Liliana Vess (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deathsmajesty) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2024-02-08 01:58 am
deathsmajesty) wrote in fandomhigh2024-02-08 01:58 am
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Necromancers Guide to the Undead, Thursday, Period 1
Today, class met in the Danger Shop, and when they opened the door, they found themselves walking into a small village. The buildings of the village were adorned with the pointed arches and half-timbered houses that students of Earth history might associate with medieval Germany, and the large church at one end of the town featured the stained-glass windows, flying buttresses, ribbed vaults, and spires that any fans of Gothic architecture would recognize at once. Next to the church was a forebidding-looking graveyard, with surrounded by a wrought-iron fence. Around the village were peaceful-looking pastures that gave way to deep, forbidding forests full of a dense fog that glowed chromatic colors of dark green, purple, and gray. Further out in the distance were indigo and black mountains with peaks tall enough to disappear in the clouds. Those with particularly keen eyes might notice a large manor house on the horizon, beyond a sinister-looking swamp, a purple banner blowing in the wind.
"Welcome to Wollebank, a shepherding village located in Stensia, a province on the plane of Innistrad," Liliana said with a large grin. "The other week, we discussed the creation of ghosts and spirits. This week--" finally "--we're getting down to the details, that is, the specific kinds of ghosts and spirits there are. Now, there are, of course, numerous types of ghosts when we look at spirits in aggregate over the various planes of the Multiverse, but Innistrad isbased on Gothic horror tropes especially prone to the creation of undead, both naturally and not." She gestured above her head and the clouds parted, revealing a large moon hanging on the horizon. "Innistrad's moon, often called Heron Moon, dominates life on Innistra. The moon is a vast desert made of pure silver and its cycle drives the seasons, the hunting patterns of the monsters, the strength of various ghosts and spirits, harvests of the humans, the lycanthropic curse, and the vampiric frenzies."
She gestured again, and this time the night sky parted like a curtain at the theater, revealing a roiling, chaotic mass of energies and colors, like the inside of a hurricane made of pure magic. "And this is the Æther, which, for the purposes of this class, will be given the accurate-enough-I-suppose definition of 'the magical and spiritual essence of the plane.' After death, spirits are intended to rise up and rejoin the Æther, becoming part of part of it once again. The humans on this plane refer to this rejoining as 'the Blessed Sleep,' as they don't really have a concept of the Æther unless they are a high-ranking member of the Church, a powerful enough magic user, or a Planeswalker. They believe once they have obtained this Blessed Sleep, their souls will be forever safe from necromancy. This belief is mistaken, as a powerful enough necromancer can reach into the Æther with their will and collect enough of a person's soul to be a reasonable facsimile of the person they were in life, but we generally don't go advertising that, as Innistradi peasants can sometimes be agitated into picking up torches and pitchforks, and dealing with mobs is hardly anyone's idea of a good time."
Was your teacher speaking from experience? Who knew?
"While many planes, departed spirits are inclined to seek out and rejoin the Æther naturally, more often than not, Innistradi spirits cling to the world of the living, unable or unwilling to depart. Many necromancers theorize that it's the moon's influence that keep all but the strongest spirits earthbound, almost like a spiritual tidal lock, but it's a difficult theory to prove without being able to affect the moon." Remember that sentence, class! It was going to turn out to be a helpful example of dramatic irony! "Therefore, one of the responsibilities of the hordes of angels that infest this plane is to escort the willing souls of the departed up to rejoin the Æther. However, even when they're not too sad to do their damn job--" cue much eyerolling from your teacher "--there are plenty of souls that make the transition to ghosts anyway. Most mortals cannot see the various kinds of ghosts and spectres that exist around them, but I've programmed it so that you can."
A snap of her fingers and the clouds rolled back over the sky, obscuring the Æther, once more, and instead of the class standing in an empty landscape, now there were ghosts in a variety of appearances drifting about. "On most planes, spirits primarily draw upon either white mana, for your friendly, helpful types, or black mana, for your inimical, hungry ghosts. Innistrad also sees ghosts that draw upon blue mana, which are more the trickster types, and red mana, that are the bloodthirsty, vengeful types. Today, you're going to explore this section of Stensia and see what you can learn about ghosts and ghost lore."
