Leshrac | |
---|---|
Walker of Night Leshrac the Nightwalker | |
Details | |
Race | Planeswalker of unknown race |
Birthplace | Unknown |
Lifetime | Ice Age-Rift Era |
Born | Unknown |
Died | 4500 AR |
Colors | |
Sources | |
Ice Age, Shandalar, The Eternal Ice, Walker of Night, Future Sight |
Leshrac, also known as "The Walker of Night" or simply Nightwalker, was a black-aligned planeswalker from an unknown origin.
Description[ | ]
Leshrac was humanoid, but not human. His limbs and features were hideously elongated, and his flesh was as white as a granite tombstone. Depp rivulets of age had been cut into his flesh, and long white hair tumbled back as if an avalanche from his head. Around his brow, he wore a crown of fire, a ring of individual fire-pips that floated in the air, smoking without any source of fuel. They were matched by the red gleam of smoking coals that were his eyes. They were deep, malicious, and uncaring eyes. He was dressed in a simple black robe, its hem tattered and frayed. His legs hung, toes pointing down, and he drifted a few inches above the ground. His voice was multi-octave like mirrors shattering, his laughter was that of chorus of goblins or crashing glaciers, and the air seemed to boil around his gaunt form. He had his own center of gravity, and could read books lying in his lap while floating upside down.[1]
History[ | ]
The Ice Age[ | ]
After the Formation of the Shard of Twelve Worlds, Leshrac was one of the planeswalkers who had become trapped inside the Shard during the Ice Age of Dominaria.[2] Leshrac planned to escape to the plane of Shandalar, which was moving through the multiverse and, at the time, sometimes inside and sometimes outside of the Shard. He wanted to conquer that mana-rich plane, and allied with Tevesh Szat to achieve this. They recruited Lim-Dûl to create a vast undead army, but Lim-Dûl was stopped by Jodah before Leshrac could collect his forces. He attended the Summit of the Null Moon and was one of the planeswalkers to cause violence to erupt there. He escaped to Shandalar along with Tevesh Szat and Faralyn and started the War for Shandalar, but without the planned-on undead host, he was defeated by Kenan Sahrmal, the planeswalker guardian of Shandalar.
After his defeat on Shandalar, Leshrac wandered among the planes, now free to roam past the broken shard due to the casting of the World Spell. He eventually returned to Dominaria and dominated the Kush region. He was eventually tracked down by Taysir and imprisoned in Phyrexia. Leshrac was freed from this horrible prison ages later by the Mox Beacon and fought in the Planeswalkers' War. After that, his status and whereabouts were unknown for a very long time until the Dominarian temporal crisis struck.
Leshrac's Return[ | ]
300 years after the Invasion, Leshrac returned to the dark shores of Urborg. Here, he freed the Weaver King though he didn't reveal himself, claiming that he prefers to walk in the night, actually famous for it. However, he would not be the only being of the night to come to Dominaria. While taking his leisure, he was approached by the Myojin of Night's Reach, who was seeking help to stop Nicol Bolas's vendetta. She offered him a powerful artifact and asked nothing in return, trusting that Leshrac's ambitions would accomplish her purpose.
Leshrac played this gambit by visiting Jeska, who had come to Otaria to visit the place of her origin. He offered Jeska the mask of Night's Reach, but she rejected it. However, Leshrac managed to get hold of Jeska's mind and used her to close the rifts in Yavimaya and Zhalfir, causing great pain and losses to Teferi and his friends (the loss of Zhalfir and Multani). The Leshrac-controlled Jeska used Radha as a mana lens to close the rifts, almost killing the Keldon warlord.
Leshrac revealed his final card when he ambushed the party by the Madaran rift. Using the mask of Night's Reach, he stripped Jeska of Phage's dark consumption powers and used them to attack Nicol Bolas, who he hoped to defeat and steal his power to become the most powerful being in the Multiverse. After the elder dragon planeswalker returned, he planned to use Jeska to battle the dragon, but the Pardic planeswalker refused, apparently not under control as much as Leshrac thought. Leshrac and Bolas battled both by spells and claw, with Leshrac seemingly gaining the upper hand by paralyzing Bolas between the Talon Gates and temporarily negating his planeswalking powers at first and then began rotting his body off with Phage's powers.
Walking from world to world, Leshrac and Bolas fought and pieces of dragon body fell to each of them (Ravnica, Kamigawa, Mercadia, and Ulgrotha). When they reappeared on Dominaria, Leshrac prepared his final, killing spell.
However, nothing was as it seemed. Seconds before his coming demise, Bolas impaled Leshrac with the skeletal remains of his tail and revealed that he had defeated Night's Reach already and held her original, true mask, far superior to the one that Leshrac had. The dragon instantly regenerated himself and used the original Mask to capture Leshrac within it. Minutes after, Nicol Bolas used the mask imbued with Leshrac's power to close the Madaran rift, effectively ending the Walker of the Night's existence.
In other media[ | ]
Magic: Legends[ | ]
This article or section discusses story elements that may not be considered canon. |
In the decades that followed Leshrac's apparent death, a mantle associated with Leshrac dating back to the Ice Age was found by the planeswalker Vaash Vroga. Intended to use its power to destroy the Cabal, Vaash stole artifacts from across the multiverse. When Ral Zarek and the Traveler interfered, however, she lost control of the mantle in the Meditation Realm. Stating that "the tether is complete", Leshrac's spirit emerged from the mantle and departed.[3]
Story appearances[ | ]
Planeswalkers met[ | ]
- Faralyn
- Freyalise
- Kenan Sahrmal
- Kristina
- Jeska
- Nicol Bolas
- Ral Zarek (non-canon)
- Ravidel
- Taysir
- Tevesh Szat
- The Traveler (non-canon)
- Vaash Vroga (non-canon)
Planes visited[ | ]
In-game references[ | ]
- Associated cards:
- Depicted in:
- Quoted or referred to:
Trivia[ | ]
- Leshrac is an anagram of "Charles", a reference to the middle name of early Magic playtester Chris Page.[4]
- An ultimately unpublished Armada comic would have expanded on Leshrac's story, tying him to the magic of Estark and confronting Taysir.[5][6]
See also[ | ]
References[ | ]
- ↑ Jeff Grubb (2000) - The Eternal Ice, Wizards of the Coast
- ↑ Jeff Gomez (1995), "Ice Age on the World of Magic: The Gathering. Volume 3. The Shard". Armada
- ↑ Magic: Legends. Perfect World. Accessed 10 June 2021
- ↑ Allen Varney (1995). "Words of Magic"
- ↑ Squirle (June 21, 2015). "Alliances". Multiverse in Review. Tumblr.
- ↑ Squirle (September 5, 2015). "Walker of Night". Multiverse in Review. Tumblr.