Summarized Lore: Wilds of Eldraine

Phyrexia might not have succeeded in their invasion throughout the Multiverse, but it left such a big mess that it deeply impacted the planes invaded, and Eldraine is no exception.

Wilds of Eldraine, is the first set that will give us a peek at the consequences of the phyrexian journey to the Multiverse. In this lore summary, we'll visit the fairy tale land again, see some old friends, and meet new ones.

If you would like to know more about the history of this plane, check out our article, Eldraine: What has happened so far, and how did we reach Wilds of Eldraine.

Chapter 1: Pure of Heart

Not even in their worst nightmares, Will and Rowan could predict what would happen to the Realm: during the Phyrexian war, a Wicked Slumber was cast so that the invaders would fall asleep. However, that spell went out of control, and now people all over the Realm are falling asleep with no real explanation.

As if this crisis wasn't enough, the lives of Kenrith, the Returned King and Linden, the Steadfast Queen were lost to phyrexian soldiers, creating a power vacuum in the plane which now found itself without its High King.

Rowan

To fulfill the space left by his father and guide the people of the Realm towards a peaceful reconstruction, Will decides to take on the mantle of the High King, but he doesn't have the people's trust, and is soon nicknamed the "Boy King". After all, the surname Kenrith might prove their blood bond, but it doesn't prove the young man is fit to be a king.

This is one of the many things that have been bothering Rowan in the past few months.

So, when the twins and a group of soldiers go to confront Syr Imodane, a knight who strayed from the virtue she was supposed to defend, and led a group of raiders, then extorting villagers and demanding tribute to keep the brigands away, Rowan loses her patience when she sees the way Will deals with the situation, and her magic gets out of control.

She feels as if it is poison in her veins when lightning shoots from the tips of her fingers with loud thunders which leave everyone down at their knees.

Just five seconds of this lack of control from the young woman were enough to crack open a rift in the nearby mountain, which was then named the "Stormcutter Mountain".

They are all terrified from witnessing Ro's power, and Imodane takes advantage of the mess to run away. Without noticing it, the knight reaches an ethereal and sparkling throne hall, with a mysterious Fae Lord sat on a shrouded throne, who asks her if she is pure of heart.

Kellan

Kellan hates the village where he lives.

To start, there are more sheep than people in it, and the only visitor they get is a merchant who travels there each year to sell their products. Kellan suspects the man has never shared the secret of the way to Orrinshire with another living being, after all, not even the phyrexians visited the village during their invasion.

But Kellan isn't happy in that place. Even though he has a mother and a step-father who love him, the young man is bullied by the other village boys who call him half-blood for having his father's traits, a fae whom he has never met.

When Talion, the Kindly Lord calls him to take up the quest of ending the Wicked Slumber in exchange for receiving information about his biological father, Kellan doesn't hesitate before accepting and go looking through the Wilds, even if, for that, he has to face three very powerful sister witches.

Will

With Ardenvale's Castle destroyed, Will has set up a temporary home at Vantress Castle, where he spends most of his time buried under paperwork of all kind, and all of them urgent.

He and Rowan argue about what happened at the mountain and the consequences it had on the "Boy King"'s image, who is now deemed a "coward" for allowing his sister to deal a damage of that size to defend him.

The argument heats up as Rowan tries to convince her brother to journey through the Multiverse searching for answers which may help him fight the plague, and he refuses, saying it is more important to stay there than to stray far away. Rowan tries to planeswalk, but can't.

She goes looking for answers, leaving Will and the crown behind.

Chapter 2: Wandering Knight, Budding Hero

After getting a tip from Royse, a weaver, Rowan goes to an abandoned castle in a long-forgotten realm. There, she faces undead servants and the mess left by raider visits throughout the years.

She thinks about everything she went through to get there, and how she is alone without her brother and her family, and gets angrier and angrier until she cries, body trembling with tiredness. Against all odds, she finds an untouched bed, and easily slips into slumber.

In her dream, King Kenrith guides her to go to Ardenvale Castle, as her blood waits for her there.

Kellan

Kellan realizes too late that accepting the quest was the easy bit.

He goes to Edgewall and asks everyone he finds in the streets if any one of them knows a witch - and, of course, no one takes him seriously.

