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Gisa Cecani
Gisa
Details
Race Human
Birthplace Thraben, Innistrad
Lifetime Mending Era

Gisa Cecani (Gee-sah Seh-sahn-nee)[1] is a black-aligned necromancer from Innistrad. She has a rivalry with her twin brother Geralf Cecani.[2]

Description[ | ]

The sinister Gisa is a beautiful, young but crazed woman who knows no social restraint in proving that she is the best. As evidenced by her relatively pure approach to reanimating the undead, she is a black-aligned necromancer. Gisa believes in raising the dead directly from their graves, which is why most of her undead creations are ghouls. Gisa doesn't care about the quality of her work; undead creatures are useful for the moment and can be cast aside at will. While her brother is known to have grand ambitions, Gisa is far less formal and driven by her whims. She is one of the most powerful ghoulcallers on Innistrad.[3] She can connect with the plane and feel every dead and dying thing for miles in every direction.[4]

Gisa controls individual ghouls through whistles.[4] Calling large groups of ghouls requires not a whistle but a full-throated song.

History[ | ]

The Cecani twins were scions of a noble family and distant relatives of the former Lunarch Mikaeus.[5][2] They were banished from Thraben in a hushed scandal and moved to the Moorland, where they waged war against one another by raising armies of undead. Their battles prompted many of the Moorland's inhabitants to move to the Nearheath, leaving the area even more desolate than before. Now, marauding ghouls range freely through the moors, lost playthings in the mad, epic battles of Gisa and Geralf.[6]

Geralf took over Trostad, most likely massacring the inhabitants who didn't flee. In response, Gisa attacked Trostad simply to best her brother.[6]

NecroWarfare[ | ]

Later on, the two would plan on waging a war against one another. Geralf had tried to set formal rules, named The Five Laws of NecroWarfare:

  • No spontaneous awakenings.
  • No luring, killing, or raising of bystanders or livestock.
  • Combatants face off at a predetermined place and time.[4]
  • Combatants must have at least three limbs to play.
  • Headquarters are off-limits.

After Gisa retrieved the magical sword the Bloodletter, Geralf added the rule:

  1. No magical swords.[7][4]

Gisa however would have none of this and considered all was free game, frequently defying Geralf's rules if only to infuriate her brother. The engagement was called off when Geralf decided to invade Thraben and invited Gisa along. Geralf snuck into the city before the attack to kill Mikaeus. Later he met up with Liliana, who shortly thereafter brought Mikaeus back as a zombie. Gisa was left with tending to the siege, having gained control of Geralf's Skaabs along with her conventional undead. The army broke the outer wall of the city before being pushed back by the fire, causing Gisa to abandon the siege. Odric, a champion of the church, captured Gisa and held her imprisoned in Rider's Lock.[8]

Aftermath of the Necro war[ | ]

Geralf sent a horde of skaabs to set his sister free, although she stated afterward that she didn't need his help.[9] She wanted to reinstate the war, but Geralf was occupied with creating what he called his masterpiece, under the wing of the alchemist Ludevic. Gisa retreated to the manor of their parents, ruined by a fight between the siblings in their youth. She later revived her parents as zombies, but sent her Father back into the ground. She found a new friend in the lithomancer Nahiri and provided the ghouls to build the Drownyard temple.

Shadows over Innistrad[ | ]

When Liliana Vess was going to raise an army of zombies to fight the hordes of Eldrazi that had invaded the plane, Gisa and Geralf briefly managed to put their differences aside to team up against the Eldrazi.[10]

Midnight Hunt[ | ]

In the two years that passed since Emrakul's sealing, Gisa took control of Liliana's abandoned zombie army and made Thraben her own, taking up residence in the ruined city's least destroyed building. She hadn't seen her brother since and sought to contact him again. After an exchange of letters with Geralf in which she begged him to attack Thraben to alleviate her boredom, only to be refused, Gisa noticed the arrival of her suitor Wilhelt at the gates of the fallen city.[11]

Wilhelt once again declared his love for Gisa and begged to be acknowledged by her as more than just an undead pawn. Tired by his insistence, Gisa easily defeated Wilhelt's army, forcing him to leave. Gisa then wrote again to Geralf, telling him of her intention to leave Thraben and move in with him (to his horror).[12]

March of the Machine[ | ]

After Gisa left Thraben, she joined her brother's lab in Havengul, but he soon found the conditions too tight, forcing her out. She took over the Engelturm left behind by the angels. At some point, she encountered Jeleva and impressed upon her that devouring Gisa's mind would somehow damage her own, leading Jeleva to instruct the local vampires to avoid Gisa. Spending her time teasing Geralf with letters and defiling the angels' work, Gisa met a compleated warrior. Geralf wrote to her, informing her that the Phyrexians invaded Innistrad and the two siblings joined forces once again, defeating the forces of New Phyrexia.[4] Immediately afterward, they returned to their sibling rivalry.

