Sarkhan Vol
Sarkhan Vol is a primarily red planeswalker who came from a plane scourged by war. This plane was controlled by constantly battling warlords. These warlords had a tradition of slaying dragons for sport and glory, driving them fully to extinction, much to the woe of the shamans of the plane who worshipped dragons as the pinnacle of predation. Early on in his life, Sarkhan was a soldier, but sought something more than the life of an expendable pawn. He joined a clan of shamans, where he found some level of peace, but quickly grew bitter because of the futility of worshipping a nigh-extinct beast. When he returned to the warrior life, he quickly rose in position and power until he came to claim the title general of one of the warlord's armies. Upon his first expedition, he was touched by an ancient dragon spirit in a trance after slaying the opposing commander. Sacrificing his own men, he unleashed a massive spell that wiped the battlefield clean as he ascended, channeling the power of the spirit he connected to. This was to be his first and last battle as a general, as he was stripped of his position, leaving no connection left to bind him to that plane.
Alara Unbroken
- For more information, see Alara Unbroken.
Upon the plane of Jund, Sarkhan continued his quest to find a worthy dragon to whom he could pledge his loyalty. For two years, he searched and as such found himself under Mount Jhal standing in the path of Kresh and Rakka Mar in their fight against the hellkite Malactoth. He assisted them in vanquishing the dragon, unknowingly assisting Rakka in her secret mission. Buried in the cavern, Kresh glimpsed the Obelisk of Jund before everything went black.
Days later, after having escaped the collapsed cavern with Rakka's help, Sarkhan encountered the newly ascended Ajani and sent away Karrthus. He explained to the leonin what he now was, as well as the fury of red mana and the merits of vengeance. Taking wing, Sarkhan left Ajani to his own devices and sought out revenge against Rakka Mar for her part in what happened in Malactoth's cavern. Eventually he did indeed find her, but she presented him with a unique oppurtunity to meet her master and led him to a mountain rife with goblins. Atop this mountain, he met Nicol Bolas and stood in awe of the dragon's power, though his methods were a far cry removed from what he knew of dragons. Upon that spot Sarkhan swore his allegiance to Bolas and exchanged blood with the dragon, gaining more power than he had imagined from the transfusion. He was given the task of activating the Obelisk of Esper.
As a reward for that task, Bolas presented Sarkhan with a flight of 5 dragons, one of which was the brainwashed Karrthus. At this point, Sarkhan began to doubt his allegiance to Bolas, but followed through with the next step of Bolas's plan: to goad Naya to war with Jund. He came into conflict with Mayael the Anima's armies of behemoth and arrived in time to see Bolas absorb the mana of the Maelstrom and be defeated by a duplicate avatar of himself. Seeing his master defeated caused something within Sarkhan to snap, and his mind started to unravel.
The Veil's Curse
- For more information, see The Veil's Curse.
Sarkhan is seen following the trail of Liliana Vess as she ravages a kingdom. As she departs he renews his vows to his mysterious master.
The Eye of Ugin
- For more information, see Journey to the Eye.
Sarkhan finds himself on Zendikar wandering the Eye of Ugin. While in the tunnels and caves, he reminisces about his time as a soldier and speaks to himself, wondering about his purpose and what fortune has in store for him. Very specifically, he wonders if he is being punished by Bolas for some failure on his part. Throughout his time in the Eye, he seems to be in a hallucinatory state, but eventually he becomes lucid in time to save Chandra Nalaar from an attack by the vampire ruin sage named Anowon.
He proceeds to threaten Chandra before she detonates a spell next to him, though it fails catastrophically he is impressed with its power. He leads Chandra deeper into the heart of the Eye, explaining what it was and finally revealing his true agenda as he speaks to whatever voice he had been speaking to in his previous delusional state. He warps himself fully into a dragon and attacks Chandra intending to sacrifice her to the voices. His plan is foiled by the sudden appearance of Jace Beleren, who has no clue that Sarkhan is anything more than a dragon. The confluence of these three triggers a reaction from one of the Hedrons that begins to absorb their magic, and when Chandra discovers Ugin's invisible fire with the help of Jace and uses it to defeat Sarkhan, the last lock of the Eldrazi confinement spell is opened. Chandra leaves hurriedly and so does Jace after making sure the unconscious Sarkhan, back to his human form, is alive.
Sarkhan wakes alone in the chamber and reflects upon his defeat while making his way to the top of the mountain where the Eye of Ugin lays. There he finds the rotting corpse of a dragon that a group of eldrazi spawns are being birthed from. Sarkhan, enraged at the scene, fulminates the spawn and bids peace to the corpse of the dragon. However, the spirit of the fallen dragon appears and taunts Sarkhan with threats of the punishment Bolas will inflict upon him for having failed his mission. Sarkhan cannot decipher, and does not seem to care, if the dragon is a hallucination of his own mind or the remnants of the fallen beast. Sarkhan goes back into the Eye of Ugin to try to find a way to restore it only to begin wondering if Bolas's secret purpose was for him to activate it all along, as he realizes that the confluence of planeswalkers was what triggered the Eye. Returning to the central hedron, he remembers that as he battled Chandra while in dragon form he could read the runes in the hedrons. Filled with new resolve he returns to his complete dragon form and blasts the taunting dragon spirit. Sarkhan breaks off a large chunk of the floating hedron and walks away to meet his master.
The shaman arrives upon Bolas's Meditation Realm and hopes to leave his hedron prize unnoticed. Minions, tiny impish effigies of Bolas, appear around Sarkhan and taunt him until Sarkhan is forced to meet his lord. As he traverses the strange landscape Bolas speaks in his mind, debriefing him and learning the true extent of the events that transpired on Zendikar. Finally, Sarkhan arrives at the heart of Bolas's power, a massive floating Keep. The shaman calls upon his wings once again and bows to his master, hoping to deliver his trophy and be done with his punishment. Sarkhan waits in vain as Bolas reveals it was his intention to spring the Eldrazi all along, having manipulated events to unlock Ugin's work. Further, Bolas claims to have dealt with Ugin much to Sarkhan's surprise. When it finally becomes clear that Bolas has no plans to harm Sarkhan at the moment, the dragon dismisses his pawn, showing Sarkhan the twisted form of Tezzeret with a smile.
In-Game References
Represented in cards:
Associated cards:
- Form of the Dragon (From the Vault: Dragons)
- Violent Ultimatum
- Dark Temper
- Banefire
Quoted or referred to:
- Crucible of Fire
- Hellkite Overlord
- Act of Treason
- Sangrite Backlash
- Colossal Might
- Dragon's Claw (M11)
Trivia
The word "šarkan", pronounced |sharkhan|, means "dragon" in Slovak language.
Sarkhan's appearance bears resemblance to Shang Tsung of Mortal Kombat fame.
Sarkhan's secondary card is the first Planeswalker to lack a +1 ability that grants him loyalty counters.
External links
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