Swarmyard

Where scavengers nest in hollowed-out rib cages and chittering crawlers peer from empty eye sockets, few dare to trespass.

Artist: Thomas M. Baxa TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

Cytoplast Root-Kin (Dissension) - Thomas M. Baxa

Maelstrom Wanderer by Thomas M. Baxa

Rakdos Planeswalker OC: Rycthis, Cacoethes Connoisseur

Origin

“A little taste is all I desire, mate.”

The killer hovered above his next “customer” with eyes fixated on their expression. He was looking for something. Anything. Its what would really give the crowd what they wanted. For a single second, the killer turned to those circled around the scene, taking in their expectant eyes.

“If not for me, for them. Cowering… well, its for cowards. I need something from ya to really pump this whole feast up to eleven.”

He leaned in until his mask was nearly touching the vedalken’s face. Sweat poured from the lawmage’s brow. Their teeth were chattering, and, despite the heat of the nearby torches, their skin was ice cold. Rycthis stared into his victim’s eyes with a burning hunger.

“I’m gonna share a secret with ya. You see, I may seem like your average every day lunatic coming at your skull with a pointy object. But you’d be wrong to assume that. I’ve seen… other worlds. And its all thanks to you and your high and mighty friends.”

The vedalken hardly reacted, but in his mind he began to suspect what his assailant meant.

“Thats right. I can see it in the twitch of your juicy veins. You get it. That day in court, when your brutes tried to ruin my fun. When I disappeared? Not some plot from the ol’ spider eyes. Not some carnival trick. No. I was given a blessing from beyond, and I came to witness worlds beyond ours.”

A devil nearby snickered, causing a low hum of laughter to spread throughout the circled fiends. Rycthis bumped his mask against the vedalken’s face. No further reaction than what he was already giving.

“You should have met these folks calling themselves ‘The Cabal’. A sad sort, but damn they have some interesting magics. I learned things you wouldn’t even dream of. Nightmarish sorceries. Countless delicacies. I do have a favorite though.”

Rycthis leaned back slowly and began taking off his mask. The vedalken searched for a face, but found only a swirling mist of darkness. From this mist within Rycthis’s outfit, a snake of exposed flesh and bone arose. It climbed higher and higher into the air, and finally the vedalken’s mouth opened. Terror filled his mind as the snake eyed him down. A voice called out from its fanged mouth.

“Ah, see. Now THAT is what we were looking for. Eat up mates!”

A single scream sounded out as the snake and now howling devils descended upon the vedalken. Devilish laughter filled the carnival tent as the world turned a dark shade of crimson. Chunks of meat flew into the air directly into the mouths of countless imps swarming above. As the devils continued their frenzy to eat every last scrap, the snake slowly slithered back from where it came, licking its lips as it faded from sight.

Rycthis turned to the filled seats behind him, putting his mask back in place. He spread out his arms in celebration, and the devils behind him exploded into piles of gore.

“Behold! The horrors of the worlds beyond!”

A cacophony of screams and laughter rang out as Rycthis disappeared into a cloud of crimson mist.

Art by Steve Prescott and Thomas M. Baxa

Description

Rycthis is a self-described connoisseur of the foul desires and dark fears that dwell in the minds and hearts of those across the Multiverse. Born on Ravnica, Rycthis’s half-demonic parents were infamous members of the Cult of Rakdos. Or, they were until Rakdos himself cut them both down. Rycthis was not angered by this though, as even in his early years he thought of Rakdos as his immovable idol. Rycthis pushed himself to the limit and beyond for his guild, and beyond that limit he found detainment by the Azorius Senate.

However, his planeswalker spark ignited during his escape attempt, and he found himself on Dominaria within the depths of a Cabal Stronghold. There, he learned dementia magic, and he realized that there are even more creative forms of butchery and slaughter beyond the plane of Ravnica. He vowed to bring these new works of art to the forefront of Rakdos shows all across the city, and he was unstoppable with his newfound ability to planeswalk when consequences came knocking.

Rycthis never stops wearing his outfit, and his face is constantly shrouded by a dark enchantment. None are sure what he truly looks like, but rumors have spread among the cult that the sorcery Rycthis practices has cost him his flesh and bone. That nothing is left of his body, and the limbs displayed to the public are “borrowed” from his past victims. Regardless of what is true or fiction, Rycthis’s shows have gained the attention of even Rakdos himself, and the parun, although disliking the extent of the attention Rycthis gets, is curious himself to see what new magic will be unveiled next.

Having Nissa's compleated form emulate the eldrazi that destroyed her home is so RUDE

An amphisbæna by Thomas Baxa.

Magic: The Gathering

Saltor

Image by Thomas M Baxa, © TSR, Inc.

[The last of the illithdae from Dragon 150, and the one that I think was best served by Lords of Madness. D&D 3.5 gave it its own unique ability, a sonic scream that acts as a lo-fi version of an illithid's mind blast. The Dragon Magazine version comes in multiple HD forms, but I took the Lords of Madness approach, and just used the highest HD version.]

Saltor CR 5 LE Aberration This creature resembles a hairless monkey the size of a goat, with a long canine muzzle surrounded by thin, flexible tentacles. It carries a spear in its hands, tipped with a stone point.

