Yawgmoth, Lord of Innistrad

I am a huge fan of the card game Magic: The Gathering. I began playing back around 1999/2000 when one of my sisters bought an introductory deck and taught me how to play. While I do enjoy the game I find myself enjoying the lore behind it, unlike many other card games on the market MTG has intricate stories behind their cards.

Wizards of the Coast, the developers of MTG, reflect the story in the cards through the artwork, effects of the card and its flavor text. It is entertaining to see the stories play out through the cards, but several of the prominent characters MTG used in their original stories were killed off unceremoniously.

One such character was Yawgmoth, who was the primary antagonist for MTG's longest-running story. Yawgmoth was a being similar to humans but had a longer lifespan. He viewed flesh as weak and loved diseases, plagues, and machinery. He would often "perfect" other living beings by infusing them with machinery.

He waged a war on MTG's then-favorite world of Dominaria where almost all of the stories were set on. After thousands of years of planning and moves and counter-moves against the leaders of the world, he personally stepped into the fray only to be killed off soon after by the activation of a collection of powerful artifacts.

I used to work for an MTG website where I kept activity on the site. One day I decided to write a "What If?" story which showed how certain characters who were killed off could have fit into modern stories MTG is exploring. This is by far the most popular "What If?" story I wrote for the site, it starts after the activation of the collection of artifacts.

Let me know in the comments below what you think!

Opening his eyes, Yawgmoth found himself lost in a crushing darkness. It was as if the blast had thrown him from the world and he was now falling through the dark abyss below it. The silence of the void was soon replaced with the sound of air rushing past his ears and branches snapping.

He waited a moment for the shock to dissipate before he opened his eyes. As his senses returned to him he could now feel that he was on the ground and could begin to see shapes around him. He now could make out the shapes of the trees around him. He had crashed into a dark forest foreign to him. When the shock subsided enough he was able to sit up and put a hand to his head.

Where in Dominaria did I land? He staggered to his feet.

It was then he realized the sky above him was not the same as it was before the blast enveloped him. He looked back up at the foreign sky to the large full moon whose light was breaking through the autumn canopy of the woods. A blur of motion behind him caused him to turn but he could not see anything in the moonlit woods. Another blur came from his side causing him to turn and cast a death spell in the direction of the motion. A silence fell over the forest. Yawgmoth was scanning the trees as quickly as he could, something was hunting him, something big, and it was doing a good job.

At least so far. He chuckled a little inside.

A loud crack came from behind him, far too loud have been caused accidentally. He knew it was a ploy by the beast to distract him so it could pounce out from its actual hiding spot. He stopped and held still, listening closely as he closed his eyes.

The beast will show itself and when it does it will regret it.

A rush of motion from his side told him he was right. The beast lunged out of the brush and leaped out to strike him. With a cold grin, Yawgmoth raised his hand and unleashed a powerful death spell on it. The beast howled in pain as the black flash struck it in the heart. Its body went limp as it crashed down at his feet. He gazed at its face, contorted from the anguish it had felt when the spell found its mark. It had a large, muscular frame with sharp claws and jagged teeth that bared from its snout. By all accounts, it was a fearsome predator.

Was. He mused to himself.

After hours of walking, he finally saw the flickering of street lights in the distance. Gradually the dirt path turned into a cobblestone sidewalk which sprawled out in front of him along a dimly lit road.

Yes… This will do excellently… he thought as he walked past the dark alleys and shuttered windows of the town.

Three Years Later…

Yawgmoth reveled in his current glory. It had been three years since he was brought to this strange plane that the inhabitants call Innistrad, but it didn’t take long for him to rise through the ranks of the aristocracy. His natural charm made many fold to his will while his powerful black magic dealt a quick end to anyone who resisted.

With the resources that his position in society brought him, he built a lab deep below the isolated manor he called home and began to experiment on anyone who became lost in the woods surrounding his estate.

His experiments, while hidden well away from prying eyes did not go unnoticed. Strange little imp creatures began to congregate around his lab as he completed some of the travelers he had captured while experimenting with his poxes and diseases on the others to perfect his plagues. He soon had built a large army of part human, part machine creatures who were riddled with disease and plagues.

He was pulled out of his reveling by the sound of horse hoofs and voices shouting. He knew no one would disturb him at his estate for an impromptu visit unless they were here for something other than a casual visit.

