Teferi's History
Teferi is an ancient being who has seen many things. He is a philosopher and scientist. He eschews violence and will attempt to deal with opposition via the control of its allies and the eventual removal of its power-base. He is a chronarch, a wizard who can manipulate the flow of time. This profile deals with only his Post-Mending history. Anything before the Mending is covered
here.
Having lost his spark during the Mending, Teferi was lost. While trying to find a new purpose for his life, Teferi met the caravan drover Subira. She had a wit as sharp as Talruum crystal, and twice as lethal if she chose to turn it on you. When he met her, she thought he was a murderer for phasing out Zhalfir. Once he convinced her he didn't casually kill people, they got along great. Teferi decided to travel with the caravan for a week, and that week became a month, and that month was the happiest month of his entire life. They were wed soon after that and had many simple, happy years together. They left the caravan and settled down long enough to have their daughter Niambi. However, Subira's heart belonged to the road most of all, and she returned to the caravan when Niambi was very young. She visited as often as she could, but Teferi was the one who raised their daughter.
Sixty years after the Mending, Niambi is an adult and Subira had passed away of old age. At this time he discovered that his friend
Urza had left behind a series of devices and magical artifacts that could be of help in repairing the Zhalfirin time rift. With help from his daughter, the Weatherlight crew and the Gatewatch, he retrievesdone of these artifacts, a delicate dark crystal orb nestled in a cage of silver vines, from a monument in the Tivan Desert. After this, Teferi joined Jhoira's crew to fight Belzenlok.
Unbeknownst to Teferi, Jhoira wore an amulet around her neck, which contained a small Powerstone which held Teferi's Planeswalker spark. She has made this stone herself at the Thran Mana Rig. After several other planeswalkers unexpectedly showed up, Jhoira finally found the right moment to hand it over to Teferi. After he became a Planeswalker again, he joined the Gatewatch to fight
Nicol Bolas.
Teferi traveled with the Gatewatch to Ravnica for the final confrontation with Bolas, and immediately became trapped there due to Bolas's use of the Immortal Sun. Alongside many other planeswalkers and Ravnicans, he fought against the Eternals of Bolas' Dreadhorde.
At the start of the conflict, Teferi slowed down the time around the Planar Bridge, thus greatly delaying the advance of Bolas' army. He also used his time manipulation abilities to save many planeswalkers and Ravnicans from the Eternals. According to
Jace, he may have saved more lives than anyone else that day.
During the invasion, the trapped planeswalkers got together with Ravnican leaders to strategize. At Jace's recommendation, they decided to split up into teams to focus on specific tasks. Jace, Jaya, Teferi, and
Vivien volunteered to assassinate
Liliana. When they found her, Teferi warped time around her, slowing her ability to react, defend herself, or strike back at her attackers. This allowed Jaya and Vivien to badly wound her with fire, arrows, and animal spirits, although the Onakke spirits in Liliana's Chain Veil protected her. Nonetheless, they almost succeeded, but Bolas stepped in and saved Liliana by destroying the buildings they were standing on. Fortunately, Teferi saved himself and the other three planeswalkers by slowing their falls.
Teferi survived the battle and was present during the Planewide Celebration that followed.
Teferi participated in the memorial service for
Gideon on Theros. Afterwards, Teferi hosted
Karn and
Ajani Goldmane at his daughter Niambi's home in Femeref on Dominaria. There they strategized on how to assist Karn in his plans to help the Mirran Resistance.
After coming to Innistrad for the first time, he joined a group of cathars in the hunt of a "white witch" in the Kessig woods. There he met the dryad planeswalker
Wrenn. While attempting to help her find a new host, a malicious entity assaulted them. Teferi tried to throw the dark beast forward in time, but his magic went awry, trapping him and Wrenn in a time loop. The Dryad taught him a further understanding of metamagic, allowing him to undo his spell, free them and accidently accelerating her new host's growth. Thankful, Wrenn promised to return and help the planeswalker undo the spell he cast long ago on Zhalfir, but only after showing her new host the multiverse.
Arlinn Kord went to Ravnica to ask The Gatewatch for help to find the Moonsilver Key. She found them and explained Innistrad's situation to Teferi,
Kaya and
Chandra. The three planeswalkers agreed to help Arlin and headed to Innistrad to fight the coming of the Eternal night. Together with the cathar Adeline, they decided to go to Thraben to investigate.