This was much kinder than Liliana's own early lessons in necromancy, where she had done this exact type of thing, but for real.
"Welcome to Wollebank, a shepherding village located in Stensia, a province on the plane of Innistrad," Liliana said with a large grin. "The other week, we discussed the creation of ghosts and spirits. This week--" finally "--we're getting down to the details, that is, the specific kinds of ghosts and spirits there are. Now, there are, of course, numerous types of ghosts when we look at spirits in aggregate over the various planes of the Multiverse, but Innistrad is
She gestured again, and this time the night sky parted like a curtain at the theater, revealing a roiling, chaotic mass of energies and colors, like the inside of a hurricane made of pure magic. "And this is the Æther, which, for the purposes of this class, will be given the accurate-enough-I-suppose definition of 'the magical and spiritual essence of the plane.' After death, spirits are intended to rise up and rejoin the Æther, becoming part of part of it once again. The humans on this plane refer to this rejoining as 'the Blessed Sleep,' as they don't really have a concept of the Æther unless they are a high-ranking member of the Church, a powerful enough magic user, or a Planeswalker. They believe once they have obtained this Blessed Sleep, their souls will be forever safe from necromancy. This belief is mistaken, as a powerful enough necromancer can reach into the Æther with their will and collect enough of a person's soul to be a reasonable facsimile of the person they were in life, but we generally don't go advertising that, as Innistradi peasants can sometimes be agitated into picking up torches and pitchforks, and dealing with mobs is hardly anyone's idea of a good time."
Was your teacher speaking from experience? Who knew?
"While many planes, departed spirits are inclined to seek out and rejoin the Æther naturally, more often than not, Innistradi spirits cling to the world of the living, unable or unwilling to depart. Many necromancers theorize that it's the moon's influence that keep all but the strongest spirits earthbound, almost like a spiritual tidal lock, but it's a difficult theory to prove without being able to affect the moon." Remember that sentence, class! It was going to turn out to be a helpful example of dramatic irony! "Therefore, one of the responsibilities of the hordes of angels that infest this plane is to escort the willing souls of the departed up to rejoin the Æther. However, even when they're not too sad to do their damn job--" cue much eyerolling from your teacher "--there are plenty of souls that make the transition to ghosts anyway. Most mortals cannot see the various kinds of ghosts and spectres that exist around them, but I've programmed it so that you can."
A snap of her fingers and the clouds rolled back over the sky, obscuring the Æther, once more, and instead of the class standing in an empty landscape, now there were ghosts in a variety of appearances drifting about. "On most planes, spirits primarily draw upon either white mana, for your friendly, helpful types, or black mana, for your inimical, hungry ghosts. Innistrad also sees ghosts that draw upon blue mana, which are more the trickster types, and red mana, that are the bloodthirsty, vengeful types. Today, you're going to explore this section of Stensia and see what you can learn about ghosts and ghost lore."
This was much kinder than Liliana's own early lessons in necromancy, where she had done this exact type of thing, but for real.
Sign in 02/08
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Re: Sign in 02/08
Listen to the Lecture
Handout
Banshees: Spirits of those who died with grudges in their heart.
Bound Spirits: Spirits that manifest various kinds of bindings to symbolize the regrets that keep them anchored to the world.
Drogskol: The original Drogskol were a large militia that fell to a horde of zombies but refused to abandon their post. Now 'Drogskol' can be used to describe any ghost that is created to fulfill a greater responsibility.
Ghosts: Catchall term for spirits of the dead with no otherwise distinguishing features. Some are waiting to be escorted to the Æther by angels, others have deteriorated to the point where they do not remember why they remained.
Location Spirits: Spirits bound to a specific locale, often used to enforce rules or standards of behavior.
Marei: Spirits of the drowned, in most cases sailors or shipwreck victims.
Niblis: Spirits of frost. They often manifest as rags filled with an unholy light that drains the environment of warmth.
Poltergeists: Spirits of wrath that choose destruction of property and belongings rather than harm to people.
Possessing Geists: Spirits that inhabit and puppet various objects. While most are restricted to inanimate objects, some are strong enough to take over animals or even people.
