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Ravnica (plane)
''Ravnica'' is a ''Magic: The Gathering'' block that consists of three expert-level List of Magic: The Gathering sets#Expansion sets, expansion sets: ''Ravnica: City of Guilds'' (October 7, 2005), ''Guildpact'' (February 3, 2006), and ''Dissension'' (May 5, 2006). Following in the tradition of other ''Magic'' blocks, ''Ravnica'' takes place in a plane (Magic: The Gathering), plane of the Parallel universe (fiction), multiverse that was previously unexplored in the game's backstory. The world of Ravnica is an ecumenopolis, a vast city that covers the entire surface of its planet, and is home to a diverse assortment of sentient races. Much power in Ravnica is held by the ten "guilds", political factions that each represent a combination of two of Magic: The Gathering#Colors of Magic, ''Magic''s five colors. The mythology of ''Ravnica'' is loosely derived from Slavic folklore, and the character names reflect this. This plane was revisited in the ''Return to Ravnica'' block, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ravnica Expsym
''Ravnica'' is a '' Magic: The Gathering'' block that consists of three expert-level expansion sets: ''Ravnica: City of Guilds'' (October 7, 2005), ''Guildpact'' (February 3, 2006), and ''Dissension'' (May 5, 2006). Following in the tradition of other ''Magic'' blocks, ''Ravnica'' takes place in a plane of the multiverse that was previously unexplored in the game's backstory. The world of Ravnica is an ecumenopolis, a vast city that covers the entire surface of its planet, and is home to a diverse assortment of sentient races. Much power in Ravnica is held by the ten "guilds", political factions that each represent a combination of two of ''Magic''s five colors. The mythology of ''Ravnica'' is loosely derived from Slavic folklore, and the character names reflect this. This plane was revisited in the '' Return to Ravnica'' block, and the '' Guilds of Ravnica,'' '' Ravnica Allegiance'' and '' War of the Spark'' sets. Design ''Ravnica'' was conceived following the success ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slavic Folklore
Slavic folklore encompasses the folklore of the Slavic peoples from their earliest records until today. Folklorists have published a variety of works focused specifically on the topic over the years.See, for example, Kononenko 2007. See also * Vladimir Propp, Russian folklorist who specialized in morphology * Supernatural beings in Slavic religion * Deities of Slavic religion Notes References *Kononenko, Natalie O. 2007. ''Slavic Folklore: A Handbook''. Greenwood Press Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as G .... Slavic Folk Tales(en) {{Folklore-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirrodin
Mirrodin is the name of the ''Magic: The Gathering'' expert-level block containing the ''Mirrodin'' (October 2, 2003, 306 cards), ''Darksteel'' (February 6, 2004, 165 cards) and ''Fifth Dawn'' (June 4, 2004, 165 cards) expansion sets. The Mirrodin expansion set, as well as the rest of the block, is centered on artifacts and was only the second set to do so (from a card frequency point of view) since ''Antiquities''. The percentage of artifact cards is much higher than in any preceding set. Each of the expansion symbols in the Mirrodin block depicts a legendary artifact: (''Mirrodin''), (''Darksteel'') and (''Fifth Dawn''). Storyline: The world of Mirrodin The setting for ''Mirrodin'' is a plane by the same name. An artificial world created by the planeswalker Karn, originally named Argentum, and named after the Mirari by Memnarch, Mirrodin's environments and inhabitants mix organic and metallic. Mirrodin is orbited by four satellites, which are called suns and moons interch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ''Kotaku'' was first launched in October 2004 with Matthew Gallant as its lead writer, with an intended target audience of young men. About a month later, Brian Crecente was brought in to try to save the failing site. Since then, the site has launched several country-specific sites for Australia, Japan, Brazil and the UK. Crecente was named one of the 20 most influential people in the video game industry over the past 20 years by GamePro in 2009 and one of gaming's Top 50 journalists by Edge in 2006. The site has made CNET's "Blog 100" list and was ranked 50th on '' PC Magazine''s "Top 100 Classic Web Sites" list. Its name comes from the Japanese '' otaku'' (obsessive fan) and the prefix "ko-" (small in size). Stephen Totilo replac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2005 Origins Award Winners
The following are the winners of the 32nd annual Origins Award, held in 2006: Hall of Fame inductees * Aaron Allston * Jolly R. Blackburn * Rodger MacGowan * Dennis Mize (posthumous) * Mike Pondsmith * James Ernest Hall of Fame Game inductees * Star Fleet Battles ''Star Fleet Battles'' (SFB) is a tactical board wargame set in an offshoot of the ''Star Trek'' setting called the Star Fleet Universe. Originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole, it has had four major editions. The current edition is publi ... External links 2005 Origins Awards* {{Origins Awards 2005 awards 2005 awards in the United States ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nephilim
The Nephilim (; ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or people in the Hebrew Bible who are large and strong. The word ''Nephilim'' is loosely translated as ''giants'' in some translations of the Hebrew Bible, but left untranslated in others. Jewish explanations interpret them as hybrid sons of fallen angels. The main reference to them is in Genesis 6:1–4, but the passage is ambiguous and the identity of the Nephilim is disputed. According to the Book of Numbers 13:33, they later inhabited Canaan at the time of the Israelite conquest of Canaan. A similar or identical biblical Hebrew term, read as "Nephilim" by some scholars, or as the word "fallen" by others, appears in the Book of Ezekiel 32:27 and is also mentioned in the deuterocanonicals Judith 16:6, Sirach 16:7, Baruch 3:26–28, and Wisdom 14:6. Etymology The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon (1908) gives the meaning of nephilim as "giants", and holds that proposed etymologies of the word are "all very precarious." ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rule Of Law
