Vendilion clique
| Veesa, Endry, and Iliona | |
|---|---|
| Vendilion Clique | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Colors |
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| Species | Faerie (Team) |
| Job | Wizard |
| Birth, Life & Death | |
| Birthplace | Lorwyn-Shadowmoor |
| Lifetime | Mending Era |
| Death | 4521 AR |
| Sources | |
| Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, Eventide | |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
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2 artworks 50%  50% | |
The Vendilion clique consisted of the fae triplets Veesa, Endry and Iliona, with each acting as a part of a unified whole. Iliona was clique-prime[1] by virtue of being seconds older than her siblings and, as such, their leader. Initially inseparable and like-minded to a fault, Veesa, Endry, and Iliona would be led in different directions as they served their queen Oona, her creation Maralen, and the pull of their own individuality.
Description
Each of the three faeries was no larger than a songbird, and they hovered on their iridescent wings in perfect formation. The faeries were spindly and sharp, bipedal but hornetlike: their bodies were striped and dotted with vivid bands of yellow, orange, and green. Their vibrating wings buzzed melodically, filling the air with a musical hum, and the trio left a glittering shower of rainbow color in their wake. Their hard, laughing eyes sparkled with mischief and glee. Iliona was slightly larger than the other two, who appeared to be nearly identical in size. It was common for faerie cliques to consist of a pair of twins with an odd sibling out. This trio seemed to fit that norm, however the gender diversity was unexpected — most cliques consisted of a single sex, and males were somewhat less common.[1]
History
The Vendilion siblings were created by the Great Mother Oona in the final days before the Great Aurora. Iliona was the first to wake, and heard Oona's voice intone — everywhere and nowhere simultaneously — a warning that they didn't have much time to act, and to make strategic use of her short lifespan. Seconds later, Oona similarly greeted and named Iliona's sister Veesa and brother Endry.
When Endry, the youngest, awakened to Oona's call, the distinction between the three individual faeries ended, and the unified trio rose into the sky. Three faerie bodies and three faerie minds slipped into perfect coordination, and in less than a day, the clique left Oona's haven to face and enjoy Lorwyn together. Illiona often had to calm down her younger siblings, who were very light-hearted even for the fae.[1]
Assignment
In 4520 AR, the Vendilion triplets met the flamekin pilgrim Ashling during a ferry ride captained by Sygg through the Merrow Lanes. They saved her and the other passengers when the ferry was attacked by an arbomander, not sparing the group from their usual mocking barbs as they did so. The three trailed the pilgrim to her eventual destination of Kinsbaile, where they eavesdropped on her conversation with the treefolk sage Colfenor. This was done in service to Oona, who had become wary of Colfenor's plots to undermine her control of the plane through the Great Aurora. Their way eventually led them to a meeting with the Gilt-Leaf exile Rhys, the kithkin Brigid Baeli, and a strange elf woman called Maralen. The Vendilion followed the party through their journey, pestering their new comrades along the way. The others became blithely accustomed to the clique's routine mischief and diversions and merely attributed it to their faerie nature, but the trio was, in actuality, secretly spying on them and reporting their movements to Oona (the burden usually falling to the eldest, Iliona).[1]
Serving a New Mistress
The siblings took an immediate dislike and interest in Maralen, a perplexing rivalry which eventually culminated in an altercation aboard another one of Sygg's ferries. As the weary adventurers journeyed to the Murmuring Bosk through the Dark Meanders, the clique lulled them all to sleep with their fae magic to glimpse their innermost thoughts. The sisters both gleaned secrets from their targets with playful ease, and it fell to Endry to pry into the dreams of Maralen. He found her mind impregnably guarded and her secrets unreachable since, despite the clique's constant surveillance, they were unaware that Maralen had been a byproduct of Oona's tampering and thus possessed considerable fae magic of her own.[2] The clique was confounded by the anomaly and were together confronted by Maralen within the confines of her consciousness, where she managed to repel their magic and demeaned the trio by calling them troublesome little bugs. Indignant but still able to realize the value of this mysterious woman, the faeries quickly apprehended her. The others woke to find the Vendilion clique and Maralen all missing, as the siblings had whisked her away to Glen Elendra as a gift to their queen.[1]
