Theros

Gods and Heroes

Life of a Planeswalker. and the Whip of Erebos

Prologue

Ravnica... A once great city destroyed by the Eldrazi, now rebuilt and governed by the Boros Legion. Most of the other guilds know about the restorations but are not willing to go back to the place they once called home. Bill Peterson, werewolf and now planeswalker, must either convince the guilds to go back home or convince the Boros that the other guilds want to stay on Jeer without starting an all out war. But someone from another world intervenes and Bill must find out who this person is and where they came from.

Chapter 1

Being a planeswalker is not as easy as you think. You have tasks that the world gives you and a planeswalker has his enemies. The only fun part is that you can jump between multiverses, which I have been doing for the past weeks. I have been everywhere. I tried to dodge the Phyrexians' attacks while visiting Mirrodin. I also said hello to Santa while visiting ColdSnap and told him about my life after that one Christmas day when Jarad was killed by Sam and me. But I have a task that requires me to go to Ravnica and tell the Boros Legion that the other guilds are staying on Jeer. But first, my wife wants me to see her in her dressing room. I walked into the room.

"What do you think?" asked Samantha. She was wearing a new dress/robes with sky blue coloring, a hood and patches of Dimir and Izzet symbols along with their mana colors on the sleeves.

"It's great, but why change your clothes?" I said.

"I do whatever pleases my hubby," said Samantha.

"I doesn't matter what you wear, you will always be beautiful," I said.

"Oh come here, you," said Samantha. We kissed on the lips. Then we heard a loud explosion from downstairs.

"Confound It!" screamed Dip from down in the basement of the castle.

"Um?" said Samantha.

"I'll go check on him," I said. I went downstairs to see what Dip was up to.

"Dip, what's going on?" I asked.

"Hello Dad, I've been practicing my summoning, but sometimes the raised corpses attack me, so I have to blow them up with a fire spell," said Dip.

"We'll, just be careful. Alright?" I said.

"Got it," said Dip. I went back upstairs.

"Hello Mr. Peterson," said Eola hanging from a ceiling beam. I turned around and looked up.

"Eola, you're not a teenager, call me Bill," I said.

"Alright... Bill," said Eola.

"Is Dip alright?" asked Samantha.

"Yes, he's fine," I said.

"Shouldn't you be going to Ravnica?" asked Eola.

"Yes, but I have to stop at House Dimir to pick up a few things," I said.

"Well then, get going," said Samantha.

"I'm going, I'm going," I said. I opened a portal and planeswalked away to Dimir.

"So, you are sure you don't want to go back to Ravnica, even though you weren't there for very long?" I asked Skithiryx.

"Yes," said Skithiryx.

"And Niv-mizzet would agree with you?" I asked.

"Yes," said Skithiryx.

"Alright then, I will be heading off," I said.

"Take care, Bill," said Skithiryx.

"You too, Skith," I said. I opened another portal and planeswalked to Azorius. I arrived at Beriadanwen's palace, but was stopped by two guards.

"Halt! State your presence," said a guard.

"No need to stop him. He's a friend," said Beriadanwen as she walked out of her palace.

"Sorry, my Queen," said the guards.

"Get back to your job," said Beriadanwen.

"Yes Ma'am," said the guards.

"Sorry, new guards," said Beriadanwen.

"It's ok. I have come here to reinsure that you don't want go to Ravnica, you want to stay here on Jeer," I said.

"Yes, Jeer is basically my home, and I love it here and so do my people," said Beriadanwen.

"Is that your final answer?" I asked.

"Yes," said Beriadanwen.

"Well then, take care, Beri," I said.

Beriadanwen kissed me on the forehead. "You too," said Beriadanwen.

I walked out of the city gates and started walking north. Before I created a portal to Ravnica I saw some Golgarian vampires talking to some short masked men. I got closer and hid to see what they were up to.

"You have come along way," said a vampire.

"Yes, we know," said a masked man.

"Our new lord will be pleased about what we bring her," said the other vampire.

"What do you have?" asked a vampire.

"This is the whip of our god master, Erebos," said a masked man.

"What does it do?" asked a vampire.

"It allows the wielder to drain life from any living being," said a masked man.

"Our lord will be please with this weapon," said a vampire.

Whoever this Erebos was he did not sound like a good guy, and the Golgari have a new leader, that's not good either. Maybe people on Ravnica know about this Erebos. I made a portal and jumped to Ravnica.

"What was that?" said a vampire.

"What! I thought you came alone. The deal is off," said a masked man.

"Give us back the whip," said the other masked man.

"I don't think so," said a vampire. Then a sinkhole appeared and the masked men fell through.

