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Overview
Bant is a world cut off from red and black mana, a haven of order, honor, and community. It's a shard of Alara where traditions have thrived, protected by innumerable knightly orders, warrior angels, and a caste system designed to support the good of the many over the good of the few. Without the magic of death and chaos there to threaten convention and stability, and with angels flying as tireless symbols of peace and justice, its community traditions have become codified into law. Its monks study the words of ancient prayers. Its mages and clerics practice magic of healing, prevention, protection, and growth. Its druids and laborers care for the rolling fields, bringing nourishment to the population. And its knights—the finest in all of Alara's shards, not that they'd know it—practice the codes and forms of martial perfection, weighed down by the medallions of honor and patronage known as sigils.
Core Values
Without the destructive or selfish impulses of red and black mana, Bant has become a golden utopia. Angels rule the realm with benevolence and grace. Humans and the birdfolk called aven resolve their conflicts with ritualized combat. Duty and honor are the bedrock of this kingdom of light.
Bant Culture
Bant is a land of towering castles and leotau-riding knights, angeks and high castles on rolling meadows. It is a world that loves order and values the group. The ruling establishment is noble and righteous, and the society is well-ordered with a strong sense of right and wrong.
There are still battles held on this shard, but they are battles of noble cause. The fighting isn't just for the sake of fighting, but as a means to find resolution. When two factions disagreed, they have a structured combat to resolve the issue. Rather than risk the health of entire armies, each group picks one champion and sends him or her as their representative.
Caste System
Bant is governed by a caste system, a tiered social organization to which all mortals belong. Bant's castes are:
Blessed – These are the nobles, monarchs, and community leaders of Bant, many of whom communicate directly with the angels.
Sighted – This is the caste of monks, clerics, seers, and other spiritual leaders. Interestingly, their status is not tied directly to the angels, but to the insights they bring on their own.
Sigiled – Any soldier or knight who has earned a sigil of patronage becomes part of the honorable Sigiled caste. Members of this caste are ranked according to how many sigils they bear.
Mortar – Most people on Bant are part of Mortar caste, the common folk who provide the workforce of the world's nations.
Unbeholden – The shameful Unbeholden caste is composed of undisciplined lawbreakers.
Many on Bant believe that through noble deeds, any person can ascend through the castes, and that the noblest of Blessed-caste might become an angel.
Rhoxes are the ascetics and warrior-monks of Bant. They earn sigils just like any other worthy soul on the plane, and can be both the fiercest combatants on the battlefield and the most enlightened thinkers in the monastery. Rhoxes are characteristically terse and gruff. If you hear advice from a rhox, take it, as it might be the only thing you hear from him or her all day.
Cities of Bant - Akrasa
Akrasa, sometimes called "The Sea of Grass", is a land of fertile plains all put to agriculture. Several knightly orders are based in Akrasa, and its own armies are quite large. Akrasa has the largest number of ancient towers and castles of any kingdom and the largest Blessed caste in Bant. While every other caste is well represented and respected, in Akrasa, the Blessed rule with the support of the military. When a Blessed speaks in Akrasa, the ground itself is said to listen.
Akrasa does not have any large bodies of mounted troops. Their knights ride leotau and are mostly Mortars who believe their martial experience gives them a higher status than other Mortars. Outside of Akrasa this is seen as utter pretension and many a brawl has started when a non-Akrasan refused to treat an Akrasan regimentarian with the respect that they believe they are due.
"A night attack will be easy. We'll make an air raid over the Akrasan border. Just get me some flint to light the war torches." (Bant Battlemage)
Bant's armies are primarily composed of members of the Mortar caste, loyal commoners who haven't yet earned a sigil. (Akrasan Squire)
Once a year, Akrasa holds a joust that draws knights and their leotaus from every nation on Bant. The prize is an Akrasan sigil, but the true reward is the angel's kiss. (Kiss of the Amesha)
"Only by the bravery of those who put loyalty above glory is our home kept safe." -Elspeth Tirel (Guardians of Akrasa)
Cities of Bant - Eos
Eos is one of the Inner Three nations of Bant, along with Akrasa and Topa. In normal times, their relations are good, but since Jhess and Valeron went to war, the Inner Three have become embroiled in conflict as well. Compared to the more chaotic style of conflict practiced by the coastal nations, war among the Inner Three is a thing of forms and rituals, carefully timed marches of vast infantry units, and long speeches before battles.
Eos is nominally Valeron's ally, due more to their own disputes with Topa than any particular affinity for the Valeronians. The rulers of Eos possess ancient documents that they feel give them claim to several ancient watering holes in Topa, a claim that Topa steadfastly denies. Eos is home of the Olive Branch, a knightly order that seeks to broker peace and smooth the relations between all the nations of Bant. However, all attempts by the knights of the Olive Branch to mediate the dispute between Eos and Topa have failed.
