Marit Lage

Template:Character Marit Lage was a powerful being comparable to a demi-god with a kraken-like figure who came to be imprisonned 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 was. It's implied that she wreaked havoc on Dominaria at some point ("lifetimes" before the Ice Age), and it's clear that she had a human following (Acolytes of Marit-Lage and Brine Shamans) even long after her disappearance. During the Ice Age, she was frozen in the heart of a glacier. It is unknown whether she survived and what happened to her or her body once the Ice Age ended.

Influence

Marit Lage might be seen as a precursor to the Eldrazi creatures from Zendikar. She is a Lovecraftian inspired cosmic horror, with a Kraken-like shape reminiscent of the tentacled-being associated with the Cthulhu mytho, who ends up slumbering in a large body of water while human whorshippers waits for her return. In Wrath of Marit Lage she is quoted as "Dread Marit Lage lies dreaming, not dead", a direct reference to Lovecraft's famous line "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", which roughly translates to "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." While Marit Lage has been confirmed to not being a Eldrazi, she obviously has many similarity with them (like the ability to move between the plane while not being a planeswalker, becoming dormant and developing a cult dedicated to awakening them, etc.) simply because they were inspired by the same source.

In-game references

Represented in cards:

• Marit Lage

Depicted in the cards:

• Dark Depths

Associated cards:

• Curse of Marit Lage
• Dehydration (8th Edition)
• Wrath of Marit Lage

Quoted or referred to:

• Brine Shaman