The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' as "the mechanism, process, institution, practice, or norm that supports the equality of all citizens before the law, secures a nonarbitrary form of government, and more generally prevents the arbitrary use of power." The term ''rule of law'' is closely related to constitutionalism as well as '' Rechtsstaat'' and refers to a political situation, not to any specific legal rule. Use of the phrase can be traced to 16th-century Britain. In the following century, the Scottish theologian Samuel Rutherford employed it in arguing against the divine right of kings. John Locke wrote that freedom in society means being subject only to laws made by a legislature that apply to everyone, with a person being otherwise free from both governmental and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Status Quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. With regard to policy debate, it means how conditions are, contrasted with a possible change. For example: "The countries are now trying to maintain the ''status quo'' with regard to their nuclear arsenals." To maintain the ''status quo'' is to keep things the way they presently are. The related phrase '' status quo ante'', literally "the status before", refers to the state of affairs that existed previously. Political usage Via social movements the status quo might be overhauled. These seek to alleviate or prevent a particular issue and often to shape social feeling and cultural expression of a society or nation. The status quo is at least in part rejected by their protagonists – progressives – leading the movement. Advo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of disputes between criminals as well as the organization and enforcement of illicit agreements between criminals through the use of or threat of violence. Mafias often engage in secondary activities such as gambling, loan sharking, drug-trafficking, prostitution, and fraud. In modern times, the 'Ndrangheta, originating in the Southern Italian region of Calabria, is widely considered the richest and most powerful mafia in the world. The term "mafia" was originally applied only to the Italian Mafia or specifically the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia, and the term originates in Sicily. However, the term has since expanded to encompass other organizations of similar methods and purpose, e.g., "the Russian Mafia" or "the Japan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mad Scientist
The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or " insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly ambitious, taboo or hubristic nature of their experiments. As a motif in fiction, the mad scientist may be villainous (evil genius) or antagonistic, benign, or neutral; may be insane, eccentric, or clumsy; and often works with fictional technology or fails to recognise or value common human objections to attempting to play God. Some may have benevolent intentions, even if their actions are dangerous or questionable, which can make them accidental antagonists. History Prototypes The prototypical fictional mad scientist was Victor Frankenstein, creator of his eponymous monster, who made his first appearance in 1818, in the novel '' Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus'' by Mary Shelley. Though the novel's title character, Victor Fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unglued
''Unglued'' is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set, the first satirical, non-tournament-legal expansion set released. It came out in August 1998. Its symbol is a cracked egg. Among the themes of the set were chicken, dice rolling and multiplayer Magic games. History ''Unglued'' was originally conceived by then-lead Magic designer Joel Mick and fellow designer Bill Rose. Having helped in the creation of many of the expansion sets of the time, they began talking about cards which were cut from the expansion or were unplayable, based on the rules of the game. Thinking this through, they conceptualized an expansion where all the cards had no place in serious games. ''Unglued'' was not entirely a commercially successful expansion, but the unique basic land cards - the only cards from the set legal in tournaments - were and still are valuable. The set also developed a cult following among casual Magic fans, and three sequel sets have been released since, '' Unhinged'' in 2004, '' Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
War Of The Spark
''War of the Spark'' is the 81st ''Magic: The Gathering'' expansion; while it is not part of a block, this set is functionally the third part of a Ravnica focused storyline set on the plane of Ravnica. It was released on May 3, 2019. It also became available in ''MTG Arena'' on April 25, 2019. Story The ''War of the Spark'' set features the culmination of Nicol Bolas' plan and the storyline focuses on the battle unfolding on Ravnica "between the evil Nicol Bolas, the youngest and most powerful of Magic’s seven Elder Dragons, and the Gatewatch, a loose alliance of Planeswalkers fighting on the side of good". Over the course of previous sets, Bolas has been enacting parts of his plan: during the Kaladesh block, "he stole a planar portal that would allow him to transport non-natural materials between worlds"; during the Amonkhet block, he "collected an army of zombified and embalmed warriors known as Eternals"; during the Ixalan block, "he collected the Immortal Sun, a powerful ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
