Welcome back, Loreseekers! Last time, I prepared you with the real-life and in-universe history of the Brothers' War in the aptly titled Preparing for the Brothers' War. This week, I'm going to dive a bit more deeply into each of the factions. I'll be referencing locations from last time, so if you haven't read last week's article, I'd recommend it!

The Factions of the Brothers' War

The Mightstone and Weakstone by Ryan Pancoast

Now that you have a rough background into the course of the war itself, let's dive into the factions! The two main factions are obvious, but Urza and Mishra aren't the only players in the game, so let's talk about the various sides, character, and alliances that happen over the course of the story.

The key resource in the war were powerstones, magically-charged stones capable of powering devices of massive scale. When Urza and Mishra were apprenticed to Tocasia, and early in the war, the supply of powerstones limited the size and amount of war machines they could field, but as time went on both sides discovered ever growing caches.

The Urzans

Urza, Lord Protector by Ryan Pancoast

When Urza left Tocasia's dig site in the Great Desert, he headed east, to Kroog, the capital of the nation of Yotia. There, he married Queen Kayla bin-Kroog (then the princess) after proving his worth in a test of strength by building an imitation of a Thran construct. He's also joined by Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice, a clever toymaker who takes inspiration from nature for his designs. After Kayla's father betrays the Suwwardi leader during peace talks over the disputed Sword Marches, border skirmishes erupt into all-out war.

Eventually, Yotia is lost to the Fallaji, who have united under Mishra into an empire. Urza flees to his home country of Argive, where he forges an alliance between the three wealthy coastal nations of Argive, Yotia, and Korlis, and retakes the land that was lost, but spends years unable to gain any ground into Fallaji territory.

Urza's side relied on their aerial advantage through Urza's thopters as well as Urza's mechanical soldiers. In the new set, Urza's machines are notable for their bulbous, steampunk plate armor designs.

The Mishrans

Mishra, Eminent One by Randy Vargas

The Great Desert is the domain of the Fallaji, a loose confederacy of independent tribes that typically shared cultural roots. When Mishra went east after the death of his mentor, he was captured by the more militant Suwwardi tribe. He was enslaved, but after using the Weakstone to unearth a Dragon Engine from the Desert, he's made the 'wizard' to the tribe's chief (called the Qadir). Eventually, the old Qadir dies and Mishra manipulates his young son. When the son, too, dies (or is left to die by Mishra), Mishra is left in charge of the tribe, which by this point has conquered the majority of the other tribes thanks to Mishra's dragon engines. Eventually, the Fallaji Empire extends as far west as Almaaz.

Like Urza, Mishra takes on an apprentice named Ashnod, a ruthless woman who is known for her gruesome work in integrating artifice with corpses, viewing the human body as a machine like any other. Mishra is very close with his lifelong friend Hajar, a Fallaji warrior he befriended at Tocasia's camp and who saved his life from the Suwwardi Qadir. I know writing 'friend' here seems like code, but the book stops short from commenting about whether Mishra or Hajar harbor any romantic feelings. Mishra eventually comes under the sway of the Gixians, and has his failing body replaced with artifice.

Mishra's side relied heavily on human infantry supported by Mishra's dragon engines, both the original Phyrexian variety and Mishra's imitations. Mishra's constructs are all sleek and glow with an internal furnace, a lot like the dragon engines.

The Third Path

Feldon of the Third Path by Chase Stone

Scholars and mystics from across the continent who were opposed to the seemingly never-ending war between the brothers united in the west at Terisia City to find a way out of the war. Since they were allied with neither Urza nor Mishra, they became known as the Third Path. You may recognize that name from Feldon of the Third Path, but he was not the founder. Feldon's wife, Loran, a childhood friend of the brothers, was also a member, as were the founders of the College of Lat-Nam, Drafna and Hurkyl. Terisia City's leader, a woman known only as the Archimandrite, hosted the Third Path and was also a member. I mentioned during my saga article that Sunastian Falconer appears in Founding the Third Path, implying his involvement as well (although he isn't in the novel).

The third path eventually discovers the Golgothian Sylex, on which is a sort of rosetta stone of languages that allows them to form the foundation of modern magical practice. The city is eventually sacked by Ashnod, and the Third Path are scattered, but not before Hurkyl sacrifices herself to buy everyone time to escape by making the Mishran Dragon Engines just... disappear into thin air.

The Gixians

When the brothers removed the Mightstone and Weakstone at Koilos, they inadvertently unlocked the Gate to Phyrexia that had been closed for millennia. Years later, Mishra journeys through the gate to claim more dragon engines for his war effort, and accidentally alerts a Phyrexian named Gix to his presence. Gix follows him back to Dominaria, and spends decades manipulating the war from behind the scenes through a group of monks he co-opts.

The Gixians, I should note, are not true Phyrexians. At the time, Phyrexia wasn't a contagion like it is today. The Gixians were modified with technology, and Gix held them under his sway, but it wasn't quite the same thing as it is in modern times. In any case, while Urza eventually learns the Gixians are playing both sides and expels them from his court, Mishra, too falls under their sway. As his health declines (likely from the amount of toxic pollution he's exposed to), he allows the Gixians to 'enhance' him, leading to the final confrontation with Urza realizing his brother is gone.

The Argothians

The final major faction of the war were the denizens of the island upon which the final battles take place: Argoth. Led by Titania, Protector of Argoth, Argoth was home to human druids, elves, faeries, and centaur, among other forest creatures. Hidden from the mainland for centuries thanks to massive storms that prevented anyone from getting onto the island, when an elf named Gwenna took pity on a marooned young man - Urza's son Harbin - allowing him to escape instead of killing him, she accidentally alerted the mainland to their location. While the Argothians put up a good fight, they're unable to keep the brothers from trampling their island, and eventually the island itself is obliterated in Urza's Ruinous Blast.

The End of the Beginning

That's about all I have time for today, at least before the set itself releases! I'm going to rummage around in the old lore vault to see what else I write to reach the 500,000 word mark before my new book, Magic: the Gathering - The Visual Guide releases in December!