I guess I was still getting used to the whole planeswalker thing because the portal didn't take me to Ravnica, it took me to the field were the myrs live.

"Look out!" cried a mechanical voice. I turned around to see a giant sphere of myr heading right towards me.

"What the?" I said as the sphere crashed into me.

"Sorry Bill, we're still getting used to this," said a myr.

Copper popped out of the top of the sphere.

"I don't know why Etched thought it was a good idea to put us all in a clump," said Copper.

"Maybe to increase your combat abilities?" I said as I got up. Iron popped out of the sphere.

"Bill, no one has dared to attack us since Miss Sammy, your son, and your royal friend defeated Rade," said Iron. Silver appeared out of the sphere.

"Yeah, they're all afraid of you's family," she said.

"Well alright then, just be careful so you don't run over someone important," I said.

"Will do," said the myr.

"Oh, and there are some masked men out here so watch out," I said.

"Ok," said the myr.

I tried to make a portal again, and this time it did take me to Ravnica.

Chapter 2

I was wondering the streets of Ravnica when I was stopped by two guards.

"You there, we haven't seen you before!" said the guard.

"Who are you?" asked the other guard.

"I am Bill Peterson of Jeer. I am a planeswalker with the power of black, blue and red mana," I said.

"Ah yes, Jeer, where the guilds are," said the guard.

"I never heard of any other Grixis planeswalker besides Nicol Bolas," said the other.

"I'm part of the Alliance between House Dimir and Izzet League," I said.

"Why would Niv-Mizzet align himself with a bunch of thieves, necromancers and vampires?" asked the guard.

"In case you and your leader are unaware, House Dimir is now run by a Phyrexian dragon known as Skithiryx," I said.

"Great, another dragon," said the other guard.

"I would like to have a meeting with your leader. I have important information," I said.

"Very well, we will take you to her," said the guards.

"Then lead the way," I said.

I followed the guards to the Boros guild hall which they call Sunhome. Their leader, who was a red haired angel, was waiting.

"Your Holiness, this planeswalker says he has important information," said the guard.

"Very well, he may speak," said the angel.

"Thank you, your Holiness," I said.

"Please, call me Aurelia," said the red haired angel.

"I am Bill Peterson of Jeer, and I am here on behalf of the guilds of Ravnica. They do not wish to come back. They want to stay on the island in the multiverse of Nirn," I said.

"Very well, we won't push them any further. Is that all?" said Aurelia.

"There is one thing that maybe you can help with. Do you know of someone by the name of Erebos, or something about short masked men?" I said.

"We never heard of this Erebos, but these masked men, we have encountered before. My men arrested one yesterday for selling counterfeit items. Maybe you can talk to him," said Aurelia.

"I think I will," I said.

"Guards, show Mr. Peterson to where the prisoner is being held," said Aurelia.

"Yes, your Holiness," said a guard.

"Thank you, Aurelia," I said.

"No problem," she said.

I followed the guards to the prison cells and they showed me the short masked man's cell. The man's mask was made of pure gold and his robes were a dark grey with purple lines.

"Who is this Erebos I keep hearing about?" I asked the man.

"I won't tell you anything, human," said the man. I noticed that his skin was a dark green. I made fire in my hand.

"Ah! Fire! Keep it away," said the masked man.

"So, you're undead," I said.

"Yes!" said the masked man in fright.

"Tell me what I want to know and I will extinguish the fire," I said.

"Fine, just get rid of it," said the masked man.

I put out the fire."Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Unendliche Zeit which means infinite time," said the masked man.

"Do you work for Erebos?" I asked.

"Yes," said Infinite Time.

"What do you do for him?" I asked.

"I bring him gold," said Infinite Time.

"How so?" I asked.

"By selling things or being a hitman," said Infinite Time.

"A zombie hitman," I said.

"Yes, a zombie hitman," said Infinite Time.

"Where is this Erebos?" I asked.

"You would have to travel to the plane of Theros, but even then, only Erebos's high ranking members know where he is," said Infinite Time.

"Thank you for your wonderful information," I said. Then I left the cell block.

"Did the prisoner give you information?" asked Aurelia.

"Yes, he said I need to travel to Theros," I said.

"I know of the Theros plane, and I know of a planeswalker that resides there," said Aurelia.

"Who?" I asked.

"Her name is Elspeth Tirel. If you go to Theros, you may want to find her. She may know of this Erebos," said Aurelia. That night Aurelia offered to let me to stay in her palace. The next morning I wrote a letter to my family telling them what was going on and what I had to do. That afternoon I made a portal to Theros.

Theros was big. It had many big mountains and fields. Now, where was this planeswalker I had to find? There was an old man walking on the road.

