Lim-Dûl

Lim-Dûl
Raven Man
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Lim-Dul.jpg}}|250px]]
Details
Race	Altered Human
Birthplace	Kjeld, Terisiare, Dominaria
Lifetime	Born decades before the casting of the World Spell. Confirmed alive as of War of the Spark
Sources
Prerevisionist: Ice Age, Shandalar Postrevisionist: The Eternal Ice, The Shattered Alliance

Lim-Dûl was a powerful necromancer who terrorized Terisiare during the Ice Age. He also conducted two major campaigns to take over the mana-rich plane of Shandalar, and orchestrated Liliana Vess's obtainment of the Chain Veil under the guise of the Raven Man.

History

Eternal Ice

Lim-Dûl was once a lowly soldier of Kjeld. When his squadron was sent on a mission by Márton Stromgald to kill some weak goblins, only to discover that these were well-equipped goblins in their prime, Lim-Dûl fled while the others were slaughtered. While on the run, Lim-Dûl was caught in a blizzard. He nearly died, but stumbled upon the remains of the Conclave of Mages where he found the ring of Mairsil, the Pretender.

The ring granted him massive powers that not only allowed him to survive the blizzard but also to become a powerful necromancer. Constructing the keep of Tresserhorn where he had found the ring, Lim-Dûl became a powerful force in Terisiare's politics, but most Kjeldorans still believed him to be a secondary evil, after the Balduvians; the barbarians believed the same in turn. Lim-Dûl happily let this belief exist, for it allowed his forces to penetrate deep into Kjeldoran territory without much action being taken against him.

Despite his power, there were still people pulling Lim-Dûl's strings. The planeswalker Leshrac gifted him with even more power, hoping that he could use the vast undead army Lim-Dûl was raising during his planned conquests on the plane of Shandalar. The other person manipulating Lim-Dûl was Mairsil himself. Locked inside his ring for nearly 2500 years, Mairsil had not only gifted Lim-Dûl with a facsimile of his magical power but was also taking partial control of Lim-Dûl, looking to punish the last living person who had played a role in his first downfall: the Archmage Eternal Jodah.

File:Lim-Dûl2.jpg

Lim-Dûl after being altered by Leshrac.

As Jodah was going through his emotional ritual, Gerda Äagesdotter, who wanted to take Jodah's place as Archmage of the School of the Unseen, sold out the Archmage to Lim-Dûl. Using Fyndhorn pollen Lim-Dûl muddled Jodah's memory and convinced him that he was but a summoned creature, a slave who would be unsummoned into oblivion if he didn't obey. The necromancer set his old enemy to work on researching the planes, particularly the rogue Shandalar, for Leshrac wanted to know how exactly to reach it. However, Lim-Dûl had Jodah also research ways to kill a planeswalker, for he wanted to be free of Leshrac's control. Leshrac discovered this and mutated his minion, giving him horns to make him remember he was just a working animal for the planeswalker.

Jodah escaped with the aid of his old friend Jaya Ballard, and the two traveled to Krov to convince the people of Kjeldor to ally with the Balduvians against Lim-Dûl. Initially, the merchants, mages, and military factions were more interested in fighting the Balduvians or furthering their own goals inside Kjeld. Many military leaders in Kjeldor thought the king was weak, and that they once again needed strong leaders like Márton Stromgald. Lim-Dûl had reanimated Stromgald as a zombie and used him to create the Knights of Stromgald. These knights plotted a coup, but King Darien was saved by Jodah. Lim-Dûl had given the Knights a poisoned brandy to toast their coup, which resulted in all of them dying and being zombified. These actions made the people of Kjeldor realize how big a threat the necromancer was and allowed Darien to unite them and forge an alliance with the Balduvians.

Still, Lim-Dûl's forces outnumbered those of his opponents. Additionally, they were not as hampered by the winter climate and grew with every casualty they made. Still, the allied forces survived the winter, and come spring they were ready for the decisive battle against Lim-Dûl's forces. Many legendary warriors fought and died in the last battle of the Ice Age.

