Planar Chaos
Chapter Three: Herald of War
Marthel was not in the least bit excited at the prospect of tracking down Rinok. Wherever the planeswalker went, war followed swiftly. Rinok also grew bored with the wars he started, or worse his presence began to end them. The time he'd spent on Valla taught him a unique lesson. War was the great equalizer, a revitalizing force to dying planes. It was a philosophy Marthel did not ascribe to. Why spend so much time destroying when he could travel and see and learn?
"Look at this plane, Marthel," Rinok said staring out over Tarkir. The great battlefields were no more, the dragons had won ages ago. There was one less place where he could be truly at home surrounded by those who understood the fine art of war. The Kolaghan were only slightly better than the Rakdos of Ravnica, his former people. He'd been born into the thrill kill cult, but sought more in life than meaningless slaughter. The glory of war and Boros raids would be what opened his eyes to the wider multiverse around him. A raid led by the Boros guild with the support of the Azorius had resulted in his being transported to Valla, the plane that shaped his new life as a planeswalker.
Valla had been constantly at war. When a budding peace removed all meaning from the lives of his brothers and sisters in arms, Rinok had understood that he was the problem. His power ended the war, and he resolved that it would go on to begin countless others.
"What am I looking at, Rinok?" Marthel saw very little that was different about Tarkir from the last time he paid his former home a visit. The Temur, now named Atarka after their dragonlord, had retained their wild ways and ferocious use of nature magic.
"A dying plane. This tenuous peace between the dragonlords and their sniveling vassals is killing Tarkir. If only the dragon wars could have continued for another millenium or two," Rinok sighed wistfully. "I'll just have to start something new. Silumgar is easily offended, though slow to rise."
"You aren't the only walker who lost a home to the dragon wars, you know," Marthel said. "I know several who were sad to see the Sultai and Temur go as well. Myself included. Besides, I'm not here to help you start another war."
"Why have you come here, then, if not to join me?"
"I have another proposition for you. Not a war, but a gathering."
"For what purpose?" Rinok crossed his arms. "I am not so lightly taken away from my quest of reviving the multiverse."
"When was the last time you had a good revel?"
"I revel in the act of war. The blood of my enemies spraying my body, the melody of their dying screams filling my heart with joy."
"Do you not celebrate victory?"
"Victory implies the war is over and that I have won. I feel no satisfaction in winning."
"Still Rakdos to the core, I see. You live for the kill."
"No. I do not slaughter meaninglessly," Rinok countered. "I am a champion of renewal, the herald of war."
"We have this conversation every time I see you, Rinok." Marthel yawned. "I'll never understand you, just like I'll never understand the Voidcaller's fascination with destroying the multiverse just because she can."
"Our paths have crossed before, and I understand what you mean. I have no desire to end the multiverse. I seek to keep it going, to fuel passion in the hearts of men and women. Very few things can do that to the extent war can. There is a need to defend what is ours, to take what we want or believe we should have. That need must be fulfilled."
"Are you coming to my party or not?"
"If I find myself without a war to start, I may join you."
"Good luck starting another war on Tarkir, Rinok," Marthel said. "You'd have better luck in New Phyrexia or Zendikar."
"I have heard tales of these places," Rinok scoffed. "They are not at war. They are merely denying fate. They stand in the face of certain extinction and will lose without honor or glory. Their bravery is stupidity and they will fade into shadow. My exploits have been immortalized in story and song on countless planes. The general who will send his army to their deaths and still come out victorious."
"I've heard your stories. So much loss, so much waste."
"The weak exist to fuel the strong, Marthel. War is what makes us strong."
"I'm aware. That said, I still prefer to watch and learn. Much can be learned from peace just as much can be learned from war. And sometimes war destroys a plane. Have you been to Helheim recently or at all?"
"Never."
"A friend of mine lives there as the lord of all Helheim. He is a walker like us living as the king of a dead world that he has reshaped into his own image. That world was destroyed utterly by a final battle eons ago. All that is left are the corpses of the fallen. Now they are the Grave Birther's puppets," Marthel explained.
"Then they did not understand the truth of war."
"The truth of war is that people die. Too many people died there, so all the people died." Marthel was becoming exasperated. Every time he and Rinok ran into each other, they had the exact same debate. His acquaintance was single-minded about his quest to renew the multiverse, never considering he might destroy it instead.
"It matters not."
"I'll see you when I see you, Rinok. If you're looking for me, come to Ravnica."
"Goodbye Marthel."