Ertai

Ertai was a talented, arrogant young wizard from Tolaria who signed on to be the Skyship Weatherlight's mage. He was resurrected during the second Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria.
==History==
===Journey to Rath===
Following the kidnapping of Captain Sisay, the Weatherlight crew required a mage to fix the coordinates of Rath into the planeshifting powerstone. Hanna suggested that Barrin could fill the role, but when approached, he refused and instead provided Ertai, one of his top apprentices, who had just been granted full journeyman status. Dubious of his qualifications, Ertai challenged Hanna to a competition which he won easily.
After arriving in Rath, Weatherlight's planeshifting engine was damaged in battle with the Predator. Ertai, therefore, volunteered to keep the planar portal they found open as an escape route. While trying to open the portal, Ertai was contacted by Lyna, who offered to aid his rituals in exchange for letting the Soltari use the portal as well. Ertai agreed and they successfully opened the portal. However, the Weatherlight was being hotly pursued by Predator as it fled and so was forced to leave Ertai behind.
===Nemesis===
After Weatherlight abandoned him, Ertai was captured by Greven il-Vec and taken back to the Stronghold. He became an unexpected dark horse candidate in the contest to replace Volrath as Evincar, largely because of his romantic relationship with Belbe. However, he knew he was no real match for Crovax and thus spent much of his time trying to find a way to escape Rath. When Crovax and Volrath dueled for the throne, Ertai saw that Crovax would win regardless, but by aiding him, he could prevent the deaths of bystanders from Crovax's ability to regenerate himself by killing them, so he used his magic to off-balance Volrath at a critical moment and thus give Crovax the victory. Soon after, Belbe was killed by Eladamri, who also used the last energy of Belbe's portal to flee to Dominaria. This gave Ertai no hope of escape, so he chose to submit to the new evincar and was thus transformed into Crovax's loyal lapdog.
===Invasion===
Embittered by his abandonment by the Weatherlight crew and by Belbe's death, he regarded Gerrard and company as personal enemies. After the Rathi Overlay, Ertai accompanied Predator into battle with Weatherlight, where he captured Gerrard (and, accidentally, Squee) and teleported them into the Stronghold. After Squee was given the ability to resurrect, Ertai delighted in killing him over and over again, until finally Squee, quite by accident, overloaded the Phyrexian healing device he was using, killing Ertai in the explosion.
===Dominaria United===
Several centuries later, Ertai was reconstituted by the dark sciences of Sheoldred as part of the second Phyrexian Invasion during the events of Dominaria United. Trained in the art of magic at the Tolarian academy, Ertai's resurrection only strengthened the arcane gifts at his disposal, and he took control of the new academy at Lat-Nam. After escaping a battle with Jaya Ballard, Ajani Goldmane, Danitha Capashen, and Radha, he travelled to Squee's clan to compleat the immortal goblin and retrieve the . He compleated Aron Capashen and Squee's clan of goblins, and managed to protect himself when Squee accidentally blew up his clan's mountain. He was present at the Battle of the Mana Rig, and led an attack on Karn from the Phyrexianized Skyship Weatherlight. He was last seen stumbling over the edge of the Rig before its self-destruction. Because he was originally compleated by old Phyrexia, it is possible he was not affected by Elesh Norn's failsafe, which rendered New Phyrexians inert.
==Planes visited==
Though not a planeswalker, Ertai traveled through the Multiverse as a crewmember of the Skyship Weatherlight.
*Dominaria
*Rath
==Story appearances==
Title 	Author 	Publishing date 	Set 	Setting (plane) 	Featuring
Fortune Favors the Bold 	Michael G. Ryan 	June 1997 	Weatherlight 	Dominaria 	Sisay, Gerrard Capashen, Volrath, Tahngarth, Hanna, Mirri, Squee, Crovax, Karn, Ertai, Orim, Starke
