Saheeli's History
Saheeli Rai is a human planeswalker from the the plane of Kaladesh. She is a brilliant inventor who specializes in creating lifelike animated constructs as beautiful as they are deadly.
Saheeli Rai is the daughter of Aarav and Ruby, and the sister of Sheela, Amika, and Sahil. She was the youngest artificer to ever be invited to the Ghirapur Institute of Art and Science.
Saheeli participated in the Inventors' Fair, keeping renegades away from it. When she learned of the work of her friend, the elf Rashmi, and the vedalken Mitul on an aether teleporter that seemed to move objects through the Blind Eternities, she refused to help them, fearing what could happen to Kaladesh if such an invention came into wide usage. After being confronted with a previous statement of hers, that innovation has no boundaries, she acquiesced to lend her aid nonetheless, having an audience with the Enlightened Keeper Padeem, one of the Consuls.
At some point, she was conscripted by Gonti for technological surgery on their aether heart.
After Tezzeret's coup and the confiscation of numerous inventions, and the abduction of some Fair participants, Saheeli joined forces with the Renegades and the newly arrived Gatewatch. She later learned that Tezzeret was hiding in the Aether Spire. Saheeli believed that he, together with Rashmi, was conducting experiments on the planar portal she had invented. Saheeli asked for help to break into the Spire. Liliana volunteered to accompany her. While they didn't reach Tezzeret, the pair discovered that Rashmi had escaped and that her invention had been rebuilt and expanded to allow transport of inanimate objects to and from other planes. They brought her away to the Renegades.
Saheeli later aided the Renegades in their attack on the Consulate's Spire. Working together with Pia Nalaar, she constructed the thopter Hope of Ghirapur to destroy Tezzeret's planar bridge, and together with Chandra, defended the Heart of Kiran from Consulate troops. After Dovin Baan's sabotage was discovered, she modified the thopter to carry Chandra and Gideon. When the pyromancer offered her a place at the side of the Gatewatch, Saheeli declined, stating that there would be much to do in the aftermath of the revolt on Kaladesh.
When Huatli arrived in Ghirapur on her first planeswalk, she was quickly recognized for what she was by Saheeli. The two women shared their experiences, with Saheeli being eager to construct an artificial dinosaur after hearing about them from Huatli for the first time. Sometime later, while splitting time between Dominaria and Ravnica, she began a relationship with Huatli.
Saheeli and Huatli were lured to Ravnica by the Interplanar Beacon, and immediately became trapped there due to Bolas's use of the Immortal Sun. Alongside many other planeswalkers and Ravnicans, she fought against the Eternals of Bolas' Dreadhorde.
During the invasion, the trapped planeswalkers got together with Ravnican leaders to strategize. At the meeting, Dack Fayden flirted with her, though he also considered stealing her jewelry.
At Jace's recommendation, they decided to split up into teams to focus on specific tasks. Chandra, Saheeli, Lavinia, and Lazav were tasked with shutting off the Immortal Sun. Lazav disguised himself as Chandra in the fight against Dovin Baan, using illusions and an Izzet League flamethrower to replicate the effects of her pyromancy. This deception allowed the real Chandra to sneak into Baan's facility and disable the Immortal Sun, allowing many planeswalkers to leave Ravnica. Lazav subsequently defeated Baan, blinding him with throwing stars and causing him to planeswalk away.
Saheeli was one of the few planeswalkers who chose to remain on Ravnica after Chandra disabled the Immortal Sun, helping the Gatewatch in their fight against Bolas. Later, as part of Gideon's plan to kill Nicol Bolas, Chandra reactivated the Immortal Sun to prevent Bolas from planeswalking away. She left Saheeli to guard the artifact. After Bolas' defeat, Saheeli disabled the Immortal Sun for a second time. Unbeknownst to her, Jace had told her to disable the sun to let Ugin planeswalk away with Bolas' body, as well as to let Liliana escape.
Saheeli survived the battle. She appeared to be present during the Planewide Celebration that followed, but it turned out to be Lazav disguised as her, leaving Teyo to wonder what happened to the real Saheeli. His fears were seemingly unfounded, as Saheeli participated in the memorial service for Gideon on Theros later.
Following the catastrophic battle of the Mana Rig, Teferi reached out to Saheeli for her assistance. Saheeli re-created the destroyed Golgothian Sylex in her own style after attending the memorial for Jaya Ballard. Despite this, she could not activate it, leaving Teferi to travel to the first detonation to determine its mechanics.
Together with Teferi and Kaya, Saheeli resolved to find a solution to the Phyrexian problem in the past. To this end, she created the Temporal Anchor which they installed in Urza's Tower. When the powerstone inside the Anchor exploded and left Teferi unconscious inside the Stasis Coffin, Saheeli stayed behind with Jodah to try to save him.
