In this post, I’m gonna give you a look behind the curtain as I share a bit about the story of Conclave Arcana's creation.
The set's story arc has been building for a while, ever since we announced land and shifted our worldbuilding to Praetoria. The veil that once hid Praetoria from the rest of the Splinterlands was lifted by order of the Wizards’ Council. Or so the story went. In truth, it was Portia Nyr, first introduced back in 2020 in The Encyclopedia of the Splinters, who manipulated the council into revealing it.
That decision opened the way for the Chaos Legions' invasion. And in the smoke and blood that followed, Portia seized control of the council and rebranded it the Conclave Arcana. She also helped foment the rebellion. And with the Chaos Empire in ruins and the splinters of Praetoria struggling to rebuild, Portia entered the final stretch of her endgame: find the secret of Praetoria.
The original concept for the set was squarely focused on the Conclave Arcana. We made character cards for the mages themselves, their cronies, and the elementals they summoned to demonstrate their mastery of the arcane.
But then we decided to go all-in on bloodlines, and everything changed.
Strategically, bloodlines add a powerful layer to the game. Players now have more reason to care about cards as characters and what bloodline each belongs to, which affects certain abilities and buffs.
But the shift wasn’t just mechanical. It was narrative. It meant a dramatic adjustment to the set's roster. We now had to account for more than just the bloodline archons and a handful of their bloodline allies; we replaced about 28% of the characters we'd painstakingly created with new characters (along with new artwork and lore) representing non-conclave bloodline cards.
So, rather than being dominated by conclave cards, the set evolved to include primarily bloodline heroes. In the lore, you’ll notice many of these cards are named characters, even when the card itself isn’t a unique named individual. For example, Deep Delver isn't a generic archetype, but a specific rock gnome named Zipta Tumblegrit.
We wanted the heroes of Praetoria to feel grounded in the story, but not outnumber the villains. The Conclave needed to feel dominant. The resistance needed to feel scrappy. The good guys are the underdogs, unable to pull off a win without your help through Conflicts and mage wagons.
Ultimately, we’re extremely proud of how the set turned out. Each bloodline archon has the right mix of supporting units, giving players real strategic choices without overwhelming them. The cards are balanced and purposeful with very little (if any) filler. That’s thanks in large part to our playtesters, who put the set through its paces and gave honest, critical feedback. Their suggestions helped refine abilities, smooth out edges, and ensure every card earned its place.
With all that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the cards themselves.
Bren Palesworn
Originally, this card was intended to be Portia Nyr, the set's promo card and leader of the Conclave Arcana. But efforts to create stats for her were rejected, so we swapped Portia for Bren, although he too was eventually replaced by Gramel the Hunger and moved from promo card to the core set. But, because Bren was slotted as a promo card when I rewrote the story for Conclave Arcana, I made him a pretty critical part of the storyline. Gramel the Hunger wasn't created until shortly before launch, so he's not mentioned in any conflicts or in any card lore other than his own.
Meanwhile, The prologue of the Conclave Arcana set actually begins with the Rebellion voucher card, Kelan Gaines. Trusted agent of Grandmaster Rathe, Kelan is a powerful necromancer and agent of Mothrook Goathelm, an exploration company first revealed during the initial land expansion announcement. He infiltrates the Conclave Arcana and, when he learns of Portia's plan to uncover the secret of Praetoria, he feeds that intel back to Rathe, who informs the Riftwatchers.
The Riftwatchers, in turn, try to mobilize the splinters of Praetoria to stop the conclave. But, as Portia planned, they're too banged up from the rebellion. Most flat out refuse.
So the Riftwatchers send Bren Palesworn. He uses his shapeshifting abilities to appear as kin to those he visits, convinces them to stand against the conclave, and trains them to do it.
That forms the backdrop of the story for Conclave Arcana. The conclave sends expditions into five of the seven territories of Praetoria, searching for the secret. And each bloodline archon and their allies try to stop them.
Grimbardun Dwarves
The Grimbardun dwarves face off against Oridum Graybrow in the Great Lowlands. They're led by Fithe Bladestone.
His artwork is based on a miniature I painted back in the late 90s.
Fithe is a Grimbardun Fighter who served under Dalthin Ironhood during the rebellion.
In other words, he's one of these dudes:
Who served under Dalthin Ironhood:
The original lineup of Grimbardun dwarf units was Portly Cannoneer, Ashen Cindergrim, Virid Venomancer (which later changed to orc), and Mad Kaboomist.