At his side, humble beasts become weapons more deadly than sharpened steel. (Ranger of Eos)
The strength of Bant's caste system is the unfailing loyalty of its meekest members. (Knight-Captain of Eos)
Cities of Bant - Jhess
The island nation of Jhess lies along the eastern coast of Bant. Jhessians are famous navigators and have the finest navy in Bant. They have occasionally warred with Valeron, raiding its coastal villages with their swift naval fleets. Jhess's sleek ships and highly trained marines dominate the sea and beaches, but Valeron's hearty cavalry rule the inland battlefields.
Jhess is more freewheeling than the other nations of Bant, and many Jhessians have a flamboyant streak that is attributed to their coastal living. A far greater portion of the population is likely to be either Sigiled or Sighted than in other nations, and Jhess has the highest population of Unbeholden. Jhessians' upward and downward mobility among the castes is considered shockingly radical by the more traditional mores of Eos, Akrasa and Topa.
The Jhessian navy makes successful raids on Valeron's coastal towns thanks to their spies planted during peacetime. (Jhessian Infiltrator)
She stands ready, always watchful, knowing that weeks of peace and serenity can be overturned by a single distant sail. (Jhessian Lookout)
The island nation of Jhess is under constant siege from Valeron on the mainland. Riders traverse the coastline, always on the lookout for sails or aven. (Outrider of Jhess)
Cities of Bant - Topa
The open savannah of Topa is spotted with towns that surround the precious watering holes and great cloister forts built near important religious locations. Most wild leotau live in Topa, and their knight-paragons are famed for their skill with these feline mounts. Topa's wild leotau often attack Valeron's horse herds so relations are never better than strained cordiality. At the moment, they are in outright war as Topa has allied itself with Jhess. Topa is famous for its caravans, huge trains that carry goods, travelers, and entertainers from watering hole to watering hole.
Topans are master merchants, and compared to other nations they have a particularly large Mortar population, filled with scribes and accountants, merchants and traders. The small Blessed caste that rules Topa looks to both successful Mortars and visionary Sighted for guidance, and both castes have high level representatives on government advisory councils.
Rebels and other malcontents forced into the ritual awake lost in Topa's vast savannahs. Those who find their way back return humble and repentant. (Excommunicate)
Monks from Topa wander all of Bant, encouraging the Unbeholden to find their place in society through honorable combat. (Topan Ascetic)
Cities of Bant - Valeron
Valeron stretches along the southern coast of Bant, a land of vast rolling plains dotted with copses of trees. Valeronians are renowned for their beauty, and though the elves are gone from Bant, folklore says Valeronians have some elvish blood. Valeron is famed for the quality of its horses and the expertise of its cavalry. While Valeron cannot challenge Jhess on the sea, their cavalry is so swift that they can spot raiding forces approaching their villages and shift their cavalry rapidly to meet nearly any threat.
Valeron is home to the famous Sun-Dappled Court, a grove of twelve time-honored trees
Plowbeasts of Naya escaped their harnesses in droves, content to snack on the conveniently cultivated fields of Eos and Valeron. (Vagrant Plowbeasts)
Knight-stewards guard the Sun-Dappled Court, a grove of immense, sculptured olive trees that represent Valeron's twelve noble families. (Steward of Valeron)
The Jhessian navy makes successful raids on Valeron's coastal towns thanks to their spies planted during peacetime. (Jhessian Infiltrator)
At sea, the Jhessian fleet strikes swiftly and decisively. On land, facing the elite cavalry of Valeron, its marines must rely on more cautious strategies. (Tortoise Formation)
The Sun-Dappled Court of Valeron stands secure behind a wall of steel-tipped arrows. (Court Archers)
The island nation of Jhess is under constant siege from Valeron on the mainland. Riders traverse the coastline, always on the lookout for sails or aven. (Outrider of Jhess)
After years of honing her philosophy in debate with stubborn rhoxes, Niella was ready to convert any heathen. (Valeron Outlander)
Information Source: https://gamelore.fandom.com/wiki/Bant
Club Decks - Bant Coloured
Part of the Favourites Decks focusing on building card advantage through draw and search engines, and bringing back Vengevines.
Part of the For Glory Commander Decks focused on playing Big Defenders to protect yourself and team mates, and then attack with them later thanks to Arcades.
Part of the For Glory Commander Decks focused on playing spells that exile and return creatures, to take advantage of their enter the battlefield effects.
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