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There is a Magic: the Gathering set, which has cards inspired by The Forgotten Realms, but which locations (if any) are on these land cards?

a glowing sun-like sphere in an underground grotto. Blue round crystals rise out of the surrounding sand.

Venturing beneath the desert sands, you've discovered an alien power pulsing with inconceivable energy.

a tornado of water with a battered ship near the top

Alarmed by the news you brought, the storm giant king of the Maelstrom has called his kin to council

a black must covered ruin underground

You expected to meet hostile drow in this ancient ruin... But they fled long ago. What darkness could have driven them out?

ruins carved out of a mountain, with clouds obscuring the ground

As you make camp near the ancient ruin, you hear the sound of drums echoing in halls no dwarf has lived in for centuries.

houses and spiralling walk ways built amongst the tops of trees

Before the elf queen will aide you, you must cure the strange rot afflicting the roots of the ancient trees


Which locations are on these land cards?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Really nice use of the flavor text—which lands rarely, if ever, get—to match DM text. That’s a really nice touch. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    May 7, 2021 at 1:21
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    \$\begingroup\$ I suspect Plains is Anauroch, it's certainly the best fit; the rest... a bit up in the air. \$\endgroup\$
    – afroakuma
    May 7, 2021 at 1:32
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    \$\begingroup\$ @AncientSwordRage: They used real Faerun locations in BG/BG2, and that's one of them. That said, most of these are super vague descriptions; most of them are generic D&D, not really specific to Forgotten Realms, let alone a specific location in FR. "Extensive caves buried under the desert" fits Anauroch as afroakuma says, but even there, I'm not sure any material describes anything resembling fertile functional "plains" down there. \$\endgroup\$ May 7, 2021 at 3:33
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    \$\begingroup\$ @ShadowRanger Don't be fooled by the type line, there's not much correlation between that and the card art. Things that are not islands has many good examples. \$\endgroup\$ May 7, 2021 at 9:39
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    \$\begingroup\$ The intent of the card text is that it could be used as a spontaneous DM adventure prompt. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jadasc
    May 7, 2021 at 12:03

1 Answer 1

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I'm not certain about most of these--most of the bottom text appears to be more in the vein of a Dungeon Master's introduction or response than a specific historical note. However, locations at least can be found that correlate to each description.

Plains: Anauroch?

The largest, most magical desert in the Forgotten Realms, the Anauroch is a good candidate for a location filled with an alien magic. This fits with its historical masters, the Phaerimm, which were aberrant spellcasters sealed in a cavern beneath the desert behind the Sharn Wall. While the Sharn Wall was reported to be silver, the art description for this card might have been something like "Mystical barrier in desert caverns, camp below" and here's what they got.

Island: Maelstrom

This is by far the clearest of the cards. Storm King's Thunder has an entire chapter in the storm giant citadel of Maelstrom, an underwater fortress at the bottom of a violent whirlpool.

Swamp: Ched Nasad?

Again, a guess, but the firebombed, ragged-webbed drow city of Ched Nasad is an excellent candidate for this swamp, yet more so because the people who destroyed it were dark dwarves and thus unlikely to have communicated with the surface races about its destruction.

Mountain: Axeholm

Axeholm, as it is recorded in Dragon of Icespire Peak, is a ruined dwarven city containing a number of ghouls and a banshee. While there is no specific basis for drums, there is specific evidence for Axeholm being haunted and long abandoned, so this is my best guess.

Forest: Cormanthor?

Cormanthor is an ancient elven forest that was, in 1357 DR, attacked and damaged by Moander, the long-assumed-dead god of rot and decay. This card could be set in the early days of the attack before the elves knew Moander had escaped.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Brilliant answer, thanks! \$\endgroup\$ Jun 3, 2021 at 12:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ The plains, the island, and the swamp I think are solid bets. The forest could be a bit iffy maybe, but that's only because there are a couple other elven forests it could conceivably be, although the comment on the card about rot does strongly point towards there. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 3, 2021 at 13:32

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