That's how he finds Ruby, a girl with a red cloak which advises him to stop asking for witches, as they can hunt him for it. Ruby informs Kellan of the Wicked Slumber, and says he should go after her brother, Peter, who is very seasoned and knows a lot about witches.

Kellan then convinces her to go with him in his quest without mentioning who is the Lord who sent him on it.

Together, they go on their journey, and she tells the boy everything about the invasion and the bodies of phyrexian soldiers, asleep, which they find along the way.

Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for them to stumble onto real danger: a Wolf Knight, who throws arrows towards the two. Kellan gets the magical hilts Talion gave him as a gift, but the weapon turns out to be inefficient.

Kellan and Ruby escape through the Wilds, and find a group of witchstalkers, fearsome and powerful creatures which react to magical beings. Counting on the Wolf Knight being magical and attracting them, Ruby decides to escape through the witchstalkers, followed by a scared Kellan, who fears that the blood of his father or the gift that Talion gave him to protect himself would put him at risk.

They go by safely, but the Wolf Knight is attacked by the witchstalkers.

Both walk a bit more through the Wilds and find a witch's house, who is set on cooking in her cauldron a Syr she kidnapped. To make matters worse, they can still hear signs of the Wolf Knight, who seems to be wandering towards where they are.

With silent prayers that his father lend him strength, Kellan invades the witch's house and throws her into her stinky-potion cauldron, creating a puff of black smoke, as acrid as the potion. Afterward, he runs to the imprisoned knight, who turns out to be Syr Imodane, too hurt for a fight against the Wolf Knight.

To everyone's luck, the Wolf Knight reveals himself as Peter, Ruby's brother, who tells them that the witch had enchanted him, and he had attacked the knight and the younglings by following her orders. Peter, Ruby and Kellan raise the cauldron to move it and are magically transported to Talion's court, which gives them a hint to find Hilda, the next witch.

Chapter 3: Two Great Banquets

Rowan

A messenger delivers to Rowan a note written by Will, and she answers only by saying that if he is really worried, he should go find her.

Her current destination is Ardenvale's Castle, the place which before was majestic, and now finds itself in ruins, surrounded by the familiar faces of the knights who succumbed to the curse and now attack everyone as if they were puppets. Carefully, Rowan strikes back against her former allies to incapacitate them.

When she wins against the first wave of enemies, another comes in her direction, But this time, instead of the typical Ardenvale armor, her enemies use courtroom finery and fight weirdly, as if they were dancing as couples.

In the middle of the crowd, Rowan finds a pale white hand which welcomes her into the Court of the Ardent Queen. Rowan immediately recognizes the very peculiar figure in front of her - it is Ashiok, the planeswalker known by their nightmares.

She imagines that they are responsible for the curse, but they deny it and tell her they are only a counselor. Ashiok signals to a translucent veil which hides a full feasting table, before a woman dressed in black at its head. On one hand, the woman holds a goblet, and on the other, a glass apple full of violet magic, which Rowan identifies as the source of the Wicked Slumber.

This woman is Eriette, sister of the witch who birthed the Kenrith twins, and she explains how the spell isn't a curse, but instead, something beneficial to all dreamers. After all, they now live in an eternal slumber in which they celebrate the Realm's victory alongside everyone they love, and don't suffer with worries or fears.

Bit by bit, Eriette convinces Rowan that she can use the magic in her blood to give an even bigger blessing to the Realm, and that the slumber is actually something good. Rowan asks her help to planeswalk again, but Ashiok reveals that she, as many others in the Multiverse, has lost her spark.

Kellan

Following Talion's instructions, Kellan and Ruby go after the beanstalk which they were supposed to climb to find The Magic Mirror, which was taken from Vantress Castle and is hidden there.

They contact the adventurer Troyan, who offers them a potion who can turn them into frogs after witnessing the difficulty the young ones have to climb the beansprout. Jumping and croaking, frog-Kellan brings Ruby to the top of the beanstalk and there they find Stormkeld Castle, made for giants.

They go through a saloon full of giants waltzing and walk through the castle looking for the mirror, but they face a goose, festooned in gold, which starts honking at them before chasing them, with his beak descending like an axe.

