Skyship Weatherlight

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Skyship Weatherlight
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Skyship Weatherlight.jpg}}|250px]]
Characteristics
Origin Dominaria
Creator Urza
User Weatherlight crew (formerly); New Phyrexia (formerly)
Status Reconstructed and Compleated
For the set with the same name as the skyship, see Weatherlight.

The skyship Weatherlight was a great ship capable of moving from plane to plane. This ship was designed by Urza as one of the main parts of the Legacy and proved to be a key part in the efforts to save Dominaria from the Phyrexian invaders. During the second Phyrexian Invasion, it was compleated and lost its powerstone.[1]

Description

The Weatherlight is built out of Thran metal and the Weatherseed, the seed of the oldest magnigoth tree of Yavimaya. Its main power source came from a powerstone that had been infused with the white mana from Serra's Realm before it collapsed.

The 300-foot ship carried a crew of approximately 40, with most of the crewmembers assigned to tending the ship's massive and complex engines.[2] Staterooms and officers' quarters were conjoined around the mast room on the main deck level, near the stern. Two decks in the forecastle split the complement of able-bodied sailors between them and doubled as additional storage space for the ship's goods. Those without seniority among the crew slept in a series of secured hammocks in the cargo hold.

Manipulation of the sails was the primary way the Weatherlight steered at low velocities. At higher speeds the sails converted to airfoils, warping to allow steering, in addition to the vane that split the ship's exhaust. The Weatherlight's engine provided the main power for the vessel. Its power plant, the core of which is a massive crystal that transformed mana into fuel, created the levitation field and enabled planar travel. Two rudders were fitted into the stern, flanking the exhaust manifold and conforming to the curve of the hull.

The Weatherlight was capable of attaining speeds approaching 110 mph in a straight line, 40 miles an hour in full reverse. A "storm shield" created by the ship's engine and generated by the ship's magically powered lights offered some protection from the elements on the ship's deck, but at higher speeds, this area was no place to be. Under most circumstances its sails were deployed in wind-ship fashion, assisting in the forward momentum.

The Weatherlight's Thran engine could only be manipulated by a skilled wizard to "read" someone who had been to another plane.[3] Once the engine imprinted the destination, the Weatherlight could planeshift.

History

Weatherlight schematics

The Weatherlight was invented by Urza in the Tolarian Academy and was built out of Thran metal and the Weatherseed, the seed of the oldest magnigoth tree of Yavimaya. The Thran metal rack was forged in Shiv by the viashino and the seed was a present to Dominaria from Multani. Its main power source came from a powerstone that had been infused with the white mana from Serra's Realm before it collapsed. The skyship's maiden voyage was devoted to rescuing thousands of refugees from the collapsing Realm, with Jhoira serving as its first captain.[4]

Urza set out to breed the perfect human for his perfect ship. He first put humans into his fast time zones, but this ended up in almost fatal mental complications such as complete and utter insanity. He eventually figured out that he must breed the generations in real-time, and not in slow or fast time zones. He began experiments on the Capashen Clan of Benalia, which eventually resulted in the birth of Gerrard Capashen.

To spare the Weatherlight from the attentions of Phyrexia, Urza entrusted the ship to the hands of a wealthy Zhalfirin family. Sisay inherited the ship from her family after they were mysteriously killed by the Lord of the Wastes. Gerrard eventually joined the crew of the ship and was later instrumental in rescuing Sisay from Rath. During this time many pieces of the Legacy were integrated into Weatherlight.

Following the kidnapping of Captain Sisay, Weatherlight planeshifted to Rath, where it was ambushed by the Predator, which attached grappling lines and boarded her. In the ensuing battle, Predator's crew took Karn, Tahngarth, and the Legacy artifacts hostage, although their main prize—Gerrard Capashen—was knocked overboard into the Skyshroud Forest.

Predator and Weatherlight dueled again following the Weatherlight crew's costly but successful rescue mission to the Stronghold. This time Weatherlight was racing to the planar portal being kept open by Ertai and therefore Predator lacked the benefit of surprise and had barely enough speed to keep up with the smaller vessel. As a result, the battle instead compared the weaponry of the two vessels, with Weatherlight's smaller, more maneuverable design and better-trained crew giving it the edge against its bulkier but better-armed opponent. Weatherlight just managed to get to the portal and escape her pursuer, with both vessels sustaining major damage.

