HOUSE OF HORRORS

A veritable descent into an endless, maddening hell, Duskmourn is possibly the only plane in the multiverse that can make Innistrad look like a great place to vacation. Once a thriving plane with a history of scarce magic use and high level of technological advancement (circa earth 1970’s/80’s), the entire plane has since been consumed by the elder demon known as Valgavoth. Once a minor demon bound to a single human home (now known as “the House”), Valgavoth was able to make a pact with the mortal Marina Vendrell in a bid for power. In the years after the first offering made to his name, Valgavoth has not been able to break his binding to The House, so instead he has expanded the boundaries of the house to contain the entirety of the plane of Duskmourn. The act of subsuming the plane within the house was known as The Ascension.

Once, there were two sub-planes within Duskmourn: the Demon realm and the Spirit realm, but the demon realm has been folded into the physical world as part of Valgavoth’s massacre of the plane’s demons, and the spirit relam has been compressed into a nearly 2D space at the very edge of Duskmourn’s reality bubble within the multiverse. The House even consumed the suns within Duskmourn’s solar system; leaving little outside of Valgavoth’s control. The physical realm as it now exists is a surrealist, ever-shifting hellscape that exists at Valgavoth’s whim and is curated to feed him the fear of the unfortunate souls who are trapped within its walls.

Valgavoth’s power over Duskmourn is great enough that he is able to open portals between planes in order to abduct new victims, although with the advent of Omenpaths, this has become much easier than the exhaustive action it once was.

Watch this video by Rhystic Studies on Duskmourn to learn more.

Gods & avatars

• Valgavoth, the Terror-Eater - Once, eons ago, Valgavoth was a mere ‘demon’ bound to a single house within the plane of Duskmourn. In the time since, he has come to consume nearly the entirety of the plane in order to devour the fear of its inhabitants; putting him at a level of power and worship on-par with or even beyond many gods.

Iconic & Unique Planar Elements

This section is designed to help identify other planar cards in the future, and to help showcase the unique visual and stylistic identiy of the plane.

• Beasties - A unique visual design of the “Beast” creature type, Beasties are the warped pets from the time before Valgavoth’s ascention, and they are depicted primarily as shaggy quadropeds with one or multiple masks covering their faces.

• Clowns - Beyond “un” sets, Duskmourn is the only setting to feature the “Clown” creature type.

• Endless Interior - Duskmourn is an entire plane, but it’s also a single house. Thus, there is no “outside”: everything is indoors. Visual designs of the house still speak to exterior elements like trees or sky, but the surrealist nature of the plane precludes simplistic definitions such as “in” or “out”.

• Fears - Although not the only setting with Nightmare creatures, Duskmourn’s “fears” are uniquely enchantment creatures that showcase the ghostly faces of the mortal souls that succumb to their terror.

• Glimmers - A new creature type created specifically for Duskmourn, Glimmers are enchantment creatures that are protective beings made of light and memory. They manifest on Duskmorn linked to a specific individual, and represent a hope or strong positive feeling for that person.

• “Glitch” Ghosts - Due to the afterlife of Duskmourn being compressed and warped in the blind eternities into a nearly 2D space by Valgavoth’s expansion, ghosts that escape into the house/plane manifest as though they are visually “glitching” in a manner similar to old casette tape images.

• Goat-Skull Demons - Besides Valgavoth himself, the only demons that remain on Duskmourn are minor ones, with heads like the skulls of goats, often with mutliple eyes.

• Gremlins - Aside from Kaladesh, Duskmourn is the only setting to feature the Gremlin creature type. Its Gremlins are unique and are small, fuzzy bipeds similar visually to Goblins or Devils.

• Manifest Dread - A twist on the “manifest” mechanic from other worlds, namely Tarkir, Duskmourn has a uniquely implemented and named version that helps fuel the graveyard.

• Moth Motifs - Valgavoth is a demon that has a shape similar to a moth, so the motif of a moth has worked its way into his cult and the house itself. This is a clear iconograph for the plane, similar to Amnokhet’s ‘Bolas horns’.

• Rooms - Representing the endless rooms of Valgavoth’s house, Duskmourn has the unique “Room” enchantment type that is mechanically represented as a split card.

• Survivors - Duskmourn is the only setting to feature the “Survivor” creature type outside of tokens. They all have the “Survival” mechanic.

• Toys - Beyond “un” sets, Duskmourn is the only setting to feature the “Toy” creature type.

• UFOs/Aliens - At the current time, Duskmourn is the only setting to imply or reference classic “alien” motifs, such as UFOs and the iconic “greys.”

• Wickerfolk - Duskmorn has a unique type of Scarecrow creature that are mortal souls trapped in unfeeling bodies of brambles and bone.

• 80’s-Style Technology - Prior to Valgavoth’s ascension, Duskmourn was at a level of technological advancement akin to earth in the 1980’s, and the remaining technology scavenged by survivors reflects that.

Sets FEATURING DUSKMOURN

• Duskmourn: House of Horror - September 2024