Liliana Vess

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Player Information
Name: Freya
Age: 31
Contact: doggystyle
Other Characters: Allura (Voltron)

Character Information
Name: Liliana Vess
Canon: Magic: The Gathering
Canon Point: War of the Spark, when breaking her demonic contract as Bolas tries to destroy her
Age: 200+. "...Liliana had known considerable power, power partnered with the wisdom and ruthlessness born from two hundred long years of life..." (Promised End) Appears to be in her late twenties or early thirties.
History: Liliana Vess @ MTG Wiki

Personality: Charismatic, egocentric, witty, and beautiful--Liliana is a force to be reckoned with. Raised in nobility on her home plane of Dominaria, she had always been lose with her physical attentions and cared little for the reputation it gained her. Her speciality is the dark art of necromancy, giving her numerous friends in low places.

Beauty may be only skin deep, for her youth Liliana was willing to pay the ultimate price--her soul. Four times, even. Liliana's brokered deal by the Elder Dragon Nicol Bolas with four demons shows just how far she is willing to go not only to return to her former self, but also to avoid death. So much of Lilina's journey and actions have to do with narrowly side-stepping that ultimatum of death, an ironic twist in how her abilities are aligned with black magic and necromancy. Though she initially studied necromancy as a way to aide her studies as a healer, it ultimately backfired when, instead of saying her beloved and dying brother, she accidentally turned him into a zombie Lich Knight. His promise to have her stare into the void for an eternity with him left a formidable mark on her and began Liliana's journey running from death ever since.

Liliana's desire for power stems from what she once had--before The Mending she was an extremely adept and powerful planeswalker, but once their powers were greatly diminished, she longed for what once was. Her demonic pact returned much of it, but it was never enough. She risks her safety and sanity by not only defying the demons but taking on the Chain Mail and wielding its power, cursing another planeswalker by accident and welcoming numerous ancient spirits into her mind. A mind which is already crowded thanks to the mysterious appearance of the Raven Man, whom she still does not understand. She does her best to shove them aside most of the time to a dull thrum, but Liliana has been known to react violently when overwhelmed.

She is extremely goal-driven and her goals all revolve around one thing: herself. Liliana Vess is, in the end, always looking out for Liliana Vess. She operates under the assumption that everyone else is also just in it for themselves, but she's a little better at playing the game than those around her. She chalks it up to her centuries of experience and also just some inherent belief that she can outsmart even the most formidable opponents. She isn't exactly wrong, either--Liliana has proven to be extremely cunning and equally manipulative, managing to defeat her literal demons with not only her own grit but getting her newfound allies to take on the fight with her. She raises a brow to do-gooders and trusts little, keeping even her allies at an arm's reach. People around her are just rungs on a ladder that will take her as high as she needs. When the Gatewatch first formed, she was the only one to procure separate living accommodations, not wanting to feel indebted to anyone, least of all her former lover, Jace Beleren--another person in her life that she ultimately chose to utilize for her own benefit.

But Liliana isn't immune to feelings of fondness. She is willing to fake friendliness for her own sake, but the members of the Gatewatch are individuals she legitimately cares for, even if she isn't willing to show it. Gideon honest and empathetic with a hero complex--normally the exact opposite of the kind of person she would ever entertain. And while she uses his desire to help others to further help herself, she does start to develop a soft spot for him and affectionately calls him "Beefslab" thanks to his considerable...beefiness. Chandra is headstrong, emotional, and very easy for Liliana to chide into the direction she finds Chandra most advantageous, but her "Big Sister" approach isn't entirely dishonest. Her history with Jace is complicated and nota always positive, but in the end she is always willing to save him from some untimely demise and makes frequent and amusing (to her) jabs at their history together. She does care, in her own Liliana way.

So she does care about others--members of the Gatewatch and about her brother--but it's always weighed against how much Liliana cares about Liliana. Usually Liliana wins in the end and she burns the bridges she has to in order to protect herself. For as much as she manipulates others for her own good, this makes her a target if her own well-being is pitted against something else. In the end, it proves that her relationship with her brother has never truly left her, because she ends up discarding her own life. Forced to serve as a general of a zombie army for Nicol Bolas in his war against other planeswalkers, Liliana witnesses civilian children--a sister and brother, specifically--try to escape and become casualties of a building collapse. It's doubtless that Josu isn't on her mind and it's enough for Liliana to turn on Nicol Bolas, forfeiting her own life and facing her death on her own terms after two-hundred years of running.

Abilities & Skills:
➤ Planeswalking. Liliana is a "Planewalker", which in the Magic lore is an incredibly powerful being in the multiverse. They have the unique ability to planes walk, which means that Liliana can travel across the Blind Eternities to different universes. Liliana's abilities prior to The Mending were even greater.

➤ "Immortality" and lack of aging. Prior to The Mending, Planeswalkers seemed to last indefinitely, at least with prolonged lifespans, and their physical forms were a matter of will. When Liliana lost this and was near death due to age, she made a contract with four demons which restored her youth and elongated her life, but to what extent, we don't know. As it stands she looks as if she's in her late-twenties, early-thirties, and has been alive for over two-hundred years.

➤ Necromancy. She is centered on black mana and her abilities allow her to reanimate the dead and corrupt the living. Huge hordes of zombies are common for her in battle, but she's also able to suck something of life from living things, such as causing flowers to wilt in her hand, but the extent of which she can do this can be speculative. Likely not more than that.

➤ Low body temperature. She has a much lower body temperature than a living person should have, which seems to be a side effect of her necromantic powers. It's noticeable to others.

➤ Healing. Despite her alignment with black magic and necromancy, Liliana was traditionally trained as a healer, even if she decided to put her own flare to it. She does have the skills, but whether she chooses to use them or not is up to her. This seems to be more oriented in physical medicines, herbalism, and potions.

➤ Planning and manipulation. Her egocentrism isn't without merit as Liliana is very skilled at predicting how others will react and finding their weak spots, thus enabling her to coerce them in the direction that best suits her.

Inventory/Companions:
➤ Her purple corset and skirt combo outfit
➤ The Chain Veil, which is rendered useless

Choice: Monster - Vampire
Reason: I've chosen vampires, specifically, because they are thematically dead. While this would seemingly go with her aesthetics as a black mage and necromancer, being dead is exactly what she's spent over two-hundred years avoiding at any cost. So forcing her to be a monster--which means no magic, which will bother her as she's valued it more than her soul--and one that is actually undead puts her in the exact opposite of her ideal position. Powerless and dead.

Sample:
➤ TDM top-level
➤ TDM w/ Chandra