Modern Horizons as Told by Flavor Text

Angels cannot ignore pious pleas.

All sounds harmonize with the Worldsoul.

"What cannot be destroyed will be bound, but do try to destroy it the first time"n- Rem Karolus, Blade of the Inquisitors

Time has ground mountains to sand, but the slivers ever remain.

Pure souls shine bright as daybreak.

The most tenacious members of the hive instinctually guard the First Sliver.

"Where divinity leads, victory follows." ~ Silverblade motto

The best presents are impossible to regift.

Whoever survives the first blow lives to land the second.

She provides marks of protection to those she chooses as family.

The tribe was as strong as his longing, their territory as vast as his isolation. The changeling knew he had found a home, and a form.

Where fickle form meets lasting loyalty.

"Glorious, to walk again across the savannah with my beloved." ~ "Love Song of Night and Day"

"These polearms were supposed to help!" ~ Merrik Aidar, Benalish patrol

He cursed the wind. He cursed the cold. But by stepping on the ice, he cursed himself.

For peace of mind, they mustered for war.

There was a time all craven beasts cowered before Avacyn's divine might.

"Battle is all about where you stand. Never stand in my way."

When Worzel summoned Segovian angels to fight Thomil's Gargantikari gnats, the ensuing battle numbered among the Multiverse's least destructive.

Two taken, two judged, one returned.

Good strategists seize opportunities. Great strategists make their own.

"For glory! For justice! For our queen!"

"Don't worry. If you lose me I'll be right behind you."

Families of the fallen donate the swords of their loved ones to bolster the city's defenses.

Her feathers cut the air, as sharp as they are silent.

"Never let them take their eyes off you." ~ Sidar Jabari

He traded a lamp for a scepter, a scepter for a ruby, and the ruby for a simple rug.

From its cocoon, a flurry takes flight.

A wizard can be outnumbered but never outsmarted.

"Begin with your escape and work backward." ~ Way of Secrets

The present is a matter of perspective.

"I don't have time for you right now." ~ Teferi

"This one will need direction. After all, each of its eyes is larger than its brain." ~ Cyla, Lord of the Aerie

"Every choice is a joy."

"The patterns of crossing ripples reveal the future to those who know how to read them."

"Try, if you must."

"Is the inevitable any less miraculous?" ~ Veldka, wandering sage

Its shell can withstand anything but a thaw.

"Beauty to the eye does not always translate to the touch." ~ Naimah, Femeref philosopher

It manifests at wizard academies to siphon inspiration from young prodigies.

Within each of us lurks the fathomless.

"Ninjas can run across water, pull ladders from pockets, kill with a kiss, and slip between bricks. Pack of lies, I say." ~ Benden, teahouse gossip

"Never leave the future to fate."

"As the sky opened up, we ran for shelter. Halfway there I came to the sudden realization that, already soaked, there might be more to gain from experiencing the rain than running from it."

The first step in any artificer's scheme is to take inventory.

Searching the future for answers often leads to further questions.

A living fossil active after eons of dormancy.

"Good night."

Every cry lifts her allies toward the thunder.

It has no respect for the deeds of martyrs, reducing their legacy to a mouthful of flesh.

A mercurial face sows mistrust. Distrust reaps a lonely life.

"Please, come in! Hors d'oeuvres are on the table."

"Shoo, you little worm tails—go away! My corpses aren't your dinner!" ~ Ghoulcaller Gisa

"At last, silence." ~ Tevesh Szat

The only shortcut in a bog is to the bottom.

"Always give your foes a choice when they have none."n — Ob Nixilis

No amount of salt will save you

"Why throw away a perfectly good identity?"

No tongue to chant, yet the forsaken hymn still emanates from its body.

Spells of madness often require a sacrifice of sanity.

Not all monsters fight with teeth and claws.

Four walls and a roof won't provide safety from that which is buried.

The night is the greatest ally of all.

"The lasting effects are invariably fatal." ~ Phyrexian progress notes

Too stupid to survive, too dumb to die.

It recruits the fresh and tosses the rotton.

"I think someone is stealing from my laboratory. It had better not be you!"n- Geralf, letter to Gisa

The First Sliver calls. The dead answer.

Not everyone should take joy in their work.

Rigid minds are the first to break.

Freshly promoted to "first rock", Zaz was eager to make an impact.

Malice is appropriate when vengeance is called for.

"I just felt a drip. It must be about to rain." ~ Stoneway Market vendor, last words

"Be ever loyal to your own best interests."

"To see past the veil of death, cross it."n-*The Red Book of Mezdrithalik*

No matter how deep you bury it, some evil refuses to stay dead.

It doesn't contain venom. It is venom.

Eyeballs that portend unpleasant futures become slimy snacks instead.

Slivers can turn a last stand into a stunning victory.

A hunger to soar must be sated.

When it wriggled closer to a thrum of slivers, their talons hardened and glinted in the sun. One took a playful swipe at a tree trunk, and its new blade cut clean through.

"There's more where that came from!"

"Fire has always been my most faithful companion." ~ Jared Carthalion

Telepathy changes minds, necromancy changes lives, but geomancy changes the world.

"The steering horns ain't steering!"

