Marit Lage's History
Marit Lage is a powerful being comparable to a god with a kraken-like figure who came to be imprisoned on Dominaria at some point before the Ice Age. The Argivian scholar Arkol thought Marit Lage was a planeswalker, but he was wrong: she is a being of immense power, able to move across the planes but not by the same means planeswalkers can. Little is known about her life, her fate, or even what exactly she is.
Hungry for worship, Marit Lage pulled herself through the Blind Eternities to Dominaria, where she emerged inside the Ronom Glacier, causing her to become trapped there. For years, all she could do was telepathically whisper into the minds of Dominarians, sparking her cult. To her dismay, she always led her cultists to their deaths and had to continue seeking out new faithful.
Toward the end of the Ice Age, the brine shaman Balash Xev led her cult in Balduvia, where he would anoint them with holy seawater, causing them to mutate into the likeness of Marit Lage. These mutants were barely still humanoid with lots of eyes, teeth, and tendrils, though they still had only a single brain. He was slain by
Jaya Ballard at the end of the Ice Age.
Realizing Xev hadn't died in vain, Jaya decided to seek out and destroy Xev's god. Marit Lage was merely aware of Jaya as she stood atop the glacier that contained her. Jaya made herself known, and Marit Lage gave her full regard, which would have killed her had she not been a planeswalker; instead, Marit Lage's regard nearly drowned her mind. She spoke telepathically to Jaya of her failure and begged her to help free her. Elsewhere,
Freyalise had just cast the World Spell, ending the ice age. Jaya realized she herself wouldn't be able to destroy Marit Lage, so she did the next best thing: She targeted a massive chunk of ice with a spell, exiling it and Marit Lage into the Blind Eternities, which she hoped would kill her.
About 1600 years later and after the end of the War of the Spark, the guildless Hall of the Hospitallers of the Frozen Heart became a threat to Ravnica. Shortly after a rumor started of a comet that would destroy Ravnica, the abbot of the hospital kidnapped
Jace Beleren. He used Jace's telepathic mind as a beacon to lure Marit Lage to Ravnica, fulfilling the prophecy of the comet (which was actually the chunk of ice containing Marit Lage). This scheme was apparently the work of
Tezzeret. Although the abbot was eaten by
Niv-Mizzet, the comet was already on course...
