Jarsyl

Jarsyl
Details
Race	Human
Birthplace	Terisiare, Dominaria
Lifetime	Brothers' War-The Dark Age
Born	c. 60 AR
Died	Unknown, but vanished c. 380 AR
Parents	Harbin and Melana
Relatives	At least one unnamed younger sibling, Kayla bin-Kroog (grandmother) Urza (grandfather) Warlord of Kroog (great-grandfather) Jodah (great-great-grandson)
Colors
(youth) (older)
Sources
The Brothers' War

Jarsyl was a powerful wizard from Dominaria at the outset of the Dark Age.

Description

Jarsyl was the son of Harbin, and thus the grandson of Kayla bin-Kroog and either Urza or Mishra. He was the great-great-grandfather of Jodah. Jarsyl had black hair and a stocky build and was charming, amiable, and quick-witted - thus reminding the ascended Urza way too much of Mishra. This caused Urza to avoid contact with his grandson after having become a planeswalker.

History

Jarsyl was born close to the end of the Brothers' War. The Sylex Blast occurred during Jarsyl's childhood. He was Harbin's eldest child and clung to his grandmother's skirts when the blast happened and his father was presumed killed. After that, Jarsyl was raised in Penregon by his grandmother Kayla bin-Kroog. They survived the Siege of Penregon, but were forced to abandon the city 10 years later due to the encroaching ice. They moved westward to warmer climates just before The Fall of Penregon. In 80 AR, Jarsyl learned about "Nod" and "Duck" founding the Conclave of Mages. He left his grandmother Kayla and joined the Conclave of Mages, a school and refuge for users of magic near Ronom Lake, and became one of its first students.

Jarsyl later discovered a planar portal to the plane of Phyrexia, possibly the one at Koilos from where Gix had come. Jarsyl wrote about his experience on the metal plane in his tower located on a farmstead established by his mother Melana. Among the things he wrote about were descriptions of Phyrexians he had seen while on the plane. Later in life, Jarsyl managed to reproduce the spell to open a portal to Phyrexia using black mana. Soon after this event, he disappeared from Dominaria and was never seen again, though his journal survived and eventually fell into the hands of Mairsil. His disappearance happened while Jodah's grandmother, Jarsyl's granddaughter, was young, which would fall somewhere around the year 380 AR. Jarsyl thus lived a long life before he vanished, more than 300 years old at the time.

Despite being one of the school's first students and a prolific writer, Jarsyl's name had been all but forgotten by many by 430 AR. Barl, who interviewed Jarsyl's descendant Jodah as part of the latter's entry into the Conclave, had never heard of Jarsyl's name before Jodah mentioned it, while Mairsil recognized it from his copy of the Antiquities War, written by Jarsyl's grandmother, Kayla. He later tracked down Jarsyl's journal, which was too cryptic to decipher properly. Jarsyl's great-great grandson Jodah figured out the spell to open the portal to Phyrexia, but mistakenly used white mana instead of black, causing the spell to fail. Jodah later realized the spell required black mana, but he kept this fact from Mairsil and never completed the spell.

Jarsyl's writings may have gained fame after the fall of the Conclave, as almost 3000 years later, his name was still remembered. Ratepe was among those who read the stories copied from his journal, describing Phyrexians as nasty, but slow and stupid. This may have been a description of a specific type of Phyrexian Jarsyl had encountered while on the plane.

Story appearances

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
Urza–Mishra War #1-2	Jerry Prosser	Sep - Oct 1996	Antiquities	Dominaria	Kayla bin-Kroog, Urza, Tawnos, Mishra, Harbin, Jarsyl (mentioned), Ashnod, The Archimandrite, Balthus, Hurkyl, Chayum-Icha, Kathwar
The Brothers' War	Jeff Grubb	May 1998	Antiquities	Dominaria	Urza, Mishra, Tawnos, Ashnod, Tocasia, Loran, Bly, Ahmahl, Richlau, Havack, Rahud, Hajar, Kantar, Kayla bin-Kroog, Rusko, Warlord of Kroog, Maurik, Gix, Sharaman, Rendall, Sanwell, Harbin, Jarin, Feldon, the Archimandrite, Drafna, Hurkyl, Martyrs of Korlis, Gwenna, Melana, Doril, Thaxus, Titania, Jarsyl
The Brothers' War - Episode 1: The End	Miguel Lopez	2022-10-20	The Brothers' War	Dominaria	Kayla bin-Kroog, Jarsyl (mentioned), Tawnos, Harbin (mentioned), Myrel, Raddic, Arah
The Brothers' War - Episode 2: The Beginning	Miguel Lopez	2022-10-20	The Brothers' War	Dominaria	Tawnos, Kayla bin-Kroog, Myrel, Raddic, Harbin (mentioned), Ashnod (mentioned), Jarsyl, Fask, Kaya, Saheeli, Teferi
The Gathering Dark	Jeff Grubb	June 1999	The Dark	Dominaria	Jodah, Voska, Tivadar, Delphine, Sima, Rag Man, Mairsil, Ith, Barl, Jarsyl (mentioned)

In-game references

Represented in:

• Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion

Quoted or referred to:

• Gate to Phyrexia
• Mishra's Bauble (Retro Artifacts, #97)
• Psychosis Crawler