Is Jander Sunstar about to get a Magic Card?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

If your nerdy Venn diagram doesn't have overlap with Magic: The Gathering, this might not be meaningful in any way.... you have been warned. To catch people up, despite the two games being owned by the same company for decades now, Magic released their first crossover set with D&D last summer, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, and FR mainstays like Drizzt and Mordenkainen got their own cards in the game. (There had been several books going the opposite direction, with Magic IP being the source for D&D setting books, but this is the first time it went this way.) Now, in a few weeks, there's another set coming, Commander Legends - Battle for Baldur's Gate, also set in FR. (don't worry about what Commander Legends means, it would take to long to explain, and isn't relevant here.)

Anyway, the head designer of Magic runs a blog on tumblr, and gives some teasers for the upcoming set there a few weeks before any cards are revealed. He just released his teaser for the Baldur's Gate set, and one thing that's in it is a card with the type line:
"Legendary Creature – Vampire Elf Rogue"

(note: in Magic-ese, a "Legendary" Creature is a singular individual, with a name, like Volo or Tiamat. Creatures that aren't legendary are generic examples of their species, like White Dragon or Mind Flayer)

Could it be our golden boy, Jander? He did get his start on Faerun, after all. I don't know FR lore well enough to know if there's an obvious other option, so I might be getting my hopes up for nothing, but here's hoping!

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Jander did get his start in the Forgotten Realms, but wasn't he always a Fighter, rather than a Rogue?

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Aren't there hundreds of copies of Jander now for some reason?

He was a major NPC in "Descent into Avernus" wasn't he?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Jander did get his start in the Forgotten Realms, but wasn't he always a Fighter, rather than a Rogue?

Hrmm... true. That would make him a "Warrior" in Magic parlance.

Aren't there hundreds of copies of Jander now for some reason?
He was a major NPC in "Descent into Avernus" wasn't he?

Yes, that was the retcon explanation for his appearance there. Though my understanding was that he was more of a cameo encounter than a major NPC, but I haven't read that adventure, so I may be wrong.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Aren't there hundreds of copies of Jander now for some reason?
He was a major NPC in "Descent into Avernus" wasn't he?

Yes, that was the retcon explanation for his appearance there. Though my understanding was that he was more of a cameo encounter than a major NPC, but I haven't read that adventure, so I may be wrong.
[/quote]
Yes he was simply a cameo found crucified on a tree.

[alhoon]

Jander?! Was crucified in hell?! By whom? How he got there?
Anyway, that said, on topic: I want to hope that card is Jander. I don't play magic, but I do like Jander.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Jander?! Was crucified in hell?! By whom? How he got there?

Taken from forgottenrealms.fandom.com as have been written in 5th edition Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus and Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft.

Certain Faerûnian sages claimed that the Mists of the realm blocked the sun's glare from destroying Jander and he awoke in the area of the Demiplane known as Forlorn. He later became a vampire hunter by trade, sharing the hatred he still had for Strahd to all of his unwanted kin and if he ever returned to Toril, he would likely perform exactly the same service.

The Hellriders

Later, Jander returned to Toril* and rejoined the Hellriders as a volunteer.

Fiends roamed the Fields of the Dead north and west of Elturel, stripping fields bare, slaying livestock, burning houses, and dragging folk away to an unknown yet horrible doom. As people lived in fear, Elturel's cavalry fought the fiends, riding wherever they must and enduring great casualties, but the fiends kept appearing in greater number. The High Rider of Elturel implored the people to pray to the gods for help. Surprisingly, help came—the rogue angel Zariel (desiring to destroy devils and demons and to have a mortal army to fight for her in the Blood War) came to Elturel the next day, declaring she'd found the gate in the Fields of the Dead west of Elturel through which the devils were pouring, and that she would lead the cavalry through to defeat them where they mustered. She rallied and trained an army of thousands, among them Yael, Haruman, Olanthius, and Jander Sunstar. One early battle was to relieve Idyllglen from attack by Yeenoghu, gnolls, and demons.When she thought them ready, in the Year of the Bow, 1354 DR, Zariel, riding her golden mastodon, led them out of the city, with the cheers and good wishes of the Elturians behind them, and embarked on what came to be known as the Ride, a glorious mounted charge through the gate into Avernus. Courageously, they battled the infernal legions of Bel, but the horrors of the Hells became too much for some. Jander and others turned and ran, sealing the portal and trapping the majority behind them. Though they were glorified as the Hellriders, they shamefully kept the secret of their escape and abandonment of the others, telling instead that Zariel and her army had been defeated and they were grief-stricken. But they would be the lucky ones. Those still fighting through Hell grew twisted; Haruman crucified deserters on Coward's Way. The army was ultimately wiped out. Finally captured, Zariel swore fealty to Asmodeus, and vengeance on those who'd fled her and later transformed into an archdevil. The rest in Avernus were ultimately entombed in the Crypt of the Hellriders, their souls bound by oath to Zariel and haunting the place forever after as ghosts.

