<BB> Rel of the Dairan Empire (WindyDelcarlo)

korakhos

Arina's panic is present in her eyes, but she does not let it come through in her response at all.  "Hannah is only physically exhausted from working far too much.  She had had nothing else to do for three days now.  She shows no other signs of aether exhaustion.  Unless you know something I do not, of course."

Slowly Decaying is about right, yeah.  The hybrid mana in the text box on an otherwise mono-black card is a bit strange, as is the activated ability on a card that you toss over to your opponent and say "by the way you have this now". Otherwise balanced but those are very strange. 6.5/10

Refrain 
Instant 
Return target spell or nonland permanent to its owner's hand.  Its controller may scry 1.
Flashback 

---

Fleur

"Yes, she is just outside."  Arina calls Hannah, and Hannah enters through the front door.  She's holding a  "Hannah, your friend has something to show you."

"Oh! Hi Mis--"  Hannah pauses as she cannot determine whether to say Miss or Mister.  "Hi Bird-Friend!"  Hannah excitedly looks at the device.  "It's so pretty.  I bet you could store all kinds of energy in it!"

Hannah's got a few words, mostly because she's only 10 and doesn't know all the analytical practices she would need to figure out what the heck it actually does.  I, however, can see exactly what this does and it's exciting.  The fact that it can still eat a shatter probably means it's fine compared to something like Phyrexian Unlife? It's a bit concerning though. 9/10

Energetic Concentration 
Sorcery 
For each counter on target noncreature artifact, put another counter of that kind on that artifact.
"When you get high energy concentrations, like what an energy core gets you, that's when things get exciting."
-- Ativa, head engineer

Refrain: I like the first clause of the card, but I think the flashback should cost . 7/10.

"Oh, I know countless of things you don't" he says mockingly "But I'm assuming we're talking about your daughter's health. She is deteriorating, and faster than you think. Sure, it may look like physical exhaustion, but it's more than that. She was not meant to come here, and by letting her, you have signed hear death sentence."
Malextros is evidently savoring every word. The fear of a mother over her child's safety is a perfect trigger to stirr the darkness in the soul.
"She looks tired now, but I doubt she has more than a few days before it takes a real toll on her body. Of course when that happens I'll probably be far gone and you will have missed your shot, or maybe I'll still be here, and I'll gladly help you, but by then the price will have gone up. Take the opportunity while you still have it, is my advice. Just some information, that is all I need. Information on someone who you probably don't care much about, and your child's suffering ends right now!"

Promise of a Cure 
Instant
Remove all -1/-1 counters from target creature. For each counter removed this way, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
"This will work... it has to!"

Neottolemo

Hannah accepts the pearl but is greatly confused by it.

I kept trying to break benthic gift but didn't really get any further than "storm" where Gifts Ungiven is just better anyways. 9/10

Thorough Examination
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card.
Return target instant or sorcery card and each card that shares a name with that card from your graveyard to your hand.

---

korakhos
Arina's breath stops as the dark being details Hannah's affliction. Whether he caused on its own or if it is truly a separate affliction no longer matters. All that matters is Hannah's safety. "Aylin is what the Zendikari call a lithomancer. She manipulates stone and rock and bends them to her will. On other planes I have heard them called geomancers. When I last saw her, she had power potent enough to kill any being it came into contact with, soulless or not. My research tells me that she is here..." Arina points at a location of a roughly drawn wall map. "... but I have never visited her residence myself. Now, what do you know of my daughter's condition?"

Promise of a Cure could probably cost a mana less because for most creatures it's probably never being bigger than a total titanic growth, and Hapatra's mark strips counters with upside for only G. 7.5/10

Accept Aid
Instant
Copy target spell you don't control.

The soldier approached Arina, having not really seen her before.  "Hi there.  Are you... new here?" he asked.  "My name's Aiden - and didn't there used to be a kid around here?" he asked, looking around.

Essence Captain
Creature - Spirit Soldier
Flying
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may create a token copy of target creature in your graveyard with a converted mana cost of 1 or less. If you do, exile that card.
"One more shot?  Alright Johnston, but this is your last try."
1/1

Aiden gets a look of concern on his face.  Okay, missing child.  He's dealt with these before, lost Rose once during a festival, that was fun.  "Alright, it's important you remain calm.  Easier said than done I know, but we'll find her.  Last place you saw her was here - have you checked everywhere here?  Do you have any idea where she'd go?  Anybody she would want to see or any place she likes to be?" he asked.

