The gothic-inspired world of Innistrad is one of the most dangerous planes inMagic: The Gathering. Among the sleepy hamlets and bustling pre-industrialized cities lurk legions of supernatural beasts, waiting for night to fall to claim their victims.
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Demons, Ghosts, Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, as well as more cosmic beasts hunt the Humans of Innistrad. While few places are safe on the plane life manages to find a foothold in every corner of the world, protected by a powerful faith in an enigmatic Angel that once protected the world from the more evil entities.
The Birth Of The First Vampire
Thousands of years ago,Edgar Markov, an alchemist and noble in the land of Stensia, sought a method to achieve immortality. As the lands fell to ruin around him, Edgar discoveredthe secrets of sangromancyfrom a demon named Shilgengar.
This magic granted Edgar the majesty ofeternal lifebut came at a staggering cost, a need to feast on human blood to sustain their immortality. Soon, the entire Markov family succumbed and eventually forced a youngSorin Markov to drink the blood of an Archangel, transforming him into a Vampire and igniting his planeswalker spark.
The vampire family slowly grew, splitting off into new families and feasting on humans with abandon. Over time, Sorin came to recognize that unimpeded predation would quickly reduce humanity to ruin.Sorin warned his grandfather, Edgar, that they needed to practice restraint when it came to their hunting, but Edgar chose to ignore it.
Sorin Creates The Plane’s Protector
Recognizing that humanity needed a protector, Sorin created one, theArchangel Avacyn. Her mission was to maintain a balance between good and evil in the world, to both protect humanity from being consumed and to ensure the survival of Vampires. Without Humans to feed on, Vampires would resort to cannibalism before going extinct themselves.
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Avacyn became the leader of the Angels of Innistrad, leadingSigarda, Gisela, Burna, Liesa, and their respective angelic flights. Each of the Angels represents a blending of magic on Innistrad, though the Angel Liesa wouldform a pact with a demon, an understanding between the two to ignore the actions of the Demon so long as it did not harm Humans.
This pact was considered heretical by Avacyn, who destroyed Liesa and all of her Angels.
Sorin did not leave Innistrad to the care of Avacyn alone, he also crafted a prison to hold the Demons of the plane, a massive construct called theHelvault. A slab of silver broken off of the plane’s moon, the Helvault was pulled down by Sorin himself in a tremendous display of power.
Demons cannot be destroyed in the same way that the other monsters as they will eventually reform in the physical world – keeping them in the Helevault is the only way to keep them contained indefinitely.
Avacyn Confronts Griselbrand
After centuries of keeping the balance intact, Avacyn encountered a Demon far beyond what she was prepared to deal with. An immensely powerful Demon namedGriselbrandrose up against Avacyn and the people of the plane. This demon lord onceconsorted with Nicol Bolasto become one of thedemons bound to Liliana Vessand held on to a portion of her soul.
Knowing that Liliana was hunting down the Demons she contracted with, Griselbrand devised a plan to remain alive and safe from Liliana. Griselbrand taunted Avacyn in front of the Helvault, fighting with the Angel for two whole days before succumbing to Avacyn’s might. As he was absorbed into the Helvault, Griselbrand threw his spear at Avacyn, impaling her anddragging her into the prison with him.
Freeing An Angel
As Avacyn’s protective magic began to fade,people’s faith started to waver,and even Sorin felt the angel’s disappearance. Returning to Innistrad to find the missing Archangel, Sorin encountered the half-devil planeswalkerTibalt. Sorin easily dispatched Tibalt, but he did not notice thearrival of Liliana on the plane.
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Liliana interrogated Mikaeus, leader of the faith in Avacyn, on the location of Griselbrand so that she could kill the demon and regain a part of her soul. She was pursued byGarruk, a planeswalker cursed by Liliana, and the powerful artifact she carried,The Cursed Veil.
The largest city of the plane, the High City of Thraben, came under attack by two necromancer siblings,Gisa and Geralf. Swarms of the undead assaulted the city and in the chaos,Mikaeus was murderedand Thalia became the new protector of the city. Liliana resurrects Mikaeus and learns of the location of Griselbrand, the Helvault.
Liliana couldn’t open the Helvault on her own andthreatened Thalia to help. With the Helvault broken and all the Demons and monsters trapped in it set free, it also freed Avacyn, restoring the faith-powered magic of the Angel. Liliana killed Griselbrand permanently and left, her mission complete.
With Avacyn freed, many came seeking help from the Archangel, including a population of werewolves who did not wish to succumb to the curse. Avacyn could not fully heal them as the curse afflicted the soul. She could unite the two forms using a spell called the Cursemute, permanently transforming their werewolf forms and retaining their minds. These beings became theWolfir, and were charged to protect humanity in her name. The spell also affected Innistrad in other ways, including reducing the power of necromancy and helping spirits move on to the afterlife.
The Shadow Over Innistrad
Sorin’s sordid past came back to haunt theplane as the planeswalkerNahiri, freed from her imprisonment in the Helvault and furious at Sorin for trapping theEldrazion Zendikar, and subsequently not working to reimprison them, began her grand revenge.