At the climax of the battle, Lim-Dûl faced Jodah, but now Mairsil was completely in control. The two fought fiercely, but eventually, it was Leshrac who determined the outcome of the battle. During the Summit of the Null Moon the planeswalker had gained access to Shandalar and wanted to bring his armies to conquer the new plane. Furious to find that his ranks had been decimated in the battle, Leshrac cut off Lim-Dûl's hand, robbing Mairsil of a physical body. He then ripped his minion apart but used his powers to keep him alive to feel the pain during the process. Lim-Dûl was turned into a living ball of raw flesh that Leshrac took to Shandalar, vowing to remake him so he could serve the planeswalker once more.

Shandalar

Alongside Leshrac and Lim-Dûl, Tevesh Szat and Faralyn arrived in Shandalar. The plane's guardian, Kenan Sahrmal, mounted a defense and managed to kill Faralyn with a summoned astral dragon, while routing the others. Lim-Dûl, however, injured Sahrmal. Sahrmal disappeared, but his followers captured and beheaded Lim-Dûl. Both were presumed dead, but Lim-Dûl had survived by transferring his soul into another body.

Lim-Dûl’s War

Twelve years later, Lim-Dûl reappeared with an army of undead at his back. His goal was as his master’s before him, to seize control over the mana-rich plane. City after city on the plane was destroyed until, after years of war, only one city remained: Ardestan. Ardestan became the last refuge, the last protection, against the evil necromancer. The city came under siege and it was plain to all that Shandalar would soon fall to this invader.

Since Sahrmal's apparent death, he had been training two adepts. During the siege of Ardestan, Sahrmal counseled patience, telling his students that they were not yet ready to take on the might of Lim-Dûl. But his oldest apprentice, Azar, was unable to witness the suffering and inevitable fall of Ardestan without doing something about it and left their hidden sanctuary to defend the city.

Azar had stolen a spell from Sahrmal designed to target the necromancer’s spirit and imprison it within his body, drawing power from it to erect a Great Barrier around Shandalar. Lim-Dûl was prepared, however, and waited nearby. This time, he planned to transfer his spirit into Azar’s body. When Azar’s spell was complete, Lim-Dûl initiated his counter. The combined spells had the unforeseen effect of trapping both spirits within Azar’s body. The body went limp as the two souls warred for control. Saddened, Sahrmal secretly buried the body, for the Great Barrier had come into existence and it depended upon the confinement of Lim-Dûl.

After some years, Azar fell in his combat against Lim-Dûl. Emerging from the secret burial place, the necromancer took up his campaign to rule Shandalar. This time, however, he found organized resistance in the form of five powerful guilds. During the Wizard’s War, Lim-Dûl was finally defeated. The other apprentice of Sahrmal, now known as The Guardian, removed Lim-Dûl’s soul from Azar’s body and imprisoned it within a magical artifact, thereby keeping the Great Barrier intact.

Years later the planeswalker Arzakon convinced the guild masters that to rule Shandalar, a wizard had to cast the Spell of Dominion, which would grant its caster immortality. This was untrue, however, for the spell was meant to seek out the source of the Great Barrier, the artifact in which Lim-Dûl’s spirit is contained, and destroy it. The wizards succeeded, but Arzakon was defeated after entering the plane. What became of Lim-Dûl's essence is unknown.

Shattered Alliance

While Lim-Dûl was on Shandalar, Dominaria was not safe from him either. Mairsil's ring, now possessing a primary imprint of Mairsil but also a shred of Lim-Dûl, had coerced Jaya Ballard into picking it up. After taking partial possession of her, Lim-Dûl/Mairsil/Jaya led Jodah to Soldev twenty years later, where they stabbed the Archmage and used his blood - Urza's blood - to activate the Phyrexian War Beasts and take control of the Soldevi Steam Beasts. Using these creatures, Lim-Dûl/Mairsil/Jaya destroyed Soldev and the School of the Unseen. Jodah however managed to smash his mirror in his/her face. Freyalise had enchanted the mirror, giving it the ability to make people with the planeswalker's spark ascend. Jaya ascended and removed the minds of Lim-Dûl and Mairsil from herself.

