#lhur

Arnoss: Was on Ocaelum prepared to defend it from an invasion that never came. Now feels bad he did "nothing to help" during it.

Zarunpel: Worked alongside her sisters to keep her home and land safe even after the courts fell. The Alernis territory has the advantage of being closer to the Wilds and their influence, which the Phyrexians had a very hard time dealing with. It doesn't always make sense to Phyrexians which tend to be very scientific about things. Also, with the help of a couple of her sisters and borrowing her mother's sword, she fought @socialpoison's Traenor in his compleated arm and armor, and subsequently cut.

Ysara: She defended the Kaladesh village her home was nearby from. She died in the process, and left to her apprentice/assistant to clean up her skull and bring it to where she was from.

Farell: Heard about the troubles in Paliano, and couldn't resist coming to help Celin, the woman he loves. She was fine, though there was a lot destroyed. Also them being in contact again has led to exchanges about Farell's brother's death that makes everybody involved very sad, because they're living a tragedy.

Dolores: Thankfully her home on New Capenna was in the Mezzio, not on Park Heights. Her partner, @astrisjanus's Inza, stayed back on Capenna to fight the Phyrexians while Dolores herself took advantage of the chaos to go back to her home plane of Ferely. She was aiming to enact a vengeance there unnoticed. She was noticed.

Lhur: Recently consolidated his position on power and prepared his troops when he heard of what may be coming. When it happened, he saw no choice but to climb on his father's throne of shadows to coordinate actions and defense all across his country while channeling his own magic to limit the appearance of branches and portals over it. He emerged from the invasion exhausted, and then came the weeks more of exhausting work to manage the aftermath.

Jaspar: He was on Ikoria, in Indatha, trying to both survive and learn what he could of Nethroi and the Whispers. He fought how he could during the invasion and capped it off by using his magic through his Elderfang and spread over Indatha by Nethroi's whispers to call upon the echoes of Indath and essentially end Phyrexian (and some non Phyrexian) life in the area. He came back to Kaldheim to news of the death of his deity, Koma, and of the very foundation of Kaldheim. He doesn't yet fully accept the truth of that.

Alamir and Nksdv: They had been on New Phyrexia for intel and action for months by the time of the Invasion. Their last contribution to hinder the phyrexians was to remove their anti-planeswalker defense that scattered the assault team, before the Invasion even begun. It turned out to be a compleated planeswalker linked to Realmbreaker, @socialpoison's Ellidus. Alamir removed them and carried them away from the Tree, trying to reason with them and break through Norn's programming. Alamir knew what it was to be made and treated as a weapon and empathized with them. Seeing the planar instability before the end of the planar swap, Nksdv took them back to the Haven, and left Alamir to choose for themselves if they wanted to see the end of their world.

Sezashi: The orochi was fighting on Kamigawa, grown to oppose a compleated mech, and got stabbed by a branch of Realmbreaker in the back. He survived, and Norn's death rendered the oil inert before he could be compleated, though he might have a more metallic scar in his back now. While he was out, he received visions and ideas from the Myojin of Cryptic Dreams, but the Myojin is aptly-named, and he hasn't fully understood them yet.

Nyrhen: Fighting on another plane, then as soon as he got wind of the fact the attack was on every plane, went back to Eldraine to defend his Sanctuary in the Wilds. He killed a lot of Phyrexians that "happened" to find their way towards it.

The Cursetamer: She lost a lot of her collection of Apostates from Ferely on Innistrad and most of her planeswalking agents to compleation, and even she and her wife had trouble getting things under control after that. Her people actually helped her for once instead of the other way around, even if their home gave to Realmbreaker. Her latest Mana Core prototype was also lost, but that one self-destroyed before it could be compleated. Due to its nature, it had more safety features and contingencies than actual functions.

Kinahel: She was on Winrovah, fighting in a corner more desolate than average, in case she needed to use the Worldslayer or lose it into Void and hope for the best. Anything better than letting Phyrexians get their hands on it, even if she had no idea of the potential consequences. She burned herself out fighting and died as soon as she stopped (this is fine, she's a phoenix).

Something I’ve found very fun to do with my fanwalkers is giving them “reprints” of fitting, existing cards flavored around them. Some are easier to find than others, but overall it works pretty well!

