Journey to the Eye
| Journey to the Eye | ||||
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[[File:{{#setmainimage:JourneyToTheEye.jpg}}|250px]] | ||||
| Publication information | ||||
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | |||
| Publication period | September 17 - October 1, 2009 | |||
| URL | Journey to the Eye | |||
| Creative team | ||||
| Writer(s) | Jenna Helland, Brady Dommermuth, Doug Beyer | |||
| Art director | Jeremy Jarvis | |||
| Illustrator(s) | Nic Klein | |||
| Letterer(s) | Jino Choi | |||
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Journey to the Eye is a webcomic about Chandra and Sarkhan Vol. It was originally published in three parts in September and October 2009.
Part 1
Affa Town, Akoum Mountains, Zendikar.
Chandra Nalaar visits the Akoum Expeditionary House and asks the owner Sachir if he can provide a guide to Anowon's basecamp. Sachir guesses that Chandra has found some cryptic relic and wants to ask the self-proclaimed ruin expert Anowon about its significance. He warns her that the route to the basecamp is fraught with danger: the spike fields are bad and the drakes of Windblast Gorge can rip her to shreds before she can bat an eyelash. On top of that, Zendikar will make her magic go wild and the Roil will get worse the higher she climbs. After assuring him that she needs a guide and not a protector, and paying him, Sachir provides Chandra with the help of Urdom. The legendary warrior of Tazeem comes with good recommendations: it is said that he killed the hydra of the Vastwood with his bare hands, and that he climbed the Kazandu Sky Cliffs without a robe.
Despite his reputation, Urdom is quickly killed in the spike fields by a firespitting rock lizard. Chandra returns to the expeditionary house, and pays for two new guides: Mira and Tau, kor hookmasters from Ondu. The pair is said to have led dozens of expeditions through the rubble of the Sky Ruin and to have rappelled to the bottom of the bottomless shaft. Sachir assures Chandra that the kor watch out for each other and will treat her as family. Unfortunately, the kor are quickly killed in an attack by a swarm of jagwasps and Chandra has to go back again. Her next guide is Ilvoro, an esteemed lullmage from Halimar. They get caught in a Roil tempest and Ilvoro perishes. Chandra is saved by Ilvoro's Stonework Puma, and has to retreat once again. Clean out of experienced guides, Sachir offers the service of the Gurgel brothers, four goblins who are new to the game. Gonka falls prey to a tentacled monstrosity, Torke gets crushed by a fallen rock and Larke gets caught by a giant flesh-eating plant. But the fourth brother, Gurg, finally manages to bring Chandra to the camp of the League of Anowon. After being rewarded by Chandra, and unnoticed by her, Gurg falls prey to a wurm.
Chandra scouts the camp, but it seems to be dilapidated and abandoned. She then meets Anowon himself, who declares that her journey had been a wasted effort.
Part 2
Eye of Ugin, Akoum, Zendikar.
Sarkhan Vol wanders through the tunnels and caves of the Eye of Ugin, which are strewn with small hedrons. In a hallucinatory state, he reminisces about his time as a soldier and talks to himself, wondering about his purpose and what fortune has in store for him. Very specifically, he wonders if he was being punished by Nicol Bolas for some failure on his part. He notices that the place is bridling with power, but that he can barely cast a spell to light his way. After confronting several illusions he hears footsteps approaching.
Part 3
Anowon's basecamp, Akoum Mountains, Zendikar.
Anowon thinks that Chandra is an ordinary tomb raider and refuses to help her, until she discloses that she has a map that leads to the Eye of Ugin. Seeing that they have a common interest Anowon agrees to guide Chandra through the Hedron fields. Chandra says that the map is burned in her memory, hiding the fact that she has a copy of the original Dragon Scroll on her person. On their way through the Hedron fields, Anowon explains that he thinks that the hedrons are monuments of the tyranny of the ancients and that the Eye is crucial to the healing of the land. He boasts that his life has been a quest for truth, that he has studied every scroll in every archive, that he is a master explorer who is always respectful of the secrets he finds, and that he has uncovered many lost truths during his meticulous investigations. Chandra notes that he doesn't look the scholarly type, but Anowon blames her lack of insight to her youth. He claims that Chandra was fated to meet him, and sees confirmation when he manages to save her from falling down a cliff.
When they camp for the night near a gargoyle, Anowon sees that Chandra in fact has a map. When she sleeps he sneaks up on her to bite her and to steal the map, reasoning that she is unworthy of it and it should be rightfully his. Chandra wakes and fights him, but notices that her fire magic has become impotent. One-on-one Chandra is about to lose the fight, but she is saved by Sarkhan Vol who knocks Anowon out.