Oona
| Oona | |
|---|---|
|
The Godflower Queen of the Fae Great Mother | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Colors |
  |
| Species | Faerie |
| Jobs | Wizard, Queen |
| Birth, Life & Death | |
| Birthplace | Lorwyn-Shadowmoor |
| Lifetime | Rift Era-Mending Era, c. 4520 AR |
| Born | Millennia before 4520 AR |
| Family | |
| Children |
Oko (creation) Maralen (creation) Nymris Wydwen Vendilion clique All of Lorwyn's other faeries Kellan (grandchild) |
| Sources | |
| Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, Eventide | |
| Scryfall Statistics | |
|
3 artworks 33.3% 33.3%  33.3% | |
|
19 references  5.3% 31.6% 26.3% 36.8% | |
Oona is the former queen and mother of the faeries on Lorwyn. She previously lived in Glen Elendra and sees the world through her children and the harvested dreamstuff they bring her. She was one of the few creatures that retained her memories after the Great Aurora, and was the source of all previous Auroras. Her children refer to her as Mother of All Fae or Great Mother.
Description
Oona is a sort of ur-faerie, composed of the essence of the fae and the source of the race on Lorwyn. Comprising the essence of faerie fertility, she is composed of thousands of petals, forever budding tiny insect-like faerie children off into the air around her, hovering in Glen Elendra for all to pollinate with stolen dreamstuff.[1] Oona's true likeness has never been seen outside Glen Elendra, and she is believed by many of the races of Lorwyn to be strictly mythical.[2]
Oona looked like a constantly shifting woman floating in midair, her body woven of honeysuckle and other assorted flowers in a rainbow of blue, purple, magenta, and white. Two long spires of clean white wood stood proudly behind her, giving the impression of a throne. Oona's long, petal-shrouded arms trailed against the surrounding vegetation as she drifted back and forth like a willow in the wind. The whisper of the wind through her flowery form was as soft and as soothing as a mother cat’s purr. In her eyes, each of Oona's two pupils was a five-petaled bloom rotating in its socket like a pinwheel in a gentle wind.[3]
History
After millennia of puppeteering the Great Aurora as a means to preserve her memories between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor by elongating the states of day and night to last centuries each, Oona sensed one shift's premature approach and worried about the threat it posed to both her identity and wide-reaching sovereignty. Unwilling to risk ceding control or losing any aspect of herself, Oona began to plot to ensure that she remained in power and unchanged when the plane’s transformation occurred.[4]
The Shadowmoor Prince
Oona sought to create an avatar of herself, half-formed, so as to fill in the other half with her own essence when necessary. For this purpose, she created two faerie siblings, an act as simple as plucking a petal from her endlessly-blooming form. The first sibling, Oko, was created to bear her mantle into the coming Shadowmoor and rule over it as its prince. Oona created her heir to be a shapeshifter, just as she herself was. This sibling rebelled and desired to rule in adherence to the natural cycle of the world, not at the unnatural, protracted intervals that Oona had masterminded. He found refuge instead in the friendship of a giant sage who told him stories of Eirdu and Isilu, the incarnations of day and night that faded into legend after Oona had taken control of the plane. Feeling a kinship to the giant he had never felt with Oona, the prince began to refer to him as "father".[5]
In an act of maternal spite, Oona ordered the death of her progeny's "father", infuriating the faerie prince so much that he disappeared and vowed that he would never forgive her. Oona was now left with the younger sibling, an unformed faerie with no identity yet of her own.[5]
This younger daughter grew up in the seclusion of Oona's bower, separated from the other fae that were named within seconds of their creation. The faerie was reared to be a weapon against the world that Oona feared would rise against her; a reflection of herself to face the aurora that she wasn't ready for.[6] The child, petal-born and larval, was put through her instars by Oona personally and fed nectar akin to royal jelly for a queen, but was deprived of any sort of warmth or loving embrace.[5] With the Great Aurora now imminent, Oona prepared to send this second sibling out into the world.
The Final Great Aurora
In 4520 AR, Oona moved to put the next stage of her plan into action while safe within Glen Elendra, manifesting outside of her hidden haven only through enchanted vines and flora. She allowed her numerous faerie children to carry out her bidding, speaking with them through faerie rings as they kept her apprised of their progress and movements. Her ambitions and manipulation of the celestial cycle by now had drawn the curiosity and suspicion of the last living yew Colfenor, whom she would begin to spy on using the prying eyes of the Vendilion clique — a trio of faerie emissaries that she created in the face of the Great Aurora to act as her personal scouts and spies.
Oona used her magic to kill an elf woman named Maralen and replaced her with her half-formed daughter, intending for this clone to house her memories just as she had envisioned her first creation would.[7] This Maralen simulacrum— Oona's second faerie successor now given elvish form[5]— gained unintended sentience, proving her incompatible with her purpose of being nothing more than a carrier of Oona’s memories into the new world. The Vendilion's mission brought them in contact with Maralen, and the three faerie siblings delivered her back to Oona when confronted with the clone's inscrutable nature. Maralen, still in the budding state of her being and making sense of her unremembered creation, was overawed by the unimaginable fae queen who appeared before her, emerging from Glen Elendra's flora with a crown of buzzing faeries hovering above her. Maralen's audience with Oona allowed the queen an opportunity to divulge Maralen's origins to her and give her the authority to direct the Vendilion, although Maralen's mind remained muddled and splintered by her own identity.