The stories of his heroics are inspiring, though none of them are remotely true.

A mother only a child could love.

"It was difficult to tell whether the piles of gore within their warrens were mere trash heaps, sacred altars, or warnings." ~ Sarpadian Empires, vol. IV

"Brilliant! They evolved away from energy-taxing brains and respond only to spinal reflex arcs from the hive mind." ~ Rukarumel, field journal

Volcanic violence made manifest.

"Small outbursts are healthy." ~ Koth of the Hammer

Opening like the maw of a hellion, the earth swallowed the traveler whole.

A dragon's loyalty cannot be earned, but it can be bought.

The thunderhead that leads in the storm.

"The embers of our homes still smolder, and already the villages of Kjeldor burn in retaliation. What they have started, we will finish." ~ Lovisa Coldeyes

"Told you I had friends."

"I hate this! I hate fire! I hate you for taking me on this route!" ~ Norin the Wary

The might of an army with the restraint of a child.

Pricy baubles are no match for cheap tricks.

"If you think twice, I'll cut twice."

Victories against the hive are tragedies.

Alone in the charred desolation of her kingdom, she regretted many things—most of all not acting sooner.

Devils love adding injury to injury.

Whether modeled after bear, bird, or baloth, all claws send the same message.

Born from the oldest red cedar, nursed on the sap of the tallest spruce, coronated under the mightiest pine.

Ayula's runic clawmarks ensure her territories are never left defenseless.

"Their two-tone vocalization contains a whistle and a roar. Both mean get away." ~ Vivien Reid

"He steals power from treasure after treasure, and what does it do for the ouphe? Nothing." ~ Jhoira

During seasonal thaws, the wurms slough their skin against trees to promote growth.

Fail to respect the forest and you will fertilize it.

Turg's spawn ruled long after he croaked.

The vines overgrew the construct, snapping gears and soaking up aether.

Glare from the snows in the boreal expanse hides its true size.

Not dryad, centaur, or avatar but life itself.

The harshest environments offer the greatest opportunities for exploration.

"Llanowar remembers the Ice Age, the Phyrexian Invasion, and the Rift Era. So long as we draw breath, we will ensure such disasters never threaten our world again."

Even without her, the cubs will always know their mother's love.

The loss of its hunting grounds made it all the more dangerous.

"Every seed holds strength and teaches patience."

One thread connected all the travelers' stories: the ferocity of the mongoose.

While the root remains, the tree yet lives.

"Fools view winter as the season of death because they cannot see the life underneath."

Horns of hoarfrost grow every night, gleam at dawn, and melt by dusk.

Nine generations of metalworking skill are no match for nine hundred pounds of rage.

A progenitor of tadpoles and allergies in equal measure.

"New growth applies a healing poultice to wounds long scabbed over."

In the treetops, unseen by many, lurks chittering, skittering death.

The question isn't whether slivers will adapt to a world's perils but whether the world's perils will adapt to slivers.

Every bough, branch, bramble lashed out in defense of the forest.

An elephant never forgives.

A forest-wide network of webs brings a hungry couple to captured prey.

Each flower identical, every leaf and petal disturbingly exact.

"Quell your ego and anywhere can be as calm as a hurricane's eye."

Eight legs carrying endless phobias.

Every path leads to discovery.

Forked tails rustled. Talons clicked. A lone sliver streaked overhead like jagged lightning, and the hive thundered.

Tribal rivalries and petty disputes were laid aside at Eladamri's summons.

Catching even a glimpse of one is the start of eight years of good luck.

"Loss has no meaning here. You cannot take from those who have nothing."

Warm enough to incubate eggs or incinerate those who would eat them.

When dealing with goblins, if it isn't nailed down, it's headed your way.

"Plant every sword. Embrace every soul." ~ Trostani

The ground cracked and unleashed a thousand years of history at once.

For each one you see, ten see you.

"Those urbanist cobble-roaches won't know what hit them!"

It watches over every absence.

It strikes like a bolt from a brainstorm.

The call of the sea shapes many souls.

"It is not that you will go mad. It is that you will beg for madness." ~ Volrath

A weapon forged for every hand.

Though the Time of Ice has ended, its relics still slumber in New Argive.

Changelings can't remember where they came from. They just know it wasn't a cradle.

When it finishes the harvest, you'll have nowhere to hide.

Sun Empire priests thought they were digging a well. What they tapped was something different entirely.

In colder climates, ice is more obedient than stone.

"The sun banishes darkness every morning. I too will rise with such assuredness." ~ Huatli

"Good ideas don't take time. They take a lot of bad ideas first." ~ Ral Zarek

"The pain of exploring is less than the pain of not knowing." ~ Tamiyo

"You'll never get to the top if you don't know who's already there." ~ Kaya

"The continual rise of the downtrodden is as inevitable as vines usurping a forest." ~ Vraska

"Within minutes, the strange device was indistinguishable from the other on my workbench."n- Tocasia, journal entry

Where water is the canvas and lava the paint.

The stronghold of Theros's light.

New life is born within its shadows.

There is beauty in the uncertainty of potential.

The expedition's end began the marsh's story.

Since the river ran dry, travelers wander where fish once swam.

The trees pull water from deep underground, filling the forest for miles.