Let’s start with the easy one...

Ivegard doesn’t really care about the temperature. Her own temperature is several hundred degrees (centigrade) above ambient temperatures, so a difference of a few dozens doesn’t really change a ton. She can feel it and she eats a bit more, and “colors” change a bit, but overall not much. She’s pretty great to cozy up with though, fireside comfort that can travel with you.

Alright, now, to the rest.

Dancing-Hands: After a few years up on the Ojutai mountains and his fur, he can handle some pretty cold temperatures, but he’s also great to cozy up with as his desert-born partners have learned. Those tails of his can be very warm. If he’s by himself, he’d probably be reading cuddled into his own tails not too far nor too close from a fire.

When things get cold, Anedia gets to pull out the thicker coats, and she likes those! She doesn’t really cozy up much, but sometimes she spends a bit longer in bed in the morning than she needs to, warm and comfy.

Name: Lhur (Tolema the Third, don’t call him that)

Pronouns: He/Him

Species: Giant

Age: 19

Plane of Origin: Fiora

First Planeswalk: Ocaelum (underwater fan-plane)

Colors: Black, a splash of white secondary

Appearance: As a giant, Lhur stands a bit over twice as tall as most humans (Garruks notwithstanding), but otherwise looks like you'd expect of a young noble, maybe a little sharper a gaze and a little rarer a smile. Black hair, blue eyes, quite a few scars hidden by his clothes. While most people think of him as being richly dressed or in his ornamental armor, while on other planes or outside of ceremonies he's generally more comfortably and discretly draped.

Backstory: Lhur grew up under the harsh rule of his father, Tolema II, a conquering warlord who knew when to stop his expansion, and established his own small kingdom years before Lhur's birth. His father's rule was as tyrannical and violent as was necessary to keep control of the previously democratic cities he conquered, and Tolema used his magic over shadows to make sure his hold stayed strong on all three of those.

He was no kinder on his son and heir, having great plans for him and being as demanding and rough on him as his own father, the first Tolema, had with him. If not more. Aside from the early lessons in everything a ruler might need, from fighting to managing taxes, and a few demonstrations of “how a king should act and react”, Tolema obtained the help of a demon to teach his son the most powerful magic the young giant could handle. This is around the time of Lhur’s mother’s death, when he was not even in his teens.

As one would expect, Lhur grew resenting his father and most of what he preached. He saw how Tolema ruled, and how the rest of the population feared or hated the conquering king. When a teenage Lhur started looking for ways to sabotage his genitor’s reign, it was for nothing more than getting back at him. That teenage rebellion slowly morphed into more as he got more and more effective, enough to get the attention of the existing resistance to Tolema. Of course, once they figured out who exactly Lhur was, they were more than wary, but through words and actions, he managed to slowly get the trust of a cell and another.

A few years later, and Lhur was one of the major figures of the Resistance under an alias, a poorly guarded secret, and a “hero of the people”. Some in the Resistance were still cautious, but none could debate that his actions and plans had cost more to Tolema than any other individual. At least, ones that lived to keep fighting.

The Resistance effort culminated into a legend-worthy attack against Tolema in his own palace, Lhur channeling the desire of the entire capital in a singular battle against his father in the ruins of his throne room. After a harrowing fight, he managed to kill his father and free the country of his reign, handing over the reigns of the country back to its people.

Or so the official story goes. While Lhur did defeat his father, he isn’t so sure about the killing part. The grievly wounded Tolema revealed to his son that he was very aware of his “resistance” and that this was just what he had planned for Lhur, for him to take over in opposition, as a loved hero and ruler instead of the despised one that Tolema had himself been. The shift from pride, hate and righteousness from Lhur to doubt and consternation was stark enough to make him spark, taking him to the most beautiful place he’d ever seen... Until he figured out how to go back.

By then, there was no body to be found. To stop the fights within the city, Lhur claimed victory and the death of his father, taking control of his father’s soldiers and warriors who knew better than to question the orders of their “new king”.