Township Law-Enforcers
Creature - Human Soldier
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may exile target creature until ~ leaves the battlefield.
, : Return ~ to your hand.
Rough, tough, and ready to enforce any law they can make up.
2/2

Growing Concern: Even though the wording is completely correct, "you controlled" leaves a bad taste in my mouth, haha.  Won't deduct rating, just a fun fact.  Neat card, got that Tragic Slip feel to it, that being said could probably afford to be -6/-6. 9/10.

gurfafflekins

"No, I do not know where she could have gone." Arina is constantly using her hands while talking, both to keep them busy and to accentuate her speech.  "She was working on her aether tunneler and was adamant that she stay here until it was finished.  However, I returned and saw that she was not standing working on her aether tunneler.  It is not finished, so she would not have been in Entela--"

Township Law-Enforcers is a card that I think I would want to try in Highlander.  Not being able to reselect your creature if it's untapped is tough but fair. 9/10

Tangent of Thought 
Instant 
Return target creature to its owner's hand. That creature's controller discards a card.

---

cajun

"Miss Nisita?" a voice shouts outside.

Arina's eyes widen as she recognizes that voice.  That is Hannah's friend, the girl in the hat.  The girl who was talking to Hannah when she asked Arina about Kirino.  Arina similarly recognizes the panic with it.  She must be with Hannah.  That must be where Hannah is. "I am here!" Arina shouts in response, rushing out of the shack and leaving the man behind to meet the girl.  "I am here!"

Speaking of irony, I love how this card is a card that burns that's probably best against an opposing burn deck.  I know some people that've tried red punisher decks and I think this'd get right in. 9/10

Moment of Reflection 
Instant 
Counter target instant or sorcery spell, activated or triggered ability.  Copy it. You may choose new targets for that spell or ability.

cajun

Arina follows Karina, taking steps as fast as she can without plowing through the child.  The man can follow if he cares; Arina does not. Arina needs only a few moments with Hannah's collapsed body to recognize exactly what happened.  Hannah's breathing is staggered and irregular.  Her body is radiating heat from the loss of her body's cooling mechanisms.

"She said... said she forgot to heal herself. She's going to be okay right?"

Arina opens her mouth to curse, but cuts herself off before she says anything.  A glance out of the corner of her eye notices the carefully placed glass cell of aether balanced on a flat section of metal.  The object Hannah was supposed to shatter so she could recover properly.  It was not too late, but Hannah would certainly be out of commission for at least a day or two while her body recovered. 

Arina would have to ask Sara to send more cells.  She does not answer the child immediately, but instead pulls the cell towards her.  Lightly, Arina tosses the cell into the air and shoots a shard of ice through it, producing a cloud of white gas as aether spread out into the surrounding area.  Arina closes her eyes and takes a deep breath of her own.

"She will be alright," Arina confirms with a nod and a sigh.  "Provided she listens to my instructions and avoids working until she is fully recovered.  I would have preferred she did that in the first place, so we could have avoided this issue, but... there is no use being concerned about what has already happened. I will have some interim work to do and stay... here to ensure she is alright.  Thank you for calling me."

So I thought the cards couldn't get better in flavor or more heart-wrenching? And like, very, very wrong. 10/10

Aether Energy Cell 
Artifact 
At the beginning of your upkeep or whenever you cast an artifact spell, put a charge counter on Aether Energy Cell.
Remove any number of charge counters from Aether Energy Cell and sacrifice it: Add an amount of  equal to the number of charge counters removed this way.

Oops

Tangent of Thought: Unsummon + a discard, fitting, though at instant speed for both is a little iffy.  Maybe ? 9/10.

fluffydeathbringer

"Stop it!" Hannah needed Mom but Mom was nowhere to be found. What would Mom do?  Cast a spell.  What would Mom do that Hannah could do?

Creature with power 2 or less is currently my code for "kid" since it's also code for "small creature".

I feel like Dead Ears's second mode is mostly only relevant against, like, Storm?  But also that this is such a massive upside over Turn Aside (being able to serve as counter-counters, and also stuff that targets you, and also silencing the caster, compared to the color good at counterspells) and over Silence for the relevance decks that it should probably cost . 6/10

Replan 
Instant 
Return target spell to its owner's hand.  If you controlled that spell, draw a card.

