The Monsters of Magic

The Monsters of Magic is a Magic: The Gathering anthology of stories published in August 2003. It was edited by J. Robert King, and the last of a series of five.
==Overview==
Title 	Author 	Publishing date	Setting (plane) 	Featuring
The Monsters of Magic	J. Robert King and various	August 2003 	Dominaria, Mercadia, Rath	Wasitora, Jarim, Imrul, Akhmer, Uttenatsu, Sodazia, Yirekabe, Dhamisara, Kinirashi, Mayonako, Holgar Vohnnson, Fedor Vohnnson, Hans Eriksson, Saffi Eriksdotter, Belenda Danisdotter, Jaya Ballard, Skaven, Alexys, Lydia, Barrin, Urza, Skith, Renauld, Prence, Flea, Glorney, Thomas, Strother, Borg, and Elam, Louser, Akin, Mutter Makree, Ugliness, Ereth, Zorich, Azra, Barea, Oly, Cassie, Zahft, Tristefan, Mirelda, Flyn LaRouxe, Yasmina, Lilienne, Atricia, Angus, Fingal, Alcric, Buric, Madga, Rasarm, Yekol, Siscera, Lhur, Farul, Suarvol, Palin, Skolin, Paeras, Hural, Huathom, Chathos Flamescar, Virot Maglan, Raitrick, Sleedge, Kirch, Derelor, Pepita, Halim, Tap, Yusuf, El-Halal, Evangeline, Patwog en-Vec, Retma en-Vec, Salla en-Dal, Milgen en-Dal, Alli en-Vec, Royn en-Vec, Chelly en-Dal, Lito en-Dal, Mocklen il-Dal, Vordren il-Dal, Rogur, Davvol, Nidmon il-Dal, Zolyat il-Dal, Florac, Sro Valik, Tant Leva, Kylind il-Vec, Rappian, Zeenka
==Featured characters==
Wasitora.jpg|Wasitora
Hans Eriksson.jpg|Hans Eriksson
Saffi Eriksdotter.jpg|Saffi Eriksdotter
Jaya.jpg|Jaya Ballard
Barrin.jpg|Barrin
Urza3.png|Urza
Virot.jpg|Virot Maglan
Davvol.jpg|Davvol
==Featured monsters==
Wasitora.jpg|Nekoru
Lhurgoyf.jpg|Lhurgoyf
Phantom Monster.jpg|<c>Phantom Monster</c>
Lord of the pit.jpg|Lord of the Pit
Thorn Elemental.jpg|<c>Thorn Elemental</c>
Morphling.jpg|<c>Morphling</c>
Vampiric Dragon.jpg|<c>Vampiric Dragon</c>
Atog.jpg|Atog
Delraich.jpg|<c>Delraich</c>
Tidal Kraken.jpg|<c>Tidal Kraken</c>
Laccolith Titan.jpg|<c>Laccolith Titan</c>
Belbe's Percher.jpg|<c title=Perchers>Belbe's Percher</c>
==Blurb==
On Tolaria, a mage devises a spell that will exceed Urza's greatest creation, unless a phantom monster undoes it all. In Aphetto, a young fighter and his magic-eating atog launch a quest for vengeance against a deadly enemy. In Jamuraa, a cat-dragon discovers a whole nation like her and sets out to teach them who is queen.
Dragons, lhurgoyfs, delraichs, and other fearsome creatures from the world of Dominaria stalk the pages of these all-new tales.
==List of stories==
===Part I: Ancient Monsters===
*Who Is Queen?, by Scott McGough
** 3607 AR, Jamuraa - Wasitora is living on her own in the wilds of southeast Jamuraa, when one day a band of Suq'Atans wanders into her territory on their way to a wedding ceremony. She attacks them and knocks out their leader Jarim, but they calm her by offering tasty Madaran fish. One of the Suq'Atans is Imrul, grand vizier to the great suzerain Akhmer. From Imrul, Wasitora learns her species is called the nekoru and that there are more of them gathering in the west, in the foothills of the Mayar Mountains. Wasitora graciously leaves the caravaneers alive and flies off to find her fellow cat-dragons. They are gathering to determine the leading male and female, and Wasitora rises to the challenge, facing off against Sodazia, Yirekabe, Dhamisara, and the powerful Kinirashi. Wasitora proves herself the strongest female and declares herself their queen. Her prize is the strongest male, Mayonako, and she decides to have a litter with him. However, irritated by all the pomp and ceremony of the other nekoru, Wasitora decides to raise her kittens far away from her kind. She decides to head west to Madara to look for more tasty fish.Note: The location of Madara has been retconned from being in the middle of the Mediterranean Jamuraan Sea to being in the open ocean a ways to the west of the continent of Jamuraa. Thus, when the text says Wasitora flies off "to the east, toward the sunrise", it should read "to the west, toward the sunset".
