Kondo served as guardian to the infant Gerrard and raised him alongside his own son, Vuel. He taught both boys to be strong and to lead, but whereas Gerrard became a champion of honor, Vuel’s bitterness led him to become an equally devastating force of malice.

While captain of the Weatherlight, Sisay undertook a quest for the Legacy, a collection of artifacts needed to defeat the Lord of the Wastes. She continued this quest even when Gerrard, heir to the Legacy, chose to abandon it. Sisay is devoted to the cause of good at whatever price.

Though long held captive beneath Volrath’s stronghold, the sliver queen is actually freer than most of Rath’s denizens. Her maternal instincts always take precedence—even when they conflict with the evincar’s agenda—and through her numerous litters, she ranges across all of Rath.

The smartest—and only—goblin cabin boy aboard the Weatherlight, Squee has learned that intelligence and common sense are very different things. This matters little, however, since he has neither. Fortunately, he doesn’t know what he’s missing.

Starke believes in situational ethics—the situation determines the ethics. He’s switched sides so often that he has become everyone’s ally yet no one’s friend. This former merchant of Rath accompanies the Weatherlight crew on their journey to his home world.

Tahngarth, first mate of the Weatherlight under Sisay, knows that there are really only two forms of life: the ugly ones and the minotaurs. A narcissist, he considers the condition of his hide as important as the accuracy of his blade.

Takara banishes the shadow of her father’s ignoble reputation through the dedication, plain speaking, and swift action of a warrior. By refusing Starke’s path of self-interest and opportunism, she has learned what he never will know: the value of sacrifice for a worthy cause.

Tawnos brings a childlike wonder and an inherent skill to Urza’s studio and bridges the wizardry of the workshop with the grandeur of the royal court. His speed and flexibility quickly earned him promotion from apprentice to master artificer.

Voice of the Argoth forest, defender of its creatures, and enforcer of its laws, Titania is literally an aspect of the forest itself. Her power and her very existence are linked to the land: when the forest is healthy, Titania is ascendant. When Argoth suffers, Titania also bleeds.

An artificer of unparalleled renown, Urza was a powerful cipher even before he was able to planeswalk. Seeing the world as a large, integrated machine is his greatest strength and weakness, enabling him to solve almost any problem but blinding him to his solutions’ effects on others.

The son of Gerrard’s surrogate father, Sidar Kondo, Volrath stole Gerrard’s Legacy and rose to power selling it off piece by piece. Now, he is an evincar, or agent, of the Lord of the Wastes. Armed with exceptional magical powers, he plots to conquer the entire multiverse.

A Phyrexian “sleeper agent,” Xantcha has developed an inviolate sense of self. This aberration earned her a death sentence, but she was rescued by Urza and joined his crusade. Her Phyrexian credo of “Waste not, want not” has helped Urza more than even he comprehends.