Tor Wauki the Younger
- For the character from the first Legends Cycle, see Tor Wauki the Elder.
| Tor Wauki the Younger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| Colors |
  |
| Species | Human |
| Job | Archer |
| Birth, Life & Death | |
| Birthplace | Empire of Madara, Dominaria |
| Lifetime | War with Phyrexia, c. 3607 AR |
| Born | c. 3585 AR |
| Family | |
| Relatives | Tor Wauki (ancestor) |
Tor Wauki "the Younger" was Tetsuo Umezawa's second in the Empire of Madara on Dominaria. Having lived in Umezawa Manor since he was a child, he followed his master to Kusho to seek help for Kei Takahashi. Later he was drafted into the kentsu, where he was taught red magic by Kolo Meha and helped kill Halfdane.[1]
Description
Tor was a young man with fierce brown eyes which possessed keen eyesight, and a lean, hard body, tutored Tetsuo Umezawa for eight years. He wore a red leather breastplate.[1] He also wore a blue sash and brown leather bracers wielded a black-lacquered longbow and had his black hair tied up in a knot. Unlike his ancestor Tor Wauki the Elder, he did not wear a red headband.[2][3]
History
Tor Wauki was the second champion Tetsuo Umezawa. After receiving a call for help from the champion from the fishing village of Sekana at the beginning of the Madara-Edemi War, Tor traveled there and met with village elder Bejahn. Although he demonstrated his expert archery skills for the elder, she remained skeptical of his power level compared to the threat the village faced - that of the Nekoru queen, Wasitora. Tor ventured to the cat dragon's cave and attempted to parley and threaten her, but the nekoru simply broke his bow and scratched his chest with a lightning-quick swipe. Tor then conceded to bring the champion to the village. As Testuo and Wasitora faced off against each other, though, an Elder Land Wurm arrived on the shore bearing a message from the Edemi Islands of their rebellion against the empire. Wasitora, Tor, Tetsuo, armorer Ayesha Tanaka, and apprentice healer Kei Takahashi teamed up against the wurm and managed to kill it. Since she had acted honorably, Wasitora was charged with protecting the village, but the Eumidian assassin Xira Arien infested Kei Takahashi with her egg, luring the rest to the island of Kusho. There, they met with fierce resistance from the island's inhabitants, including Gosta Dirk and Kasimir, but prevailed enough to be able to parley and realize that the true threat lay on neighboring Argenti. They traveled there and once again met with fierce resistance from the druid Magnus and ruler Ohabi Caleria, although they again managed to parley enough for Tetsuo to use the wisdom of the Sylvan Library to halt Kei's eumidian transmutation and kill the parasite growing inside him.[1]
As punishment for failing to quell the uprising in the Edemis, Tor was separated from his master Tetsuo and put to work in the kentsu, the Madaran army, serving under Marshal Barktooth Warbeard and returning to Kusho to stamp out the remaining resistance. Unbeknownst to Tor, Warbeard was quickly captured and replaced by the shapeshifter Halfdane, and sent Tor and Kei on a fool's errand looking for pine trees, while he went about poisoning the island's water sources with black mana crystals and burning down the pine stands himself. Tor and Kei eventually discovered Shima Pond, where they found Gosta Dirk being treated for plague by the pirate Ramirez DePietro, another of Halfdane's guises. Halfdane lured Tor and Kei out to become a target for the assassin Xira Arien, and while Xira did a killing blow on Tor, Halfdane in the guise of Tor, shot Kei to death with a bow. Kei, though, had the power to cast a single healing spell as his last action in life, curing Tor and saving his life from Xira's attack, although he was left incapacitated for days.[4]
After waking from his coma, Tor learns his grief that his friend Kei had sacrificed his life to save him. Tor continued working for the kentsu in appearance, but he was secretly rebelling against the vicious acts of Halfdane in Barktooth Warbeard's guise, despite not knowing his real identity. Eventually, Ayesha Tanaka arrived back on the island, giving the kentsu an ultimatum of leaving the island or being killed by its coral defenses. They were approached by Kasimir, who helped them identify the shapeshifting capabilities of their foe, and through trickery where Ayesha cast an illusion spell on herself and Tor, swapping their appearance, they lured Halfdane into confronting them. Through a prolonged battle, where the shapeshifter changed forms numerous times, including to that of a Mold Demon, they managed to trap him in Shima Pond, where Ayesha froze him solid and Tor used black mana to banish him, erasing Halfdane from existence. Tor and Ayesha later returned to Madara and celebrated its liberation, rejoining with their friends Tetsuo and Kolo Meha in Sekana.[3]
Trivia
- Similar to the problems with Lady Caleria, Xira Arien, and Ramirez DePietro's continuity, the problem of two characters with the same name was a result of bad communication between the writers. Clayton Emery was told to include certain legends from Legends, and Scott McGough wasn't informed those characters were already being used.
- For many years, it was considered unclear whether the Tor Wauki from Legends Cycle I and the Tor Wauki from Legends Cycle II were the same character or simply shared a name. Tor Wauki being a normal human, a long lifespan as explanation like Xira Arien and Lady Caleria could use was unlikely.[5] It wasn't until 2020, nearly two decades after the characters first appeared, that Magic's Creative referred to Tor Wauki "the Elder" in the backstory of Ramirez DePietro for Commander Legends, and two years later that Tor Wauki "the Younger" was featured in Legends Retold for Dominaria United.[6][7]
Story appearances
In-game references
- Represented in:
References
- ↑ a b c Scott McGough (2002) - Assassin's Blade, Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Art of Tor Wauki the Younger
- ↑ a b Scott McGough (2003) - Champion's Trial, Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Scott McGough (2003) - Emperor's Fist, Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Squirle (June 12, 2019). "The circular continuity of Legends I, Legends II and Greensleeves". Multiverse in Review. Tumblr.
- ↑ Ari Zirulnik and Ethan Fleischer (October 30, 2020). "The Legendary Characters of Commander Legends part I". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Ethan Fleischer (August 23, 2022). "I led the design process for the box toppers". Twitter.