Parnesse

Parnesse
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Parnesse.png}}|250px]]
Details
Race	Vampire
Birthplace	New Capenna, Capenna
Lifetime	Mending Era
Spouse	Errant
Parents	Toluz
Colors
Scryfall Search
lore:"Parnesse"

Parnesse, the Subtle Brush, is a vampire wizard of the Maestros family in New Capenna.

Description

Parnesse is the wife of Errant, the daughter of Toluz, and the daughter-in-law of Anhelo.

History

Being skilled and confident enough to paint a vampire is a valuable skill that leads to a dangerous job. They can't see themselves in mirrors, so the way you paint them is the way they see themselves. There are a lot of risks and a lot of rewards. Even for other vampires, who run every risk from getting a stake through them for a poor review to never getting their portrait done.

Parnesse is one of the best, a portrait artist who specializes in painting vampires not necessarily how they look, but how they wish to be seen. She has a subtle brush — and a flashy bit of Obscura magic — that helps her see her subjects' most confident self-image. A touch of smoother skin here, a lift of the fang there, a tug over there — the vampires who commission a portrait from Parnesse see themselves clearer and more beautiful or fearsome than ever, and for that, they keep Parnesse paid in full and booked for the foreseeable future.

Parnesse and Errant's wedding was targeted by Fiero Vespin, a Maestros assassin and art dealer looking to make a name for himself. Fiero attacked Parnesse before their rehearsal dinner, leaving Parnesse with broken ribs and smelling of blood. Parnesse was unwilling to tell her fiance what occurred, however, refusing to talk about it at all out of what Anhelo referred to as "knuckleheaded pride."

Later, after Atraxa attacked the plane during New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, Parnesse and her wife joined the resistance against the Phyrexians where she would act as a scout. She was caught on a twisted railing and injured her thigh, but was later healed by Della and survived the invasion.

Story appearances

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
The Family Man	K. Arsenault Rivera	2022-03-30	Streets of New Capenna	Capenna, Dominaria	Anhelo, Errant, Toluz, Evelyn, Fiero Vespin, Severo, Parnesse
New Capenna - The Fall of Park Heights	Elise Kova	2023-03-27	March of the Machine	Capenna	Atraxa, Anhelo, Parnesse, Errant, Della, Perrie, Kamiz, Henzie Torre, Falco Spara

Note on Parnesse's background

It is possible that Magic Story has confused some of Parnesse and Errant's background details, mostly in their familial connections, both in blood and affiliation. Alternatively, the choice of Parnesse, a carded character, may have been developed separately from the narrative as an otherwise background character. Enough facts line up to be just close enough to confuse. While both lore consultant, Jay Annelli, and author of The Family Man, K. Arsenault Rivera, have weighed in on potential scenarios, but neither had a response that addresses all inconsistencies. The contradiction is between the "Legends of Capenna" worldbuilding article and Parnesse's card, against the background information given by the short story.

From the story, Parnesse has no lines and is merely Errant's fiancee and Toluz's daughter. That would make her Obscura by birthright, Toluz being Human suggests Parnesse is also. However, the card Parnesse, the Subtle Brush has her being a Vampire in full Maestros colors (). While there are non-Maestros vampires, the "Legends" article suggests that vampirism is less of a contagion than a deliberate induction. Furthermore, the article claims her Obscura magic is not from family, but from "a friend": this would partially contradict the story, as being a native Obscuran Parnesse would have ready access to their magic, though enough possibilities are that this could still be consistent. This gives credence to the theory that Errant and Parnesse were swapped, as an Obscuran mage teaching a Maestros artist as part of their courtship would line up.

On the other side of this, Errant, Street Artist is Human, despite Anhelo being her father. Anhelo is also said to have been one of the first Vampires, ruling out the idea that he became a vampire shortly before or after Errant's birth. Annelli and Rivera both confirm that she is his daughter, but offer little elaboration on the vampirism issue, especially with the suggestion that Errant inherited Anhelo's hairstyle. Errant's familial affiliation with the Maestros is confirmed on her card, as she benefits from Casualty, the Maestros mechanic, and painted their sigil on a wall. Neither Errant nor Toluz have entries on the Legends article and hence see fewer contradictions.

Rivera made clear in Twitter conservations that Parnesse is Toluz's daughter, and Errant is Anhelo's daughter, including giving a possible explanation that Parnesse may have become a vampire, and a full-fledged member of the Maestros, after the events in The Family Man due to the Maestros recognizing her incredible artistic talents. However, this theory has a particular gap; vampirism is said to give near-immortality, and for whatever reason Errant does not wish to be a vampire; why, then, would Anhelo or Parnesse allow for Parnesse to become a vampire and "leave" Errant to age and die? This would be solved with the Errant-Parnesse swap theory, as a vampire falling in love with a human is a much more common storyline. Further problems come with the March of the Machine storyline, where Errant is still a human on Errant and Giada, but most of the Maestros were compleated, putting into question who would have turned Parnesse into a vampire in the future. Regardless, as this can be considered a character question, such an answer could be made by writing them into the character.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Parnesse, the Subtle Brush