Sundering of the Helvault
| Sundering of the Helvault | |||||
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| Opening of the Helvault | |||||
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| Information | |||||
| Era | Mending Era | ||||
| Date | 4558 AR | ||||
| Location | Thraben, Gavony, Innistrad | ||||
| Sets | Avacyn Restored | ||||
| Storyline Sources | Mikaeus, the Unhallowed[1] | ||||
| Characters | Avacyn, Geralf Cecani, Gisa Cecani, Griselbrand, Liliana Vess, Mikaeus Cecani, Nahiri, Ormendahl, Thalia, Voluptara Highwater, and others | ||||
| Outcome | |||||
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| Timeline | |||||
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The Sundering of the Helvault was a critical turning point in the history of Innistrad, when the blessed silver prison known as the Helvault was destroyed. Long used to contain beings of immense power, its shattering unleashed a host of consequences, chief among them the return of Avacyn, the destruction of Griselbrand, and the liberation of the planeswalker Nahiri, the Lithomancer.
Description
The Helvault was created at around 3560 AR by the vampire planeswalker Sorin Markov to allow Avacyn to use it to contain the most prominent threats against the humans of the world. For about 1000 years, Avacyn commenced in battling demons such as Ormendahl, and sealing them within the Helvault.
However, in the year 4557 AR, Avacyn faced off against the clever demon Griselbrand, who knew of Avacyn's power and connection with the Helvault. He landed on the spire itself and taunted her to attack him there. When she banished him inside, he was prepared and pulled her with him, sealing them both inside.
Unknown to most, Nahiri of Zendikar, a kor lithomancer and one of the ancient trio who first imprisoned the Eldrazi in her world, had also been trapped within the Helvault. Hundreds of years prior, she had traveled to Innistrad seeking Sorin’s aid when the Eldrazi began to stir on Zendikar. Sorin, disinterested in her warnings and provoked by Nahiri’s threats, ordered Avacyn to intervene, and the resulting confrontation led to Nahiri’s imprisonment within the vault.
The sundering of the Helvault came about as a result of the planeswalker Liliana Vess seeking freedom from her demonic pact. She came to Innistrad to kill Griselbrand, and traced his presence to Thraben, where she learned that the deceased Lunarch Mikaeus Cecani, killed by his cousin Geralf Cecani after the sticher and his sister Gisa Cecani had laid siege to the High City, was the only one who could know where Griselbrand was. Liliana, an accomplished necromancer, had no trouble raising Mikaeus's corpse and learning from him that Griselbrand was trapped in the Helvault.
At the courtyard of the Cathedral of Avacyn, Liliana confronted Thalia, Guardian of the Helvault, and cast a spell of coercion, forcing Thalia into an ultimatum: shatter the Helvault or allow her soldiers to die. Although Thalia had sworn to protect the Helvault, she also knew that humanity was on the brink of collapse, and that this holy relic had done nothing to save them. Thalia chose to save her people and allow Liliana to break open the Helvault. With her spell, the Helvault cracked and then burst apart in a flash of light, and everything imprisoned within it was set loose.
The destruction of the Helvault triggered a cascade of events across Innistrad. Avacyn returned to the world, leading a renewed crusade of angels to protect humanity. The church's holy magic surged once more; shrines and priests regained their power, and divine blessings were restored to the plane.
Griselbrand, too, was released, but immediately found himself facing down the hateful grin of Liliana Vess. Despite his attempts to tempt her with promises of power, Liliana used the Chain Veil to obliterate him permanently, reducing the number of her demonic masters to two.
But another powerful entity also emerged from the Helvault, having endured centuries in stasis. Nahiri's imprisonment at the hands of her former ally Sorin left her deeply embittered. She planeswalked away to her home world of Zendikar, and soon sowed the seeds of a future vendetta that would shape the fate of multiple planes.
Voluptara Highwater was another demon who was freed from the Helvault upon its destruction.[2]