As you walk down the familiar hallway, you notice that the rugs have returned to cover the bare floor. A small amount of light comes from Issar Roon’s study, illuminating a zigzag pattern of browns and yellows on the closest rug. As your foot falls on the pattern, you feel the lines delineated by indents in addition to the color. Slowly, you push the wooden door open to see if the old man is there.

Hello again! I will have time for a story in a moment. Sit down while I finish this page.

Looking around the room, very little has changed. The old man's desk is still surrounded by a ring of emptiness, as if the books on the floor were afraid of joining their cousins in an ever-increasing pile atop the desk. Candles spaced unevenly around the room give off a warm yellow glow, muted slightly by all of the brown and leather books lying about. The old man finishes with his book, and closes it with a soft thud.

I've been continuing my research on the Old War. Urza truly was a genius, but I guess one should expect that from a man who lived for four thousand years. His Legacy Weapon was the culmination of that genius, and what saved Dominaria from the Phrexian Invasion.

Surprised the old man is willing to tell a little bit about his research, you listen intently. He has talked about Urza and Phrexia before, so perhaps you will understand his story better today.

The amazing thing about the Legacy Weapon was that Urza didn't have it all planned out from the beginning. No, it wasn't luck that allowed his plans to come to fruition, it was Urza's intention from the very beginning. You see, he knew, or perhaps feared, that nothing he could create would be powerful enough to defeat the abomination known as Yawgmoth. So he created the Legacy Weapon almost as a living thing that could evolve as it wished.

The old man suddenly changes the direction of his story, most likely in response to the perplexed look on your face.

I know what you're thinking, but you must not think of the Legacy Weapon like any other weapon. It was nothing like a sword or arrow used in simple wars. It was far more complex than a construction built for a castle siege. It was a weapon of magic, and the most powerful artifact ever conceived. It was a weapon made with the knowledge and skill of an entire civilization. In some ways, it was the pinnacle of Thran technology, thousands of years after their civilization collapsed.

Though it was never written in the books of history, I believe Urza acquired the idea for The Legacy from his Thran Tome. The very same book that he received as a wedding dowry for marrying the daughter of Yotia's ruler. That book contained the knowledge of the entire Thran civilization, and even Urza was never able to understand it all.

You wonder how a man who lived for four thousand years can't understand a simple book, but attribute it to the old man's crazy imagination.

So how did this weapon evolve beyond Urza's planning? He did what any truly great artist or mage would do, he set The Legacy with a foundation, and allowed it to build itself. More specifically, he created some of the pieces that would be needed, but allowed The Legacy to add any artifacts that could prove to be useful.

The first of the three pillars of The Legacy was the Skyship Weatherlight. The Weatherlight was like The Legacy, forged of technology and life. The Weatherseed, a seed from the oldest magnigoth tree in Yavimaya, created the hull of the ship, while Thran metal and a powerstone containing Serra's realm provided the ship with stability and energy. Perhaps one day I will tell you more about that beautiful ship.

The second was Karn, a silver golem. Though his original purpose was to explore the time streams Urza experimented with, he grew much like The Legacy itself. Thanks to a heartstone Karn became a sentient being, and began to learn from some of the brightest minds at Urza's Tolarian Academy. Karn eventually became a legendary figure himself during the war with Phrexia.

The third and final piece was the most difficult and time consuming for Urza, and was none other than Gerrard Capashen. The final result of Urza's Bloodline Project, Gerrard was the key piece and commander of The Legacy. Without him, The Legacy could not be activated and used as the Legacy Weapon. Essentially, The Legacy would remain a collection of artifacts, with no common purpose.

The old man glances to one of the smaller piles of books on his desk. Among them, you see the leather and red book on Gerrard Capashen that he had shown you previously. Another, cloaked entirely in silver, can only be about Karn. Unless the old man's imagination likes characters made of silver that is.

There were other artifacts that would be part of The Legacy, but they were not created by Urza. The Salvation Sphere, better known as Squee's Toy, was one. A Thran Forge another. The crew of the Weatherlight added the Bones of Ramos and the Power Matrix to the Weatherlight, and The Legacy as a result, during their adventures on Mercadia.

Finally, the two most powerful pieces of The Legacy were from the ancient Thran Empire. The Thran Tome itself was part of Urza's original plans, and was later absorbed by Karn, who retained all of the knowledge within it. The final piece of The Legacy was Urza's eyes, the Mightstone and the Weakstone. Upon Yawgmoth's arrival on Dominaria, Gerrard took the two stones and merged them within Karn, completing the Legacy Weapon. The Legacy Weapon released a titanic blast of white mana, eradicating Yawgmoth and all Phrexians on Dominaria.

At the same instant, Karn became the only known artificial planeswalker in existence. Some say it was because of Urza's essence within the Mightstone and Weakstone. Others say Urza had found a way to implant a spark within him, activating when Karn unleashed the wave of white mana. Unfortunately, Karn left shortly thereafter to explore the planes, and never explained what happened that day.

Perhaps he, himself, does not know.

The old man finishes, and waves you on your way. Frustrated to be dismissed so quickly, you are at least thankful that he completed his story this time. When you shuffle out the door, you see the old man turn back to his books. His arm reaches towards the silver book as the closing door cuts off your vision of the study.

This is a work of fiction based on the stories and entries provided by Wizards about some of the early characters. The author takes some liberty with the story for dramatic purposes. So the story portrayed here may not be the exact story according to Magic Canon. The author has found references and art to use in the following locations: Encyclopedia Phyrexianna and the MTG Salvation Wiki. Written by Brendan Weiskotten.