On Mercadia, the ship was upgraded with the Power Matrix and Bones of Ramos. It was during this time that Weatherlight was also instrumental in freeing the peoples of Mercadia from their Phyrexian oppressors.

During the Phyrexian Invasion, Weatherlight was ever at the center of Urza's plans for the defense of Dominaria. The ship was destroyed by the Primeval Crosis, only to be reborn as a completely sentient being. The ship was destroyed a final time over the skies of Urborg while defending Dominaria from the arrival of Yawgmoth. Part of Weatherlight may live on inside the planeswalker Karn.

Reconstruction

Jhoira's submersible raises the wreck of the Weatherlight.

Sixty years after the Mending, Jhoira led an expedition off the coast of Urborg to raise the remains of the Weatherlight. Using a diving boat and the aid of Merfolk, she located it deep beneath the sea.[5] All that was left was the skyship's Thran metal skeleton, nearly two hundred feet long, and the bulky coils of its engines.[6] The engines also contained its original powerstone, created by Urza. Tiana was able to restart it. The rest of the hull and interior had decayed away or been destroyed in the battle that had sent it to the bottom of the sea. Jhoira used a new sentient hull seed she had obtained from Molimo to restore the gracefully curved hull and the interior decks.[7] Her crew added a stern mast, wings, railings, ports, and all other necessities. The bridge was raised and suspended across the stern of the ship, with big windows that stretched from one wall to the other.

Unlike its earlier version, this new Weatherlight didn't have planeshifting abilities.[8][9] All existing planar travel tech had stopped working with the Mending.[10]

Jhoira assembled a new crew to fight Belzenlok's Cabal.

Weatherlight Compleated.

New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse

After the retirement of Jhoira, Shanna Sisay became the new captain of the Weatherlight.

After crashing in Otaria, the Weatherlight would become a casualty of the second Phyrexian Invasion, becoming a Phyrexian machine.[1] Shanna was able to remove the ship's powerstone before it escaped. It participated in the Battle of the Mana Rig, and was last seen fighting Shiv's dragons during the battle.[11]

The skyship's powerstone eventually reached Teferi Akosa who, after a struggle with the compleated Ajani Goldmane, used the stone to power the Temporal Anchor, a time machine designed by Saheeli Rai and housed in Urza's Tower.[12][13] The powerstone later imploded, overloading the anchor and trapping Teferi in time.[14]

Its fate after New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse is unknown, though it was likely left as a wreckage for the second time.[15]

Gallery

In-game references

Represented in:
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Referred to:

References

  1. ↑ a b Phoebe Barton (August 17, 2022). "Shards of Nightmares". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. ↑ Tempest Characters (archived)
  3. ↑ Michael G. Ryan (August 1997). "Weatherlight Takes Center Stage". The Duelist #18, p.70-74
  4. ↑ Will McDermott (April 1999). "Scars of the Legacy". The Official Urza's Legacy Game Guide
  5. ↑ Martha Wells (March 21, 2018). "Return to Dominaria, Episode 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. ↑ Martha Wells (March 28, 2018). "Return to Dominaria, Episode 3". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. ↑ Martha Wells (April 4, 2018). "Return to Dominaria: Episode 4". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 03, 2018). "Can the new Weatherlight still travel to other planes?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  9. ↑ Flavor text for Navigator's Compass
  10. ↑ Kelly Digges on Twitter
  11. ↑ Langley Hyde (August 18, 2022). "A Whisper in the Wind". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. ↑ Reinhardt Suarez (October 21, 2022). "The Brothers' War - Chapter 1: Stronghold". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. ↑ Dawn of the Phyrexian Invasion - Official Cinematic Trailer - Dominaria United (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (October 30, 2022).
  14. ↑ Seanan McGuire (October 26, 2022). "The Brother's War - Chapter 5: Exodus". Magicthegathering.com.
  15. ↑ Jay Annelli (April 22, 2024). "The Weatherlight was likely left a wreckage". Ask Jay. Tumblr.
  16. ↑ The Secrets of Urza's Saga! (Video). YouTube (May 10, 2021).

External links

Story publications
Blocks and Sets
Weatherlight crew
Nine Titans
Other characters
See also
Sets
Supplemental
Dominaria storyline
Novels
Comics
Art books
Main locations
Characters & Affiliations
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