A once unimportant Planeswalker, Narset has become an important member in the Magic: the Gathering story. Narset, a monk who traverses the Multiverse, appeared on Ikoria, the plane of behemoths, looking for ways to help her dragonlord. This might have you wondering, "Who is this person?", "How did she get to where she is now?" and "What happened to her home to make her who she is?"
Art by: Yongjae Choi
Narset was born to the Ojutai clan on her home plane of Tarkir. This tribe is a group of monks who worshiped the Dragonlord, Ojutai, The soul of winter. Narset and her sister were born to a monk who served as the voice of the dragon, a link between the dragons that inhabit Tarkir and the rest of the plane's inhabitants. After spending many years training on the mountain top of the clan, the final test came for Narset and her sister, the ability to speak draconic and read the Scroll of the Masters. This scroll was written by the first voice of the dragons and was a pact between the five dragonlords of Tarkir, Ojutai, Silumgar, Atarka, Dromoka, and Kolaghan. This pact ensured peace on Tarkir, but it also held a dark secret in its text.
As Narset spoke the words of the dragon, she felt a power inside of her swell up. She dismissed it after it started to fade and sparred against her sister for the position of Voice of the Dragon. Due to her cunning and superior mental ability, Narset was able to defeat her sister. The dragonlord, silently on the snowy mountaintop, descended from his temple to greet his new voice. Narset however, knew that her test wasn't over. Ojutai led her to the temple that housed the scroll. Narset was instructed to enter the temple and read the scroll. The air was cold, not because of the weather, but because the room was unfurnished and damp. The air seemed to suffocate her, but she knew she had a job to do. She picks up the scroll of the table and as she did, shelves upon shelves of documents seemed to appear out of thin air. Still, she knew what she had to do, She started reading the scroll aloud. As she did, five names continued to appear, Abzan, Mardu, Sultai, and Temur, but one truly stuck out, Jeskai.
Art by: Chase Stone
A wave of memories washed over her, the temple, five people standing shoulder to shoulder to drive the dragons out, and a cavern that erupted in blue light, as a wispy blue dragon arose from it and called out her name. That power in her heart from earlier started to swell again as she asked herself, "Why do those names stick to me?" Then it came to her like a flash she shouted out, "I am Na-" and then she disappeared with a wave of blue energy that cleared the sky around the temple. When she appeared she was inside a green field filled with flowers, she was confused, but a voice sounded in her head, "Finally, my child, you passed." Within that instant, Narset was thrust back into the temple, the shelves disappeared, and Ojutai stood at the door. He didn't say anything to her except one question, "Who are you? " Narset pondered what she had just experienced. Then the words fell from her mouth, "I am Narset, Khan of the Jeskai clan." Ojutai shook his head, his mere presence chilled Narset to the bone. "No!" He shouted with his booming voice, "You are Narset, Voice of The Dragonlord Ojutai, and Walker of Worlds."
Art by: Magali Villeneuve
Narset was shellshocked, "What happened in those memories?" Ojutai gestured her out of the temple and showed her the view from the mountain top. All five clans at war with one another, flags of the five clans Narset had seen in her memories were held aloft. Then a blue light erupted from the middle, and the five dragonlords approached the light. The light started to take the form of the dragon from her memories and the name came to her at that instant, Ugin, the Grand dragon of Spirit and a Walker of Worlds. The sky went dark and the snow started to fall again. Ojutai turned to Narset asking, "Now traverse the worlds in pursuit of others like you, and guard worlds like ours."
I hope you guys enjoyed this little lore dump/interpretation of the story of Narset. I'll link the real article from Wizards of the Coast here if you want to read the article I drew inspiration from. The card art was used from my own collection, but the artist's names are under the photos if you want to see more of their art.