The party's hostess finds them and considers giving Kellan to the goose as a snack, but, to everyone's luck, King Yorvo appears, and he convinces her to show the visitors the Magic Mirror and treat them as guests.

Kellan remembers that the Giant King is missing since the invasion, and asks himself what is he doing at that birthday party.

When they get to the Mirror, Troyan, the guide, reveals he wasn't born in Eldraine, and that secret is enough for the Mirror of Indrelon to reveal a castle of ice, resting atop a rocky cliff.

Ruby recognizes the spot, and the group goes towards another chapter of their journey.

Chapter 4: Ruby and the Frozen Heart

Kellan and Ruby go back to the town, where they meet dozens of people asleep surrounded by the thick violet strings of the Wicked Slumber.

They share the news with Peter, which finds a thick bearskin coat for Ruby, and a coat made with Orrinshire wool for Kellan, and makes them promise that if they ever feel in danger, or no longer feel their noses due to the cold, that they would return to the city.

Before they leave, Peter leads them to the town's square, where there are children gathered using red cloaks and woolen cloaks while they watch the puppet show, which shows two puppets defeating an evil witch who eats people.

Peter goes with them through most of the way, but they get separated, and the duo goes towards the ice castle, where they are supposed to find the witch, Hylda.

When they get closer, the cold gets worse, and Hylda's voice talks with them, warning them to turn back, and that her kingdom is safe against any threat they might represent.

The duo follows toward the castle, and goes into battle against a warrior of frost whose spear gets stuck to Kellan's cloak. Unfortunately, the moment of relief lasts just a few minutes, and soon another warrior of frost materializes and grabs Ruby.

Kellan gets the hilts which he got from Talion and against whispers, asking for his father's help. A gold light comes from the hilts, and, instinctively, he attacks, and discovers that the hilts have formed a sword capable of slicing through the warriors of frost.

The warriors fall back, and Kellan starts feeling sleepy, even without seeing any signs of the curse. In a few seconds, he faints, and Ruby needs to carry him through the white-snowed landscape.

Hylda talks with Ruby and tries to convince her to turn back with Kellan and leave the quest behind, but the girl doesn't give up. She knows that it isn't for her only, and that everyone is suffering with the Wicked Slumber. She thinks about the kids watching the puppet show, and that is the motivation which moves her to face Hylda and her freezing strikes.

Ruby remains walking for a long time after losing sensation in her nose.

Seeing that she wasn't going to give up, the witch offers her a helping hand. Ruby notices Hylda seems sad, and that her eyes are lonely.

Slowly, time around them becomes more serene and beautiful, and only light snow falls around the three of them. Hylda welcomes them into the Winter's Home, and uses her magic to make them fall asleep.

When they wake up, Kellan and Ruby get two gifts from Hylda: the crown which increases her powers, and which, without it, she can't freeze anyone, proof of her surrender, and the true story behind the Wicked Slumber.

Hylda tells them that Talion cast the spell alongside her and her sisters, as they were originally four and that made them stronger, but one died twenty years before, and alone they weren't capable of casting the curse Eriette originally crafted. The witch explains that the spell went out of control, probably due to something Eriette had done, and that Talion recruited them to clean up the mess they caused.

Kellan feels betrayed by the Fae Lord, and runs out of Hylda's home, with the hopes of finding a portal to the enchanted court. Together, Ruby and him confront Talion, who reminds them of the quest's noble goal, and that it doesn't matter how it started: it is important that they finish it.

Talion gives them Eriette's location, at Ardenvale Castle, and reminds Kellan that he can defeat the witch and find out more about his father, or go home and live an ordinary life.

Even in front of the Fae Lord, tears take over the young man's face, only sixteen years old, and they are still there even when they leave the court.

Chapter 5: Broken Oaths

Kellan

Kellan and Ruby reach Ardenvale Castle on their horses and the girl now bears a gift from Hylda: a beautiful ice sword.

Using the rest of Troyan's frogfication potion, they literally jump over the gates of the ruined castle and avoid all sleeping guards on their way. The violet strands of the curse are much more visible in that area, and they know the source is close.

Very carefully, Ruby and Kellan walk through the badly lit place looking for Eriette, the witch. However, who they find on their way is Rowan, who walks in circles in a room full of books and notes.