After spending years filled with shame and agony for his decision, Jander once again decided to end his existence by facing the sun, pleading for Lathander's mercy. However, he was again denied release and was instead condemned to become a prisoner back in Avernus, there to be held captive by Haruman, one of only two generals who had never left Zariel's side and had been later turned into a narzugon. Jander was crucified and impaled on an iron tree at Haruman's Hill, while his body was kept functioning by the work of stirges that injected him with the blood of other companions who had met the same fate.

By the Year of Three Ships Sailing, 1492 DR, Jander pleaded with any passersby to cut him down and release him from his torment, so his cursed soul might move on elsewhere.

However, this was probably a clone, as a machine split Jander into multiple copies and scattered them across the multiverse, with one still dwelling in the Domains of Dread.

*J's return to Toril sounds so casual... (bad inspiration as is the cloning story and his daughter... but there is an image)

[alhoon]

See? That's how you deal with pesky vampire enemies. You have striges feed them the blood of their allies and your other enemies, you don't just entomb them like Disilnya.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

See? That's how you deal with pesky vampire enemies. You have striges feed them the blood of their allies and your other enemies, you don't just entomb them like Disilnya.

I actually like Dilisnya's entombment, I also believe that although it is not as impressive as being crucified on a metal tree and having large mosquitos feeding you the blood of your allies (if you are a good aligned vampire...) it is a better torture as the Hunger rips the entombed vampire apart.

Also Jander is CN so although he might be "distressed" of being forced fed he may have thought this was somehow justified for what he did to his former allies (leaving them behind in the battlefield and entrapping them in Avernus, because he panicked)

The weird crucifixion sounuds too high fantasy for my taste, but then again this is Avernus, one of the layers of Baator (Hell).

[tomokaicho]

In my headcanon, Jander was destroyed by the sun and was redeemed by Lathander.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

Mine is the same as in Children of the Night: Vampires I like the vampire vampire-hunter idea similar to Blade or Quinlan and the Sun Hunters from The Strain. He is after all a nosferatu vampire so he can actually move during daylight hours although his powers are limited and he is weakened. I really don't like the cloning story from VRGtR it is as if they wanted to excuse the reason he appeared in Avernus but also use him in Ravenloft. As I have said before the so called dhampir daughter he has in VRGtR (shown in an illustration) is non canon for me. To me dhampirs are really rare usually the spawn of Duke Gundar as Medraut or the offspring of male vampires using the Mimic Mortal spell from Forbidden Lore: Nova Arcanum.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

alas... it is not meant to be. Maybe for the best, I suppose.

[tomokaicho]

alas... it is not meant to be. Maybe for the best, I suppose.

It is for the best. Doesn't mean that we can't appropriate this Astarion fellow for our own purposes. He's decadent, huh? An associate of Francois de Penible, perhaps?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

It is for the best. Doesn't mean that we can't appropriate this Astarion fellow for our own purposes. He's decadent, huh? An associate of Francois de Penible, perhaps?

If you're so inclined, here's more about him:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Astarion

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Well, it's not Jander, but "we" did end up getting a shout out in the set, on at least one card:


But I'm not about to jump up and down about it. It's pretty uninspiring, from a name as bland as it gets, to mechanics that don't really have much to do with the setting in any way, and not even a scrap of flavor text to tie it together. The art's pretty enough, but that could be any castle anywhere. It's not even clear to me whether they are using Ravenloft here to mean the castle or the setting. (A shadowed silhouette of Strahd peeking from the tower in the distance might have been nice.) The card could have been named just about anything else, but I guess thanks for throwing us a bone? It's not going to be a Magic powerhouse, so I may just drop the 35 cents and pick one up next time I order cards because hey, it says "Ravenloft" on it, but I'm not nearly as excited as if my initial Jander speculation had proved true.

ETA: oh, and there's this one too, I suppose....