Becoming the Raven Man

Mairsil's ring, holding the consciousness of Lim-Dûl, would eventually be discovered by an ancestor of the Vess family, who buried it in the Vess estate to prevent it from being misused. However, a piece of the necromancer's fractured soul reached out to the young Liliana Vess in the form of the "Raven Man", who sought to manipulate Liliana to do his bidding. The Raven Man would continue to plague Liliana for centuries.

The Raven Man appears as an older man with precisely trimmed white hair and beard, and an immaculate - if slightly dated - mode of dress. He has shining gold eyes.

He is able to transform into a flock of ravens. Because he has appeared on several planes, Liliana had previously suspected he was a planeswalker. Because the Raven Man always knew where Liliana had been and what she had been doing there. Liliana later began to suspect that he may, in fact, be incorporeal, an affliction of her own mind, a curse, or a mental parasite. Noting that he hadn't changed a bit since she had first met him, Liliana later wondered if he was an illusion or a very precise shapeshifter. It is worth noting that his form of a flock of ravens can be seen by other people (e.g. Araithia Shokta), but not his humanoid form.

Although claiming that all he ever wanted was to guide Liliana toward becoming the best, truest, and most powerful version of herself, Liliana realizes that all he actually wants is her obedience and to use her.

Haunting Liliana Vess

The Raven Man first appeared to Liliana offering his assistance after Liliana's brother Josu was poisoned by her father's enemies, though he warned that her family would not want her to use his cure. Liliana returned to the castle and despite the warnings of Lady Ana, she used the cure. Truly, it cured Josu of his affliction, but only at the cost of driving him insane and poisoning him anew.

The Raven Man also seemingly orchestrated Liliana's discovery of the Chain Veil on Shandalar.

When Jace Beleren, under the influence of the cryptoliths on Innistrad, tried to mentally assault Liliana in her mansion, the Raven Man protected her and tried to convince her to kill Jace. Later, he repeatedly tried to contact Liliana to convince her to flee from Emrakul's onslaught. In both cases, she defied him and refused to listen to his arguments, suspecting that nothing good would come from acting on his advice.

Despite this, he later reappeared to her on Amonkhet, revealing that he had been keeping tabs on her and even saved her life again by taking control over the Chain Veil. While he tolerated her affiliation with the Gatewatch to gain useful servants, he warned her to not become too attached to them and focus on what really mattered. Back on Dominaria, he plagued Liliana again, taunting her but never giving answers. Here she began to suspect that he had tortured her in her youth to ignite her spark.

After the events of the War of the Spark on Ravnica, Liliana fled home to Dominaria once more. Here, the Raven Man accosted her again. He was utterly disappointed when Liliana, with the help of Ugin, managed to relieve herself of the Chain Veil.

Dominaria United

Liliana eventually deduced the Raven Man's identity with the help of a book in Strixhaven, and she returned to the Vess estate on Dominaria to stop the threat he posed. While there, Liliana was attacked by Phyrexians on the eve of the new Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria, and Lim-Dûl's ring promised her power to help fend off her attackers. However, she refused, and successfully defeated the Phyrexians herself.

Ice Age, Prerevisionist

In prerevisionist continuity, as shown in the Ice Age comic, Lim-Dûl was not given his mutations as a punishment but as an improvement. He poisoned the water of the Marked Ones and was defeated by the scouting group of Sir Zaraya, Lord Kailo, the shaman Bolar, and the Knights of Kjeldor Sir Xian, Sir Gregor, and Sir Onala. For his failures, Leshrac imprisoned him in a block of ice.

He was later freed at the time of the Summit of the Null Moon, rallied a large army of zombies, and allied himself with Tevesh Szat. After Szat was defeated by Jaeuhl Carthalion with the Amulet of Quoz he took Dûl with him to Shandalar, where Leshrac attacked him.