*Ach! Hans, Run!, by Will McDermott
** 2930 AR, Terisiare - Two brother poachers, Fedor and Holgar Vohnnson, kill a lhurgoyf and steal its eggs, but the lhurgoyf's mate chases after them, killing any humans in its path. It encounters the siblings Hans Eriksson and Saffi Eriksdotter, kills and eats Saffi, while Hans flees back to their town for protection. The lhurgoyf follows the scent of Hans and the two brothers and attacks the tavern. Holgar and several warriors confront the beast, while Hans and Fedor flee. Holgar has half his head eaten and many others are killed as well, but the lhurgoyf wants Fedor in particular. Fedor flees to Kjeldor and is arrested and put in prison. The skyknight lieutenant Belenda Danisdotter is bid by the queen of Kjeldor to deal with the issue, but it is her friend Jaya Ballard who solves the problem. Belenda frees Fedor and they go into the forest and are attacked by the lhurgoyf, but Jaya uses an amulet to transfer Fedor's sapience into the lhurgoyf. The beast is given the hunter's conscience and ability to speak, and Jaya returns its eggs. The lhurgoyf vows to protect the people of Balduvia to make amends for those it killed before. Meanwhile, the poacher runs off into the woods, now a feral man who eats squirrels in the forest for the rest of his days.
*The Reluctant Student, by Tim Ryan
** 3345 AR, Tolaria - At the Tolarian Academy, a few mechanical hawks' powerstones are drained of mana. Barrin brings one of his more creative but argumentative students, Skaven, on a walk to Vanish Point to see if they can discover the culprit. Meanwhile, the responsible creature, a <c>phantom monster</c> from another plane, attacks a ship and kills its crew, feeding off the magical artifacts. The creature then tracks Barrin and Skaven down and attacks them while on the trail to Vanish Point. The creature kills Skaven and pulls Barrin toward a time bubble. Barrin uses a water shield upon himself until Urza can come and rescue him, dispelling the creature and pulling Barrin away from the time bubble. By then, Barrin realized that his spellcasting brought the creature to the plane as an accidental by-product of wishing to learn more about time travel. Feeling inadequate next to the great power of Urza, Barrin hope to learn the secrets of time travel directly from the extraplanar dimensions accessible on Tolaria, which would have made Barrin succeed in doing what Urza did not. Humbled by his mistake, Barrin thanks Urza for saving him, and Urza compliments Barrin on his humanity.
*Unlikely Allies and Unjust Desserts, by Brian M. Thomsen
** 4100 AR, Shiv - After having lost their previous <c>serpent generator</c> to the twig dragon Snap, the three mercenaries Strother, Borg, and Elam are on the hunt for a new one. They work for an orcish warlord at the front lines against an advancing zombie army. Their commander tries to get rid of them by ordering them to kill more of the opposing zombie army, but they find the Serpent Generator made by Mutter Makree. Immediately afterward a <c>Lord of the Pit</c> shows up and demands tribute. The trio feeds snakes to the demon, and in return they get it to collect zombie scalps for them. They become so successful that the orc noble Lord Ugliness comes to congratulate them for their deeds. But the timing was poor for the warlord, as the Lord of the Pit returns from battle just then and eats the warlord and his sergeant as his tribute. Remembering that the best taste in the world is a snake generator, the demon then also eats the generator. The Lord of the Pit goes on to threaten to eat the trio as well, but they redirect the demon to the banquet feast that would be held the next day, thinking the lord would be kept busy eating the food and the guests there, and flee the scene.
===Part II: Modern Monsters===
*Ereth the Mighty, by A. L. Lassieur
** 4230 AR, Yavimaya - A generation after the Phyrexian Invasion of Dominaria, Yavimaya is plagued by monsters that appear to be stray Phyrexian raiders fighting the Olmerias druids. The clumsy elvish student Ereth is recruited by her teacher Zorich to find a solution, and together, they summon a <c>Thorn Elemental</c>. The creature destroys the raiders but then suddenly turns on the Olmerias druids and kills them. Ereth is horrified to discover that the raiders were not Phyrexians at all. They are dark creatures created to resemble them, summoned by Zorich to exterminate the human refugees that moved into Yavimaya after the Invasion. Zorich intends to finish the humans off by using their summoned elemental after transferring Ereth's soul into the giant beast. Turning on her master, Ereth sacrifices her life by taking control of the elemental and having it kill Zorich to prevent further loss of life. The real truth is never learned, with nobody left alive on the scene. Centuries later, the humans had successfully integrated into Yavimaya. According to their legends, they believe Zorich had defeated the Phyrexian raiders. Ereth, who always wanted to be a famous wizard, was only known as Zorich's unnamed assistant, her name forgotten entirely.