"Excuse me! Do you know where I can find Miss Elspeth Tirel?" I asked. The old man pointed to the mountains.

"Thank you," I said. The old man smiled.

I continued up the path towards the mountains where there was a giant city. I walked up to the gates and went in. A sign read Welcome to Akros.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for Elspeth Tirel," I said to one of the guards.

"Miss Tirel is speaking to our Lord and Lady," said one of the guards.

"If you go to the palace, no sudden moves," said the other guard.

"Thank you," I said. I headed off towards the palace which was at the end of the street... well this street.

As I walked into the palace, people were staring at me. I found Elspeth in the throne room talking to the King and Queen of Akros.

"But Lord Anax, you know of the threat to your family," said Elspeth.

"I'm well aware, but I have top security forces," said Anax.

"Excuse me!" I interrupted.

"Can we help you?" asked Elspeth.

"Yes, I was wondering if you knew of someone named Erebos," I said.

"How do you know that name?" asked King Anax.

"Because he has given a powerful weapon to one of my arch enemies," I said.

"Who are you?" asked Elspeth

"I am Bill Peterson, planeswalker and native to the island of Jeer and the plane of Nirn," I said.

"Nice to meet you, fellow planeswalker," said Elspeth.

"Like wise," I said.

"Erebos is the god of the dead," said King Anax.

"If Erebos has gotten to the other planes then this isn't good," said Elspeth.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Erebos has been threatening my family for years!" said King Anax.

"He had our son killed," said Queen Cymede.

"Who sent you here?" asked Elspeth.

"Aurelia, leader of the Boros legion of the plane of Ravnica. Like I said before, Erebos has given a powerful weapon to an evil group called the Golgari. They may use it against my people," I said.

"Then we must stop him!" said Elspeth.

"How?" I asked.

"First we must find him," said Elspeth.

"Agreed," I said.

That night I got a letter from my wife. It read:

Dear Bill,

It's bad! The castle has been destroyed! I am writing this in the depths of Duskmantle. The Golgari have attacked all the guilds except for Orzhov and Rakdos who have hidden themselves from harm. Anyway, I'm here with Dip and Eola. Skithiryx and Niv-mizzet are being held prisoners. Ral and Mirko are being torchured by the Golgari's new leader. I don't know how much time we have, so whatever you are doing... Hurry!

If I don't make it out of this not destroyed... know that I LOVE YOU!

Samantha

I couldn't believe this was happening. Why would a god do deals with people he did not know? Or maybe he had nothing to do with it at all! But he might know how to stop the chaos. Elspeth peaked over my shoulder at the note.

"Not Destroyed? Who are you?" said Elspeth.

"Look, don't tell anyone or I will be killed, but you see, I am a werewolf and my wife is a vampire. Together she and I united the two species that made their home on the island of Jeer," I said.

"Don't worry, no one here knows what a werewolf or a vampire is," said Elspeth.

"Really?" I said.

"Yes, giants and zombies are the only feared creatures here in Theros," said Elspeth.

"So how are we going to find Erebos?" I asked.

"Let me think..." said Elspeth. Elspeth gasped.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The Returned," said Elspeth.

"The who?" I said.

"The Returned are Erebos's elite guards," said Elspeth.

"He has an army?" I asked.

"Well, yes, but he doesn't command them. The minor god, Phenax, watches over the Returned for Erebos," said Elspeth. I heard a noise and looked behind me.

"What is it?" asked Elspeth.

"I thought I heard something," I said.

"It's probably just the wind," said Elspeth

"Right," I said.

Chapter 3

"Where are the Returned?" I asked.

"They have camps that are guarding entrances to the underworld," said Elspeth.

"Where can we find these entrances?" I asked.

"During the day they are hidden, but at night you can see an orange glow in the middle of nowhere," said Elspeth.

"Then we must wait until night," I said.

Meanwhile back on Jeer...

"Shhh! Let's go," said Samantha quietly. Samantha, Dip and Eola snuck around Duskmantle trying to escape from Vraska, the new leader of the Golgari. There were two Golgari thugs guarding one of the bridges in the Duskmantle depths.

"Hey, I heard Selesnya got hit hard," said a thug.

"Yeah, you could see the smoke from the ocean," said the other thug.

"What about that castle?" said one of the thugs.

"Oh that, well there was no one in it, but we blew it up anyway," said the other thug. Samantha snuck up behind one of the thugs and slit his throat.

"What the!?" screamed the other thug. Samantha picked him up with telekinesis and threw him off the bridge.

"We need to get to the surface," said Samantha.

