Ravnica was a much better plane to do one's recovering on. For one thing, it was still intact (or, well, as intact as any plane could be that housed the Izzet, the Rakdos, the Gruul, and the Simic), which meant that they were no longer lacking in the creature comforts that a disaster-struck plane simply couldn't provide. Liliana had left Gared with a truly obscene amount of money and told him to start overseeing the repairs to the structure of Vess Manor as soon as he could find enough surviving competent craftspeople to handle them.

They had gotten some news in the intervening time; Olivia Voldaren lived and had proclaimed herself Lord of Innistrad. No one knew what had happened to Sorin, but he hadn't shown up and beheaded her with his claws for the audacity, so it was possible that the previous Lord of Innistrad hadn't survived the battle. Liliana privately assumed he'd Planeswalked elsewhere when the fighting had gotten to be too much, but Olivia certainly wasn't telling--not that Liliana had gone to confer with her 'friend' in person. Runo had also survived, or so the gossip said, though much of the Stromkirk line had been twisted by Emrakul's corruption. Piotr had been one so corrupted, and 'put down' by Thalia and her cathars in the new 'Order of Saint Traft,' whatever that was. Kristoff was said to have survived, though the same could not be said of most of his grandchildren, all of whom had been human and thus, easy prey. The Falkanraths had been similarly twisted, and rumors said there were barely a third of them remaining. The Markovs had, of course, been mostly slaughtered in their home (though Liliana now had an idea of what happened there), and while Olivia had declared herself the victor of the battle with Nahiri the Lithomancer and her army of Eldrazi spawn, a large percentage of her line had died on the battlefield as well.

It was truly a fascinating time in vampire politics right now, and if it didn't involve being on a plane where privation was a fact of life for even the most rich and powerful, Liliana would be gleefully watching as they all fought and scrabbled for power, probably with popcorn.

But since Innistrad was in such a pathetic state, they had decamped to Ravnica for a bit, where they could enjoy peace, plenty, and the pleasures of civilization. Liliana had merely had to mention the quality of healthcare she might receive at the Clinic to immediately convince Ignis that Ravnica was a much congenial locale for her recovery. And so it had been; in fact, they were even taking a stroll along the Transguild Promenade from the South Plaza towards the Gateway Plaza, where the Hall of the Guildpact - and, according to her spirit spies, the 'Headquarters of the Gatewatch' - were located.

What a crazy random happenstance.

[NFB for distance and for the paramour, please]

After leaving the cathedral, Jace had Planeswalked away, babbling about the Gatewatch, the group he'd formed with three other Planeswalkers while defeating two Eldrazi Titans on a plane named Zendikar. He promised to return by morning and with the six of them together, they stood a chance of defeating Emrakul. It would have been better with seven, but Sorin had vanished. The vampire had made clear he had other priorities and they would receive no help from that quarter. Sigarda also departed; she had promised her assistance to Thalia, protecting the innocent from the madness overtaking all of Innistrad.

But nowhere was it worse than right here in Thraben. The misshapen werewolves and other creatures that had been rampaging through the countryside had been caused by the barest touch of Emrakul's influence on the plane, what little had been able to permeate past the barrier that had been Avacyn. Now that the great Titan was here, her full corrupting effect had been unleashed onto the populace and the High City had transformed into a nightmare. Tamiyo and Ignis had caught a few hours sleep in the cellar of the cathedral, exhausted by the battle against the maddened angel and her twisted abomination of a sister. But as they made their way to the outskirts of the city to the planned meeting point, they learned the extent of the horrific changes the Titan of Corruption had wrought as she'd made her way from Nephalia to Gavony, slow but relentless.

( Initial Plans )

***
"Look at it, Gared. Pretty, in a way. Your world is ending." Liliana watched as Thraben burned and tentacles reached down from the storms to rake the earth below. The sky swarmed with angels, and the ground beneath the titan just swarmed. From this distance, she could make out only the movement, an unending, writhing mass of creatures, pressing as close to the source of the world's end as they could.