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Nahiri first destroyed Sorin’s ancestral home, Markov Manor, imprisoning the Vampires there in the very stone that once made up their home. She then began to twist the leylines, or the flows of mana on a plane, usingcryptoliths. These cryptoliths warped the mana of Innistrad, all in the hopes that it would be a beacon for the largest of the Eldrazi,Emrakul.
Jace Belerentraveled to Innistrad in search of Sorin, hoping to recruit him into theGatewatchafter learning about him on Zendikar. He quickly sensed something was wrong with the plane, as waves of madness and corruption spread across the world. Another planeswalker,Tamiyo, also sensed something was wrong with Innistrad and came to research and record the disruption.
The cryptoliths had done their job, with much of the plane succumbing to madness and transforming into a more cosmic form of evil. In a tragic turn of events, even the divine protector Avacyn fell to the madness that overtook the plane, convinced that the best way to cleanse Innistrad was to burn it clean.
Sorin met Avacyn at the place of her creation to try and help return the Archangel to sanity. Avacyn blamed Sorin for her madness, for making her susceptible to whatever influence afflicted her. The two fought but Sorin quickly overwhelmed the angel. Despite trying to save Avacyn, he was forced to undo the magic that created her,forever destroying the protector of Innistrad.
With the protective magic of Avacyn destroyed, the massive Eldrazi Emrakul made herself known to Innistrad. Emrakul was the source of the madness that was infecting Innistrad, turning its inhabitants intopseudo-Eldrazi. Feeling that his world had finally fallen past saving, Sorin united the Vampire families behind him to kill Nahiri.
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With Emrakul’s approach, the remnants of humanity joined forces with thegeistsof Innistrad, who are immune to the Eldrazi’s influence. Together with the might of the Gatewatch includingGideon, Chandra, Jace, Liliana, and Nissa, the survivors of Innistrad fought against the eldritch entity. Despite everything the people of Innistrad were hopelessly outmatched by the Eldrazi.
Jace sought to protect the Gatewatch from Emrakul’s metal assaults and accidentally found himself communicating with the Eldrazi. Manifesting as an angel, Emrakul stated that Innistrad wasnot fit for her to consumeas it was and that it was not yet her time to descend on the plane. Jace and Tamiyosealed Emrakul in the silver moon, with some help from Emrakul herself.
The Long Night Gets Longer
Sometime after Emrakul’s sealing, the werewolf planeswalkerArlinn Kordbegins to notice disturbances on the plane, the biggest being that nights are becoming longer. She encounters a witch namedKatildawho practices magic from before Avacyn’s protection. Katilda believes she can push back the encroaching night but needs an ancient artifact called the Moonsilver Key to do so.
Arlinn encountered a werewolf pack leader namedTovolarwho seeks to use the longer nights to attack human settlements. Wanting to save as many people as she can, Arlinn recruitsTeferi, Chandra, andKaya to help. The four of them track down the Moonsilver Key to a lonely Sorin sitting in the ruins of Markov Manor. Sorin refuses to help and is stopped from attacking the planeswalker by the last surviving Archangel of the plane, Sigarda.
With the key in hand, Arlinn returns to Katilda who is moving forward with a ritual to return the balance of night and day, the Harvesttide festival. Just as the festival is getting started, Tovolar and his werewolf pack attack, using the setting sun to prepare their werewolf transformations.In a massive display of power,Teferi uses his time magicto delay the sunset, preventing the werewolves from transforming.
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The ritual begins at the Celestus, an ancient astrological device, but is interrupted by the Vampire Olivia Voldaren whoseemingly kills Katildaand an eternal night begins.
Midnight Parties And Wedding Woes
Olivia is getting married andthe invites are going out! Who is she getting married to? Edgar Markov of course, grandfather of Sorin and the original Vampire of Innistrad, who is currently slumbering in his coffin. The heroes recruit Sorin tocrash Olivia’s weddingand bring back the day. They soon find out that because of a magic spell cast on the party, only Sorin can enter.
Now that the party has started, Olivia awakens Edgar with her own blood, which causes him to be enamored with her when he gains his senses. Olivia then reveals that she captured Sigarda as a gift to Edgar, and she planned todrain the angel of her bloodto recreate the original vampiric ritual.
Olivia is interrupted by the spirit of Katilda, who frees Sigarda from her imprisonment. Now freed, Sigarda breaks the magical barrier preventing the other planeswalkers and humans from crashing the party.The entire wedding breaks out into a brawlwith Sigarda and humans fighting vampires, Sorin and Edgar dueling, and Olivia fleeing the scene pursued by Arlinn.
Sorin eventually gets the upper hand over Edgar, butchooses to spare his life. Olivia is beaten by Arlinn and escapes, leaving behind the Moonsilver Key. The planeswalkers rush back to the Celestus tofinish the ritualand restore the balance of night and day. As the Gatewatch leaves, Teferi warns Arlinn and Sorin that a new threat is on the horizon, thePhyrexians.