Both try to help her, and ask her about the spell who is keeping her in that place, but Rowan sends them away multiple times. Kellan examines the notes and understands that Rowan is training so that she can cast the Wicked Slumber curse.

The Kenrith heiress doesn't give him much time to think about it, as right afterward she knocks out Ruby and Kellan and throws them in a cell.

When he wakes up, Kellan hears from Ruby that Rowan tried to cast a sleeping spell on him, and that she repeated the whole time that he would thank her if it worked. Sudden sounds give them the alarm that the castle is under attack, and the duo plans their escape from prison.

Rowan

A part of Rowan knew that her time studying magic with Eriette to save the realm wouldn't last as long as she'd like.

When she reaches the throne room, she finds a row of soldiers from the Realm fighting against two rows of dreamers, controlled by the witch through the spell's violet strands. Among the soldiers, Rowan recognizes Syr Imodane and her own brother, battling.

Surprised to find her in that situation, and even more so as she was defending the witch who cast the curse on thousands of people, Will tries convincing his sister that there is salvation for Eldraine, and that helping Eriette isn't the only way. He talks of home and brotherhood, but that only makes Rowan's anger even worse.

Feeling that her brother no longer recognizes her, and no longer realizes that the person she was had died a long time ago, Rowan attacks him and the twins start fighting against each other. With a lucky move, Will hits her with an ice blast, which pins his sister's feet together, and he apologizes for not helping her when she needed the most.

She realizes that the young ones have escaped from prison and are ready to attack Eriette, who divides her attention between defending herself and controlling the dreamers. Rowan tries to cast her spell towards them to protect her aunt, but is stopped by Will. Seeing the situation, Syr Imodane gets closer to Rowan and tells her that Will is the only one capable of uniting the Realm.

Black veils form, and the shape of Ashiok enters the battlefield, ready to lead Eriette's dreamers against the Realm's soldiers.

The presence of the planeswalker gets her spirits up again, and now she only needs to wait until Eriette casts her Wicked Slumber on the whole Realm while Ashiok controls her soldiers. Rowan needs to stall some time, and, for that, she will fight against as many soldiers as she can.

At some point in the fight, she realizes Kellan is holding a shiny eye-catching weapon, and goes towards Ashiok, but doesn't worry about it. Rowan keeps fighting and avoids the ice spear Will throws in her direction, and tells him it's all over.

Her brother smiles and she looks back, discovering that Kellan's plan was to hold Ashiok for long enough so that Will can hit them. That spear's target was never her.

Ashiok disappears into smoke, and Rowan feels envy as she realizes they still have a spark. At the end of the room, Ruby's blade pins Eriette down.

Rowan prepares herself to run towards her aunt, but, through a violet strand of the curse, the witch tells her to run and meet her soon, as the Realm won't kill her.

Even seeing so many knights of different courts fighting for her brother, Rowan still thinks Will won't be able to unify the Realm, and escapes.

Kellan

After the battle, High King Kenrith congratulates the young pair and invites them to visit them any time they feel like it. Kellan wanders off as Ruby talks about how she would like to bring Peter, and leaves all the glory for facing the witch to her.

He goes far away through a fae portal sent by Talion.

Kellan arrives in Orrinshire to hear from his mother all about his biological father. The mother reveals that Kellan's father is Oko, and that they met many years before, when she was a witch's apprentice. She knew he was a planeswalker and heard all about the plane he was from, in exchange for telling him all about hers. However, they had different opinions and she left him. Three years since she heard him call to her, but didn't go to him.

Kellan listens to many stories about his dad, but clings to the fact that he returned to Eldraine and didn't try contacting him.

The young man finds a different portal from the one which Talion used. The landscape in that portal is different from any other place in Eldraine, so he knows it is another plane, such as the one his dad came from.

Kellan asks himself if that is a sign from his dad, and goes through the portal.

Eriette

Ashiok's voice wakes her up from prison with the promise of a new goal, and a place where she can be queen.

The witch mentions looking for Rowan, but Ashiok explains that the young woman isn't ready for what they'll have to do, and so, for now, only Enriette will be able to go.

When the guards go to check on her on the following morning, she has already disappeared.

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