Parnesse

Parnesse
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Parnesse.png}}|250px]]
Details
Race	Vampire
Birthplace	New Capenna, Capenna
Lifetime	Present
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. A lot of risks there, 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 (a gift from a friend) — 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 refered 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. Errant, Anhelo's daughter in The Family Man, is described as having 'warm, brown skin' like her mother, and 'thick, wavy hair', like her father. On a card in the set Streets of New Capenna, Errant is presented as a human street artist, seemingly not directly affiliated with any crime family (no watermark) but shown in her art making graffiti which appears to be the Maestro insignia.

Parnesse is described as Toluz's 'knuckle-headed' daughter in The Family Man, but is presented in the cards as a vampire (with UBR colors) and a member of the Maestros, despite Toluz being described as a high ranking human member of the Obscura. The connotation that Errant and Parnesse's wedding will help forge bonds between the Obscura and Maestro families seems somewhat muddled if Toluz's daughter is already a member of the Maestros. Regardless, it is clear Errant as depicted in the cards is not a member of the Obscura and also does not appear to be a member of the Maestros, and this agrees with the understanding of Jay Annelli, a lore consultant for Wizards of the Coast.

A description of Parnesse's character history from an article on the Legendary characters of New Capenna may support the theory that there was a mix-up, as that text reads that Parnesse uses an Obscura observation device gifted by a "friend." This might be her mother Toluz, who is a member of the Obscura, or some other Obscura member she knows through her mother's connections, but the context of the wording is that the device was a gift from her lover and wife, Errant, who perhaps — at the time the article was drafted — was considered to be Toluz's daughter and a member of the Obscura, instead of Parnesse.

However, the nature of any mix-up is unclear. The character descriptions for Evelyn and Anhelo make clear that vampirism on New Capenna is a gift that originates from Xander, and thus may not be an inheritable condition. Errant is noted in The Family Man as having 'warm brown skin' which agrees more with Errant's art and nature as a human than Parenesse's.

Furthermore, Errant, Street Artist can make copies of copied spells, making her useful to a Maestros' strategy, especially to Anhelo and Parnesse in Commander, and Errant also has 0 power, keeping her safe from being the sacrificed victim of the Maestros' keyword, Casualty. There is no particular synergy between Parnesse and Anhelo, however. This suggests Errant's card (in Streets of New Capenna) was possibly designed with an eye toward her use with the Maestro commander deck in Streets of New Capenna/Commander decks, although it may also be that Errant was designed for use in any Casualty oriented deck. Making her inapplicable for sacrifice to Casualty is a stylistic point that is difficult to imagine the reason for unless it is to accentuate her role as boss Anhelo's daughter. Thus, rather than their identities being confused at some point, an alternative hypothesis is that Errant perhaps became a human late in design after Magic Story had started working on the fiction, or that Parnesse became a vampire late in design, leading to the apparent inconsistencies.

The author of The Family Man, K. Arsenault Rivera, is 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. Jay Annelli, Wizards' lore consultant, although not speaking for Wizards, also confirms that Errant is Anhelo's child as far as the existing lore is concerned, but notes how that works (i.e. how does a supposedly centuries-old vampire have a living human daughter?) is not clear. However, the line from The Family Man stating that Errant gets her wavy hair from Anhelo seems to constrain the range of possible explanations.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Parnesse, the Subtle Brush