Mad Kaboomist was supposed to have Incendiary, but we kept the artwork anyway. Because it's awesome.
In neutral, an orc wielding a crossbow with a machine-gun-style belt of bolts coming out of it was replaced by Ferrous Brewer.
I love how World of Warcraft does pop-culture parodies. Stumbling across those Easter eggs in-game was always a joy for me, so I've done the same and hope you feel like I did when I ran into Lady La-La (Lady Gaga), Tindral Sageswift (Taylor Swift), Haris Pilton (Paris Hilton), and Ophera Windfury (Oprah Winfrey) in Azeroth.
Inept Healer was added late in the game, replacing one of the gnomes we'd created.
The artists were putting the finishing touches on their creations when we decided to introduce a new ability that increased the stats of cards that shared a bloodline with them. To make room, the beast elementals got the axe, and our artists got to work creating new characters.
The idea was that this ability would go on commanders and generals, like a rallying cry. But this was Conclave Arcana. There were no military formations or armies. These were small warbands, and the leaders of these warbands had already been defined; they were the archons.
So, instead, I called the ability Bloodline Tribute and gave it to beloved characters whose death would incite their allies to avenge them.
The dwarven Bloodline Tribute's name, Swiftbeard Stout, is a reference to his stature and my favorite kind of beer. I also love his attitude.
Seriously, how can Oridum see anything?
Because magic.
Nimbledook Gnomes
The Nimbledook gnomes face off against Craniax the Quick in the Shimmering Coasts. Originally, I'd planned to make a new splinter of gnomes called Snevelminch. In the end, though, I decided to stick with the Nimbledook and build on them, since they were featured in the Rebellion card set (Nimbledook Scout and Nimbledook Explorer).
During Conclave Arcana, they're led by Razi Clanktrap.
Her name is a play on Claptrap from the Borderlands video game. The artist came up with the mechanical owl, which I love.
The original lineup of Nimbledook gnome units was Cavewise Wayfinder, Deep Delver, Lucky Longshot, and Wobble Gearcrunch.
Wobble Gearcrunch, a formidable little gnome firing a cannon from her hip, was replaced by the dwarf, Inept Healer.
Of the gnomes that made it into Conclave Arcana, they're all individuals. So it's these four gnomes against Craniax the Quick and his army of undead, which I think is hilarious to imagine. Hijinx quickly ensue in their card lore.
Razi Clanktrap:
Cavewise Wayfinder:
Deep Delver:
Lucky Longshot:
Ulundin Ulund
The Ulundin ulund face off against Palifala Weslinath in the Pristine Northwest. They're led by Bella Ratajowlski, daughter of Ulundin’s leader.
Any resemblance to Emily Ratajkowski is purely coincidental.
The original lineup of Ulundin ulund units was Mystic Mudbinder, Thunderous Herald, and Bellowmancer. We didn't originally plan to have an ulund bloodline archon. Once we pulled the trigger, though, the art team scrambled to make it happen, and the storyline for Conclave Arcana was revised by our team of writers (me), as well.
Aranduriel was moved from life archon to dragon archon (and later to dragon unit) to make room for Bella.
Deepsea Tridenter's artwork was removed to make room for a melee ulund with a club. When it changed from melee to ranged, our art lead asked me if we should change his club to a spear. I said, "Naw, let's just have him huck the club." Thus, Bludgeon Hucker was born.
Maridi Conjuress was scrapped in favor of another ulund, this time with only 4 health. How the heck do we explain that? A baby hippo. And Stampeding Calf stampeded into the set.
Steppe Stalker was moved from water to neutral to make room for an ulund with flying. I asked myself, what would happen if the Riftwatchers gifted Ulundin with a runic skyclaw suit to help fight the Conclave Arcana?
And the Runic Skychonk swooped into the scene.
Flying was eventually moved to another card (more on that later), but okay, who's ever heard of a flying hippo anyway? We scaled back the wings and leaned into the joke.
Ironleg Pirate was an ettin who had to be replaced with another ulund. So we chopped off one head, turned the other head into a hippo's, revised the body, and changed his name to Warwall Juggernaut.
We removed Careless Badger from the set...
...and replaced it with another ulund, this one ranged. You can only do so many spears and bows and crossbows. I figured this one would use gourds, either to toss at her foes or heal her allies. That concept became Calabash Sage.