(Predictably, picking up Break Concentration to fizzle Deaf Ears so Break Concentration can be recast)

---

Arina lightly pushes through the door to the makeshift bedroom she set up for Hannah.  In her hands are 5 large books that finally arrived from Entela.  Finally, Arina repeats in thought with a chuckle.  It has only been two or three days and one of the books had to be obtained from Litara.  Arina has no idea how Sara managed to do it so quickly.

"Esia, you two," Arina greets with a positivity that she had lacked for weeks. Hannah was sitting up for the first time since yesterday. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah, kinda," Hannah replies, "Can't... stand yet without falling over but I'm feeling better than I started."

"That may not have been such an issue if you restored your energy while your body was still functional." Arina places her pile of books on the desk and begins moving them from one pile into a new empty pile.

"Hey, Mom? That's a lot of books."

"It is," Arina agrees. "Four of them are for an ally named Reyhsia. Ancient history and bioaetherics. Two of them had to be printed in Entela because Entela does not publish physical copies of books anymore unless you specifically inquire about it."

Hannah notices that two of the books are soft-covered. "So what's the last one for?" Hannah asks. Arina immediately hands Hannah a book titled "When Aether Left Us".

"It is a fictional story about a girl approximately your age living in Mileran when the Aether Flux happened. As Entela's future Head Engineer..." Arina stressed the words that Hannah had proudly declared when she started studying core engineering, "I thought you may be interested in it. I hope it will give you something to do as an aside from working on your project."

"Thanks, Mom." Hannah replies. "Iunno how interested Karina'll be in it though, so that'll maybe have to be later."

"I might! If I knew what a Mileria and an Aether thingy are."

"Oh, right," Arina remembers.  She continues before Hannah can make her thought known. "Karina, I need to go give these to Reyhsia. Could you please watch Hannah? And, make sure she does not try to work on her project in this state?"

"I'll make sure she doesn't touch a single pile of metal, miss Nisita."

"Wasn't going to anyways," Hannah replies with a smile and a roll of her eyes.


"Excellent.  Thank you, both of you."

Lady Mapi

"That's the door," Hannah says as a reflex to the knock from Hanska.  "Who's Hanska?  Does she know Mom?" she asks to Karina.  Karina spends more time talking to others, so she might know the woman already.

"Hanska is a healer. She he-uh, has a snake, but it's nice."

"If Mom asked her to come, I should go open the door then, huh?"  Hannah rotates, taking a single step out of her bed before stumbling back onto the bed with a grunt. She puts her hands on her head.

"No," Karina says, crossing her arms.  "I promised Miss Nisita that you'd stay there.  I'll go get her."

Hannah sighs and lays down across the bed again.  "Thanks, Karina."

Karina bounds down the stairs and tiptoes past the mess of pens on the ground.  Silly Miss Nisita.  She throws open the door the moment she reaches it.  "Hello again!  Miss Nisita isn't home right now."

"Are you here to help Hannah?"

Blessed Orochi seems real good with any of the cheaper adapt creatures or anything with Evolve.  I'd be really excited to see how this plays out in a deck built for it.  9/10

Hopeful Greeting 
Instant 
Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and untap it.
Scry 1.

(Comparing Burst of Strength into a color that gets combat tricks less readily)

I smiled when I saw little Karina. It's good to see that Hannah had some friends looking out for her.

"Actually, I am. Mrs. Nisita said that she had everything under control, but I wanted to give Hannah a look myself. I might be able to help her get better more quickly, after all."

I let Karina lead me upstairs, and then I saw Hannah. She seemed to be exhausted but recovering. Why did I suspect anything different?

"Hello there, Hannah. My name is Hanska - I'm a healer. Your mother said you were recovering, and I wanted to check on things myself - you can never be too careful, right?"

I took another deep breath - if anything else was wrong, I'd pick on it. At that point, Mishka decided to hop out of my hood and onto Hannah's bed.

"Mishka! Don't startle me like that! Be gentle with Hannah."

---

Hanska is checking over Hannah. A small calico cat has jumped onto Hannah's bed and is currently getting nice and comfortable on her lap.

Wildheath Cat -
Creature - Cat
When Hospital Cat enters the battlefield, it explores.
, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Wildheath Cat: Put a +1/+1 counter on another creature you control.
1/2

Hopeful Greeting looks pretty good - though I wouldn't expect to see it outside of a set where counters bleed into Blue (like Ravnica). Still, there's precedence due to cards like Unity of Purpose. Still, I think it's off enough that I can really only justify giving it an 8/10