Although the exact details of their meeting with Oona remained enshrouded in mystery, the clique was informed then of Maralen's origins as a faerie duplicate and of Oona's desire to enthrone her as her successor if necessary. In accordance with Oona's directive, the clique calmed down considerably and even began to obey Maralen's orders and suggestions. They reunited with Rhys, who was in desperate need of a swift return to Kinsbaile to save Ashling, and the clique answered by calling on their kin to transport them. Back in Kinbaile, the Vendilion were then swept up into a conflict with Gilt-Leaf forces that had been pursuing Rhys. The elves were unprepared for the full might of the assembled fae; before a single arrow flew, the archers were clutching at arrows that pierced their necks from throat to spine. Iliona then watched as Marlen called upon the magic bestowed upon her by the fae queen as the rest of the Gilt-Leaf rangers and their leader Gryffid simply vanished in a haze of fog, joined by the buzzing of a hundred faerie wings.[1]
During the time between the birth of Colfenor's sapling and the Great Aurora, Veesa and Iliona remained mostly with Maralen and fulfilled her direct orders. Endry was dispatched to save Brigid Baeli from Gilt-Leaf hunters and later to guide and accompany the sapling to Mount Tanufel. The separation from his sisters helped Endry to partially develop a sense of his uniqueness, independence, and individuality. The Vendilion played a crucial role in allowing Rhys and Maralen to contact the great giant sage Rosheen Meanderer via their dream magic, and Endry's mushroom faerie ring planted at the sapling's body allowed Maralen to divert a part of the energy from Ashling's ritual for herself.
Disbanding
Veesa and Iliona remained in Maralen's service after the Great Aurora, as did Endry, but the Vendilion brother had developed a strong loyalty to the sapling. As a result, he weighed Maralen's commands against the sapling's wishes and intents and sometimes seemed even rebellious to Maralen.
Veesa and Iliona helped Jack Chierdagh of Mistmeadow to lure Rosheen Meanderer away from Mistmeadow, at the same time pursuing the goal of gaining Rosheen's scroll for Maralen. Endry remained with the sapling and his groundling army. When the full-scale war between Maralen and Oona erupted, the Vendilion sisters fought at Maralen's side. Later, Oona managed to lure Veesa back into her service, shattering the clique completely. The final battle of the fae above Cayr Ulios posed Iliona and Veesa against each other, the former as a general of the Free Air Army, the latter as a general of Oona's loyalists. After Veesa's last attempt to make Iliona repent and return to Oona's service, Iliona replied by impaling Veesa with her crystal sword, effectively starting the Battle of Cayr Ulios.
Endry, in the meantime, accompanied Rhys of the Wilt-Leaf, the sapling, Kiel, and Ashling to the heart of Glen Elendra, where they intended to uproot and annihilate Oona. Oona unleashed a counterattack, killing the sapling by cutting her in two with a thornvine, as well as all the groundlings except Endry. He survived but lost one of his wings in the process. When Maralen returned from the fight with Oona's doppelganger above Cayr Ulios, she, Rhys (imbued with the last fresh yew sap from the dead Sapling), and Ashling destroyed Oona by a combination of poison, fire, and water magic. Endry coldly watched his "Mother" die without blinking an eye, refusing her last attempts to force him to help her.
After Oona's destruction, Endry, unable to fly anymore, lured a magpie to bring him to Cayr Ulios to find out his sisters' fate. He found them dead, killed by each other. Carefully taking their bodies away from the carnage of the aftermath, and taking them to the woods, he lay beside them and, dreaming about his sisters and his groundling friend Nora, he decided not to wake up, ever.
Story appearances
Gallery
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Original art from Morningtide -
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Judge Gift promo -
Spotlight Series promo
In-game references
- Represented in:
- Depicted in:
- Quoted or referred to:
External links
- Doug Beyer (January 09, 2008). "Good Things Come in Threes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
References
- ↑ a b c d e f Cory J. Herndon & Scott McGough (2007) - Lorwyn, Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Neale LaPlante Johnson, DK Billins, Laurel Pratt (September 26, 2025). "Planeswalker's Guide to Lorwyn Eclipsed". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.