Baltrice

Template:Character Baltrice is a red-aligned planeswalker. She is a pyromancer who specializes in fire elementals, though she seems to have learned some of the art of artifice from Tezzeret. She is currently a character of substantially contested canon.

History

Agents of Artifice

She is the loyal lieutenant of the artificer Tezzeret, working for the Infinite Consortium. She is a woman at least 6 foot tall with broad shoulders and ash-grey hair. After Jace Beleren is scouted by the Consortium, she takes an instant and intense dislike to the mind mage, and acts irrational and hot-headed. She briefly shows her good side when she let Jace escape in return for having saved her life on Kamigawa, however, whatever good nature she has was proven a fluke when she repeatedly tortured Jace when he was imprisoned in Tezzeret's sanctum. When Jace escaped, she was defeated by Liliana Vess and apparently killed.

Test of Metal

It is revealed, however, that Baltrice was not slain by Liliana, but was found by Jace when she attempted to return to Ravnica. Jace nursed her back to health, and soon, she took her position as the right hand of the Consortium once again, working for Jace out of gratitude. She turned up in Esper along with Jace in an attempt to capture Tezzeret after he set off a trap that has alerted them to his survival.

The two planeswalkers fail to capture Tezzeret and, instead, Jace is afflicted with an etherium device which prevents him from using magic, planeswalking, or his mental powers. Tezzeret agrees to remove the device if Baltrice helps him in his search for Crucius the Mad. Baltrice is suspiciously fond of Jace despite the intense hatred displayed during Tezzeret's tenure as lord of the Consortium, causing Tezzeret to believe that Jace had used his powers to mentally alter her disposition. Baltrice assists Tezzeret in his fight when they reach the Crystal Labryinth.

In the final meeting between Tezzeret, Baltrice, and Jace, Tezzeret offers her a sangrite necklace that he claims will make her immune to mental domination. Jace warns Baltrice not to put the necklace on, that it is a trick by Tezzeret. Baltrice become suspicious that Jace had done exactly as Tezzeret suspected of him. Jace claims that, after the fight with Vess, Baltrice’s mind was so haunted it was driving her insane and he only did enough to relieve her of the painful memories.

Unsure who is telling the truth, Baltrice leaves Jace and Tezzeret without putting on the necklace.

Trivia

• Ari Marmell intended for Baltrice to have died during the finale of Agents of Artifice. He was surprised when he learned she had survived.