Lup was trapped for over a decade, but she never felt "decade" was the proper word to use when describing that portion of her existence. More specifically, time just didn't seem to be the proper measurement to use. Lup wasn't sure time was relevant to her anymore. She was an elf, a species known to live for hundreds of years. She spent a century dying every year, only to come back to life in her original physical state. Then, she was trapped inside an Umbra Staff. Oh, and she was a lich. So, measuring life in time seemed a little silly to Lup, especially now that she was in her spectral form.
Lup didn't need anything — not sleep, food, or water. She didn't have a body, therefore she wasn't physically aging. When she first started gaining some form of consciousness in her arcane prison, she wasn't certain she existed at all. Lup's consciousness was trapped in…nothing. Nothing about her or anything around her was tangible. She struggled to keep her thoughts together as the darkness, the nothingness threatened to drive her mad.
Slowly, Lup started to regain her senses, her personality, and some memories here and there. It was a grueling task, so she didn't think of much else. That changed when Lup heard her brother's voice. When she heard Taako, Lup was finally able to comprehend that she could escape. This prison was not her world. There was a world beyond the endless black curtains, and her brother was there waiting for her. She would escape. But how?
Lup struggled to find a way to get Taako's attention. He couldn't hear her calling out to him. Not long after Taako found the Umbra Staff, Lup sensed that he was in distress. She used what little power she could muster to help him, but it wasn't enough. She succeeded in helping Taako defeat his opposition, but she still hadn't managed to make herself known. She needed to do something bigger.
Although Lup was overjoyed to be with her brother again, she decided to shut him out. She could still just barely feel Taako's presence just in case he needed her, but she stopped trying to listen to what he was doing. Extending her senses to the outside world required a lot of concentration which Lup could not spare as she began gathering magical energy. It was incredibly difficult and tedious, but it was the only way she'd be able to get Taako's attention.
For months, Lup focused on her task without interruptions. She'd stored quite a bit of power, but she knew it wasn't enough. As impatience started to get the better of her, Lup's focus occasionally faltered. She started to worry that she'd never escape. It became consistently more challenging to shake off the pessimistic thoughts creeping up on her. Not only was Lup exhausted, she was losing hope.
Regardless of her fear, exhaustion, and frustration, Lup refused to give up. She kept fighting as she always did, and she was pleasantly surprised to discover that Taako was able to help. Lup's concentration faltered when she felt a wave of unfamiliar magical power wash over her. She realized Taako must have defeated a magic user, so the Umbra Staff had absorbed their power and given it to Lup.
"Sick!" said Lup, smiling deviously as she stored the magic.
That extra magic was a really nice boost, but it was nothing compared to Taako's next contribution. Lup wasn't just interrupted, she was jolted as she was suddenly surrounded with electrifying arcane power. The magic flowed all around and within her, and as overwhelming as it was, Lup knew she could harness it. It was like riding a bike. For the first time since Lup had been trapped, she felt truly, wildly powerful. She felt like herself.
Lup laughed with glee as she released a monstrous fireball the likes of which Taako certainly had not meant to cast. Her confidence rushed back to her as she realized she'd been selling herself short. Lup was one of the most powerful wizards in the planar system. The only reason this trap was so difficult to escape was because she designed it, and Lup knew she would find a way out of it.
From then on, Lup stored the power necessary for her plan at a much faster rate. Her focus was unbreakable save for one fleeting moment when Lup felt a spike of dark, magical power. The magic was familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. She extended her senses to the world outside the Umbra Staff, but the source of the power had already disappeared.
This certainly wasn't the first time Lup had felt some weird energy around. Taako was clearly getting into some weird shit, but that wasn't the least bit surprising to his sister. Something about this magic was different, though. It wasn't just familiar to her…Lup felt like it was a part of her somehow. After it disappeared, Lup felt an emotion she couldn't remember ever feeling while trapped in the Umbra Staff - pain.