Locations
Welcome back, Lore Seekers! Today we're talking about the returning legends from Phyrexia: All Will Be One. There are a lot of them, and I don't have a lot of word count, so let's dive in!
Elesh Norn
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite by Igor Kieryluk
Cards: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
References: A Garden of Flesh, The Brothers' War Chapter 3: Nemesis, A Planeswalker's Guide to NPH: The Machine Orthodoxy, Card References
Elesh Norn is the face character of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, the final praetor to be printed in the years-long Phyrexia arc leading up to March of the Machine. Amusingly, before her appearance in last year's A Garden of Flesh, Elesh Norn hadn't actually appeared in a story! She'd been named once or twice before, but never appeared in the flesh, so to speak. Norn is the leader of the 'religious' faction of New Phyrexia, the Machine Orthodoxy. Her vision for the multiverse is that all will be made as one, although the Machine Orthodoxy has various interpretations of that. Her aversion of flesh comes from the idea that skin is a barrier to unity. Gross!
Unctus
Unctus, Grand Metatect by Andrew Mar
Cards: Unctus, Grand Metatect
References: Unctus of the Synod, Card References
Unctus, Grand Metatect is a side character from the Scars of Mirrodin block. He was originally a Vedalken researcher named Kiryk who became one of the first infected. The story Unctus of the Synod was on one of the Scars of Mirrodin 'minisites', which were these flavor websites created for set releases in the 2000's and early 2010's. The card is also a reference to Grand Architect.
Geth
Geth, Lord of the Vault by Whit Brachna
Cards: Geth, Lord of the Vault, Geth, Thane of Contracts
References: The Moons of Mirrodin, The Darksteel Eye, The Fifth Dawn, The Quest for Karn, Card References
The lich Geth is one of the major characters from the original Mirrodin block. The lord of the swamp-like biome known as the Mephidross, he reigned from Ish Sah, the Vault of Whispers. When the elf Glissa's quest brought her to the Mephidross, Geth tried to have his Mephidross Vampire kill her, but she survived. He ended up helping out later in the war against Memnarch, but mostly because he was a severed head and didn't have much of a choice. Afterwards, he, along with Glissa and Slobad, eventually found themselves at the mercy of the New Phyrexians in the core. While Glissa and Slobad were compleated, Geth made a deal, in exchange for a Phyrexian body, he would ensure the Phyrexians could invade the surface through the black lacuna, located under his palace. He then became one of the seven Steel Thanes competing for power among the black-aligned faction of Phyrexia.
Vraan
Vraan, Executioner Thane by Helge C. Balzer
Cards: Vraan, Executioner Thane
References: Card References
Also known as the Thane of Blood, here's what the Planeswalker's Guide to New Phyrexia: The Steel Thanes has to say about Vraan:
Thane Vraan survived the war with Mirrodin's natives as a compleated vampire. Although not a true Phyrexian from the core, he managed to prove quite useful to the Phyrexians as an assassin and a leader of assassins. Once a leader among the Bleak Coven, Vraan managed to roughly approximate that mercenary organization among the new Phyrexian order. As the Phyrexians gained control, he also offered his services and those of his followers as an executioner. Now open and secret members of the Bleak Coven can be found all over the world, working as assassins and executioners for many different Phyrexian leaders.
Vraan sees the path to the throne of the Father of Machines littered with the bodies of his enemies. Through spies, assassinations, and weakening others by their sacrifices for his agent's services, Vraan hopes to gradually eliminate all power sufficient to oppose him.
Slobad
Slobad, Iron Goblin by Chris Seaman
Cards: Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer, Slobad, Iron Goblin
References: The Moons of Mirrodin, The Darksteel Eye, The Fifth Dawn, The Quest for Karn, Card References
Slobad is one of the protagonists of the original Mirrodin block. Born under the blue sun, he was thought to be a bad omen and abandoned. He was adopted by the chief of the exiled Krark clan, but eventually left for a life of solitude because he was ostracized for being too smart. He hid in the repair bay for Memnarch's Levelers, which is how he met Glissa. They became inseparable friends, and Slobad's outlook on life changed. He also rebuilt to the golem Bosh, who later died saving their lives. Eventually, through a convoluted series of events, all the souls on the plane, include Glissa's with her unignited planeswalker spark, flowed into Slobad. Rather than leaving the plane as a near-god, he chose to put the souls back and bring back his friends.
Tragically, he was caught by Phyrexia and converted.