Thunder Junction heist[ | ]

Gisa and her brother traveled through Omenpaths to Thunder Junction, becoming part of Oko's crew. While Geralf was hired as their medic, it seems that Gisa tagged along out of refusing to let her brother one-up her.[13]

Gisa played a major role in Oko's plan to extract the archaeologist Nolan from a heavily guarded train. While the train was stopped, Gisa would unleash a horde of zombies, forcing the guards to focus on eliminating them and giving Oko and Kellan an opening. However, she was too eager to demonstrate her necromantic power and summoned the ghouls while the train was still in motion. This caused the plan to spiral out of control when the zombies reached the train's locomotive cabin and ate the conductor, sending it on an uncontrolled course over a broken bridge. Nonetheless, by a miracle, Nolan was successfully extracted and the entire gang survived.[14]

Planes visited[ | ]

Though not a planeswalker, Gisa has traveled between planes via Omenpaths.

Trivia[ | ]

Story appearances[ | ]

Title Author Publishing date Set Setting (plane) Featuring
Games Alison Luhrs 2016-04-27 Shadows over Innistrad Innistrad Geralf Cecani, Grete, Gisa Cecani, Ludevic of Ulm, Odric
The Dance of Undeath Seanan McGuire 2021-09-24 Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Innistrad Gisa Cecani, Geralf Cecani, Wilhelt
Innistrad: Family Game Night Seanan McGuire 2023-03-22 March of the Machine Innistrad Gisa Cecani, Geralf Cecani, Jeleva, Sorin Markov, Ludevic
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Episode 2: The Jailbreak Akemi Dawn Bowman 2024-03-13 Outlaws of Thunder Junction Thunder Junction Annie Flash, Tinybones, Breeches, Malcolm Lee, Oko, Geralf Cecani, Gisa Cecani, Eriette, Vraska, Ashiok, Rakdos, Kaervek, Satoru Umezawa, Ral Zarek, Kellan
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Episode 3: A Train to Prosperity Akemi Dawn Bowman 2024-03-18 Outlaws of Thunder Junction Thunder Junction Akul, Oko, Kaervek, Annie Flash, Vraska, Gisa Cecani, Geralf Cecani, Eriette, Malcolm Lee, Breeches, Satoru Umezawa, Tinybones, Kellan, Ashiok, Nolan

In-game references[ | ]

Represented in:
Associated cards:
Depicted in:
Quoted or referred to:

Gallery[ | ]

References[ | ]

  1. Wizards of the Coast (September 21, 2016). "What is the correct pronunciation of Cecani?". The Official Magic: The Gathering Tumblr. Tumblr.
  2. a b Jay Annelli (2022). Magic: The Gathering - The Visual Guide, DK. ISBN-13 978-0744061055.
  3. Doug Beyer, Ari Zirulnik and Grace Fong (September 17, 2021). "The Returning Legends of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021.
  4. a b c d e Seanan McGuire (March 22, 2023). "March of the Machine - Innistrad: Family Game Night". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Jenna Helland (January 16, 2012). "Preview Article: Mikaeus, the Unhallowed". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. a b Magic Creative Team (September 28, 2011). "A Planeswalker's Guide to Innistrad: Gavony and Humans". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Ryan Miller, Jenna Helland, Matt Tabak, Bruce Cordell, and Josh Brauer (October 24, 2011). "The Cursed Blade". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Jenna Helland (June 26, 2012). "Odric, Master Tactician". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Alison Luhrs (April 27, 2016). "Games". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. Ethan Fleischer (September 2, 2021). "Gisa, Glorious Resurrector". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. Doug Beyer and Ari Zirulnik (September 9, 2021). "Planeswalker's Guide to Innistrad: Midnight Hunt". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. Seanan McGuire (September 24, 2021). "The Dance of Undeath". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. Akemi Dawn Bowman (March 13, 2024). "Episode 2: The Jailbreak". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. Akemi Dawn Bowman (March 17, 2024). "Episode 3: A Train to Prosperity". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015
  16. Chas Andres (June 29, 2016). "Gisa and Geralf". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. Emrakul & Chatterfang!? Koma & Toski!? 62 Unknown Magic Cards! (Video). Good Morning Magic. YouTube (May 10, 2023).
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