Weatherlight Takes Center Stage 	Michael G. Ryan 	August 1997 	Weatherlight 	Dominaria 	Sisay, Gerrard Capashen, Starke, Volrath, Maraxus, Tahngarth, Hanna, Mirri, Karn, Barrin, Crovax, Ertai, Morinfen and Gallowbraid, Selenia
Weatherlight Ports of Call 	Pete Venters 	October 1997 	Weatherlight 	Dominaria 	Mirri, Rofellos, Hanna, Barrin, Ertai, Nevinyrral, Crovax, Kaervek
Tempest Storyboard 	Michael G. Ryan, Mark Rosewater & Pete Venters	December 1997 	Tempest 	Rath 	Gerrard, Crovax, Selenia, Karn, Greven il-Vec, Vhati il-Dal, Hanna, Tahngarth, Oracle en-Vec, Mirri, Orim, Eladamri, Starke, Volrath, Ertai, Lyna
Gerrard's Quest #1-4 	Mike Grell 	March - June 1998	Weatherlight, Tempest, Stronghold 	Dominaria, Rath 	Gerrard Capashen, Mirri, Squee, Crovax, Hanna, Karn, Tahngarth, Starke, Orim, Ertai, Sisay, Rofellos, Morinfen and Gallowbraid, Jolav, Selenia, Kondo, Multani, Vhati il-Dal, Greven il-Vec, Eladamri, Volrath, Takara
Rath and Storm Rath Cycle 	Peter Archer and various 	July 1998 	Weatherlight, Tempest, Stronghold, Exodus	Dominaria, Rath 	Ilcaster, Gerrard Capashen, Volrath, Sidar Kondo, Starke il-Vec, Karn, Multani, Mirri, Rofellos, Sisay, Tahngarth, Crovax, Hanna, Orim, Squee, Morinfen and Gallowbraid, Selenia, Torsten, Javero, Alaric, Rofellos, Kastan, Kindeya, Barrin, Ertai, Maraxus, Greven il-Vec, Vhati il-Dal, Eladamri, Oracle en-Vec, Takara, Lyna, Sliver Queen, Urza
Exodus Storyboard 	Scott McGough 	August 1998 	Exodus 	Rath 	Ertai, Lyna, Eladamri, Tahngarth, Mirri, Crovax, Orim, Hanna, Karn, Greven il-Vec, Sisay, Gerrard Capashen, Starke, Urza
Dominian FAQ part 10 & Dominaria Timeline	Daneen McDermott & Scott McGough 	February 1999 	Urza's Saga, Homelands 	Dominaria, Ulgrotha 	Ertai, Urza, Barrin, Morinfen and Gallowbraid, Gerrard, Volrath, Ihsan, Sengir
Inside Dominaria 	Daneen McDermott & Scott McGough 	June 1999 	Urza's Legacy 	Dominaria 	Teferi, Jhoira, Ertai, Barrin, Rayne, Tocasia, Urza, Mishra, Sisay, Hanna
Nemesis 	Paul B. Thompson 	February 2000 	Nemesis 	Rath, Dominaria 	Yawgmoth, Urza, Crovax, Belbe, Ertai, Greven il-Vec, Eladamri, Oracle en-Vec, Lin Sivvi, Takara, Volrath, Abcal-Dro, Burgess, Kirril
Nemesis 	Scott McGough & Kev Walker 	March 2000 	Nemesis 	Phyrexia, Rath 	Crovax, Greven il-Vec, Ertai, Belbe, Eladamri, Oracle en-Vec, Lin Sivvi
Planeshift 	J. Robert King 	February 2001 	Planeshift 	Rath, Dominaria, Phyrexia 	Urza, Taysir, Freyalise, Tevesh Szat, Windgrace, Guff, Bo Levar, Daria, Kristina of the Woods, Crovax, Tsabo Tavoc, Eladamri, Lin Sivvi, Astor, Darigaaz, Agnate, Dralnu, Tahngarth, Grizzlegom, Greven il-Vec, Sisay, Ertai, Gerrard, Squee, Yawgmoth, Hanna, Rith, Dromar, Treva, Crosis, Karn, Mishra, Nemata
Apocalypse 	J. Robert King 	June 2001 	Apocalypse 	Dominaria, Phyrexia, Mercadia	Yawgmoth, Gerrard Capashen, Urza, Karn, Bo Levar, Guff, Freyalise, Windgrace, Multani, Crovax, Eladamri, Lin Sivvi, Grizzlegom, Squee, Ertai, Tahngarth, Sisay, Orim, Cho-Manno
 	Langley Hyde 	2022-08-15 	Dominaria United 	Dominaria 	Karn, Jaya, Jodah, Teferi, Shanna Sisay, Arvad, Raff Capashen, Slimefoot, Tiana, Ajani, Danitha Capashen, Meria, Aron Capashen, Ertai, Darigaaz, Jhoira, Radha, Jenson Carthalion (mentioned)
 	Dan Sheehan 	2022-08-16 	Dominaria United 	Dominaria 	Squee, Bulp, Rarp, Spurna, Ertai, Salvation
 	Langley Hyde 	2022-08-18 	Dominaria United 	Dominaria 	Teferi, Karn, Jhoira, Ertai, Ajani, Jaya, Radha, Danitha Capashen, Sheoldred, Darigaaz, Jodah, Meria, Saheeli, Elesh Norn
==Trivia==
*During Weatherlight design and development, Mark Rosewater was put in charge of establishing Ertai's mannerisms and style of speech.Jennifer Clarke-Wilkes]] (August 1997). "The Set of Sails". The Duelist #18, p.60-63
*The original storyline of the Weatherlight Saga, as envisioned by Michael G. Ryan and Mark Rosewater, featured a time travel story. Fifty years in the future, Dominaria is beset by the Phyrexians, with a resistance led by an older and wiser Ertai, who had found a way back from Rath. He would help stop the Phyrexians with the help of a powerful artifact that Gerard left behind, the Hourglass pendant.
==In-game references==
==References==
Category:Humans
Category:Wizards
Category:Phyrexians
Category:Deceased
Category:Dominaria characters