Thrun
Cards: Thrun, the Last Troll, Thrun, Breaker of Silence
References: Card References
Thrun is the last (living, uncompleated) troll on New Phyrexia. He is the adoptive father of Melira, although he lived in shame for years because he did not spread the truth about what happened with Glissa and Memnarch, nor did he warn anyone when he discovered what might be lurking beneath the surface. More on him below in Melira's section.
Atraxa
Atraxa, Praetors' Voice by Victor Adame Minguez
Cards: Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, Atraxa, Grand Unifier
References: Card References
Atraxa was one of the Commander 2016 four-color Commanders. She is a Mirran Angel who was compleated with the help of four of the five praetors (everyone but Urabrask). She now serves as one of Elesh Norn's top generals.
Ezuri
Ezuri's Predation by Svetlin Velinov
Cards: Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Ezuri, Claw of Progress, Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres
References: The Quest for Karn, Card References
Ezuri was a Mirran Resistance leader who left camp before Melira began granting people immunity to the glistening oil. He was captured and compleated by the Progress Engine, becoming a servant of Jin-Gitaxias.
Glissa
Glissa Sunslayer by KRHARTS
Cards: Glissa Sunseeker, Glissa, the Traitor, Glissa Sunslayer
References: The Moons of Mirrodin, The Darksteel Eye, The Fifth Dawn, The Quest for Karn, Card References
Glissa was the protagonist of the original Mirrodin block, the first living being on Mirrodin born with a planeswalker spark. Memnarch destroyed her home trying to claim her, and set her on a quest to stop him. She loses her life, and her spark, to defeat him, but is returned to life by Slobad (see his bio above). Unfortunately, not long afterward she's shunned by the other elves, who believe her to be at fault for Memnarch's crimes, as there were no other surviving witnesses. She's then captured by Phyrexia and compleated, rising to become the chief lieutenant of Vorinclex, and a praetor in all but name - in fact she was the highest ranking Phyrexian we see in The Quest for Karn (mostly because the praetors hadn't been invented by the time the novel was written).
Jor Kadeen
Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden by Jeremy Wilson
Cards: Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer, Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden
References: Card References
Jor Kadeen is a Mirran Resistance leader who has never actually appeared in a story. He's a fantastic soldier and originally form the Auriok tribe.
Malcator
Cards: Malcator, Purity Overseer
References: Card References
Malcator never appears in a story, but he's described in A Planeswalker's Guide to New Phyrexia: The Progress Engine:
He is the head of the executors of the Great Synthesis. He is in charge of determining what is deemed abomination and what is deemed ideal as per the scientific edicts and illumined scriptures of Jin-Gitaxias. The executors are interpreters of Scripture and executors of his will. They oversee all flesh created by the other sectives and make certain it adheres to the Gitaxian Standards of Purity.
Melira
Melira, Sylvok Outcast by Min Yum
Cards: Melira, Sylvok Outcast, Melira, the Living Cure
References: The Quest for Karn, Card References
During the events of The Quest for Karn, Tezzeret discovers that the Phyrexians have a fleshling they're experimenting on that seems resistant to all attempts at phyresis. He helps Elspeth, Koth, and Venser rescue her, and after an incident with some blinkmoths, she gains the ability to pass her immunity on to others, or heal them if they aren't too far gone.
A Planeswalker's Guide to New Phyrexia: The Vicious Swarm has some more about her origins:
Melira was born a Sylvok, but she was abandoned in the Tangle as an infant for her so-called deformity - a fully organic body with no trace of metal. Alone in the Tangle, the baby would have died. But she was saved by an unlikely hero: the last troll living on Mirrodin.
Ria Ivor
Cards: Ria Ivor, Bane of Bladehold
References: Ria of Bladehold, Card References
Ria Ivor was the Hero of Bladehold told in the story Ria of Bladehold. Unfortunately, she hasn't survived the invasion it seems.
Venser
Venser, the Sojourner by Eric Deschamps
Cards: Venser, Shaper Savant, Venser, the Sojourner, Venser, Corpse Puppet
References: Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, Future Sight, Gathering Forces, Scarred, The Quest for Karn, Card References
Venser was the first of the new breed of planeswalker surrounding the events of the Mending. He befriended Karn before his disappearance, and is coerced into coming to help with New Phyrexia years later. He is immunized to the glistening oil by Melira, and is able to use his teleportation abilities to sacrifice his life, and his spark, to cure Karn of Phyrexian corruption. Unfortunately, he's not been allowed to rest in peace.
Chiss-Goria
Cards: Chiss-Goria, Forge Tyrant
References: Card References
Chiss-Goria was referenced WAY back in the original Mirrodin block, but never had a card until now! We didn't know much about them then, and I guess we still don't, other than they're a dragon bad ass enough to survive Phyrexia unscathed.
