Kaervek

Kaervek
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Kaervek-the-Spiteful.jpg}}|250px]]
Details
Race	Human
Birthplace	Urborg, Dominaria
Born	c. 4166 AR
Colors
(current) (formerly)
Sources
Mirage, Visions

Kaervek (KAIR-vehk) the Merciless is a black-aligned human warlock from Dominaria. He was the main antagonist of the Mirage block storyline.

History

Kaervek came from one of the states of Urborg. Ambitious and talented in magic at an early age, Kaervek harbored dreams of ruling a kingdom. But in a realm as harsh as the Burning Isles, there were dozens of lords capable of thwarting his goals of rulership.

Kaervek the Merciless

When he picked up an enormous energy surge from the Chaza Isles, he set sail to discover what caused this and, more importantly, if he could use it to his advantage. However, this energy surge had been caused by the planeswalker Teferi, when he accidentally removed himself and everything else on his island from the time stream. Thus when Kaervek arrived, he did not find anything of use, just a barren rock in the sea. He did meet with two other people who had been attracted by the energy surge though: Mangara of the White Woods and Jolrael of Mwonvuli.

The three settled in Jamuraa and Kaervek quickly allied himself with Jolrael. When they returned from a survey of the continent to find Mangara in control of the kingdom of Zhalfir, Kaervek convinced Jolrael that Mangara had but one purpose: to take over the continent. Together they planned their assault, and a war began. Kaervek managed to trap Mangara in an Amber Prison, but he manipulated Jolrael to continue the war so he could seize Jamuraa for himself.

Calling upon his allies from Urborg, the nightstalkers and the Breathstealers, and his right hand, the panther warrior Purraj, as well as the Viashino that Jolrael had allied herself with, and the dragons the lizard-men commanded, Kaervek raged a long war at Zhalfir, Femeref and Suq'Ata. When he sensed Teferi's return, Kaervek sailed his armada to attack the planeswalker's isle. His ally Jolrael, disillusioned with Kaervek, ambushed him while the fleet was in the Kukemssa Sea, injuring him greatly. After Teferi sank his fleet, Kaervek managed to escape to the Uuserk Marshes. At the same time, Rashida Scalebane and Asmira managed to free Mangara. Mangara then defeated Kaervek and locked him inside the amber prison himself.

Phased out

Kaervek's amber prison, located in the prison city of Aku was phased out of Dominaria by Teferi along with the rest of Zhalfir. The plane had seemingly rid itself of Kaervek after Zhalfir was lost in the time streams due to the interference of the planeswalker Jeska. However, when Teferi discovered that Zhalfir had been preserved in a pocket plane, he found that only a decade had passed and that Kaervek's prison had been shattered, allowing him to escape. Later, in the wake of New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, Zhalfir became a plane in its own right, connected to the rest of the multiverse by Omenpaths, and Kaervek used one to leave the plane.

Thunder Junction

Kaervek on Thunder Junction.

Kaervek arrived on the lawless plane of Thunder Junction and was recruited by Oko to take part in a heist on Maag Taranau, the vault at the plane's center. At some point, an incident occurred between him and Satoru Umezawa that led to enmity between the two of them. Later, they were imprisoned by the Sterling Company, the plane's law-keeping body, but Eriette and Annie Flash broke them out. Upon returning to their base of operations, Oko had Kaervek analyze a key to the vault that he had stolen from the Sterling Company's headquarters. He determined that its magic belonged to an ancient civilization as old as or perhaps even older than the Thran, and cautioned that opening the vault may unleash a malevolent force akin to Phyrexia on the Multiverse.

After Oko found a map leading to Tarnation, the fortress of the Hellspurs and Maag Taranau's true location, Kaervek traveled there with the rest of the gang to break in. He used his expertise in ancient magic to disable wards on the vault's entrance as the other members fought off the Hellspurs that had followed them in. However, when it was finally opened, the heist's benefactor revealed himself to be Jace Beleren. He took an infant creature out of the vault and disappeared alongside Vraska, setting off a trap that would cause the vault to collapse. The gang was forced to fight their way out and later regrouped at their hideout, where Oko admitted that he had no way to pay them for their time. Kaervek was insulted and warned Oko that if he did not find Jace and Vraska, there would be dire consequences.

Story appearances

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Episode 2: The Jailbreak	Akemi Dawn Bowman	2024-03-13	Outlaws of Thunder Junction	Thunder Junction	Annie Flash, Tinybones, Breeches, Malcolm Lee, Oko, Geralf Cecani, Gisa Cecani, Eriette, Vraska, Ashiok, Rakdos, Kaervek, Satoru Umezawa, Ral Zarek, Kellan
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Episode 3: A Train to Prosperity	Akemi Dawn Bowman	2024-03-18	Outlaws of Thunder Junction	Thunder Junction	Akul, Oko, Kaervek, Annie Flash, Vraska, Gisa Cecani, Geralf Cecani, Eriette, Malcolm Lee, Breeches, Satoru Umezawa, Tinybones, Kellan, Ashiok, Nolan
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Episode 4: Finding Tarnation	Akemi Dawn Bowman	2024-03-18	Outlaws of Thunder Junction	Thunder Junction	Oko, Kellan, Rakdos, Kaervek, Nolan, Breeches, Malcolm Lee, Tinybones, Vraska, Eriette, Ashiok, Annie Flash, Satoru Umezawa, Gisa Cecani, Geralf Cecani, Twist Fandango, Akul
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Episode 6: The Ballad of Thieves and Thunderslingers	Akemi Dawn Bowman	2024-03-25	Outlaws of Thunder Junction	Thunder Junction	Oko, Breeches, Annie Flash, Tinybones, Rakdos, Satoru Umezawa, Geralf Cecani, Gisa Cecani, Kaervek, Akul, Vraska, Malcolm Lee, Eriette, Kellan, Ral Zarek, Jace Beleren, Loot, Amalia Benavides Aguirre

Trivia

• According to Hakim Loreweaver, the amber prison was swallowed by a goat named Nine of Thirteen shepherded by a goatherd named Jojo. After a battle with Bwire, a shaman rumored to be a relative of Kaervek, the guildmage Fola released Kaervek from the prison to imprison a dragon in his place. Loreweaver admits that this story may not be entirely true.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Kaervek the Merciless
• Kaervek, the Punisher
• Kaervek, the Spiteful

Associated cards:

• Kaervek's Hex
• Kaervek's Purge
• Kaervek's Spite
• Kaervek's Torch

Depicted in:

• Jailbreak Scheme

Quoted or referred to:

• Aku Djinn
• Ancestral Memories (Mirage)
• Ashen Powder
• Blanket of Night
• Bone Harvest
• Desolation
• Disempower
• Divine Offering (Mirage)
• Eliminate
• Enfeeblement (Mirage)
• Feral Shadow (Mirage)
• Nekrataal (Visions)
• Phyrexian Vault
• Psychic Transfer (Mirage)
• Reign of Chaos
• Shrieking Drake
• Soul Rend
• Spirit Link (Fifth Edition)
• Tempest Drake
• Urborg Mindsucker
• Wall of Corpses
• Wicked Reward

Sources

• The Story of Jamuraa
• Visions: The Backstory
• Mirage Character Profiles