The countless layers of glamers concealing Glen Elendra, coupled with Oona's magic, had shielded the meeting from the rest of Maralen's previously assembled company of allies. Maralen and the three faeries returned to the party, who were none the wiser that they were travelling alongside Oona's avatar and her spies. The clique remained in secret contact with Oona, continuing to routinely provide her with updates and the whereabouts of Maralen and her companions to advance her agenda.[3] Despite Oona's counsel, the renegade Maralen's insuppressible autonomy quickly led to unresolved conflict between the two.[8]
Dethroned
When Lorwyn became Shadowmoor, Oona remained with her memories and control intact. During the transition, Maralen had gained favor with many Fae, leading to more strife between the two and forcing Oona to make a concerted effort to subdue her. She tried to take the elemental power of Ashling, but was thwarted by Maralen, along with Brigid Baeli and Sygg. Oona retreated to Cayr Ulios, taking control of the king and queen, imprisoning its elf population, and siphoning their lifeforce to supplement her magic. Her control was thwarted when Gryffid sacrificed himself to sever her connection to the Elves and weaken her. In the skies above Cayr Ulios, Oona taunted the pursuing Maralen by manifesting as a form identical to hers. The two engaged in single combat as their Faerie armies clashed with each other. Distracted by Maralen, Oona overplayed her hand and allowed Rhys, Ashling, and the Sapling of Colfenor into her haven at Glen Elendra. With the sacrifice of the Sapling and the combined power of Maralen, Ashling's elemental, and the Source of the Wanderbrine, she was finally defeated. Maralen took her place as queen of the fae as day returned to the plane.[6]
Although her physical body was destroyed, Oona's consciousness remained. She declared herself an eternal queen that eclipsed Lorwyn's staggering light and Shadowmoor's vengeful dark— a queen so intrinsically linked to the plane that she existed within the foundations of its land, its currents of water and air, and its ever-reaching roots. Deep within the charred heart of Glen Elendra, she created a new trio of Faeries to replace the Vendilion clique. Oona welcomed the faeries into the world at morning's first light, vowing to become whole again with their help.[6]
Legacy
The grounds across which her shattered soul was cast would eventually come to be known as the Grove of the Aurora Queen. With the day and night cycle finally wrested from her control as well, the incarnations of light and dark, Eirdu and Isilu, were reawakened as the twin aspects of the plane began to merge once more.[7]
Now physically gone, Oona came to be remembered by the Plane's inhabitants for her cruel reign. They were unaware that she remained hidden and conspired to reclaim her throne.[7] Certain faeries continued to deify Oona, antagonizing the other denizens of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor alike in her name as they carried out rituals of her resurrection.[9]
Forty years after Oona's defeat, Maralen had begun to flower as she physically adapted to her enthronement, reminding her of her tether to her creator. Her reflection, Maralen believed, began to hold Oona's omnipresent gaze, full of menace and ire.[10] She started to fear that the magical flaw that had allowed for her self-awareness was beginning to wane. Maralen believed these occurrences to be signifiers of Oona's reemergence; a reemergence that would end in Maralen's death at the hands of Rhys, whom she entrusted years ago to take her own life if ever Oona threatened to return. These worries, however, were brought about and exacerbated by the malevolent tricks played on Maralen by her resentful brother, Oko, who returned to the plane and hoped to deal a further deathblow to Oona. Oko had long-since sworn off his birthright to rule Shadowmoor and now lived as a Planeswalker. He had mistaken Maralen for Oona reborn and was unaware that she was staunchly opposed to being overtaken by their mother. The siblings, rejoined for the first time in decades, reconciled in the presence of Eirdu and Isilu as they maintained the balance that Oona had once fought so hard to unspool.[11]
Although Oona had been unable to force either of her sovereign offspring into serving their intended roles, her ancestral throughline allowed her to make contact with her grandchild, Kellan, worlds away. She beckoned him to Lorwyn-Shadowmoor — a home that he never knew he had — hoping that perhaps he would be a worthy descendant to bear her enduring crown.[9]
Story appearances
In-game references
- Represented in:
- Associated cards:
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- Quoted or referred to:
Gallery
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Concept art of Oona by Jeremy Jarvis
Trivia
- Oona was a creature unit able to be summoned in ManaStrike. Similar to her card counterpart, Oona was
and could be summoned by any Planeswalker that could use or mana. She used ranged attacks against enemy air and ground units, and periodically summoned 2 Faeries to melee attack enemy air and ground units. Her description read: "The queen of a dark, wild kingdom." - Oona is named after the Fairy Queen of Celtic folklore.[1]
References
- ↑ a b Doug Beyer (April 9, 2008). "Saving the Queen". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-10-21.
- ↑ Doug Beyer (October 31, 2007). "Lorwyn Survival Guide". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01.
- ↑ a b Cory J. Herndon and Scott McGough (2007), "Lorwyn", Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Doug Beyer (June 30, 2008). "The Mysteries of Eventide". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ a b c d Seanan McGuire (December 9, 2025). "Lorwyn Eclipsed Episode 5: If We Shadows". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c Cory J. Herndon & Scott McGough (2008) - Eventide, Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c Neale LaPlante Johnson, DK Billins, Laurel Pratt (September 26, 2025). "Planeswalker's Guide to Lorwyn Eclipsed". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Cory J. Herndon & Scott McGough (2008) - Morningtide, Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b K. Arsenault Rivera (January 7, 202h6). "Lorwyn Eclipsed: Three Dreams, Three Truths". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Seanan McGuire (December 9, 2025). "Lorwyn Eclipsed Episode 2: Shake Off Slumber". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Seanan McGuire (December 16, 2025). "Lorwyn Eclipsed Episode 7: The Charm Dissolves Apace". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
External links
- Mark Rosewater (February 16, 2015). "Kings & Things". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.