But wait! We needed to figure out how to fit yet another low-health ulund into the set, this one with Bloodline Tribute. Sure, I could've made another baby hippo to explain the ridiculously low health. Instead, I created an ulund named Zawadi Sangara, AKA Moribund Arrowbait, filling her with arrows like a pin cushion.
Duratuk Orcs
The Duratuk orcs of the Grimward tribe face off against Oridum Graybrow in the Great Lowlands. They're led by Gorgug the Endless, a shaman-slash-warrior.
I wanted an orc that embodied the brutal nature of the Duratuk. I mashed some syllables around to come up with Gorgug, which just sounds very Tolkien-esque. And to make him even more badass? He's endless.
The original lineup of Duratuk orc units was Thraghun, Thragha, and Burzumuk. Generally, named characters are epics and legendaries, and the siblings were originally slotted as epics. When they got shifted to rare, I'd already written their lore and fallen in love with the characters, so I kept their names in spite of their rarity.
Thraghun is also named after my best friend's character in World of Warcraft. He makes a brief cameo in my second novel, Democracy Inc.
Remember the orc wielding a machine-gun-style crossbow I mentioned earlier? The one replaced by Ferrous Brewer? That was Burzumuk.
Virid Venomancer's original artwork was a dwarf, but we revised it to accommodate an orc in earth.
Zargrul and Grimward Ruinshot were also late additions, Grimward Ruinshot filling a gap when we added another rare card to neutral, and Zargrul getting Bloodline Tribute and replacing water's beast elemental.
Gloridax Empire Drakoshan
The Gloridax Empire doesn't play a role in the story of the Conclave Arcana or the conflicts because their cards weren't added until late. When Songale was added as the Bloodline Tribute for drakoshan, we used his lore to explain why the Gloridax Empire didn't move against the conclave: the empire was decimated during the Rebellion, they're rebuilding, and don't see the Conclave Arcana as a threat.
Of course, they soon learn they're wrong, as we found out when we read Tasoshi Drakamoto's lore.
The other drakoshan we added became the dragon archon for Little League. Time was short, and expectations were high for another stunning card. You might say it was Threat Level: Midnight in the Creative Department.
Welcome to Conclave Arcana, Kavor Skarn.
Thanalorian Elves
The Kingdom of Thanaloria is represented by the Silverleaf family. While they may not be of noble blood, their patriarch, Rathlorien Silverleaf, is as feared as he is revered. Kaylia is his granddaughter, and she leads the fellowship of the Silverleaf against Mahkah Hemlig in the Broken Lands.
The original elves were Silverleaf Mage, Silverleaf Ranger, Taye Loreswift, and Aranduriel.
We changed the artwork for the goblin, Grinning Shanker, to an elf and renamed it Sacrosanct Shanker. And Conclave Wainward, a human, was changed to Silverleaf Warlock, another elf.
The Decrepit Windseer was also added as the elven Bloodline Tribute. A high elf named Selbrineth Calaraen, she's Kaylia Silverleaf's nursemother.
The fellowship of the Silverleaf also includes Lavenendra (also known as the Buttercup Mauler) and the Sylvaran Sentinel. Along with Aranduriel, they represent the fey splinter of Sylvaras.
Aranduriel was originally the life archon, moved to dragon archon, and finally settled as a unit card, and we came up with another character concept for the dragon archon.
Aranduriel was the name of an elf I played on a multi-user dungeon (MUD) back in the late 1990s.
Lavenendra was originally a no-attack card called Conclave Florist. When her stats changed to a powerful melee sneak attack, I changed her name to Buttercup Mauler and rewrote her lore.
Conclave Arcana
As you can see, the number of bloodline characters increased dramatically from the original plan. I ended up with a complete rewrite of the story arc, much of the card lore, and the conflicts for Conclave Arcana.
Next, let's dive into Conclave Arcana cards that represent the conclave.
Oridum Graybrow's Expedition
Oridum Graybrow, the Conclave Arcana's fire mage, sends fires raging across the Great Lowlands in his search for the secret of Praetoria. He's accompanied by:
- Forked-tongue Sages: serpentine from Sskah Den
- Flames for Hire: djinn mercenaries from Incaendium
- Blazebeard Merc: Drazh Ironblaze, an escaped convict turned mercenary
- Canary Keepers: kobold slaves
Canary Keepers are based on the idiom, "canary in a coal mine," which in turn is based on real-world coal miners of yore, who took canaries into the mines because the birds were more sensitive to toxic gases. If the canary showed signs of distress or died, the miners beat feet.