Rusalka: Spirits of those who died a violent or otherwise wrongful death. Their motivation to remain behind varies, with some staying behind to ensure that no other die the death they died, while others reenact their own deaths on unwitting passengers to understand why they died.
Shades: Powerful, shadowy ghosts that can absorb black mana to increase their
power and toughnesshow much harm they can cause to the living.Skathul: Spirits who are consumed by revenge. The ghosts of the unavenged are some of the most dangerous geists on Innistrad, sometimes appearing as living fire or as "blood mist" entities that engulf a hapless victim and inflict cuts and welts that are slow to heal.
Spectres: Spirits whose touch numbs the minds of their victims, robbing them of memories. Most specters are seen riding atop undead flying monsters and many wield pole-arms to better reach their victims.
Wailing Women: Spirits, primarily but not exclusively women, who feel responsible for the death of their children. Some simply bewail their loss, some act as guardians for children, some are dangerous to living children.
White Ladies: Spirits, primarily but not exclusively women, whose deaths can be directly traced back to betrayals by a romantic partner or suffering from unrequited love.
Wisps: Spirits that appear as floating lights to lead travelers astray. Most are only mischievous, though some look to lead their victims to their deaths.
Wraith: Apparitions that are supposed to portend the death of their beholder, often wearing a hooded cloak that partially obscures their face.
Re: Handout
Re: Handout
Explore
Just wait. Compared to Grixis, this place is a paradise.
Explore: The Village
There is one floating spirit that is dragging chains along with it, heading up the stone steps of the church.
A flying ghost is peering through second story windows, making a sounds. Sometimes they sound like sobs, other times like whispered lullabies.
In one house, there are many loud crashing noises and a the sound of shattering glass.
There's a strangled cry from an alleyway and a man runs out, pursued by small pools of floating flame.
Re: Explore: The Village
That didn't stop him from wanting to help them, or at least comfort them a little. They looked and sounded real enough.
Explore: The Fields
In the fields, a scarecrow stands in the fields, but every time you look away and back, it has moved. It always seems to be watching you.
By a tree is a young woman in a long white veil with a bloody wound at her side. Anytime a male-presenting student goes near, her face crumples into tears and she starts to stumble forward, hands out beseechingly. A gold wedding band glints on her hand.
Overhead, the moonlight is blotted out every so often by a giant bat. As it passes by, a ghostly scythe will swipe down, trying (and failing!) to hit a student.
Re: Explore: The Fields
The bat made him flinch, every time.
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Re: Explore: The Fields
The shivering might take a while to pass.
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Explore: The Moors and Swampland
Abandoning the overgrown road, there's a path that leads between two hills. Passing through, there's a hooded figure in tattered robes, standing in an ever-expanding ring of frost.
In the swamp proper, is a beautiful woman with the remains of a noose around her neck. When she spots a living person, her face contorts with rage and she shrieks, the sound continuing on until you're out of sight.
There is an empty, rotting boat with translucent figures trying to climb up into it.
Explore: The Forest
Inside the forest proper, a glimpse of light could be spotted off in the distance. A lantern, perhaps? A fellow student?
A dark shadow seems to eel out of a tree, moving to block your path and getting bigger and bigger, talons sharper, eyes glowing a more brightly with a sulphureous light.
A hooded figure holding a skull points at you and when the wind pushes the hood back, it has no face.
Aftermath
Talk To Liliana
Re: Talk To Liliana
Re: Talk To Liliana
She wasn't trying to mess with him, but was genuinely trying to figure out which part(s) he meant.
Re: Talk To Liliana
Re: Talk To Liliana
Hard to explain it better than that.
"Less populated places tend to have more spirits than populated ones, even including figuring for population density. The Church of Avacyn is more active where there are more people, and even in places like Stensia and Nephalia, which are vampire territory, there are more necromancers to keep the undead population down, even as their activities often make more spirits. But desolate and lonely places, it's easier for spirits to slip through the cracks, easier for terrible people to do terrible things on a truly terrible scale. You're unlikely to see this number and variety of ghosts all in one place...but it wouldn't be unheard of."
OOC