Lim-Dûl survived, however, traveling to Shandalar's Catacombs and taking the name Magus. In that guise, he tricked Bani Bakur and Ravash Mog into thinking he was Kenan Sahrmal, Shandalar's protector. He sent the two to attack Tevesh Szat. Lim-Dûl remained in the shadows as Leshrac and later the real Kenan Sahrmal joined the fight, waiting until Szat and Leshrac were banished from the plane. Lim-Dûl killed the weakened Sahrmal and transferred his spirit into the planeswalker's body just before Bani Bakur beheaded his own.

Though he lacked Kenan Sahrmal's planeswalker powers, he used his political clout to his advantage. Lim-Dûl eventually returned to his old tricks, raising an army of undead to attack the city of Ardestan and beginning a new reign of terror on Shandalar. Eventually, his soul was sealed away, and a group of five mages took Sahrmal's place as protectors of Shandalar. However, Lim-Dûl's spirit survived, and slowly corrupted the mages, tricking them into wanting to cast the Spell of Dominion, which they thought would give them ultimate power, but would instead give it to Lim-Dûl himself. However, this plan was later defeated by a new champion, as seen in the MicroProse computer game.

Story appearances

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
The Raven's Eye, Part 1	Jenna Helland	2010-06-17		Dominaria	Liliana Vess, Ana, Josu Vess, Raven Man
The Raven's Eye, Part 3	Jenna Helland	2010-07-01		Shandalar	Liliana Vess, Raven Man
Liliana's Origin: The Fourth Pact	James Wyatt	2015-06-17	Magic Origins	Dominaria, Two unknown planes	Liliana Vess, Raven Man, Ana, Josu Vess, Nicol Bolas, Kothophed
Liliana's Indignation	Kelly Digges	2016-04-20	Shadows over Innistrad	Innistrad	Liliana Vess, Raven Man, Jace Beleren, Gared
Servants	Kelly Digges	2017-04-19	Amonkhet	Amonkhet	Liliana Vess, Raven Man, Jace Beleren, Temmet
Feast	Alison Luhrs	2017-06-14	Hour of Devastation	Amonkhet	Liliana Vess, Jace Beleren, Razaketh, Raven Man, Gideon Jura, Chandra Nalaar, Nissa Revane
Hour of Devastation	Ken Troop	2017-07-26	Hour of Devastation	Amonkhet	Nicol Bolas, Jace Beleren, Liliana Vess, Chandra Nalaar, Nissa Revane, Gideon Jura, Raven Man, Tezzeret
Return to Dominaria: Episode 2	Martha Wells	2018-03-22	Dominaria	Dominaria	Liliana Vess, Raven Man, Gideon Jura, Rael, Corin, Josu Vess
Homecoming	Seanan McGuire	2022-08-12	Dominaria United	Arcavios, Dominaria	Liliana Vess, Lim-Dûl, Elas il-Kor

Planes visited

• Dominaria
• Shandalar

Additional planes manifested as the Raven Man

• Amonkhet
• Arcavios
• Innistrad

In-game references

Represented in:

• Lim-Dûl the Necromancer

Associated cards:

• Legions of Lim-Dûl
• Lim-Dûl's Cohort
• Lim-Dûl's Hex
• Lim-Dûl's High Guard
• Lim-Dûl's Paladin
• Lim-Dûl's Vault
• Oath of Lim-Dûl

Quoted or referred to:

• Abyssal Specter (Ice Age)
• Burnt Offering
• Casting of Bones
• Dark Banishing (Masters Edition II)
• Dark Ritual (Ice Age)
• Dark Ritual (Mystical Archive)
• Diabolic Vision
• Drift of the Dead
• Drudge Reavers
• Fear (Tenth Edition, #142★)
• Feast or Famine (Masters Edition)
• Foul Familiar
• Ghostly Flame
• Glacial Crevasses
• Howl from Beyond (Ice Age)
• Icequake
• Kjeldoran Dead
• Leshrac's Rite (Sixth Edition)
• Mind Whip
• Minion of Tevesh Szat
• Moor Fiend
• Reclamation
• Seizures
• Skeleton Ship
• Spoils of Evil
• Staff of the Ages
• Touch of Death