Jicarilla the Rime's Expedition
Jicarilla the Rime, the Conclave Arcana's water mage, floods the Wild Northeast in her search for Praetoria's secret. She's accompanied by:
- Steppe Stalkers: trackers from Panopia’s Inuksuk tribe
- Tidal Tsunamists: merfolk of the Kingdom of Mar Toren, which has allied itself with the Conclave Arcana
- Bristleborn Brigands: quilliun archers from the Drybone Anarchists
- Quillstorm Mages: quilliun mages, also from the Drybone anarchists
- Anyu Huntswomen: hunters of the Anyu tribes
- Water Diviner: Qanuaq Nerivik, a marine gnome from Pimniq
Originally, Water Diviner didn't have Electrified. When it was added, we redid the lore and artwork.
Mahkah Hemlig's Expedition
Mahkah Hemlig, the Conclave Arcana's earth mage, tears the Broken Lands apart in her search for the secret of Praetoria. She's accompanied by:
- Folen Falmeye: a mercenary from the Kingdom of Lyveria
The Fenmoor Wood Trolls also ally with Mahkah Hemlig, but not out of any sense of loyalty. It's more because she leaves an all-you-can-eat buffet of woodland creatures and fey in her wake, and them trolls be hangry.
Palifala Weslinath's Expedition
Palifala Weslinath, the Conclave Arcana's life mage, fast-forwards and reverses time in her search for Praetoria's secret in the Pristine Northwest. Palifala is another card named after a character I played on that same MUD back in the day. There, her name was Palifalindal Weslinalithe, but that was too long to fit on a card, so I shortened it.
Palifala is accompanied by:
- Janni Oracles: life djinn who think the conclave's victory is assured
- Leolin Sifu: Nyamisa, a leonine martial artist from the Kingdom of Khymia
- Owlkin Geodesist: Tashikka, a snowy owlkin from Albahoo
In case you're wondering: efreet are fire djinn; marid are water djinn; dao are earth jinn; jann are life djinn; khayal are death djinn, and shaitan are dragon djinn. To make it singular, just add an "i." Efreeti, maridi, daoi, janni, khayali, and shaitani.
Nyamisa is a practitioner of Leolin, which is a play on "Shaolin," a real-world style of kung fu. And sifu means "expert instructor" in Chinese. Thus, "Leolin Sifu" means "expert instructor of the Leolin martial art."
Craniax the Quick's Expedition
Craniax the Quick was Portia's sidekick in the Tome of Chaos stories, which we released during the Chaos Legion era. In Conclave Arcana, we realize he isn't the servile hunchback we believed him to be.
Craniax raises an army of undead to scour the Shimmering Coasts for Praetoria's secret. He's accompanied by:
- Fenmoor Gorgons: gorgons from Fenmoor Basin
- Gonach Excavators: venari of Gonach Hollow's Broken Earth Clan
- Shadowfey Sheik: Zha'kul, a khayali (death djinn) who controls shadowfey
- Aerial Shieldmaiden: Yamra, a sociopathic tortisian from Skegmire
- Halfshell Seer: Tormala, a crazy tortisian from Skegmire
- Filthy Scavengers: deep gnomes from New Beluroc
When the gnomes were given a Bloodline Tribute, I'd already completed the card lore and conflict stories, which all mention there are only four Nimbledook gnomes facing off against Craniax. So even though it provides a buff to the Nimbledook, the gnomish Bloodline Tribute, Filthy Scavenger, is aligned with the Conclave Arcana against them.
Filthy Scavengers are deep gnome guttersnipes that helped Craniax the Quick rise from minor mage to powerful necromancer of the Conclave Arcana.
Aerial Shieldmaiden was originally called Terrapin Trawler. She had Snare and was slinging a net. But then snare got replaced with Shield Bash, and Flying was moved from the Runic Skychonk to her. Our artists did their thing and reworked the art, replacing the net with a shield and giving her a one-handed boost of magic to allow for airborne shenanigans, and I rewrote her lore. She's like Captain America, Iron Man, and a teenage mutant ninja turtle, all rolled into one!
