[IMG]http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u79/SharpshooterJack/markerGerald_zps253683a8.png[/IMG]
[h3]Duchy of Pelgaid, secluded pond[/h3]
Finally it came to light... Gerald knew he would have to discuss this particular topic at some point or another, and he had had a strong suspicion that not only mentioning his wife but also the intent to resurrect her would be too great a temptation for Jillian to resist. Curiosity was a powerful thing, particularly for mages, but it was also an almost universal trait that made virtually all beings in the planes fundamentally predictable if one could only find a thing that particular being was interested in. Jillian was interested in him, so naturally she would be interested in one of the core events in making him who he was.
Her question was wider than just wanting to know about his wife, however... it was about his goals. Technically he could answer her specific question very briefly without even justifying an accusation of lying or withholding details; her question was about something specific, so a specific answer would be natural. However...

“My wife is gone,” he told her, his voice a bit more bitter than he had meant it to be. He did not lapse into sorrow, however, but merely displayed great displeasure in the information he was sharing with her. “I’ve learned much since back then, and not just about necromancy. Bringing the dead back is not impossible, as has been proven by a number of resurrections throughout history, though I would certainly have been the first [I]mortal[/I] to have accomplished such a thing... and speaking to the dead is one of the original purposes of necromancy, and completely doable. My wife is gone because the Withering killed her, and the Withering devours your very soul. Her very existence, even her dead spirit, has been erased from the planes by it.”
He took a deep breath, trying to keep calm despite the pain he felt building inside of him, and managed to maintain a fairly stoic facade. In fact the only thing that really betrayed the depth of how much the topic disturbed him was Omni, as the light in the emerald gradually increased in intensity and started fluctuating slightly, hinting at his internal struggle.
“I have many goals, Veldaine, though I recognize that not all of them may truly be possible. If there is any way at all that can possibly bring her back – even as just a dead spirit – I will find it and do so. In the absence of that...” He sighed. “I’ll settle for shaping the world into one that would please her. That means wiping the plague that killed her from existence, [I]and[/I] it means the removal of any threat that could potentially bring her unhappiness...”
His gaze filled with grim determination and the glow in the emerald abruptly turned steady.
“If I cannot give her the world, I will take it for myself instead.”