*True Enough, by Denise R. Graham
** 4230 AR, Sylvayn - Oly, a former sailor and a notorious drinker, wakes up to find his rum stolen by a chimeric humanoid monster. His dog Cassie uncharacteristically growls at the chimera, and as it finishes Oly's rum, it smashes the bottle, then accidentally cuts its foot on a glass shard and flies off at speed. Oly goes into his hometown of Sylvayn and tries to warn the townsfolk of the monster, but no one believes him. Then a monster hunter named Flyn LaRouxe shows up with stories about a large and fast wolf nearby. The hero receives a warm welcome in town, but the wolf shows up at night, howling in the streets. The townsfolk pleas for Flyn to kill it, and in an epic showdown in an alley, Flyn appears to best the wild creature. Ecstatic, the townsfolk pay him well for his deed, but Oly learns from his nieces that Flyn has a cut on his foot, identical to the chimera that drank his rum. Oly figures out that the chimera, the wolf, and the hunter are all the same shapeshifter, a <c>morphling</c> that staged the entire thing. The townsfolk believe Oly this time but are too embarrassed to have been tricked, so they decide to do nothing about it and let Flyn leave with his earnings. The shapeshifter successfully goes off with the money, ready to dupe the next town, and as he leaves, Oly spots a wolf tail peeking out under his cloak. 
*Seasons of Slaughter, by Vance Moore
** 4280 AR, Otaria - After the death of the herd watchman Alcric, the Cabal overseer Buric investigates cattle killings that a dragon might be responsible for. The cattle are an important part of Otarian nomads' lifestyle and the meat is used to make Cabal sausages. Buric discovers that the takes pleasure in the kills, and does it not just to feed on them. They attempt to trick the dragon into eating poisoned zombies, but that fails, and Buric bids his second in command, Madga, to use a magical brooch to summon a jucarri demon to take care of the problem. It works, and the dragon is killed, and the jucarri demon tears itself apart. After all the carnage, Buric notes that this would provide even more meat for their sausages, adding human, dragon, zombie, and demon flesh to the beef sausages. 
*An Atog Comes to Aphetto, by Steven E. Schend
** 4280 AR, Aphetto - The hunter Rasarm and his atog friend Yekol break into the mansion of the Cabal lord Suarvol. Suarvol had enslaved Rasarm's sister Siscera and killed their father Lhur and Siscera's husband Farul, so Rasarm is looking both for vengeance and to save his sister. Rasarm succeeds in killing Suarvol and freeing Siscera, who he brings to a local group of rebels led by the rogue Hural. To throw the Cabal off her scent, Rasarm then allows himself and Yekol to be arrested and brought to the arena pits. This allows Rasarm to challenge and kill Suarvol's brother and accomplice, Huathom. Rasarm then challenges Lord Chathos Flamescar, the mastermind behind the operation upon his family. Rasarm demands vengeance from the First directly, who gladly sets up the requested duel. Rasarm and Yekol kill Lord Flamescar as well, and then the First gives them a choice: join the Cabal and take over the role that Flamescar has, as leader of two of the city's districts, or fight in the pits until he has repaid the Cabal for all the deaths and collateral damage he caused. Rasarm realizes that he and Yekol will either die working for the Cabal or die fighting against them.
===Part III: Otherworldly Monsters===
*Delraich, by Jess Lebow
**4205 AR, Mercadia - The sorcerer Raitrick from Mercadia City books a passage with a high-class caravan across the plains to get to Saprazzo. The caravan drover, Sleedge, is very interested in Raitrick's cargo, and at night he gets him drunk and quizzes him on the contents of his bags. Raitrick admits to having found a Phyrexian portal device which he plans to use to make a fortune by providing easy transportation across the plains, which would put Sleedge out of business. Sleedge proceeds to continue serving Raitrick more and more grog until he collapses into sleep and Sleedge has the opportunity to steal the device. Raitrick tries to sue Sleedge in court but fails, and is sentenced to working for the magistrate for wasting his time. Much later, while delivering a package, he runs into Sleedge's caravan of people having a rowdy party in the streets of Mercadia. Enraged, Raitrick gets into a fight with them but is overwhelmed, beaten up, and left for dead. He awakes almost a month later having been restored to health by the black mage Kirch. Raitrick realizes that the package he had been delivering at the time of his encounter with the caravaners were his release papers, which he's now forfeited by letting the expiry run out while he was in a coma. Kirch offers a way to give Raitrick revenge - he can summon a terrible monster and set it upon Sleedge and his caravaners. Now with nothing left to lose, Raitrick accepts Kirch's offer of vengeance, and the black mage summons a Derelor. He then uses Raitrick's blood in a dark spell, fusing the Derelor's body with him. This forms a creature that Kirch dubs the <c>Delraich</c>. Raitrick is horrified to see his own warped body, but at least he has much more power now. The Delraich goes out and murders the entire caravan, including Sleedge, finally getting his revenge.