"Right," said Dip and Eola. They called down a lift that was nearby and they headed up, but when they exited the lift, Vraska was waiting for them.

"And where do think you're going?" she said. Vraska cracked Erebos's wip. They captured Samantha, Dip and Eola and brought them to the main Dimir throne room which they turned into a prison. All of our friends were tied to the wall.

"Let us go! You vile woman!" said Skithiryx.

"Skithiryx, back-talking won't free you," said Niv-Mizzet.

"My people should have killed you when they had the chance," said Beriadanwen.

"To think we would have the audacity to stop the Golgari, but I guess not," said Ral Zarek.

"The vampire families will hear about this!" said Finn.

Mirko and Drana did nothing but growl at Vraska.

"Ha ha, no one will hear about this! They won't even hear the sounds of your screams as I take you out one by one," said Vraska.

"You may have constricted us to the wall, but you can not kill us all," said Niv-Mizzet.

"Nice rhyming, but am afraid good guy speeches won't help you here," said Vraska.

"You won't get away with this! Any day now my husband will come back and stop you," said Samantha.

"Is that so? Well, we'll just see about that," said Vraska. Samantha growled.

"Vren! Tie the new prisoners to wall with the rest of them," said Varska.

"Yes Madam," said Vren. They tied Samantha, Dip and Eola to the wall where the rest of our friends were tied.

"Let's see how long they hold up," said Vraska as she and her men left the room.

"Anyone got any smart plans?" asked Dip. Then some rats ran across the room.

"Hey look, rats," said Samantha.

"Yeah, what about them?" said Dip.

"Maybe they could help us," said Samantha.

"Good idea, Samantha," said Mirko Vosk. A group of rats came close to Skithiryx, but when Skithiryx looked at them, the rats freaked out and ran away. Everyone looked at Skithiryx.

"Oops, sorry," said Skithiryx.

"How will we get the rats to help us?" asked Eola.

"Watch closely," said Samantha. Then Samantha's eyes began to glow cyan and she started to talk demonically to the rats.

"You there, rats! Help us! Chew away these ties that have constricted my friends and me to the wall," said Samantha. The rats turned around and began chewing on the ropes that were made from vines. Everyone was free.

"Way to go, Mother," said Dip

"Thanks," said Samantha.

"Wait a minute? Couldn't Niv-Mizzet just have burned the ropes?" asked Dip.

"Vraska put a fireproof enchantment on the ropes," said Niv-Mizzet.

"Oh," said Dip.

"Hey, where is Melek?" asked Samantha.

"He hid with the other weirds," said Ral Zarek.

Everyone ran outside. Vraska was about to escape.

"Vraska!" yelled Finn.

"Deal with them," said Vraska.

"Yes Madam," said the Golgari thugs.

Vraska jumped on a flying demon horse as Samantha and our friends fought Vraska's thugs. She was about to escape, but Mirko Vosk grabbed the flying horse in the air with telekinesis.

"You're not going anywhere, Vraska!" said Vosk as he threw the horse against the walls of Dimir.

Chapter 4

"Ah!" screamed Vraska as she fell off the horse.

Back on Theros, Elspeth and I were running from giants.

"Did you think it was a good Idea to wake the giants?" I yelled.

"No, but I don't think you should have killed their cow!" screamed Elspeth.

"I was hungry," I said.

"Just run!" said Elspeth.

"The sun is coming up! We must hurry and find the underworld entrance!" I said.

"I see it in the distance," said Elspeth.

"Quickly, hide behind those rocks," I said pointing to some rocks. Elspeth and I hid behind the rocks to escape from the giants. The giants looked around, but when they couldn't find us they left the area.

"That was a close one," I said.

"The passage is just up ahead," said Elspeth. We walked to the entrance to the underworld, but we were stopped by two undead centaurs guarding it.

"Halt humans!" said the centaurs.

"We seek passage to the underworld," said Elspeth.

"No one is allowed in without clearance from Phenax. Go to his alter over at the camp and he will speak to you," said the undead centaurs.

Elspeth and I went over to Phenax's shrine and bowed.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT, MORTALS?" asked Phenax.

"We seek passage to the underworld so we can speak with Erebos," said Elspeth.

"WHY?" asked Phenax.

"I thought it over and I think his whip has been stolen and I have information on where it is," I said.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS?" asked Phenax.

"Because I saw two of Erebos's servants selling it to two undead creatures that were part of a group that, as we speak, are using the whip to terrorize my home," I said.

"WE BLACK MANA GODS DON'T MIND KILLING BUT FULL SCALE ANNIHILATION IS NOT WHAT EREBOS'S WHIP IS USED FOR," said Phenax

"So you will let us in?" asked Elspeth.

