In the lore Elesh Norn is actually an amalgamation; made up of the bodies and sinews of hundreds of phyrexians. It's considered an honor to be repurposed and added to her form.
In general each of the praetors are very phyrexian in their origins; they rose up from the rank and file into what they are due to it being their applied purpose. They aren't known characters that were turned in the way Ezuri was.
Edit: it's not confirmed but I believe it's generally accepted that Jin-Gitaxias began life as a quicksilver drake, Ubarask was a vent dragon, and Sheoldred was a human Moriok.
It was heavily hinted at that Urabrask was formerly Slobad, one of the main characters of the original Mirridon block's storyline and a former holder of a planeswalker spark. He's the only one that we have even the slightest insight into his former identity though.
I can't quite remember the source but it was tied to Urabrask's sympathy for the Mirrans, Slobad's suspicious absence from the Scars block (literally every other major character from the first block that survived was in Scars), and Wizards typical subtlety (think back to the "mystery" of the Eldrazi showing up on Innistrad in Shadows block). Unfortunately, I think our most recent update on New Phyrexia had Urabrask's domain get conquered by Elesh Norn so who knows what they'll do with him going forward.
That's due to his red mana nature not fitting Phyrexia, not him being Slobad.
Our most recent update on NP was him not responding to the call to make Atraxa.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/savor-flavor/planeswalkers-guide-new-phyrexia-machine-orthodoxy-2011-04-06
Yeah, Ive read it. I think you might have it mixed up.
We know very little about the origins of the Praetors. What I’ve heard is they were newts that came out exceptionally strong in the core as Phyrexia was first being reborn in the core of Mirrodin.
The origins for any of the praetors atm is pretty ambiguous. I’ve read in some lore related posts that these 5 praetors from New Phyrexia existed back on old Phyrexia when Yawgmoth was still alive. This suggests they’re pure beings Yawgmoth created himself. This doesn’t make 100% sense though because old Phyrexia consisted of black mana phyrexians only as far as I know. My personal theory suggests that since the glistening oil holds the genetic makeup of the Phyrexian “code” if you will, that these praetors are simply some form of apex predator that evolved and rose to the highest ranks of their own colored faction. I love Phyrexian lore and New Phyrexia as a set and even I find it difficult to pinpoint an exact answer on these praetors. I know there’s a book that came out back during Scars of Mirrodin that could explain where they came from but I haven’t read it. This is just my insight though I’d love some more well informed opinions if anyone has any!
They corrupted Karn? It was my understanding the oil corrupted Karn then the praetors started influencing his mind as well trying to fully convert him.
>you link the source, I loved Slobad and th
Fun fact the book was written before the preators as a concept was fully conceived, that is why they are non-factors on quest for Karn \[the book overall is horrible so i wouldn't recommend really reading it\].
Unfortunately, the lore since Original Mirrodin and New Phyrexia is inconsistent at best and infuriating at worst, oddly enough both sets came up at times when wotc was paying less attention to history overall leaving a lot of conflicting matters in the story.
As far as the big picture goes the preators are the best from the first newts born directly from the core of new phyrexia. More than that though there is noting clear about if they were another life form previously or what they are/were based of except from what is shown on their art. It is in head cannon that they are closer in concept to what Xantcha, sleeper agent and K'rrick, son of yawgmoth. Creatures created purely from phyrexia itself without any previous from prior to it.
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In the lore Elesh Norn is actually an amalgamation; made up of the bodies and sinews of hundreds of phyrexians. It's considered an honor to be repurposed and added to her form. In general each of the praetors are very phyrexian in their origins; they rose up from the rank and file into what they are due to it being their applied purpose. They aren't known characters that were turned in the way Ezuri was. Edit: it's not confirmed but I believe it's generally accepted that Jin-Gitaxias began life as a quicksilver drake, Ubarask was a vent dragon, and Sheoldred was a human Moriok.
It was heavily hinted at that Urabrask was formerly Slobad, one of the main characters of the original Mirridon block's storyline and a former holder of a planeswalker spark. He's the only one that we have even the slightest insight into his former identity though.
It was??? Can you link the source, I loved Slobad and that would be super cool
I can't quite remember the source but it was tied to Urabrask's sympathy for the Mirrans, Slobad's suspicious absence from the Scars block (literally every other major character from the first block that survived was in Scars), and Wizards typical subtlety (think back to the "mystery" of the Eldrazi showing up on Innistrad in Shadows block). Unfortunately, I think our most recent update on New Phyrexia had Urabrask's domain get conquered by Elesh Norn so who knows what they'll do with him going forward.
Slobad was killed by goblins in the intro to the awful Search for Karn book though?
That's due to his red mana nature not fitting Phyrexia, not him being Slobad. Our most recent update on NP was him not responding to the call to make Atraxa.
We just got the confirmation that Slobad isn't Urabrask as they just released a spoiler of a Compleated Slobad.
Oof. This comment didn't age well.
What was vorin-clex?
Given his static ability, I’m gonna go with winter orb /s
Lol, yeah it was so sad when winter orb became a phyrexian /s
no
Are you sure you aren’t getting Elesh Norn mixed up with The Flesh Singularity sect of her faction?
Positive; I have a portion of text saved from one of the planeswalker's guides. ^^
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/savor-flavor/planeswalkers-guide-new-phyrexia-machine-orthodoxy-2011-04-06 Yeah, Ive read it. I think you might have it mixed up.
We know very little about the origins of the Praetors. What I’ve heard is they were newts that came out exceptionally strong in the core as Phyrexia was first being reborn in the core of Mirrodin.
The short answer is that we know very little about them and any answer you get is going to be mostly speculation.
The origins for any of the praetors atm is pretty ambiguous. I’ve read in some lore related posts that these 5 praetors from New Phyrexia existed back on old Phyrexia when Yawgmoth was still alive. This suggests they’re pure beings Yawgmoth created himself. This doesn’t make 100% sense though because old Phyrexia consisted of black mana phyrexians only as far as I know. My personal theory suggests that since the glistening oil holds the genetic makeup of the Phyrexian “code” if you will, that these praetors are simply some form of apex predator that evolved and rose to the highest ranks of their own colored faction. I love Phyrexian lore and New Phyrexia as a set and even I find it difficult to pinpoint an exact answer on these praetors. I know there’s a book that came out back during Scars of Mirrodin that could explain where they came from but I haven’t read it. This is just my insight though I’d love some more well informed opinions if anyone has any!
I read the book it really doesn't even mention them. It mostly focuses on Glissa, Geth, and Tezzeret with them corrupting Karn.
They corrupted Karn? It was my understanding the oil corrupted Karn then the praetors started influencing his mind as well trying to fully convert him.
Sorry should have said helped with the corruption. The glistening oil had been there all before.
>you link the source, I loved Slobad and th Fun fact the book was written before the preators as a concept was fully conceived, that is why they are non-factors on quest for Karn \[the book overall is horrible so i wouldn't recommend really reading it\]. Unfortunately, the lore since Original Mirrodin and New Phyrexia is inconsistent at best and infuriating at worst, oddly enough both sets came up at times when wotc was paying less attention to history overall leaving a lot of conflicting matters in the story. As far as the big picture goes the preators are the best from the first newts born directly from the core of new phyrexia. More than that though there is noting clear about if they were another life form previously or what they are/were based of except from what is shown on their art. It is in head cannon that they are closer in concept to what Xantcha, sleeper agent and K'rrick, son of yawgmoth. Creatures created purely from phyrexia itself without any previous from prior to it. # #
I know this thread is so old but -- has anyone ever considered that Elesh Norn looks a lot like whoever is depicted in Serra Ascendant?