sarrazan elves
    • Sarraza - the mountain where the Beast of the Hours was bound
    • The Sarrazan River, a river flowing past Sarazza
  • The Halquina Mountains - the backbone of the southwestern peninsula.
  • Sumifa - capital of Almaaz, destroyed in 35 AR
• Argoth - a large island off the coast of Southern Yotia. Completely obliterated in the last battle of the War, when Urza activated the Golgothian Sylex.
  • Citanul - the druid city of Argoth
    • Titania's Court - from where Titania ruled the island
• Colekgan Mountains - a massive mountainous area in the northwest of the continent.
• The Combined Kingdoms - a nation which formed during the war.
  • Argive - homeland of Urza and Mishra, the northernmost of the three coastal kingdoms. Ruled by a monarchy until the outbreak of the War, where Urza was all but given the powers of the king. After the war, the country eventually crumbled with the rest of Terisiare's cultures.
    • Penregon - its capital
  • Korlis - the middle of the three coastal kingdoms. Its forest was completely harvested by Urza. Crumbled after the war.
    • The River Kor
    • Korlinda - site of a failed peace conference
  • Yotia was the westernmost one of the three coastal kingdoms, and the one suffering the brunt of Fallaji raiding parties before the outbreak of the war.
    • Kroog - its capital.
    • Jorilin - the hometown of Tawnos, situated on the coast.
    • Hench - a caravan town east of Kroog.
    • The Sword Marches - a disputed region.
• The Fallaji Empire - a great alliance of several different tribes of desert nomads ruled by Mishra. Nearly all the Fallaji were killed in the Last Battle.
  • The Great Desert
  • Tomakul - its informal capital
  • Zegon - another important city
  • The Western Desert
• The Kher Ridges - a mountainous region
  • Kher Keep - lair of Kobolds
  • Koilos- a plateau with crumbling buildings and a network of caves, containing Thran relics and a portal to Phyrexia.
  • Mishra's Fortress - located west of Koilos in a western spur of the Khers.
  • Urza's Tower - located in a valley on the edge of the southern Khers.
• Lat-Nam - an island west of the main continent
  • College of Lat-Nam - a school of artifice
• The Malpiri Plains - a large expanse of flatlands in the north
  • The Flarg - a cluster of mountains, home of goblins
  • Malpiri - a nation ihabiting the plains, close allies to Sardia.
• The Mardun River - a river that flowed from the Kher Ridges down past Kroog into the Shielded Sea.
• The Monastery of Gix - a center of Phyrexian activity.
• Ronom Glacier - a large body of ice at the furthest north of Terisiare. The site where Feldon found his his cane.
• Ronom Lake - an immense lake in the center of the continent, fed by the Ronom Glacier.
• Sardian Mountains - a large chain of high peaks in eastern Terisiare
  • Sardia - a country of dwarves neighbouring Argive. Close allies to the Malpiri.
• Sarinth a peaceful region, rival to the nearby Yumok. Destroyed by Mishra's forces.
• Terisia City the largest and most ancient city, eventual headquarters of the Third Way. Destroyed by Mishra.
• Yumok - a rival of Sarinth along the mountainous northern coast.

Dark Age

During the time of The Dark (64-450 AR). The devastation that followed The Brothers' War had left the once-mighty nations in ruin. Civilization had been reduced to a handful of loosely aligned city-states, all ruled under the puritanical Church of Tal. Goblins and bandits stalked the roads between these cities, and winter seemed to last longer and reach further south with each passing year. After the Brothers' destruction, artifice and magic were treated with suspicion, fear, and hatred, and the Church of Tal sought to eradicate them. During this time, the Argothian elves returned to Terisiare after the destruction of the island in the Brothers' War. Later, the Sarpadian dwarves were teleported to Terisiare by the Lady of Otaria after the fall of their empire.

