Liliana Vess Defiant Necromancer

The soratami had already been here longer than she had intended. She had already taken on far too many risks. But this was a world entirely off its axis, and she needed to know why.

Several logical lines of inquiry had proven to be dead ends. Some had been promising, but inconclusive. Her astronomical work was near-definitive, but the cause — the first cause — still eluded her. This was a puzzle box with a thousand panels, a riddle of ten thousand lies. She had never solved anything more challenging than this.

She had also never quit before finishing her work.

( The post in which Ignis (rudely) starts to believe all Planeswalkers have brainworms )

[Taken, put into a blender, and then shaken from "Stories and Endings" by Nik Davidson. Many thanks to chef_chocobro for being an outstanding rockstar who willingly puts up with all of this nonsense, both IC and OOC. Previous post here, next post here. NFB, NFI, OOC is wonderful]

As Ignis went to meet up with Prompto and Gladio, Liliana strolled through the chaotic streets of Thraben, unconcerned for the panic and violence erupting all around her. What was it to her? She was probably the safest person in the city right now; the fires were all confined to the outer ring of the city where the vast majority of the fighting was. Cathars and soldiers took no notice of her as they raced towards the zombie hordes at the gate or struggled to quell the hysteria of the population. The thieves and looters looking to take advantage of the pandemonium were more interested in ducking out of sight as she sauntered by than in harassing her. And the stray zombie that clawed its way out of a tunnel or climbed out of a sewer?

Darling, don't make her laugh.

"Shoo." A whispered word, an idle gesture, and the ghouls bowed to her power, obediently finding someone else to pester.

Sure, she planned to take over the majority of the advanced party of zombies if she ran into this unknown necromancer controlling them, but she wasn't going to waste the on playing tug-of-war with them over a few stragglers. That would play her hand too early, and besides. The Church soldiers should at least be capable killing a single zombie. If they couldn't, the Avacynian Church was in deeper trouble than just their missing angel could fix.

Ah. There was the Cathedral now, its gates open and practically welcoming her inside. Liliana smirked, remembering the angel's - Kelse - insistence from that afternoon - You'll never set foot on this holy ground, death mage! "That interdiction didn't last long, did it?" she asked the air, daintily holding up her skirts as she swept onto the Cathedral's grounds.

( Now to find Mikaeus. )

***
Gisa,

I never should have included you in my venture. You and your maggot bags ruined everything once again. But I forgive you because I met someone special! A most delightful girl by the name of Lili. She was lingering outside the cathedral like a lost little puppy, her long black hair lit by the sparks from the burning city. I most happily agreed to take her under my wing.

Let the world gloat about how I lost Thraben. Let them crow about how the lunarch will dwell happily in eternal rest, snug in the Blessed Sleep. My dear Lili has taken an unusual interest in our now-dead Mikaeus. She promised me that eternity isn't such a long time after all. She must has stepped out for a minute, but I have much to tell her when she returns.

Geralf

***
( 'Stop complaining. You can rest when you're dead--Oops. Sorry.' )
Once again, Liliana strolled through violence and chaos, though this time she was the focus of it, not immune. Priests and cathars and lower ranking soldiers tried to fling themselves at her. She supposed she could have been a little less obvious about having the zombified lunarch following at her heels, but not doing so was a tactical decision, even if she was getting some satisfaction out of it, too. One of the first guards they'd run into had been that obnoxious angel from the front gate, oh the expression on her face when she'd realized who Liliana was and what she'd done. And now she, too, was part of Liliana's ever-growing escort to the Cathedral courtyard. Most of the soldiers she was content with simply raising back up mindless and obedient, but Kelse she had brought back the same way she'd brought Mikaeus.

( Liliana REALLY didn't like angels. )

[NFI, NFB, OOC welcome. I stole many bits and pieces for this bit, including the text of Geralf's letter to Gisa from Preview Article: Mikaeus, the Unhallowed by Jenna Helland, a bunch of different flavor text from various Liliana magic cards, and also translated several of her specific Planeswalker abilities into descriptions because of who I am as a person. Warning for really fuckin' long! Preceded by this post and this post and continues here]