The Halfshell Seer was originally a no-attack unit. When she was given a ranged attack, we said her butterflies did the attacking and rewrote her lore to fit.
Other Conclave Arcana Goons
These include the cards I adjusted to fit in with any of the expeditions:
- Caravan Guard: soldiers, mercenaries, deserters, and drifters hired by the conclave
- Conclave Artificer: engineers of enchantment who forge armor and implements not only for war, but for survival, secrecy, and the pursuit of ancient power
- Conclave Tracker: pathfinders who aid the expeditions in their search for the secret of Praetoria
Boring Hobgoblin: miners from the Mox Confederation
Boring Hobgoblins are one of my more clever character concepts, if I do say so myself. "Boring" into the earth with their drills, they were originally created to be "boring" melee cards. Somehow they ended up with Sneak, though. That's okay. I made it clear that they were boring in their lore.
Other cards that fall under the "Other Goons" category include:
- Arcane Skinwalker: a shapeshifting fiend from the lower planes
- Gramel the Hunger: a king and fiend from the Plane of Chaos
- Hodlor: Portia Nyr's steward
I created the character concept for Arcane Skinwalker to support the new Shapeshift ability.
Gramel the Hunger, our legendary promo, was a last-minute addition, so his lore isn't tied into the story of the Conclave Arcana like Portia Nyr's or Bren Palesworn's, both of whom were going to be the legendary promo card at some point or other. Alas, efforts to create stats for Portia were rejected, so the promo card became Bren Palesworn, and when its stats changed again, the card became Gramel.
Hodlor gets his name from a combination of hodl...
... and Hodor.
Elementals
We created five beast elementals for the set: Fire Foxling, Puddle Pup, Spriglet, Lumble Bun, and Doom Woozle. They were adorable. But the stats and abilities on the cards changed, and we ended up ditching them, mostly in favor of cards to support Bloodline Tribute.
We originally had five elemental goliaths, but their health was so low, I couldn't justify calling them goliaths any more, so I changed their names to elemental (Molten, Abyssal, Auroral, and Umbral Elemental) and rewrote their lore.
The Sylvan Elemental looked too much like a treefolk for my liking, so I changed his bloodline and renamed him Sylvaran Sentinel, a treefolk from Sylvaras who joins the Silverleaf fellowship in the battle against Mahkah Hemlig.
Dragons
On launch, the Conclave Arcana set includes two dragon cards: Desolation and Sheng Xiao.
Desolation is straight outta Possibilus the Wise's lore.
Meanwhile, Sheng Xiao is the character concept we came up with to replace Aranduriel as the dragon archon. Spoiler alert: her lore introduces an upcoming airdrop card.
Mundane Beasts
Every set has cards that represent the flora and fauna of the Splinterlands, and Conclave Arcana is no different. It includes four mundane beasts.
@hewitt mentioned he'd love to see a giraffe card, so I came up with Vicious Giraffe.
@clayboyn mentioned a platypus, so I created Fenmoor Platypus.
Archerfish are real-world fish that shoot a jet of water at insects to knock them into the drink. The Splinterlands version, Archer Koi, are bigger. And so are their targets.
Quokkas are pretty much the cutest animals in existence.
Only in the Splinterlands, they can get a little violent.
That second paragraph is one sentence and meant to be read aloud in a single breath. Give it a whirl.
Other Legendary Cards
The Phlegmunculus was a last-minute add, a Divine Construct to give Elanor Bravefoot's Blasphemy of Uul a boost in Modern. It replaced Piecemail Punk, one of the two goblin cards originally in the set.
The Phlegmunculi foreshadow the next major card set after Conclave Arcana.
Archmage Yabanius
Yabanius is a DAO-proposed card whose lore ties in perfectly with the Conclave Arcana's story. Seriously, check it out. And if you haven't read the lore for Yaba's Pickle, read that next.
As it turned out, Conclave Arcana isn't just about the conclave; it's more about what rises to meet it. Each card serves as a glimpse into the power struggle that’s reshaping the Splinterlands. And behind each stat, ability, and tactic, there’s a story of sacrifice, ambition, and survival.
This set demanded more than worldbuilding. It required hard decisions, rewrites, late-night revisions, and a willingness to scrap even our favorite cards to make something better. I hope that effort shines through. Because for all its changes, balance, and polish, Conclave Arcana remains what it began as: a battle for the soul of Praetoria. And that battle still isn’t over.
