Okay, I finally got around to addressing some weird bits in 'Time Twists and Destinies Interchange' by Matt Cavotta (see link in OP) and some related cards from
Time Spiral block. In a nutshell, it's not quite obvious to me how the information from the
Time Spiral era lines up with the ending of the
Legends I trilogy, and there is some questionable stuff about Mirri too.
Here is what it says about the future of Jedit and the cat warriors at the end of
Hazezon:
“When Jedit Ojanen’s muzzle was frosted white and his scarred body too stiff for adventuring, he returned to Efrava and a glorious homecoming, say the tales. With expanded horizons, the tiger tribes multiplied, Jedit himself enjoying a dynasty of children and grandchildren. Under his farseeing leadership, all the tiger tribes were reunited. Centuries of feuding ended. Eventually Jedit led the tigers back to the Dark Heart of the Wood, where they uprooted the jungle and rebuilt the Tabernacle of Pendrell Vale in all its gilded splendor. Before he lay down for the last time, Jedit Ojanen saw the talking tigers of the jungle become a mighty empire that took its place among the great peoples of Dominaria.” (pp. 309-310)
Matt Cavotta's story takes place in a dying forest that is never referred to by name, and neither Scarwood nor Efrava are mentioned (except in the name of
Jedit Ojanen of Efrava). For what it's worth, Ethan and Kelly mention in part 5 of the Magic Story Podcast they did for
Dominaria that Efrava doesn't exist anymore. I'm assuming that last bit was established in regards to the flavour text on
Jedit's Dragoons, and said flavour text would line up with the story on the website, but not with the ending of
Hazezon.
Magus of the Tabernacle suggests that
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is decaying again and that it's occupied by a bunch of human wizards instead of cat people.
I'm not saying this whole scenario is completely impossible, but it looks like something must have changed between Jedit's death and the Rift Era. My guess is that the dying forest we see in the story is indeed Efrava and that at least some cat warriors had returned there (or maybe not all of them left in the first place when the others moved back into Scarwood). Since they don't talk about fleeing to Scarwood, and since no cat warriors seem to be left at the Tabernacle, I'd say the cats in Scarwood probably had to flee already, or that something bad happened to them. It's certainly possible that the ending of the novel doesn't tell the whole story as it only gives a summary in broad strokes and refers to it as information from "tales". Let's go through some quotes from the story:
"'These mossy twigs are more forest than your Jedit Ojanen is feline! Why would you follow one who turned from the forest when it
was lush and vibrant? What can his lack of pride do for us now?'"
--> It's a bit odd that there were cat warriors in the Rift Era who'd hold that against Jedit when everything was peachy at the end of
Hazezon, but maybe the cats we see in the story are descendants of cats who didn't follow Jedit and decided to stay in Efrava, or perhaps it's just propaganda from the Rift Era that's used to discourage people from leaving the forest.
“She waves off the small band of dragoons that had been awaiting them. The
mercenaries grumble, then turn and follow the path out of the forest.”
-->
Jedit's Dragoons being referred to as mercenaries makes me wonder whether there's any connection to the Robaran Mercenaries, but I doubt the answer to that question would be helpful...
Then there are some odd tidbits concerning Mirri:
“Days pass, and many of the forest's cats trade word of the arrival of Mirri. Some claim to have seen her, though they do not seem sure of their words. Spirits sink as time passes and none catch even the faintest scent of a new cat. Many begin to wonder
why she would return and not seek out her own kind.”
--> "return" and "her own kind" are the parts that caught my attention here. Does "return" mean return to where she was from originally, or simply return from the past to the present? Likewise, does "her own kind" literally mean her tribe, or does it simply refer to cat warriors in general, as opposed to other peoples and races? I think Mirri could have been from the Efrava/Scarwood region originally for all we know, but as we'll see with the next quote, the cats seem to like telling all kinds of legends about Mirri that tie her to their own tribe.
“None can move as their eyes recognize the form that is unmistakably that of
their most beloved ancestor [Mirri].”
--> I can virtually guarantee you that Mirri never had kids before she died, not least because she was outcast at a very young age due to her mismatched eyes and spent the rest of her life among other races, so she certainly can't have been anyone's ancestor, at least not in any literal sense. I'd say we could easily chalk that up to in-universe tales or misconceptions. Mirri was a famous cat warrior, and whether she was from Efrava or not, the cats surely could have come to tell tales about her that transformed or had new elements added over time.
“As days and weeks pass, the cats begin to seek each other out again. They need each other - for protection from the Mirri-thing, and from
the cats that have risen from their crumpled deaths to follow her.”
--> I'm just mentioning this because it tells us that
Mirri the Cursed actually turned other cat warriors into vampires while she was in the main timeline. I think it's safe to assume that the people from other pasts/presents/futures that ended up in the main timeline didn't stick around there for long, but alternate Mirri making more vampire cats certainly works. Can I request more of those when we return to Dominaria? Pretty please?
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