*Tap, Kraken & Pop, by Tom Dupree
**4205 AR, Mercadia - The Mercadian Tap is on a pirate ship captained by the swashbuckling El-Halal. Tap has been sent on a mission by the father of his beloved, Evangeline, to collect a golden leaf from the Isle of the Gilded Tree. The island is uncharted, but El-Halal and his crew have much sea experience and they travel far beyond Saprazzo, finally locating a remote island. To their disappointment though, the island is empty and has no Gilded Tree. The mood turns sour and murder fairly quickly when they realize that Evangeline's father had duped them all, and most want to take it out on Tap. But then a <c>Tidal Kraken</c> attacks their ship, and they scramble to defend it. They manage to chase the giant creature off by throwing burning lanterns and shooting cannonballs into its gullet, but the ship is stranded on a sand bank. With the tide going out, the water from the creature's grotto recedes, revealing a large pile of treasure. Overjoyed, the pirates gather the booty, and El-Halal even finds a cup gilded with gold leaf, fulfilling Tap's quest. The pirates bring Tap home and convince Evangeline's father to allow her to marry him.
*Crucible, by Stephen D. Sullivan
**4206 AR, Rath - The blacksmith widow Salla en-Dal lives in Travec, a Vec village, with her brother Milgen en-Dal, and her two young children Chelly en-Dal and Lito en-Dal. Although her Vec husband has died, she is welcomed and respected in the village, though she is still counted as a Dal and not a Vec. However, her brother Milgen sours their reputation as he tends to be a pickpocket and a scoundrel. When Patwog en-Vec, the village's shaman-in-training, announces he will go to the mountain to find something that will save the village, Milgen goes with him. They find an enormous door in the mountain, but behind it is a <c>Laccolith Titan</c>. Patwog tries to tame the beast with a magical amulet and a powerstone, but the beast is too powerful and kills them both. The Titan then rampages into Travec, destroying its tower and killing its Oracle, Retma en-Vec, but is eventually defeated when Salla uses a chain she and her late husband had forged to be indestructible. She ties the beast down long enough for the wooden boards beneath her smithy to give way, plunging them both into the Rootwater below. Salla herself is blasted with magma in the process and perishes. Years later, the dockmaster Royn en-Vec, now old and gray, tells some children that it was Salla's sacrifice that taught the Vec that they could safely work together with the Dal, paving the way for the Korvecdal to unite all the tribes of Rath. After the Rathi Overlay, they use the story of Salla to motivate themselves to keep working together with the Dominarians. 
*The Voice of Command, by Paul B. Thompson
** 4040 AR, Rath - Colonel Mocklen il-Dal is stationed at the remote outpost of Tabala Fortress with a regiment of scrappy but disorganized troops. One day, Light-General Rogur shows up and assumes control of the station with orders from the Evincar, Davvol. Mocklen sees a hidden message in the dispatch from Davvol, though, written in special ink. Ostensibly, Rogur has been sent to eradicate rebels in the area, but Mocklen does not indicate that this is true. However, a charismatic Vec Oracle named Sro Valik appears to be massing his troops nearby, and Mocklen and Rogur send out most of their troops to investigate. Guerilla warfare ensures that the officers' troops start taking heavy losses. Rogur gets more and more frazzled and starts drinking heavily, and Mocklen himself leaves on a scouting mission and does not return. Frantic, Rogur forces Mocklen's aide Vordren il-Dal to send out all of the keep's perchers - flying bird-like creatures that can repeat short messages verbatim. Rogur then kills Vordren, suspecting him of being part of a treasonous plot against him. The next day, Rogur wakes up to find himself completely alone in the fort, with only his second-in-command Nidmon il-Dal's corpse being found at the fort. Rogur sees a band of Vec rebels charging at the fortress and locks himself in, but the nomads climb into the fort and face Rogur down. The lead rebel then reveals himself to be Mocklen himself and admits that he made the myth of Sro Valik and the guerilla warfare up to catch Rogur committing war crimes. Now with the murder of Vordren, Rogur faces trial. Mocklen reveals that Rogur had made too many powerful friends at court, and Davvol had ordered him to be eliminated through the legal system rather than any kind of assassination. Rogur attempts to stand against Mocklen's forces but ends up facing an execution squad on the roof of Tabala Fortress and falling off the building to his death.
==References==
Category:Anthologies