AVISHKAR (Kaladesh)

a MENAGERIE OF Aether-POWERED Marvels

A plane where aether streaks across the sky, flows in the water, and spirals through the earth, Avishkar (formerly known as Kaladesh) is a plane like no other. Rich in the usually rare but naturally-occurring aether, the aethersphere of Avishkar has shaped all natural life, with the ecosystem of the plane growing in an iconic swirling pattern to reflect its influence. Using skyships that syphon raw aether from pockets high above their cities, the citizens of Avishkar have used the plentiful resource as a power source, and use it to to create technological marvel after marvel. Inventions within Avishkar are designed to be as beautiful as they are functional, with thopters, servos, and all manner of automaton adorned with filigree walking and flying among the people in densely populated city centers. The complexity of these inventions arguably make Avishkar one of the most technologically advanced planes in the multiverse, rivaling the likes of Kamigawa.

The capital of Avishkar, Ghirapur, is home to the ruling body known as The Consulate, a force for order across the plane. They ensure that aether is available to all, piped past the elf-inhabited great forest that encircles the plane and into mountain communities that are home to industrious dwarves. One of the side-effects of aether harvesting is the occurrence of a race known as Aetherborn. Aetherborn live lives measured in weeks, not years, and exist as transient, sentient vessels of aether who revel in life’s joys in the short time afforded to them. Paradoxically, Avishkar is home to almost no natural mages, and those with even a small amount of spellcasting ability are few and far between (the native pyromancer prodigy Chandra Nalaar notwithstanding). For most of its history, fire magic was strictly banned, and other forms of natural spellcasting were carefully controlled by the Consulate as not to cause chaos.

In the wake of the Indigo revolution, the plane re-named itself “Avishkar” and discarded the former name “Kaladesh” as it discarded the consulate and trappings of its old government.