Inquisitors! He thought himself arrogant for thinking he could get away with his experiments for so long without drawing the attention of the church.

A loud crash overhead signaled they had broken through his gate and had now were entering the manor. Soon the voices grew louder as they meandered down the winding staircase to his lab. Several inquisitors clad in shimmering silver armor burst into the room with their weapons drawn.

“Give up, Yawgmoth! You’re surrounded!” the largest inquisitor bellowed.

“Dear sir, I can see this; but may I inquire why you have disturbed my work?” Yawgmoth said in a smooth voice slicked with poison.

“Do you play us for fools? Look around us! Look at the abominations you have created! The atrocities you have committed!” the inquisitor demanded, his face turning a dark red.

“I know full well what I have done sir, but I asked why you have disturbed my work?” Yawgmoth responded calmly.

The inquisitor was taken back at this response. It was clear he had not anticipated such blatant blasphemy. Yawgmoth smiled. He knew he had touched a nerve.

“We are here to stop you!” Another inquisitor said in a voice that quivered noticeably.

“Stop me? Good fellow, you are going to help me finish my work!” Yawgmoth said as he took a small step back, which the inquisitors followed with a small advance forward.

“We will never help you!” Another inquisitor shouted.

“Oh come now, you’ve come all this way to see my work but what is it without a demonstration?” With a swiftness that seemed unnatural, Yawgmoth raised his arm and threw a lever on the wall behind him. One of the inquisitors retaliated by throwing his spear, Yawgmoth sidestepped and felt the rush of air as the spear connected to the wall behind him.

Torrents of electricity began to course through the wires and electrodes throughout the room. The inquisitors watched in horror as the electricity was drawn into several figures who were concealed in the dark shadows. Suddenly the figures began to quiver and moan as the electricity brought them back to life.

The inquisitors recoiled in fear and disgust as the monstrosities advanced on them with the sounds of metal clinking and electrical sparks echoing with each step they took. One of the figures lunged at the inquisitors taking one of them by the neck and up into the dark rafters of the lab where his screaming came to an abrupt stop.

Suddenly another charged, grabbing two of the inquisitors before disappearing into the dark corridor they had used to enter the lab. The final body leaped up into the air where its covering shifted revealing large metal wings that were stained by blood and feathers that were keeping it aloft.

“Lunarch bless me! He has defiled angels!” The large inquisitor squealed. A chuckling came from the far corner of the room. As he squinted, he saw Yawgmoth standing in the shadows beneath the angel.

“Do you think that your precious Lunarch or even Avacyn Herself can help you? I have taken three of their precious angels and brought them down and perfected them! And do you know how I succeeded? Because your angels are no more than flesh and blood, no different from you and me!”

“Blasphemy!”

“Believe what you want but do not fear for your life, yet. I have a higher purpose in mind for you. The fat one I want alive ladies. The rest you can have your fun with.”

The angels quickly descended on the remaining inquisitors knocking the large one unconscious.

***

The inquisitor awoke in the the healing ward of a cathedral in Thraben. He quickly tried to tell his attendant what had happened but found that he was unable to do so.

“Lie still,” she said in a kind voice. “You have been through quite a lot.”

He tried to speak again but she again motioned for him to lie still.

“You’re running a fever. We are not sure what happened to you, but we think you may have been attacked on your way to investigate the claims against a nobleman out in the backwoods. You were found on your horse but unconscious less than a day’s ride into the forest.”

A strange feeling came over the man. At first, he thought it was the grief over losing his men and being unable to tell his story, but the feeling got worse. A pit soon formed in his stomach before growing and welling up inside of him. It soon turned into a coughing fit that caused him intense pain.

When he regained his composure and opened his eyes, he saw he had coughed up blood and the nurse was recoiling away from him. He caught a quick glimpse of her face and saw there was blood on her face. It was then he realized why Yawgmoth had let him live; Yawgmoth had infected him and had sent him back to Thraben to spread the plague to its inhabitants.

***

Within a day the inquisitor was dead, and the plague began to spread throughout Thraben before spreading into the provinces one by one. Yawgmoth laughed in his manor as his plague consumed the plane’s mortal inhabitants one by one.

Soon I will release my perfected creations on the immortal angels, demons, and vampires to claim dominion over Innistrad.