Gisa Cecani

Gisa Cecani
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Gisa.jpg}}|250px]]
Details
Race	Human
Birthplace	Thraben, Innistrad
Lifetime	Mending Era
Parents	Geralf II Cecani (father), Gretchen Cecani (mother)
Relatives	Geralf Cecani (twin brother) Geralf I Cecani (grandfather) Mikaeus Cecani (cousin)
Colors

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

Description

The sinister Gisa is a beautiful but crazed woman who knows no restraint in proving that she is the best. She is a pale young woman with dark hair and pale gray eyes. While her brother is known to have grand ambitions, Gisa is far less formal and driven by her whims. She can connect with the plane and feel every dead and dying thing for miles in every direction.

Gisa is one of the most powerful ghoulcallers on Innistrad. 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. She controls individual ghouls through whistles. 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. 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.

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

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.
• 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:

6. No magical swords.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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).

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. Immediately afterward, they returned to their sibling rivalry.

Thunder Junction heist

Gisa on Thunder Junction

Gisa and her brother traveled through Omenpaths to Thunder Junction, becoming part of Oko's crew. Geralf was hired as their medic and brought Gisa along as part of a study on the effects of interplanar travel on magic users.

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, Nolan was successfully extracted and the entire gang survived.

From the knowledge Ashiok gleaned from Nolan's mind, the gang learned that a map to Maag Taranau was hidden somewhere in the necropolis of Thief's Folly, which Gisa and Geralf volunteered to find. However, while investigating unusual graves, Gisa accidentally triggered a trap and unleashed a zombie abomination that chased after the siblings. With the help of Stella Lee, an Atiin nomad caught in the zombie's rampage, they managed to disable the necromancy animating it and secure the map, heading back to the gang's hideout. With the map, they were able to find the location of the vault, which was in the city of Tarnation. The gang traveled there to take the other pieces of the key.

Oko eventually secured the complete key and opened the vault for their benefactor Ashiok. However, when they got what they wanted out of the vault, they revealed themself to be Jace Beleren under an illusion and planeswalked away without paying the gang. They were also unable to take the vault's treasure as a reward since it flew into the air after Jace triggered a trap. Displeased with this outcome, Gisa told Oko that she would be willing to team up with him again for a greater prize or to get revenge against Jace.

Planes visited

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

• Innistrad
• Thunder Junction

Trivia

• Gisa once reanimated the corpse of a planeswalker killed by Garruk.
• Gisa's Favorite Shovel was created as the Universes Within version of Lucille from the Secret Lair Drop Series: The Walking Dead which was originally released as a Universes Beyond tie-in with The Walking Dead.

Story appearances

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
The Cursed Blade	Ryan Miller	2011-10-24	Innistrad	Innistrad	Raben Amsel, Reika Eberhardt, Jofridus, Thatu Reiniger, Adila Rimheit, Holger Burk, Pitre, Lorelei Garensun, Jurgen Garensun, Gisa Cecani, Geralf Cecani, Elsi Rimheit, Albrecht, Mikaeus Cecani, Trinar, Roller, Detlef, Ekka, Joiva, Mahus, Amphe, Samson, Einrich, Wilhelm Brandt, Dartan, Jolen, Tobor, Lywer, Gregel, Lucilla, Dadine, H. Karlmahn, Iroe, Forlith, Hantsen, Whip, Adalee Burk, Jana Burk, Mikel Burk, Waechter, Gundie, Martyn, M. Leutster, Krig, Lipseg, Oebbe, The Claw, Jorgin Rimheit, Cristemian, R. Meintor, Analise, Nordemann, Duerg, Frietz, Greftieg, Callan Ahnstat, Mauer
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed	Jenna Helland	2011-10-26	Dark Ascension	Innistrad	Mikaeus Cecani, Geralf Cecani, Gisa Cecani, Grimgrin, Alwin, Traken, Avacyn, Lothar, Thalia, "Lili"
The Guardian, the Witch, and The Angel	Doug Beyer	2012-03-21	Avacyn Restored	Innistrad	Avacyn, Sorin, Thalia, Lothar, Mikaeus Cecani, Griselbrand, Geralf Cecani, Gisa Cecani, Liliana, Garruk
Games	Alison Luhrs	2016-04-27	Shadows over Innistrad	Innistrad	Ludevic, Geralf Cecani, Odric, Grete, Gisa Cecani, Nahiri, Liliana Vess
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
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Episode 4: Finding Tarnation	Akemi Dawn Bowman	2024-03-18	Outlaws of Thunder Junction	Thunder Junction	Oko, Kellan, Rakdos, Kaervek, Nolan, Breeches, Malcolm Lee, Tinybones, Vraska, Eriette, Ashiok, Annie Flash, Satoru Umezawa, Gisa Cecani, Geralf Cecani, Twist Fandango, Akul
A Pleasant Family Outing	Seanan McGuire	2024-03-21	Outlaws of Thunder Junction	Thunder Junction	Geralf Cecani, Gisa Cecani, Stella
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Episode 6: The Ballad of Thieves and Thunderslingers	Akemi Dawn Bowman	2024-03-25	Outlaws of Thunder Junction	Thunder Junction	Oko, Breeches, Annie Flash, Tinybones, Rakdos, Satoru Umezawa, Geralf Cecani, Gisa Cecani, Kaervek, Akul, Vraska, Malcolm Lee, Eriette, Kellan, Ral Zarek, Jace Beleren, Loot, Amalia Benavides Aguirre

In-game references

Represented in:

• Gisa and Geralf
• Gisa, Glorious Resurrector
• Gisa, the Hellraiser
• Ghoulcaller Gisa
• Halana and Alena and Gisa and Geralf

Associated cards:

• Gisa's Bidding
• Gisa's Favorite Shovel
• Ghoulcaller's Accomplice
• Ghoulcaller's Chant
• Ghoulcaller’s Harvest

Depicted in:

• Diregraf Rebirth
• Wailing Ghoul
• Ghouls' Night Out
• Last-Minute Chopping
• Lively Dirge
• Rush of Dread

Quoted or referred to:

• Bone Splinters (Avacyn Restored)
• Conjurer's Closet (Commander Party)
• Crypt Rats (Modern Horizons)
• Entomb (Eternal Masters)
• Farbog Boneflinger
• Geralf, Visionary Stitcher
• Hobbling Zombie
• Hunted Ghoul
• Gravepurge (Dark Ascension)
• Maalfeld Twins
• Mindleech Ghoul
• Morkrut Behemoth
• Ransack the Lab
• Reassembling Skeleton (Jumpstart 2022)
• Rise from the Tides
• Ruthless Disposal
• Scuttletide
• Wailing Ghoul

Gallery

• 

  Tome of Gisa from Magic: Legends.

• 

  Midnight Hunt art

• 

  Midnight Hunt Eternal Night frame art

• 

  Gisa's Favorite Shovel