Xira Arien
| Xira Arien | |
|---|---|
| The Glass Mountain | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Colors |
   |
| Species |
Eumidian Formerly Human |
| Jobs | Wizard, Assassin |
| Birth, Life & Death | |
| Birthplace | Dominaria |
| Lifetime | War with Phyrexia |
| Born | c. 3310 AR |
| Death | 3607 AR |
| Sources | |
| Johan, Assassin's Blade, Emperor's Fist, Champion's Trial | |
Xira Arien has appeared twice in the Magic storyline.
Description
After becoming Eumidian, Xira Arien was 6 feet tall and slender, with extremely narrow hips. She had a golden exoskeletal skin that gleamed like polished marble over delicate bones and four huge transparent and iridescent wings. She had an oval, nearly featureless face, with large green, compounded eyes, a chin that came to a point over her throat, and a sharp, vertical scissorlike mouth. Her feet were clawed and dainty, and her voice was beautiful and crystalline. On her shoulder, she bore the assassin's tattoo - an owl in flight clutching two angry snakes in its talons.[1][2]
History
The Glass Mountain
In 3334 AR, Xira Arien was a young human apprentice wizard working for Johan. She was also known as the "Glass Mountain", and she participated in the Battle of Bryce where she faced off against Hazezon Tamar and Jaeger Ojanen, where she summoned Stone-Throwing Devils to defeat Hazezon's Sand Warriors. When the battle turned against her, she fled the scene.[3]
Xira Arien joined the entourage of Johan seeking the dominion of Shauku. Together, they journeyed across the Great Wall, through Arboria to the Buzzard's Bay port. They then returned through Fulmart's Fort to Arboria and eventually located the ruined castle that served as Shauku's domain. As Johan was the only one permitted to enter the ruin, the rest of the party was bid to wait in the woods outside. This would inadvertently save Xira Arien's life, as the castle and tunnels beneath were annihilated by a Falling Star sometime later.[4]
The Eumidian
Centuries later, in 3607 AR, Xira Arien resurfaced, now as a Eumidian master assassin and wizard working for Ramses Overdark. During the Madara-Edemi War, when Overdark was ordered by Nicol Bolas to stop the uprising of the Edemi Islands, Xira was sent to assassinate the leader of the rebellion, Lady Caleria. Xira was also ordered to lure Tetsuo Umezawa to Argenti, for Overdark hoped Umezawa would die fighting against the rebels, making Overdark's position stronger. Xira did this by infecting Kei Takahashi with her offspring. Xira hoped that she could use her offspring against Overdark, who kept her on a very short leash, but Tetsuo and Ayesha Tanaka killed it before it could fully develop. Kei did have to live with horrible insectoid mutations, however, for which Tetsuo later tracked her down and killed her.[5]
Continuity issues
- Similar to the problems with Lady Caleria, Tor Wauki, 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.
- Although there are discrepancies between Xira Arien's two appearances, they are not irreconcilable:
- First, her apparent long life can be explained by the mere fact that she is a wizard, and wizards are frequently long-lived. As examples, Kaervek, Jolrael, and Mangara all became several centuries old without any particular known interaction with life-prolonging substances like slow-time water or a fountain of youth. The life spans of Eumidians are also unknown, and they might easily be a long-lived race.
- Second, her change in species can be explained by the specific type of power she uses - Xira was able to transform Kei Takahashi into a Eumidian via biological means, which means that the same can also have been done to her by another Eumidian in the intervening centuries.
- Third, her change in skill set, showing a much more experienced fighter and assassin in the second story, is also explainable as she could easily have adjusted and honed her skills in the time between her two appearances. Her change into a Eumidian could also have facilitated this outcome, as Kei was seen to have vastly improved abilities even just half-transformed.
Story appearances
Gallery
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Xira Arien, the Eumidian.
In-game references
- Represented in:
- Associated cards:
References
- ↑ Scott McGough (2002) - Assassin's Blade, Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Scott McGough (2003) - Emperor's Fist, Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Clayton Emery (2001) - Johan (novel), Wizards of the Coast
- ↑ Clayton Emery. (2001.) Jedit, Wizards of the Coast. ISBN-13 0-7869-1907-8.
- ↑ Jay Annelli (January 4, 2024). "Xira Arien was killed by Tetsuo Umezawa". Twitter.
- ↑ Ethan Fleischer (August 23, 2022). "I led the design process for the box toppers". Twitter.