Saltors are illithidae that are fairly close relatives to mind flayers themselves, being the equivalent to an illithid as a monkey is to a human. Unlike true mind flayers, saltors do not have extreme sexual dimorphism—males and females look functionally identical to each other. They do undergo a form of ceremorphosis, however, raising tadpoles in pools and placing them in the partially emptied skulls of humanoids. Saltors use small humanoids as their hosts and do not compete with illithids for corpses.

Saltors typically live and travel in groups. A troop will have a central hub containing its breeding pool, and then bands will split off in order to forage. They are omnivorous with a taste for fungi and meat, and especially prey on small humanoids such as derro or svirfneblin in order to use their corpses to reproduce as well. Saltors prefer to attack from ambush and keep at range, hurling magic missiles and javelins to weaken prey before closing to melee. Their terrible scream acts as both weapon and alarm call, and a lone saltor that screams will likely have a half dozen of its fellows close behind to back it up.

Of the various kinds of illithidae, saltors are among the most likely to be found in a mind flayer colony. Mind flayers see them as just the right combination of useful and disposable, and saltors for their part view illithids as something like demigods. In addition to acting as foot soldiers and laborers, saltors may be found serving mind flayers as experimental subjects, sacrificial victims or emergency rations, all of which the saltors accept as their rightful place.  

A saltor stands about three feet tall. Their own technology is at a Stone Age level, and they covet metal weapons and tools. Saltors advance by class level, and often take levels in barbarian or psychic.

Saltor    CR 5 XP 1,600 LE Small aberration Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +10 Defense AC 17, touch 16, flat-footed 12 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural) hp 51 (6d8+24) Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +6 Resist sonic 10; SR 16 Weakness light blindness, sunlight sickness Offense Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft. Melee 2 slams +7 (1d4+2 plus grab), bite +7 (1d6+2) or masterwork spear +8 (1d6+3/x3), bite +5 (1d6+1) Ranged javelin +9 (1d4+2) Special Attacks pith (bite), screech Spell-like Abilities CL 5th, concentration +7 3/day—blur, magic missile 1/day—haste (self only) Statistics Str 14, Dex 18, Con 19, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 14 Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 21 Feats Deadly Aim,Dodge, Multiattack Skills Acrobatics +17, Climb +19, Perception +10, Stealth +17; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Perception Languages Undercommon Ecology Environment underground Organization solitary, pair, band (3-10) or troop (10-40) Treasure standard (Small masterwork spear, 5 Small masterwork javelins, other treasure) Special Abilities Pith (Ex)A saltor can make a coup de grace attempt with its bite attack as a full round action without provoking attacks of opportunity against a helpless or pinned opponent. This coup de grace does not function against creatures that have no head or no brain, and creatures with multiple heads are not killed if they fail the save (although that head is no longer functional). Screech (Su) Once per day as a standard action, a saltor can give a terrible screech. All creatures in a 30 foot cone take 3d6 points of sonic damage and are stunned for 1 round. A successful DC 15 Fortitude save negates the stunning effect. The save DC is Charisma based. Sunlight Sickness (Ex) In an area of natural sunlight, a saltor is sickened.

Krenko’s Guide to Creature Types: Noggle

Art by Thomas M. Baxa

What is a Noggle (flavorfully)?

“Noggles believe that they were the first race ever to walk Shadowmoor. They don't "steal." They just take back what's rightfully theirs.”

“Noggles live purely by what they can scavenge. There is not a single thing a noggle eats, wears, or uses that did not once belong to another.”

And that’s all we know. We can see from their art that they’re little horse-head-people who live on Shadowmoor (but not Lorwyn), but… that’s it. The weird thing is, we know Lorwyn and Shadowmoor have the same people who just become different versions of themselves, so that means the Noggles should just be something else when on Lorwyn, but we don’t know what.

What is a Noggle (mechanically)?

Noggles are hybrid blue/red creatures designed for the color-matters aspect of Eventide limited. Their sizes are 2/1, 2/2, 2/2, and 4/3, and three of them cost three mana, so that’s like a mechanical identity.

Can I make a Noggle deck?

There are four Noggles and none of them do anything special. 

Is Noggle a good creature type?

It’s really hard to say if Noggle’s a good creature type, because after over a decade we still don’t know any more about Noggles. The cards basically exist in a vacuum. I don’t hate Noggles, but I don’t like them either. Can a Noggle be something else? I’m not sure, because now that you’ve seen the flavor text and the art, I don’t know any more about Noggles than you do.

Maelstrom Wanderer by Thomas M. Baxa via ImaginaryBehemoths

Allesandro Biffignadi

Jean-Michel Nicollet

Dorian Cleavenger

Thomas M Baxa

Vampiric Embrace

Artist: Thomas M. Baxa TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

Please @wizardsmagic reprint those good boys. Synapse Sliver and Brood Sliver are beautiful and need a reprint for a new generation of Sliver Players!

PS: Could you also commission 1/1 colorless Sliver creature tokens from Ron Spears to match Brood Sliver!

Frankie Peanuts

Thomas M. Baxa