"YES, YOU MAY ENTER," said Phenax.

Elspeth and I went down the long flight of stairs into the underworld.

Back on Jeer everyone was fighting Vraska...

Everyone threw everything they had at Vraska. Beriadanwen jumped in the air and shouted at her.

"FUS RO DAH!" shouted the Dragonborn. Vraska dodged the attack.

"It's no use with that whip. Vraska is too powerful," said Eola.

"Don't give up! We vampires never give up!" said Finn.

"Nether do planeswalkers," said Ral Zarek.

"Wait, Vraska is a...," said Samantha.

"Planeswalker? Yes, I am," said Vraska.

"You will be stopped!" said Beriadanwen.

"Oh, will I?" said Vraska.

"Yes!" said Samantha.

"Ha ha! We'll see," said Vraska.

Back in Theros...

Elspeth and I finally entered the underworld.

"Where do you think Erebos is?" I asked.

"Over there," said Elspeth as she pointed to a giant purple man.

"Oh," I said.

We ran to the giant purple man and stopped in front of his giant chair. Erebos looked down at us.

"MORTALS! YOU DARE ENTER MY REALM? WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE FOR BEING HERE?" said Erebos.

"Um, Mister Erebos, sir, I believe your whip has been stolen," I said.

"WHAT? IMPOSIBLE! SERVANTS, BRING ME MY WHIP!" said Erebos.

"Your whip is gone master!" said the servants.

"WHAT!?" screamed Erebos.

"I know where to find it," I said.

"THEN TAKE ME TO IT!" said Erebos

"Gladly," I said.

Back on Jeer...

"Enough!" shouted Vraska.

"It's over, Vraska! You are under arrest!" said Beriadanwen.

Then I appeared through a portal just in the nick of time. "Oh no! She will suffer more than just being in a cell," I said.

"Bill!" screamed Samantha.

"Hello, My Dear," I said.

"Um, Dad? What are you talking about?" asked Dip.

"You will see," I said.

Then the ground began to shake as a giant purple arm grabbed Vraska.

"What's going on?" said Vraska.

"MORTAL GORGON! YOU HAVE MY WHIP AND I AM TAKING IT BACK, BUT I AM ALSO TAKING YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE USED THE WHIP FOR TOTAL ANNIHILATION, SOMETHING THAT IT IS NOT USED FOR! AND FOR THAT, YOU WILL SUFFER THE REST OF YOUR DYING DAYS IN THE UNDERWORLD!" said Erebos.

"What? No!" screamed Vraska.

"I don't know what is going on here, but what I do know is that we may not agree with all of the guilds..." said Mirko Vosk.

"But that doesn't mean we attack them willy nilly," said Drana.

"You have caused more chaos than Rakdos did when he destroyed Azorius," said Niv-Mizzet.

"You are nothing but a cruel, vile being that only cares about herself," said Skithiryx.

"You were evil once too, Skithiryx," said Vraska.

"Yes, but I have given up my sinful ways," said Skithiryx.

"Your guild used to be evil too. They still are," said Vraska.

"We may do sinful things, but we only do it to the ones we hate," said Finn.

"But that's not the point! The point is you have destroyed our home, our once great home, and for that you are being punished! Take her away," I said.

"MY PLEASURE, MORTAL," said Erebos. Erebos's hand slowly sunk back into the ground with Vraska in his grip.

"No, no! You will all pay!" said Vraska as she disappeared into the earth.

"Glad that's over," said Eola. Samantha ran over to me and gave me a big kiss.

"I love you," said Samantha.

"I love you too, Samantha," I said. Then there was clapping and we all turned around to see an old man, the same old man I saw in Theros.

"It's you? But how did you get here?" I said.

"Why my friend, it is simple," said the old man. Then he removed his clothing, which was actually a disguise that revealed Venser.

"What the?" said Ral Zarek.

"Surprised?" said Venser.

"But.. I..you...What?" I said.

"Yes, I am back from the dead, even though I never died," said Venser.

"But I saw your body at the scene of the Gruul attack on Azorius," said Ral Zarek.

"Ral, what you saw was a decoy," said Venser.

"Why were you in a disguise?" asked Samantha.

"I have been watching the Golgari for sometime and I knew something like this would happen," said Venser.

"Then why didn't you try to stop it?" I asked.

"Because I knew you could do it, Bill! I saw the planeswalker spark in you way before Meyer did, and way before you saved the Simic," said Venser.

"Gosh, I never would have thought," I said.

"It's ok. Now let's stop the yacking because we have an island to rebuild," said Venser.

"Right!" I said.

THE END