Darios

Illustration by AlexPascenko, algenpfleger and janaschi [1]

**Darios**is a human planeswalker from the plane of Korrinayru. Darios is the man responsible for the Titans forgiving the Korrinary and allowing the plane two thrive once more. He is also the current owner of the Gem of Obedience.

## Birth and Early Years

Darios was born on the early months of 1609 NKY, the year after the Titans' Descent. His father had died during the event, so his mother was left to take care of him. He grew in the Destori tribe, the survivors of Desarrea.

Growing up, Darios always had a strong sense of duty and brotherhood thanks to the teachings of his mother and elders. As customary, at the age of ten he began his training as a salvager and at fourteen he was already assisting his superior salvager. At the age of sixteen he began salvaging on his own, roaming the desert in abnegation to give his people their daily rations. He continued doing this until the age of 29, when he met Aylin.

## Aylin

One day, on the year 1638 NKY (30 Post-Descent), he found a plate of metal with a strange symbol (the symbol of Phyrexia), and while examining it, he attracted the attention of a Sentinel. As he ran for his life, he came across Aylin, a planeswalker who had just arrived at Korrinayru. To Darios's surprise, the woman quickly disposed of the creature, earning her his gratitude and admiration.

Darios had spent years wondering if he could reach the Gateway to the Titans in Millikas, and now that he'd found someone strong enough to protect him from the Sentinels he might find in the way, he was willing to execute his plan. He asked for Aylin's help and she agreed on the condition she could fight as many Sentinels as she wanted.

Darios tried to recruit members of his tribe to accompany him in his quest but the elders dismissed his request, claiming they should focus on the survival of their people rather than on trying to make a miracle happen. Many people, however, secretly sent him part of their rations as a show of goodwill and support. After saying goodbye to his mother, Darios and Aylin left for Millikas.

The duo endured a lot of hardships, one of them caused by an internal fight. When they met, Aylin warned Darios never to touch her, but during an argument he grabbed her by the wrist, causing her to burst and punish him violently, nearly killing him. He apologized, realizing that even the strongest person he'd ever met had issues, and they continued their way. They arrived at Millikas a few days later, although there was clear tension between both of them.

## Millikas

A few hours after their arrival at Millikas, they were kidnapped by Sentinels. They soon found out the Sentinels where under the influence of Multhratos, who had been granted the Gem of Obedience by Amrhotep. However, while Multhratos was busy dealing with the Tizzanier, Amrhotep released them. Darios accepted his apology, but Aylin began fighting Amrhotep. Darios stopped them, and Aylin explained that the reason she behaved the way she did was because her parents had been murdered in front of her.

Darios apologized again, without knowing the story was a lie, and took it upon himself to try to protect Aylin from the harms that may come. Despite the rough patches and Aylin's dismissive attitude, he actually enjoyed her company and considered her a friend.

Darios, Aylin and Amrhotep headed north in order for Darios to get to the Gateway to the Titans. When they reached the place where it was supposed to stand, however, they realized it had been separated from the mainland, and it was far away in the ocean. His spirit broken, Darios wanted to give up, but Amrhotep reminded him they still had to stop Multhratos.

Soon, however, they were found by a group of Sentinels following a dragon that had ingested the Gem of Allure. The trio seemingly defeated them, but as Aylin was retrieving the Gem from the creature's stomach, she was ambushed and attacked by an archon. Darios jumped between her and the attack and was hit by the archon's purging beam. As his body disintegrated, he used his last breath to make Aylin promise she'd stop Multhratos.

## Ascension

However, that strike didn't kill Darios. Instead it ignited his spark, causing him to planeswalk to Kamdrana. When he first arrived, all he could see was darkness, and he believed that was what death was like. However, he was soon greeted by the Demonlord Maukreios, who began using his power to drag out Darios's fears to feed on him. As the Demonlord spoke of Aylin's death and the complete obliteration of Korrinayru, he stabbed Darios.

Darios didn't know how to fight back at first, since he could still see nothing around him. However, as Maukreios triggered his fear, he realized he was still in time to stop those things from happening if he became more assertive and determined to fight others to reach his goals. He'd lived his entire life in abnegation, it was time he started taking care of what was best for him.

As these thoughts began to take shape in his mind, he realized his eyes were adapting to the darkness. His wound had actually absorbed the black mana of the plane and made it a part of him, unleashing brand new powers. He stopped Maukreios's advances and planeswalked back to Korrinayru to finish his quest.

## Savior of Korrinayru

As he returned, he realized Aylin and Amrhotep had found a way to open the Gateway to the Titans and had created a bridge that would allow him to get there. He sent them back to fight Multhratos and entered the Titan Realm.

Once he was in the Titan Realm, his mind got unbound, since the reality he was now contemplating was infinitely bigger than anything he could ever imagine. Thanks to his spark, however, he was able to retain enough consciousness and sanity to get an audience with the Titans. After each of them killed him once, deaths that got immediately reversed since the Titan Realm was timeless, the Titans deemed him worthy of speaking to them.

He told them what he believed in: the Korrinary had suffered enough, they had learned their lesson, and they deserved a second chance. The Titans agreed to his plea but first demanded the defeat of Multhratos. Darios left the Titan Realm and was granted a dragon to fly him back to the brawl.

When Darios got there, Aylin had already removed the Gem of Obedience from Multhratos, and now that his power was gone, they dragged Multhratos into the Titan Realm, where they killed him. The rest of the Korrinary took up arms against the Titans once more but Darios stopped them. He convinced them the war was over, and that there was no more need for bloodshed. Though at first he was accused of being a traitor sent by the Titans to have the Korrinary lower their guard, the Titans gave more concrete proof of their goodwill by erasing the Sentinels and bowing before their creation, promising to do better to help them this time.

Since the war had ended, Darios planned to return home and live among his people once more, but Amrhotep took him aside and asked him for a favor. Darios, Aylin and Amrhotep returned to Desarrea, but Darios confessed to his mother that he would not be staying long. Amrhotep had judged him a worthy carrier of the Gem of Obedience, and Darios accepted the responsibility. But in order to do it, he had to agree to some terms: he would never use the Gem, he'd try to find a way to destroy it, and he could never see Aylin again, since she'd been given the Gem of Allure.

After saying his final goodbyes, Darios planeswalked away from Korrinayru, set on his quest to free the Multiverse of the power of the Three Gems.