• Almaaz - the only nation that had survived the War.
  • The Borderlands at the edge of the desert
    • The Chimes - a magical valley inhabited by Sarrazan elves
    • Sarraza - the mountain where the Beast of the Hours lay bound
    • The Sarrazan River, a river flowing past Sarazza
  • The Halquina Mountains - the backbone of the southwestern peninsula.
• Angremur - a kingdom which was ravaged by the goblins of the Flarg
  • Mount Shadow - a mountain near Angremur that was set fire to by King Rogan in monster form
• Argive - a nation decimated by war. The nation fell apart in the early parts of the Dark Age and became the Northern Provinces.
  • Penregon - Argive's capital until the Fall of Penregon in 80 AR.
  • Mardun - a river on the west side of the Khers
  • New Yotia - a city that grew on the banks of the Mardun, and was eventually added to Argive.
• The Blissful Isles - islands populated by cannibals.
• Cape Furious - the southern cape of Terisiare, host to monkeys.
• Coireall - the site of a famous, contested tower. Its precise location is unknown.
• Colekgan Mountains
  • Urhaalan Valley - located across a wide plain from the Eln Forest.
    • Lycoh Wash - a river flowing through the Urhaalan Valley
  • Eln Forest - located north of Iwset.
• The Conclave of Mages - an impressive Citadel built on the site of the Monastery of Gix. It was an alternate to the City of Shadows, being much less structured.
• Egaverral - a poorly funded non-magical academy, studying the archaeology, history, and religion of Terisiare.
• Fuwullian Jungles - Jungles of unknown location, known for their humid heat.
• The Great Desert - now uninhabited.
• Isles of Argive - A kingdom inhabiting the isles off the northeastern coast of Terisiare in c. 100 AR.
• Kher Ridges
  • Kher Keep - lair of Kobolds
  • Koilos- a plateau with crumbling buildings and a network of caves, containing Thran relics and a portal to Phyrexia.
  • Urza's Tower - located in a valley on the edge of the southern Khers.
• Lat-Nam - in the far west, now almost connected with the mainland due to decreasing temperatures and water level
  • The City of Shadows - a secretive training grounds for mages.
• The Malpiri Plains in the northeast.
  • The Flarg - was a mountainous region infested by goblins.
• The Northern Provinces - many lesser city-states and open land in the area of former Argive
  • Giva Province - the home of Jodah, who would eventually become one of the most important figures of the coming Ice Age. Giva was eventually completely locked in ice.
  • Thorn. Tivadar hailed from this town. He and his Knightly Order, aided by the wizard Rasputin Dreamweaver, temporarily restored civilization to Terisiare by throwing back the Goblin Invasions with their Crusade. This brought a close to the period known as 'the Dark.'
• Pari's Golden Beach - A beach littered with golden jetsam on an unnamed island in c. 100 AR.
• Sardian Mountains
  • Storgard - a kingdom. Its capital had the same name.
  • The Tanglewoods - a deadly place of man-eating vines and carnivorous plants at the northern foot of the last sentinels of the Sardian Range. East of the Conclave.
• Sarinth - a city at the edge of Ronom Glacier. Hosted brothels.
• The Savaen Expanses - a large forest inhabited by elves and spiders. Its precise location is unknown.
• The Scarwoods - a wooded region plagued by bandits, goblins, hags, and scavenger folk. Its precise location is unknown.
• The Shattered Isles - a ruined expanse of barren, lifeless rocks.
  • Argoth - a broken, crumbling island
• The Southern City-States - twelve city-states in the area of former Korlis
  • Alsoor - a city that was destroyed by diabolic machines. Voska lived near it, and here Jodah had his first escape from Primata Delphine.
  • Ghed - a port city three days travel to the southwest from Alsoor.
  • Korlis - a fading human civilization in the south, its holdings reduced to the city itself.
  • Pitdown - the location of a three-way battle between Alsoor, Ghed, and a goblin host.
• Tomb of the Seven Martyrs - a locked vault in a hidden location, containing the tombs of the Seven Martyrs. Its existence may be mythical.
• Vhati - Somewhere the author Sten El-rohar was from.
• Western coast - an area of contention bordering the Lat-Nam straits and Ilesemare Sea in the west, Almaaz in the south, and Colekgan Mountains to the east and north.
  • The Anger of the World - a massive volcano far to the south of Iwset.
  • Iwset - a city state on the west coast.
    • Desolation Point - a promontory close to Iwset
  • Jehesic - a fortified island nation, south of Iwset.
    • Enrys Reef - a rocky outcropping in the sea along Jehesic, a natural defense against ships.
  • Shingol Cove - a cove on the west coast of Terisiare
    • Merfolk Vista - a promontory looking out across the Shingol Cove to the Ilesemare Sea.
    • Shingol - a fishing village on the west coast, north of Iwset.
  • Tondhat - a quaint coastal village on the opposite side of the coast from Iwset.

The Ice Age

During the Ice Age, glaciers created a land bridge between Terisiare and the polar continent known as Northland. Many people were driven south by the extreme cold, bringing with them a Scandinavian-inspired culture.

