There has been a long and storied history of Magic: The Gathering releasing written stories to accompany individual sets of the game. This initially took the form of published novels but transitioned to individual stories released on the game's website. Guilds of Ravnica saw the game return to books written by outside authors. Many of these novels were widely panned, with Greg Weissman's War of the Spark: Ravnica being infamous among fans for its misrepresentation of existing characters.
It seems Wizards of the Coast listened to the protestations of their fans, as Zendikar Rising's story is once again being published, this time as short stories on the Magic website. The first of these stories is In the Heart of the Skyclave, written by A. T. Greenblatt. So what does that mean for the rest of Zendikar Rising's stories?
In the Heart of the Skyclave starts from the point of view of Nahiri, a character familiar to most fans of Magic's story. Nahiri is an ancient Kor (a race of pale-skinned humanoids native to Zendikar) who is a master of lithomancy, the art of manipulating stone. She's also responsible for the release of the Eldrazi Emrakul onto the plane of Innistrad. This event resulted in countless deaths and was the primary focus of the Eldritch Moon set. Our current story finds Nahiri investigating a Skyclave, an ancient city-like structure of floating rock.
Nahiri is interrupted in her expedition by the Roil, a manifestation of Zendikar's internal distress that takes the form of a massive earthquake. Nahiri manages to save herself from a perilous fall, but in doing so, bumps into Nissa, another Zendikari planeswalker. Nissa agrees to help Nahiri venture into the Skyclave, and the two set off. As they do so, they kill several of the Skyclave's guardians while dealing with several more tremors and mishaps caused by the Roil. Once they reach the end of the sanctum, they find a mysterious tile glowing with arcane energy.
Nahiri claims the tile is a key to find a greater treasure called a lithoform core, which would be able to quell Zendikar's Roil and make life easier for its inhabitants. She uses the tile as a demonstration but kills one of Nissa's summoned elementals. Nissa then attempts to take the key from Nahiri by force, worried the lithoform core could cause as much harm as Nahiri wants to prevent. The two Zendikari fight to a stalemate and Nissa planeswalks away to try and get help.
While this story is the first piece of written fiction released for Zendikar Rising, it's a prequel to the set's trailer, which shows Nahiri obtaining the lithoform core from another Skyclave with the help of another Kor named Akiri and a Merfolk named Zareth. The trailer ends similarly, with Nahiri using the orb to stop Zendikar's Roil but killing Zareth in the process. With Nahiri having already obtained the orb, it seems inevitable that the rest of the story will see Nissa (along with Jace, who she goes to get help from at the end of the story) try to wrest back power from the fervent Kor.
In the Heart of the Skyclave sets up a clear conflict between Nahiri and Nissa, each a representative of a different philosophy when it comes to Zendikar's Roil. Nahiri believes it's essential to preserve the lives of Zendikari above all else, regardless of any damage that might be inflicted on the natural world around them. Nissa stands in contrast as a representative of a new-world idea that would see the citizens of the plane act in harmony with the world around them. Neither side is a one-dimensional villain, and even if Nahiri is being set up as the ultimate antagonist, she is nuanced in her ambitions and motivation. This first story is a promising start to the set's overall narrative, which will update twice a week with new stories from a variety of authors.