Vaevictis Asmadi
Vaevictis Asmadi was a large, powerful, and aggressive Elder Dragon. He had a characteristic fierce crest.
Vaevictis Asmadi was a large, powerful, and aggressive Elder Dragon. He had a characteristic fierce crest.
Vaevictis is sometimes described as a rampaging monster, but he is also called “the Serpent’s Tongue,” and tales are told of his subtle deceptions and twisted layers of deceit.
History
Youth
Vaevictis was spawned during the Birth of the Elder Dragons, in the second egg-fall by the Ur-Dragon on the plane of Dominaria. With his marauding sibling gang, he furiously guarded a territory they claimed for their hunting grounds. Because the humans in their territory evolved into dragon hunters after several years only three of Vaevictis' siblings were still alive: Rubra, Ravus and Lividus. At least four descendants had been killed, their skulls decorating the houses of the humans.
Elder Dragon War
The Elder Dragon War started when seven descendants of Vaevictis raided the lands of Nicol Bolas. After defeating them with his army, using tactics previously employed by his dragon hunter subjects, Bolas was confronted by Vaevictis and his three siblings. Although Rubra was killed by a poisoned arrow, Bolas' army suffered a shattering defeat and had to retreat into the mountains. There, they were again confronted by Ravus and Lividus. Now, the sorcerers of Bolas' army managed to kill Ravus. Bolas himself overpowered Lividus' mind and turned him against Vaevictis. This was enough to escape.
Vaevictis survived the Elder Dragon War along with his cousins Palladia-Mors, Chromium Rhuell, Nicol Bolas, Ugin and Arcades Sabboth.
Faralyn's spell
Much later Vaevictis Asmadi was transformed into a dragon whelp by the planeswalker Faralyn. He then found a human called Red Donald whose control he pretended to be under. He was manipulating the man to get to Mors Ridge and to start digging canals to undo the tickery magic that held Palladia-Mors there under a sleep spell. When his cousin was released, Vaevictus convinced her to return him to his previous state as an elder dragon after retrieving a black mana battery for her, and thus the Battle at Mors Ridge had begun.
Death
During the battle, Vaevictis fought Chromium Rhuell, who had been the one to put the sleep spell on Palladia-Mors. It took a while, but Chromium managed to get him to understand that Palladia-Mors wanted to use Vaevictus to kill Chromium, leaving him in a weakened state himself to be easily killed later. So he attacked Palladia-Mors; in the fight, Palladia-Mors reversed one of his spells, and he disappeared into nowhere. Nicol Bolas confirmed his death in a personal reflection during the War of the Spark.
Legacy
Vaevictis Asmadi is said to be the ancestor of the Shivan dragons.
Gallery
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Card art in Legends. -
Vaevictis in the comics.
Trivia
- Vaevictis' name comes from the Latin quote "Vae victis", reportedly said by the Gaul Brennus during the sack of Rome, which means "woe to the vanquished". "Asmadi" does not have a direct translation, but the Latin "asma" is for a lyrical song with "-ti" or "-te" a suffix for possessive, resulting in something along the lines of "hymn of/to the woeful vanquished".