Nahiri

Nahiri, called The Lithomancer, is a talented kor stoneforger and one of The Three — a group of planeswalkers that included Sorin Markov and Ugin — that decided to rid the Multiverse of the terrible Eldrazi. Being a lithomancer, she has special power over stones.

History

The Three decided to force the Eldrazi into physical form and trap them on a plane, sacrificing that plane for the well-being of the Multiverse. They searched for a plane with lush ecosystems and uniquely dynamic mana—a powerful lure for the Eldrazi's insatiable hunger. They found Zendikar. Sorin Markov lured the Eldrazi to the plane, directing their hunger to that unique mana, Ugin used his invisible breath to combat the Eldrazi and his colorless magic to bind them to the plane, and Nahiri constructed a massive network of stone hedrons, whose power would form the bars of a planewide prison, forever preventing the Eldrazi from leaving. Ugin arranged the hedrons to direct leylines of energy, which were not to be disrupted.

The planeswalkers concentrated the power of their imprisonment spell in a secret location deep inside Zendikar's mountains of Akoum: a subterranean chamber called the Eye of Ugin. To make sure that the imprisonment would not be broken, the three planeswalkers sealed the chamber with a mystical lock: the Eye of Ugin could only be reactivated by the presence of three planeswalker's sparks — and the colorless, invisible breath of Ugin, the spirit dragon himself.

The planeswalkers' trap worked. Emrakul, Ulamog, and Kozilek manifested in physical form on Zendikar, became confined by the magic of the network of hedrons, and thanks to the magic of the imprisonment spell, sank into harmless dormancy. Their mission complete, the planeswalkers disbanded. Sorin and Ugin left the plane.

Nahiri satyed and lived happily among her people for a long time. She took on pupils and taught to maintain the hedron network. Centuries later she became tired of living, and withdrew in a meditational slumber. The centuries passed and her teachings about the Eldrazi became garbled; Talib, Kamsa and Mangeni became the revered gods of the Kor. When vampires (which hadn't been seen on the plane in the earlier days) build a shrine on the nexus of the hedron network, the prison of the Eldrazi became unstable, and the brood lineages spilled over the plane again. Nahiri awaoke and called for help to Sorin and Ugin but they didn't respond. She succeeded on her own, and restored the prison.

The wild mana of Zendikar lured other beings to the plane as well, and Nahiri took it upon herself to protect Zendikar from those who would cause it harm. Of those, the most infamous was the interplanar conqueror Ob Nixilis, but before he could do much damage, Nahiri intervened and bound his power with that of a hedron.

6000 years later the Eldrazi broke free. This time, Sorin reacted and tried to reassemble The Three but was unable to find Nahiri. He found Ugin dead on original Tarkir, but alive in the new timeline. Then, Ugin instructed Sorin to find Nahiri.

Trivia

• The Lithomancer's identity as Nahiri was hinted at earlier , but finally unveiled in the Commander 2014 supplemental set.
• Nahiri’s art was modeled on the art of Worldwake’s Stoneforge Mystic, but that represents another character.
• It is possible that Nahiri were also dead as it was mentioned by Wizards that the planeswalker commanders in Commander 2014 could consist of dead planeswalkers (Teferi, Freyalise). However this is subverted by Ob Nixilis, the Fallen who has lost his spark and is trapped on Zendikar but is still alive. It has recently been confirmed by Sorin Markov that Nahiri is still alive, however they seem to have had a falling out, possibly as a result of something that Sorin did to her.
• When Sorin first heard that Ugin had been involved in a battle with another planeswalker, he initially suspected that it was Nahiri. He later discovered that his other planeswalker was Nicol Bolas, but his suspicion about her involvement suggests that her largely benevolent persona changed at some point.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Nahiri, the Lithomancer

Quoted or referred to:

• Ugin's Construct