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Teysa Karlov

Magic: The Gathering

Teysa Karlov is the Matriarch of the Karlov family, current guildmaster of the Orzhov Syndicate, and the wealthiest individual on Ravnica. She was assassinated around 10,080 ZC as part of a Ravnican crime wave.

Teysa Karlov is the Matriarch of the Karlov family, current guildmaster of the Orzhov Syndicate, and the wealthiest individual on Ravnica. She was assassinated around 10,080 ZC as part of a Ravnican crime wave. She returned as a spirit after the case was resolved to once again lead the Orzhov.

Description

In life, Teysa was a smart and savvy Orzhov lawmage and always had been very ambitious, becoming the wealthiest person on Ravnica by far. She lived to be more than one hundred years old and walked with a cane because of her leg. Though she made an effort to appear fit, walking became increasingly difficult for her as she aged. She wears a small silvery labret piercing that hangs down to her chin and another piercing above her left eyebrow.

Unlike many Ravnican ghosts, Teysa's spiritual form does not feature the wound that killed her. She still carries a cane out of habit.

History

Advokist

The scion of one of the most respected Orzhov families, House Karlov, Teysa was employed as a notable "advokist", or lawmage, with a name and reputation that preceded her until she was made a baroness of the Utvara Reclamation Zone. There, Teysa came into contact with Zomaj Hauc, who had schemes to control Ravnica; but, with an assembled force of warriors recruited from various sources, including the Ravnican guilds, as well as her wealth of experience, arcane knowledge, and magic that allowed her to control a dragon, she was influential in stopping Hauc and, in return, gained her the respect of the inhabitants of the area and consolidated her power and authority.

Later on, Karlov was called upon by Feather as her advokist and entangled in the nephilim attacks and the events surrounding the disappearance and subsequent return of the Parhelion.

Grand envoy

After the breaking of the Guildpact and the Decamillennial, Teysa was intimately involved in the drafting of a new, non-magical Guildpact for the peace, order, and good government and relations of Ravnica and has been made the first and only Grand Envoy of the Orzhov Syndicate, thereby becoming the official speaker and ambassador for the guildmaster, the Obzedat.

Staging a coup

Not satisfied with that position, she conspired with the Boros knight Tajic to remove the Obzedat from power. Tricking the Living Guildpact in providing her with the means to enter the Obzedat's Chamber, she almost retrieved the final evidence of the financial corruption of the Obzedat. In the end, she was foiled by her ghostly grandfather and stripped of her office of advokist and grand envoy by the Ghost Council.

Awaiting her time

Teysa remained in prison for a long time, because the Ghost Council was extorting corrupt officials to make sure they kept her locked away. At the same time, she was magically kept alive to prevent her from becoming a ghost. Thanks to the efforts of her apprentice, Tomik Vrona, she had been able to keep abreast of the events in the outside world. Sent by their mutual friend, Nicol Bolas, the planeswalker Kaya came to free Teysa, but Teysa insisted that their involvement should stay hidden. As Ral Zarek, Hekara and Vraska staged an invasion of rot zombies as a distraction, Kaya infiltrated the catacombs and killed Grandfather Karlov and all other members of the Obzedat. Through a loophole in the Orzhov rules, Kaya immediately became the new leader of the guild. With the ascension of Kaya as head of the Orzhov Syndicate, Teysa was reinstated as the most powerful oligarch of the guild (second only to Kaya herself). She patiently awaited further events.

Staging another coup

Kaya and Teysa attended the guild summit on behalf of the Syndicate and witnessed its dissolution after the murder of Isperia. Despite Teysa's warning against it, Kaya later freed many people from the debts they owed the guild, particularly the bound ghosts. This quickly led to unrest among the hierarchs, as it eroded the foundation of the Orzhov guild. Kaya was almost killed by one of her priests who called her a traitor. As Kaya returned to Orzhova, she found that the hierarchs had pressured Teysa to arrest her. But Tomik Vrona felt that Teysa was making a mistake, and helped Kaya to force the hierarchs to comply with her will. Teysa was then arrested.

Matriarch

After the War of the Spark, the new Living Guildpact assigned Kaya the task of assassinating Liliana Vess. This cleared the way for Teysa to take the reigns as Matriarch of Orzhov's leading oligarch family. Joining up with the Dimir guildmaster Lazav to gain the ultimate power, she managed to play her competitors, the members of the Triumvirate, and put them out against each other. While Kaya stayed as the nominal leader, and Tomik Vrona managed the guild daily, Teysa was content to be the power behind the curtain.

Phyrexian Invasion

Teysa fought in defense of Ravnica during New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse. Using the spirits of Ravnicans who died before being fully Compleated, she learned the Phyrexian language. Teysa began communicating with the Phyrexian invaders, who saw her as a useful curiosity. Once she was able to reliably communicate with them, she supplied the intelligence she gained about the movements of Phyrexian forces to the resistance, saving countless lives. While Kaya was off-plane during the Invasion, Teysa used an archaic law that charged Kaya with dereliction of duty and claimed the title of guildmaster of the Orzhov.

Murders at Karlov Manor

A year and some months after the invasion, Teysa hosted a party at Karlov Manor to celebrate both Kaya's defense of the plane and the Ravnican Agency of Magicological Investigations's guardianship following the invasion. After Zegana was assassinated at the party, Teysa avoided questioning by the Azorius.

Three days later, Kaya discovered Teysa's body in her Manor, stabbed through the chest with her cane. Beside her was a paper note written in her hand in Phyrexian. Because she warded her soul before her death, she could not be summoned and did not immediately appear as a ghost after her death. Detective Alquist Proft later deduced that Teysa had been killed by a low-level guildless hitman who was under mind control from a plant cultivated by Oba, the central dryad of Trostani. The guild leader was targeted because of her perceived collaboration with the Phyrexians.

Teysa returned as a spirit to assist in Oba's capture. She reappeared at her funeral, thanking Kaya for following the case to its conclusion and retaking control of the Syndicate. She reassured Kaya that, even if Oba could not face legal consequences for her crime, the Orzhov would use the opportunity to fine and charge the Selesnya for all they were worth. Before departing the funeral, she recommended that Kaya leave the plane for some time to prevent any legal confusion around the succession of the guildmaster.

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