Phyrexian Invasion of Capenna

The Phyrexian Invasion of Capenna was the invasion of the plane of Capenna by Yawgmoth's Phyrexian forces.

The invasion

A few centuries before the present day, Capenna was a medieval world of knights, dragons, and angelic protectors, not unlike Alara's Bant shard. When the Phyrexians arrived on a ship, the denizens of the plane fought bravely against their invaders but were overwhelmed as their dead were reanimated and phyrexianized, joining the ranks of the Phyrexians. This phase of the invasion lasted almost a year with the invaders having great success.

The angel-demon pact

The only warriors who had any chance of beating the invading Phyrexians were Capenna's archangels but even they were overwhelmed. Realizing the plane would be lost if nothing is done, the angels extended an alliance proposal to the plane's archdemons, powerful enemies of the angels who, until then, sat the war out. The demons accepted the alliance and, together with the angels, turned back the tide of war.

Creation of New Capenna

As the plane was slowly turning into an uninhabitable wasteland, the angels and the demons decided to make their final stand upon a plateau overlooking one of Capenna's former capital cities. They built a fortress there which, as more survivors arrived, turned into a city. Immense elevators were built that brought citizens into two great exoduses. It was at the base of these elevators which the final fight between the Capennan and the Phyrexians took place. After the final elevator departed towards the city, New Capenna was sealed and its denizens were safe from the Phyrexians.

Betrayal and the creation of Halo

As the city was sealed, the survivors celebrated but the archdemons proved their nature and captured the angels, trapping them into stasis and turning their physical bodies into a powerful substance called Halo. Realizing the potential of Halo and the effects it had on Phyrexians, combined with a state of slumber that seemingly hit the invading force, the demons defeated the Phyrexians once and for all and then disappeared, not before raising five individuals to demonic status and giving them dominion over five factions which evolved into the five crime families of New Capenna. These individuals were the vampire Xander of the Maestros, the leonin Jetmir of the Cabaretti, the sphinx seer Raffine of the Obscura, the aven Falco Spara of the Brokers and the dragon Ziatora of the Riveteers.

Effects on Capenna

• New Capenna became the only city of the devastated plane, with other, smaller communities existing amongst the ruins of Capenna.
• Surviving Phyrexian elements roamed the plane, slowly driven insane. These creatures used non-Phyrexian survivors as entertainment. One such captive was Elspeth Tirel.
• The dragons of the plane were virtually annihilated except for Ziatora.
• Manipulated by demons, the citizens of New Capenna slowly forgot about the Phyrexians and their war with them.
• The angels of Capenna were trapped within immense statues that dotted the city. The angels also became figures of worship for the Capennan citizenry.
• The city of New Capenna experienced an extraordinary technological boost, powered by Halo, which became both a source of power and of magical sustenance for the city's denizens.

The Second Phyrexian Invasion

In the modern day, the successor to Yawgmoth in New Phyrexia achieved interplanar transport, allowing their forces to begin a multiversal invasion. Elesh Norn sent her greatest creation, Atraxa, as the commander of this incursion. Her command was to salvage the ship of the Old Phyrexians, scavenge any remaining Phyrexians for parts, kill all the citizens and destroy any potential source of Halo - this being Elspeth's home plane, the order to slaughter rather than compleat was done with no small amount of prejudice.

The angels began reawakening in the months before the invasion, providing pivotal support and a passive halo field to the defenders. The Obscura, Riveteers, and Brokers fought in sparse groups, with the Cabaretti absent in action and the Maestros compleated and turned. Ob Nixilis was active on the plane, but he did little in way of assistance. The gangs formulated a plan to collapse the structure holding Park Heights on Atraxa, which was successful in killing her. After the defense, the angels left Capenna via the omenpaths to support Zhalfir's invasion of New Phyrexia. However, the New Phyrexia-Zhalfir switch severed the paths back to Capenna, leaving many of Capenna's angels on Zhalfir.