Episode three of the Magic: The Gathering Duskmourn: House of Horror story picks up with Niko and the Wanderer conversing with Winter – a Duskmourn native who had just “saved” them from an encounter with a dangerous Razorkin.
Winter starts off by questioning why Niko and the Wanderer came to Duskmourn, to which they explain the situation with the missing Nashi and the rest of their party, and Winter correctly deduces that they arrived via one of the mysterious doors. He also recognizes that the newcomers are powerful heroes, at least back where they come from, however Winter has no faith that their strength will translate to survival within the walls of Duskmourn.
He goes on to explain that the house has been luring in prey with the mysterious doors, and that once inside, the doors disappear, leaving the prey stranded with the horrors within. While the doors are new to the manor’s arsenal, Winter explains that the acts of separating their party members was a common and intentional tactic he’s seen the house use many times before.
“That’s Duskmourn, splitting you from your friends,” said Winter. “It’s one of the House’s favorite tricks. It wants you isolated and afraid. The more frightened you are, the more the House desires you. You must have reached the threshold of fear it needed to start sending razorkin after you, back in the freezer. It knows you’re here now, if it didn’t before.”
Before long, Winter states that they need to move before their saferoom becomes safe no longer. He concludes the conversation with pieces of advice – encouraging the pair to move fast, not linger in open areas, and to not trust anything but their individual “glimmers.” Noticing the visible confusion on his new friend’s faces, Winter points to something behind the Wanderer, and she turns to see a small “golden dragon etched entirely of light, moving in a sinuous curve…” that resembles her beloved Kyodai back on Kamigawa. Winter explains that everyone within Duskmourn has a glimmer that represents what’s left of their hopes and dreams, and that following it would take them along a relatively safe path through the manor. The Wanderer then asks the glimmer to take them to Nashi, and it sets off into the manor with the trio close behind.
At this point, the perspective switches to Kaito, who has finally finished his plunge through the abyss. He slams into the ground, but despite falling for what feels like forever, he gets up with no injuries, which makes him question how much control the house has over perception and what happens inside it.
After collecting himself, Kaito surveys the surrounding area, but can only make out a few trees and a forested floor in the darkness. A moment later, Kaito’s attention is drawn to a shadow above him. He watches again, but this time the shadow produces a jet of flame that sets the forest around him on fire. Now illuminated by the burning trees, the shadow is revealed to be a dragon. Kaito attempts to run, but the dragon notices the movement and sends another burst of flame down directly onto him.
Despite how real it all felt, Kaito emerges untouched and finds himself now standing “in the middle of a smoking, ash-strewn plain…” with dozens of dragons circling overhead. Kaito realizes then that what he is witnessing isn’t real, but rather an event from the past, a “…performance being put on for Kaito’s benefit—or for the House’s.”
As he watches the dragons take turns burning a long-ruined city in the distance, the sound of tearing paper, akin to “…someone slicing through shoji with an improperly cleaned sword, rough and ragged and grating…” grabs his attention. The space around Kaito then begins to distort, the illusion of the field, fire, and dragons dissipating and reforming into an underground room filled with old furniture and boxes.
Gathering his composure, it doesn’t take Kaito long to realize he’s not alone – his keen senses perceiving someone approaching from behind, despite their attempts to remain quiet. Waiting until the last second, Kaito whirls around and throws a devastating punch directly into the face of the approaching man. Stumbling backward with blood pouring from his nose, Jace utters a muffled “Hello to you, too!”
While relieved to find a familiar face and not one of Duskmourn’s horrors, Kaito’s relief is quickly replaced by rage – recalling Jace’s actions during the events on New Phyrexia. Calm as ever, Jace jokingly comments that his nose thankfully isn’t broken, to which Kaito begins to ready another punch, but is interrupted by a loud groaning noise coming from all around them. The pair of planeswalkers then agree to put their fight on hold and deal with the approaching danger first.
Catching up with Zimone and Tyvar, the pair find themselves inside a massive library. While Zimone dances from shelf to shelf gathering all the books she can, Tyvar plays pack-mule – ferrying the literature to a nearby table. Once Zimone dives into reading, she quickly uncovers some of Duskmourn’s history.
She relays to Tyvar that the home was indeed built by humans and has had over a dozen owners. The next book she finds focuses on magic, what she describes as “…the kind of magic that makes Professor [Liliana] Vess recommend you rethink your academic goals.” Zimone states that the magic is “…the sort of thing that could distort space and time if you cast them in the right order,” and remarks that whoever had been studying this magic was very much immersed in their studies, based on the margins filled with annotations and comments. Thinking out-loud, Tyvar wonders if the “bad” magic had something to do with the evolution of the house and Zimone agrees, stating that she’d be surprised if they weren’t heavily intertwined.
Before she can continue reading, a horrible “fleshy ripping sound” alerts the pair and they witness a human yet spider-like creature with six eyes emerge from a distorted hole formed in the bookshelves. It immediately launches itself at Tyvar, lacerating his arms and torso. Before the abomination can go for his throat, Tyvar pries it off and throws it to the ground. Zimone takes the opportunity to move away, but the creature takes notice and begins to move toward her.
Tyvar quickly reacts by grabbing a nearby stone bookend and launches it at the creature’s head. Now prepared for the creature’s attack, Tyvar catches its wrists and slams it to the ground. With the threat now restrained, Tyvar raises a stone-covered foot and plants it straight through the creature’s sternum. Although victorious in the moment, Tyvar’s celebration is short-lived, as the bloody mess on the floor begins to reassemble itself. Assessing the situation, Zimone and Tyvar quickly agree it would be best to retreat and the pair takes off deeper into the library.
Duskmourn: House of Horror is scheduled to release on September 27. View our official preview gallery.
Read the full episode from Wizards of the Coast.