After arriving in Thraben, they found the city destroyed and full of zombies, the army Liliana used against
Emrakul. In town, Kaya found a clue to the whereabouts of the Moonsilver Key. The Key should be in the possession of the Betzold family. Arlinn and Adeline knew a Church bishop with that last name. They located bishop Worrin Betzold amid the ruins of a church. The group made its way through the zombies until they reach the bishop. Teferi used his powers to slow down time, thus slowing the undead's advance. Arlinn interrogated the zombie bishop and is given the name Dennick. The group moved to Gavony, where the family had a mansion. In the ruins of the mansion, they found the spirit of Dennick Betzold who told the group the location of the Key. The key had been given by an ancestor of Dennick to
Sorin Markov. At Markov Manor, Teferi and Arlinn waited with Sorin for the vampire to hand over the Key so they could help restore balance to Innistrad. The vampire refused to give the Key. When Arlinn mentioned
Avacyn, Sorin attacked twice with his sword. The second time, Sigarda appeared by answering a prayer made by the group before entering the Manor and stopped Sorin's attack. The angel said that the Key is in Sorin's quarters, and that she would stop the vampire, giving the group a chance to get the Key. Teferi bowed in thanks to the angel and went with the group to get the Key.
The party returned to the Celestus in possession of the Key. At that moment, Tovolar launched his army against the Harvesttide festival, but the witches' magical protections managed to stop the werewolves' advance. Arlinn told Kaya to take the Key to Katilda. At this point, the protections failed, so Teferi cast a powerful spell to delay the sunset and the transformation of the werewolves into their wolf forms. Planeswalkers, witches and cathars began their battle against the invaders to defend the humans. When Teferi's spell wore off, the werewolves complete their transformation, including Arlinn's. During battle the witches begin the ritual. After Tovolar's defeat, he and his army retreat and Arlinn went to the central area of Celestus. There, Katilda asked Arlinn for help to finish the ritual, but Olivia Voldaren appeared, interrupting and taking the Key away with her. Thus, the Eternal Night began.
After the Harvesttide festival ritual failed, Teferi, along with a group of people from Innistrad and Adeline, the planeswalkers Arlinn Kord, Kaya, and Chandra decided to help humans in distress across Innistrad. That is until Arlinn decided to return to Markov Manor and ask Sorin Markov for help. In the crypt of the Manor, the group encountered Sorin who said that Olivia Voldaren had "stolen" his grandfather. They formed a pact with Sorin and travelled together to the wedding of Olivia and Edgar Markov at the Voldaren estate. When they arrived, all but Sorin were forbidden entrance.
Inside the castle, Sorin managed to disrupt the ceremony and attacked Olivia who dropped the Moonsilver Key. From it, Katilda's spirit emerged and freed Sigarda who unleashed a blinding holy aura that shattered windows and broke the manor's wards. Now free to advance, Teferi used his magic to hasten the entry of their foot soldiers and assisted Chandra in burning through the great doors to the manor, granting full entry to their forces. Teferi was later attacked by Edgar Markov, but Sorin intervened and defeated his grandfather who was allowed to live. Emerging victorious and with the Moonsilver Key now secured, Teferi accelerated their journey back to the Celestus to complete the ritual. After the balance between night and day was restored, Katilda allowed Teferi to borrow the key for his temporal studies. Before leaving Innistrad, Teferi asked Arlinn to be on guard against the return of an old enemy, the Phyrexians.
Teferi arrived in Oyster Bay during the peace summit taking place between the Keldons and New Benalia, revealing the New Phyrexian incursions on Kamigawa and Kaldheim. After Phyrexian sleeper agents disrupted the negotiations, Teferi fled with Jodah, Karn, Jaya, and Stenn to the watchtower of New Argive. While attempting to secure the tower, Teferi was gravely injured. The Phyrexians were discovered to be more numerous than initially thought, and Stenn revealed himself to be a Phyrexian agent who was soon killed by Karn and Jaya. With the Phyrexians closing in, Karn called the Weatherlight for aid. After being pulled to safety, Teferi was healed by Rafwyn Capashen and spent the next few days recuperating on the Mana Rig with Jhoira and Karn, helping to recruit allies from the Shivan Nation. After recovering, he served as the New Coalition's general and quartermaster, and fought in the Battle of the Mana Rig. He contributed his memories to one of Jaya's memorial pyramids after the battle.