• The Adarkar Wastes - Tundra which replaced the eastern part of the Great Desert.
• Almaaz. The incoming frost around the beginning of the Ice Age dispersed the humans and allowed a supernatural race of ice-beings called the Rigida to take control.
  • The Borderlands at the edge of the Great Glacier
    • The Chimes - a magical valley inhabited by Sarrazan elves
    • Sarraza - the mountain where the Beast of the Hours was bound
• Balduvian Steppe - a vast region, northwest of Kjeldor and the Karplusan Mountains.
  • Balduvia - a nation of barbarians, traditionally at war with Kjeldor, but eventually allied with them.
  • Bandu - an area with many canyons
  • The Flarg - a frozen cluster of mountains populated by goblins.
  • Kaelor - a mountain with snowy slopes
• The Boreal - the most northerly region bordering the glaciers. Only inhabitable by Rimewind creatures.
  • Rimewind Keep - headquarters of Heidar.
• The Boreal Glacier - separating the Boreal from the Balduvian Steppes
• Bjarlang - a village flattened by a herd of aurochs.
• The Colekgan Mountains - heavily frozen over
  • The Ohran Ridge - the southwestern edge of the mountains, the only ridge clear of the glacial ice.
• The Frost Marsh - also known as the Lake of the Dead. A marshy region infested by the undead, east of Tresserhorn. It had replaced the last remnants of Ronom Lake and the Tanglewoods.
• Fyndhorn - a fertile land in the southeast, revealed from the ocean floor by the lower sea levels during the Ice Age.
  • Kelsinko - its main city.
• The Great Glacier - dividing Lat-Nam and the mainland. A corridor for the more snow-loving creatures that migrated from Upper Videnth to Terisiare. The Yetis are an example.
• The Karplusan Mountains were the mountain range forming the northern border of Kjeldor. Before the Brothers' War, this region was known as the Sardian Mountains.
  • Balesh Pass - A mountain pass between Kjeldor and Balduvia. Site of the Battle of Balesh Pass, where Kjeldorans routed the orcs.
  • Mount Delapre - A high peak near Balesh Pass
  • Mount Kireshal - A high peak above Balesh Pass
  • Narmund Forest - A forest, site of the Battle of Narmund Forest where the goblin king of the Flarg participated.
• Kher Ridges - less frozen than the Karplusans, these mountains contained passes connecting Kjeldor to the rest of Terisiare.
  • Kher Keep - lair of Kobolds
  • Koilos - completely frozen over and inaccessible
  • Soldev - a semi-autonomous city in the north, located by the ruins of Storgard.
  • Storgard - a city near the frozen caves of Koilos, destroyed by the Raynor Glacier before the founding of Kjeldor
  • Urza's Tower - located in a valley on the edge of the southern Khers
• Kjeldor - a kingdom with a rich military history.
  • Cade - a small village
  • Darien's Roost - the first outpost in the Karplusan Mountains.
  • Eastern Kjeldor
    • Jornstad - the main city of Eastern Kjeldor
      • Rothchild Park - the city's main park
    • Tyarel - a trade post outside Jornstad
  • Kjeld - the royal city.
  • The Kjeldoran Hinterlands
    • Breway - a small village, put to the torch by Lim-Dûl's armies
    • Freyta - a small village, sacked by Lim-Dûl's armies
    • Glimmer Vale - a gulch of churned-up mica
    • Jarka - a small village, whose population disappeared without a trace
    • Mikkel - a village that fell to Lim-Dûl, but held a few survivors
  • Krov - the capital city.
    • The Great Dragon Inn - the place where Jaya Ballard usually stayed when she was in the city.
    • Royal Academy of Magic - the school of magic in Krov.
    • The Royal Palace - the great ivory building that housed the throne of Kjeldor
  • Ojum - a city
• Lat-Nam - now part of the mainland, but hidden behind the Great Glacier.
  • The School of the Unseen - the newest college of wizardry.
• Northern Wastes. Part of the former Great Desert reigned by Lim-Dûl.
• Raynor Glacier - third of the great glaciers, destroyed Storgard.
• Ronom Glacier - the coldest part of the continent.
• The Shattered Isles - a ruined expanse of barren, lifeless rocks.
  • Argoth - a broken, crumbling island
• Tresserhorn - Lim-Dûl's fortress.
• Yavimaya Forest - a forest located on the west bank of the Yavimaya River.
  • Heart of Yavimaya - the dark heart of the forest, holding a malevolence toward any intruders.

The Flood Ages

When the World Spell warmed the continents, melting the old glaciers, Terisiare was flooded and broke apart into smaller islands. The continent became an archipelago, which came to be known as the Terisian Isles.

In-game references

Associated cards:

• Terisian Mindbreaker
• Terisiare's Devastation

Referred to:

• Adarkar Unicorn
• Adarkar Windform
• Ashnod's Cylix
• Battlefield Forge
• Benthic Explorers
• Citanul Stalwart
• Cryoclasm
• Dire Wolves
• Icefall
• Rimebound Dead
• Tamanoa
• Thraxodemon
• Tocasia's Dig Site
• Viscerid Drone
• Zur the Enchanter

Maps of Terisiare

• 
  Terisiare (0 AR) ©1993-1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
• 
  Terisiare Map of Terrain and Locations during the Brother's Wars ©1993-1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
• 
  Map of Terisiare (2934 AR) ©2001 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
• 
  ©2001 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
• 
  Map of Terisiare during the Brother's Wars
• 
  Terisiare during The Dark
• 
  Digital Render

Sources

• The Thran
• The Brothers' War
• The Gathering Dark
• The Eternal Ice
• The Shattered Alliance
• Planeswalker