There is a great darkness that exists in Thraben since the entrapment of the archangel Avacyn. Vampires and werewolves stalk the night, devouring all who dare to travel under the light of the moon. Even worse, hordes of undead have arisen, as the black magic that exists on the plain of Innistrad ensures that none rest easy or for long. The angelic hosts, that once stood resolute in the face of the darkness, are weakened and reeling without their leader. The great citys armies have retreated to the relative safety of its walls leaving the countryside unprotected.
Beset on all sides by the horrors of the new nightmarish Innistrad, the devout are slowly falling into despair. Mikaeus, the leader of the Church of Avacyn could not countenance the loss of faith of his flock that lived outside the city. He traveled from town to town, working to renew the faith of his people and driving out the darkness wherever he found it.
One small village, lay many leagues south of the safety of the citys walls. Its inhabitants had long ago fallen to madness with the lost of their faith in the face of the encroaching dark. The members of this village had fallen to cannibalism and the sweet words of a coven of vampires and their pet necromancers who offered them safety in return for their loyalty.
This was the village that Mikaeus entered after a long crusade through the south of Innistrad. The spore of corruption that existed in the heart of this town was unbeknownst to him and would see his downfall.
Mikaeus found it heartening to find a village so united after such a long ordeal as he had just experienced. He and his remaining men requested food and shelter of the villagers who obliged them with a banquet. Satisfied and dead tired Mikaeuss retinue fell asleep in the quarters given to them. Mikaeus however could not sleep and went to the cathedral that dominated the center of the town. Entering it he was pleased to find an altar to the Archangel. He got down on his knees and thanked Avacyn for delivering this town.
Hours past as he prayed, suddenly he heard chanting from somewhere below him. Standing, he followed the sounds to a set of flagstone stairs that went down into the basement of the cathedral. Intrigued, he followed the chanting until he reached a door. Peering through the keyhole, he saw a site that turned his blood ice-cold.
Blood was splashed on the walls as vampires painted from what appeared to be helmets. In the center of the room lay a stone altar surrounded by three hooded men. As Mikaeus watched in horror, the chanting men raised knives and stabbed them down into something Mikaeus could not see. The chanting stopped and the men stepped back from the altar. Mikaeus felt bile rise in his throat as he saw his most trusted champion of the parish cut open on the stone. Suddenly the corpse sat up and removed the knives from its stomach. Mikaeus attempted to stifle a cry but was aghast as his stare was met by the glassy-eyed one of his former captain.
Pulling himself away from the horrors of the basement he ran back up the stairs. He heard the door slam as he reached the top and the cries of his pursuers. Running back to where his men had been quartered he skidded to a halt as he heard screams and yells from inside. A man fell out of the door clutching his arm. Upon seeing the Lunarch he yelled, Run my lord, this village is not what it appears! Mikaeus turned and ran towards the horses. He hurriedly untied one of them but then he heard groans from all sides, a sound he knew only too well.
Peering into the dark he saw a horde of undead approaching him. He was horrified to see the livery of his men among the decaying clothes of the mass. Mikaeus began to pray, praying to the Archangel Avacyn even though he knew she could not hear him. Suddenly the sound of shuffling stopped and he opened his eyes to see the throng of the dead part. The vampires, he had seen in the basement of the church, approached through the gap in the living dead followed by the robed men who were carrying a casket. He caught the flash of pearly white incisors as one of the vampires opened his mouth to speak.Greeting my lord, it said, I hope you and your men found our village pleasant. The other vampires laughed at this. I will not trade words with you spawn of darkness, Mikaeus spat.Now, now, the vampire cooed, Surely that is no way for a guest to speak to their host.Avacyn will see you and all your kind destroyed!Unlikely my dear Lunarch we know our lady, blessed be her name, is no longer with us. But if you wont cooperate with usNever!That is unfortunate, said the vampire. He gestured to the robed men who brought forward the casket and began to busy themselves unlatching the casket.If you wont join us willingly then, Im afraid, we have no choice but to take to make you.
As Mikaeus looked on the casket began to shake as the robed men began to chant. It began to glow with unholy light as the chanting reached a thunderous roar. Suddenly a flash of light erupted from inside and all was quiet. Blinking his eyes, Mikaeus, looked up and saw a new figure standing in the smoking remains of the casket.
With a yell of surprise, he staggered back from a figure that in all respects looked like him. It stood dressed in, what he now realized were, a perfect facsimile of his own. But the face was one of the dead. It stared right at him with eyes that glowed with the light of undeath. It began to approach him flanked by the vampires.
Mikaeus closed his eyes and began to pray once more, knowing that he was to die soon. He thought that if he was going to then it would be with the same devotion in his heart that he had always carried. He prayed even though he knew that his pleas were addressed to no one. He began to feel the seed of despair take hold of his heart. But something answered his call..
In a blaze of light the night was banished. Mikaeus stared at the sky and saw an angel above him. With a gesture, the undead horde and the newly created creature disintegrated in the face of the purest light. With another the necromancers began to burn and vampires writhed in agony, lasting only a few seconds longer then their creations. As the last vampire blinked out of existence Mikaeus prostrated himself in front of the descending angel.
Rise for your mission is not yet done. Your words have been heard and you have been delivered. Do not lose faith but return to your crusade renewed and alight with the fire of heaven. With a flash the angel was gone as quickly as it came and Mikaeus rode full speed back to Thraben to continue his mission.
Hello everyone. Thank you to those of you who read my whole description. I am a relatively new player who loves the lore side of Magic. Having only recently discovered the two versions of Mikaeus I wanted to make a deck that revolved around this idea of light and darkness. I decided to create this list with that in mind. The creatures represent the inhabitants of the village. To a visitor it seems to be a town still holding on to the teachings of the Church but in reality it has fallen to darkness. Hence the idea of humans turning into zombies on death because of the xathrid necromancers. The card art of the village cannibals and the name of the removal spell victim of night gave me the idea for Mikaeuss retinue to be slaughtered in the night. The door of destinies was the door Mikaeus stared through and obviously the shrine to the archangel is the Vault of the Archangel card. Tragic slips are prone to happen in a town where humans are reanimated. Anyways you get the idea. In game play terms I do not have all the cards yet to play test this but in theory it is a basic sort of human buff deck with gather the townsfolk and champion of the parish. But at the same time it can stand up to board wipes with the presence of the xathrid necromancer and blood artist. Angel of glorys rise allows for a light game mostly fluffy cycle but also immortal servitude and grimoire of the dead do the same thing of bringing creatures back. I also find it very satisfying that the intangible virtue card will buff zombie tokens as well as human ones. Anyways thanks for reading I hope you all enjoyed this. Any suggestions are appreciated and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. PLEASE remember that this deck is mostly for my own enjoyment and casual play.
