"The East Wind, an interloper in the dominions of Westerly Weather, is an impassive-faced tyrant with a sharp poniard held behind his back for a treacherous stab."

—Joseph Conrad, *The Mirror of the Sea*

Early Jamuraan hunters devised a weapon that would return to its source. Tolarian Æthermancers developed a spell that skipped the weapon entirely.

The delicate sprites carry messages for Saprazzans, but they refuse to land in Mercadia City's filthy markets.

"From the sea came all life, and to the sea it will return. The sooner the better."

—Emperor Aboshan

According to merfolk legend, a denizen of the deep swallows the horizon at the end of each day, bringing on the cold blanket of night.

Some wizards compete not to summon the most interesting creatures, but to create the most interesting aftereffects when a summons goes awry.

"Once I supply the breeze, you'll see your warriors for the smoke they truly are."

—Alexi, zephyr mage

Of royal blood among the spirits of the air, the Mahamoti djinn rides on the wings of the winds. As dangerous in the gambling hall as he is in battle, he is a master of trickery and misdirection.

"Why fight the body when you can dominate the mind that rules it?"

—Jace Beleren

Fragments of thought refract and multiply, surging in a geyser of dizzying insight.

Masters of the arcane savor a delicious irony. Their study of deep and complex arcana leads to such a simple end: the ability to say merely yes or no.

"The construction of a defense is not accomplished by adding bricks."

—Jace Beleren

Foul-tempered, poorly trained, and mule-stubborn, the drake is the perfect test of the master's will.

Other birds collect twigs for their nests. Magpies collect jewels for theirs.

Mages routinely summon creatures from the Æther. It's only fair that they occasionally throw one back.

To gaze under its hood is to invite death.

His soul snared by an angel's curse, Crovax twisted heroism into its purest shadow.

They envy the life-giving heat so much that they tear it from those who still possess it.

"The dead make good soldiers. They can't disobey orders, never surrender, and don't stop fighting when a random body part falls off."

—Nevinyrral, *Necromancer's Handbook*

Imps are just intelligent enough to have an understanding of cruelty.

"The elves are right: Death inevitably leads to life. But the truly powerful don't just experience this cycle. They control it."

—Crovax, ascendant evincar

"Those without beauty are Lorwyn's greatest tumor. The winnowers have an unpleasant duty, but a necessary one."

—Eidren, perfect of Lys Alana

"It's a vicious circle. Stress breeds pain. Pain breeds stress. It's simply beautiful, wouldn't you agree?"

—Vradeen, vampire nocturnus

"The beauty of mental attacks is that your victims never remember them."

—Volrath

Dark thoughts hatch and twist within the mind, straining to take wing.

Winnowers live to eliminate eyeblights, creatures the elves deem too ugly to exist.

Nothing is sacred to rats. Everything is simply another meal.

Empires rise and fall, but evil is eternal.

No one in Aphetto answers a knock at the door after sundown.

"In the drowsy dark cave of the mind, dreams build their nest with fragments dropped from day's caravan."

—Rabindranath Tagore

"Born under the moon, the second child will stumble on temptation and seek power in the dark places of the heart."

—Codex of the Constellari

"Rage courses in every heart, yearning to betray its rational prison."

—Sarkhan Vol

For Sarkhan Vol, the dragon is the purest expression of life's savage splendor.

Fire never dies alone.

Boggarts divide the world into two categories: things you can eat, and things you have to chase down and pummel before you can eat.

"If the whole world burns, I'll never grow cold."

Earth elementals have the eternal strength of stone and the endurance of mountains. Primordially connected to the land they inhabit, they take a long-term view of things, scorning the impetuous haste of short-lived mortal creatures.

The barbarians call it "touching the soul of the dragon."

The furnace awaits the next master who would stoke the fires of apocalypse.

Once he'd worked out which end of the thing was sharp, he was promoted to guard duty.

The goblin word for "flying" is more accurately translated as "falling slowly."

Fortunately, hill giants have large blind spots in which a human can easily hide. Unfortunately, these blind spots are beneath the bottoms of their feet.

"Yes, I think 'toast' is an appropriate description."

—Jaya Ballard, task mage