Rayami
| Rayami | |
|---|---|
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[[File:{{#setmainimage:Rayami.jpg}}|250px]] | |
| Details | |
| Race | Vampire |
| Birthplace | Akoum, Zendikar |
| Lifetime | Unknown |
| Colors | |
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Rayami, First of the Fallen was a vampire bloodchief from Zendikar. Like all original vampires of that plane,[1] he was created by the Eldrazi Ulamog. In Rayami, insatiable bloodlust and Eldrazi madness combined into a singular drive for destruction.[2]
History
The vampires of Zendikar were created by the Eldrazi Ulamog and differ from typical vampires in many respects. Normal Zendikar vampires have a lifespan of approximately 200 years. They feed on blood, which does not have to be blood from a sentient race.
A few thousand years after the imprisonment of the Eldrazi by The Three, the noxious creative force of Ulamog became an infection that took hold of the people who dared to live in Akoum's mountains despite the tectonic instability of the region.[1] They became a sort of cult devoted to an imagined deity of the mountains, established a temple near the site of the prison, and began performing rituals inspired by their growing madness The rituals, and the temple they constructed, eventually loosened the bonds of the Eldrazi prison.[3] The effect was slow, subtle, and comparatively small, and so avoided the notice of Nahiri, who was still a godlike planeswalker and not far away, but was increasingly reclusive. Though the titans themselves still couldn't escape, teeming hordes of their broods sprang into existence. This swarming host devastated Zendikar.[3]
During the rampage, the cultists transformed. Only twelve of them survived the initial wave of spawn emerging from the prison. Still, those twelve became the first vampire bloodchiefs, the progenitors of the vampire race[1], and the first vampires native to Zendikar.[3] Whether they were originally human, kor or some other race, they became something entirely new - and utterly enslaved to the will of Ulamog. The Eldrazi used the plane's new vampires as a race of servants, adapting their very anatomy for servitude. Hooklike horns grew from the vampires' shoulders, convenient handles for the Eldrazi to dominate their slave race and, for millennia afterward, carnal symbols of the vampires' heritage of persecution. The vampires, forced to conspire in the campaign of destruction against their homeworld, had their identity and tribal memory scarred forever.[4]
No more broods came to life after Nahiri reinforced the Eldrazi prison on her own. She trusted the people of Zendikar to deal with them and left the plane.[3] The vampires remained, now free of Ulamog's yoke. Five of the twelve bloodchiefs survived until the re-emergence of the Eldrazi titans and confrontation with The Gatewatch. However, after the defeat of the Eldrazi, Drana was said to be the only surviving bloodchief, so Rayami must now be dead.[5]
In-game references
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References
- ↑ a b c James Wyatt (2016). The Art of Magic: The Gathering - Zendikar, p. 48
- ↑ Lore blurbs for C19 commanders, via Amazon https://imgur.com/a/uYJtwpO
- ↑ a b c d James Wyatt (May 13, 2015). "Stirring from Slumber". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Doug Beyer (March 29, 2010). "The Eldrazi Arisen". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Ari Zirulnik and James Wyatt (September 1, 2020). "Zendikar: Things Have Changed". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.