"Yes, mistress. S'what it does around here, mostly." The geistmage's apprentice, with his bulging eye, looked forlornly down at the chaos.

"Ah, there they are. See the fire and the flashes of light? Jace must have gone to fetch his little friends. Looks like they're headed straight toward the center of it all." Because of course they were. And she had no doubt Ignis was right there with them.

Gared tilted his head, an interesting effect atop his already asymmetrical body. "Yes, mistress. I couldn't help but notice, you've raised this lovely little army to help, but we're staying up here, and the others are down there."

There was nothing little about her army. Undead spread out behind her nearly to the horizon. "Hmm. I suppose that's true. Well then, shall we go make an entrance?"

***
( Rarely Survive Contact With The Enemy )

[Mulched, composted, and grown from "Battle of Thraben" by Nik Davidson. Finally, Liliana gets to march an army of zombies on Thraben. Enrichment for necromancers. Played with the peerless chef_chocobo. NFI, NFB, follows this.]

The three fiends cowered before the angel like a stain on the cathedral floor. They averted their eyes, unworthy of her sight.

She knew they were not of this world, but, more importantly, she knew they bled. She could feel their heartbeats under their throats, at the tip of her spear. One more gentle thrust and she would unmask these demonic creatures, send them into the oblivion they deserve, and cleanse the world of them.

( She was Avacyn. She was made to protect. )

[Cut up, turned into paper dolls, and then laboriously stitched back together from "I Am Avacyn," by Doug Beyer. Masterfully played with the wonderful chef_chocobro, who deserves all love and praise. NFI, NFB, OOC is wonderful. Warning for body horror and obviously for length, but y'all knew that already. Directly follows this, next post is here.]

Jace had left, marching out into the storm. He hadn't gotten out of the gates before he'd turned back around, meek and apologetic, to be let into the manor once more and put to bed. This morning, he, still wild-eyed, and Ignis, still annoyed but determined, had left for the High City of Thraben.

She hadn't wanted Ignis to go back out in this weather, or to accompany a mad telepath to confront an insane angel, but she couldn't deny that his absence from Vess Manor was useful. Today, they were undertaking the riskiest experiment yet; the overlap of the storm and his absence too useful to ignore.

Liliana could almost see her reflection in the spectral-glass vessels where the wires led, and in the latticework of the witchbane orb on the windowsill, and in the conductive tubes that led out the window and up onto the roof. The etchings in her face were just visible through the Veil, once more covering her face. The lines in her skin matched the menacing light of the storm clouds outside. Lightning flickered appropriately.

Two demons still needed to die. But she had to make sure she wouldn't die herself when she managed to face them. The Chain Veil was a potent weapon, but potentially deadly to its wielder. If this worked, she could use the Veil safely. She could keep the artifact's power where it belonged - in her hands - without having to deal with the agenda of the millions of souls that made the Veil their final resting place.

And she could rid the Multiverse of her demonic creditors once and for all.

"Are we ready?" Liliana asked.

( What could possibly go wrong? )

***
( And elsewhere in Innistrad... )

Just as soon as Sorin's pet angel, Avacyn, was dead.

[Liliana's section adapted from "Innistrad's Last Hope" by Doug Beyer, while Nahiri's is spliced, diced, and stitched back together from "Stone and Blood" by Kelly Digges and "Emrakul Rises" by Kimberly J. Kreines. Previous post here; next post here. NFB, NFI, OOC is wonderful, as are Liliana's choices when left alone. Warning for (as always) for length.]

While Ignis and Jace followed the trail of odd stone outcroppings, people all over Innistrad were dealing with the madness infecting the plane - and sometimes giving into it themselves.



It was time. Time to pray.

Dear Archangel Avacyn. Mother told me that if I get scared, I should pray. I'm scared now.

( Maeli cowered, alone )

[Adapted with some minor, if important, edits from "Emrakul Rises" by Kimberly J. Kreines. NFB, NFI, Maeli's saga starts here, continues here, and ends...here.]