Arlinn Kord is a werewolf planeswalker hailing from the horror-themed plane of Innistrad. She is a unique werewolf in that after her spark ignited, she gained the ability to control her transformation into her wolf form. She now lives in and protects the Ulvenwald Forest.
Drawn into the forest as a teenager by the werewolf pack led by Tovolar Mondronen, she completed her First Hunt and became a full-fledged werewolf, traveling with Tovolar’s pack for two years. Never fully adopting the violence of the pack, she ended her time with the group after a fight with Tovolar left them both scarred.
Leaving the pack, she fought against her own werewolf instincts, taking the unorthodox path of joining the Church of Avacyn and never telling them about her curse. She learned all the magic she could to keep herself in check and eventually became an Archmage of Goldnight. In the heat of battle with an army of devils, she succumbed to the transformation, killing all around her, including her fellow soldiers and even an angel. In the carnage, her spark ignited, and she planeswalked to an unknown plane.
Still in her wolf form, she realized she could now retain her human mind regardless of which side of the transformation she was on. Planeswalking back to Innistrad, she also discovered she could now transform at will in both directions. She would become a protector of other werewolves in a new Innistrad plagued by a rampaging Avacyn and a Church of Avacyn hell-bent on a new inquisition. Becoming a prominent figure on the plane, she would ally with Thalia and her followers to defeat Emrakul.
Arlinn was also one of many planeswalkers drawn to Ravnica for the War of the Spark, where the dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas trapped planeswalkers from across the multiverse with the Immortal Sun. She would join the fight again his Dreadhorde and chose to remain to join the Gatewatch in defeating Bolas.
She would return to find trouble on Innistrad. Trapping Emrakul in Innistrad’s moon had saved the plane but had caused the day and night cycle to be unbalanced, with night getting longer and longer. The plane was heading towards the Eternal Night, dominated by vampires. Identifying the Dawnheart Coven and their leader Katilda as the allies that could help restore balance, she set out to find them.
The coven had concluded that Emrakul’s presence was affecting the balance of day and night and planned to restart the ancient Harvesttide Festival. They believed that the magic of the festival would re-balance the plane. Katilda instructed Arlinn that the last piece they needed for the festival was the long-lost Moonsilver Key, a sacred vessel that, when combined with the Sungold Lock, would activate the ancient astronomical device known as the Celestus and return the plane to equilibrium.
Arlinn returned to Ravnica, looking to the Gatewatch to aid her in finding the key. The planeswalkers Teferi, Chandra, and Kaya agreed to help in her quest. After extensive searching, their path lead to fellow planeswalker Sorin Markov, who had come into possession of the key. Battling Sorin with the help of the angel Sigarda, Arlinn acquired the key and returned to the Celestus and Katilda, only to find Tovolar and his werewolf pack had attacked the Harvesttide Festival.
After a pitched battle, the werewolves retreated. Katilda, with her Dawnheart witches, attempted to complete the ritual at the center of the Celestus, but they were surprised by the vampire Olivia Voldaren who stole the key and fled. Olivia needed the key in addition to marrying the vampire Edgar Markov to enact magic that would allow her to control the angels on Innistrad.
Arlinn, along with her Gatewath allies, would enlist the help of Sorin Markov to interrupt the wedding, defeat Olivia and Edgar, and retrieve the Moonsilver Key. Quickly returning once again to the Celestus, they finally completed the ritual and restored balance.
Prior to leaving the plane, Teferi would warn Arlinn to be alert and on guard, for he believed the Phyrexians were still a threat. Following the Phyrexian’s second invasion of Dominaria, Arlinn and Sorin began to arrange for the defense of the plane against a similar invasion.
PLANESWALKER & LEGENDARY CARDS
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