Which brings us to the situation Lhur is currently in. He agreed with the remaining Resistance and council of leaders from the cities of his country to let them decide of the future of the country, and they aren’t too keen on letting the son of the Tyrant lead and establish an actual dynasty. On the other end, they know him and most of them trust him, which is particularly necessary because Tolema’s troops still obey him and they need him “on the throne” to avoid further issues there. The population, most of it anyway, love him for freeing them from the tyrant, and to keep control over the troops, he was officially declared ruler as well. He has great influence over the council and the affairs of the kingdom while they take decisions, as well as latitude to act by himself, but so far he only suggests and brings information to light. He’s legally the king of the country, and rules it de facto, but in practice he’s not seen as being permanently so by the council, who are the one making the decisions as far as they’re concerned.

With all of this as a background, Lhur tries to navigate his new reality of being a planeswalker, using other planes as ways to get breaks and decompress, staying there a few days at a time as he should be “traveling” between the different cities. He also has to worry about his father, and if he’s still alive, which he assumes but isn’t sure of, or of where he could have gone. He’d have thought he’d have manifested by now if he was still alive, but the last revelation he got from him made him unsure of his guesses as far as his father’s thoughts.

Lhur is loved, and he tries to make it stay that way. He saw the results of hatred of a ruler, and it’s much easier for him to hold onto his position with public support. On the other end, he’s not sure if his father was saying the truth, and if he want to play into his hand so blatantly.

Magic, gear and/or abilities: Lhur’s main magic is a demonic one over wants and wishes. He has the ability to perceive what people want the most, and in a certain measure, to magically realize it. There’s many limits to it and it’s never the most effective. And there may be consequences. But even with those, he’s very powerful. Beyond that, he’s a giant with access to an entire royal arsenal, training to use a good part of it, and able to manifest his own desires, so in the few occasions he has to result to fighting, he is one of the most dangerous opponents one could be tasked to face head-on. He’s charismatic and grew up in a court on Fiora, even if it was much less subtle than Paliano’s, and knowing what people want makes him a very adept politician and negotiator, which is generally the approach he prefers.

Alright, let’s say a few words on the core cast.

Anedia would likely take traits after her spellbugs upon compleation. Sleep doesn't transfer well through a species that doesn't do that, but I would imagine she'd be a spy or informant of some sort, skittering at speeds on walls and ceilings, maybe even equipped with wings if needed.

Arnoss would be a tank of some sort, or a living armor. Simple, assigned to more important phyrexians so that they can wear him or keep him near them from protection when they don’t want to bother with getting their limbs dirty. Bigger than he currently is, scales replaced by metal, and mostly hollow.

Dancing-Hands would have an engine installed to harness the power of his telekinesis inside him to generate a lot of energy and fuel his body and all the weapons and shields that would be integrated into it. He would be a weapon, sent alone to a settlement or a battlefield when whoever controls him wants it razed or depopulated.

Dolores wouldn’t change that much compared to the others. She’d be an ambitious phyrexians and try to climb the ranks wherever she’d be. Her augmentations would mostly be integrating her tools and improving her body’s performances overall, but Azras like her were already engineered to be efficient soldiers.

Farell wouldn’t be changed at all. Compleated, them? Noooo. They don’t look like it. Although they’re a shapeshifter... But they’re one of the good ones, they’d tell us, right? Unless...

Compleated Icalia is the one I have alternate for her. She’d have accentuated bird of prey features, but would still be about balance... And it tipping one way or another. She’d lead a Phyrexian Arena, handling judments by oil and by weapon as well as providing spectacle and entertainment to those that earn it.

Ivegard does not feature flesh nor metal and burns any oil that’d touch her. She cannot be compleated.

Lhur would be compleated towards something not so important for him right now, but would be much more valuable for Phyrexia, and that’s amplifying ideas and desires. As powerful and efficient as Phyrexia is, they tend to have an issue innovating and testing new concepts, which he’d help bring up. In New Phyrexia, he’d probably be plated in the Orthodoxy’s porcelain.

Nyrhen’s magic allows him to resist compleation and possibly even cure phyresis, and his beliefs are completely incompatible with voluntary compleation, he’d not be the same character at all if he was compleated. However, if it somehow happened, he’d be very oriented towards survival of the fittest. Survive until the day of your compleation and you may have earned it. And survive his hand as well.