Improved Rejuvenation. While she has a phylactery, if Purgos' destroyed she gains a new body in 1d4 days. She regains all her hp & becomes active again. The new body appears w/i 5 ft. of the phylactery.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Purgos fails a saving throw she can choose to succeed instead.
Master of Undeath. Purgos & all undead w/i 120 ft. of her're immune to effects that turn undead.
Master Ritualist. Purgos can cast any wizard spell she knows as a ritual. Doing so causes the casting time to increase by 10 min but allows her to cast the spell w/o expending a spell slot. She must still provide any material components the spell normally requires.
Spellcasting. Purgos' a 20th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability's Int (spell save DC 21, +13 to hit w/ spell attacks). She has the following wizard spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): firebolt, mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost, toll the dead
1st level (4 slots): absorb elements, detect magic, shield
2nd level (3 slots): blur, mirror image, scorching ray
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, dispel magic, enemies abound
4th level (3 slots): black tentacles, dimension door, greater invisibility
5th level (3 slots): arcane hand, cloudkill, danse macabre
6th level (2 slots): mass suggestion, soul cage
7th level (2 slots): forcecage, power word pain, teleport
8th level (1 slot): horrid wilting, maddening darkness, power word stun
9th level (1 slot): invulnerability, power word kill, psychic scream
Paralyzing Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +13 to hit, reach 5 ft., 1 creature. Hit: 16 (3d10) cold damage. The target must succeed on a DC 19 Con saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 min. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Purgos can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only 1 legendary action option can be used at a time & only at the end of another creature’s turn. Purgos regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.
Arcane Trick. Purgos casts a spell of 2nd level or lower, or casts a cantrip.
Demonstration of Power (Costs 2 Actions). Purgos casts a spell of 5th level or lower.
Master of Magic. Purgos casts dispel magic.
Description
As an archvillain, Purgos commands both tremendous personal power & a substantial army of minions. She has ways of breaking the rules of magic that limit lesser spellcasters. Most important're her Master Ritualist ability, allowing her to cast spells w/o expending spell slots, & her Soul Cage, which can turn many short-duration spells into lasting effects, protecting & empowering both herself & her many minions.
Personality. In her life, Bessadia Silune was equal parts political figure & master spellcaster. She's well versed in many types of formal etiquette & always enunciates her words properly. Purgos possesses infinite patience & takes full advantage of her undead nature to make good use of all 24 hr in a day. She can perform rote tasks for hr on end w/o losing focus or becoming bored, but she's quick to anger if distracted or interrupted. Purgos cares greatly about her appearance & always wears fashionable outfits. She polishes the bones of her skeletal body to a fine sheen & applies cosmetics to bring out the red pinpricks of light that've replaced her eyes. Her clothing's immaculately maintained, as is her lair, & she takes great pride in the presentation of her undead minions.
Background. Purgos chose her name for her desire to master purgatory & determine the fate of her people’s lost souls. Born Bessadia Silune in Khorrenthal, the capital city of an ancient empire, she excelled at wizardry. Despite her elven longevity, she pushed forward at a humanlike pace, determined to graduate as quickly as possible. She became the youngest High Wizard in Khorrenthal’s history. But even empires don’t last forever. When the vassal states rose up in rebellion & the generals betrayed their empress, they marched on the capital. They arrived to find it empty, devoid of all life. Bessadia Silune sacrificed her soul to save her home, entombing her people in stasis in a demiplane & becoming a lich to watch over them until the world was safe once more. You're encouraged to weave elements of Khorrenthal into your game, including thematic elements in dungeons or ancient ruins the party explores (perhaps these were ancient vassals) or having historians & other scholars in your world research the old empire. The party might even visit the remains of Khorrenthal itself, finding some clues about Purgos along the way.
Goals & Motivations. Purgos' willing to do anything for her people. She makes any sacrifice, pays any price, & kills anyone who stands in her way. She's open to negotiating w/ the players, particularly if they offer to help her reestablish the stasis spells or bring Khorrenthal back into being. However, her long years of lichdom have warped her mind & she has become paranoid. She always double-crosses all who ally w/ her, betraying them before they can betray her. In general, Purgos desires power, souls, & corpses in that order. Any deal that gives her more arcane power she's inclined to accept. If she can get access to living souls to feed her phylactery & prolong her unlife or acquire corpses to bolster her undead army, that’s a bonus. She's unlikely to accept any deals that don’t give her more power or offer her both souls & corpses. Given how macabre her pursuits are, it’s possible your players'll be unwilling to broker deals w/ Purgos, but that doesn’t mean other NPCs in the world won’t make dark deals to protect their own interests.
Introducing the Villain. Purgos becomes an active villain when she notices her stasis spells're beginning to fail. She isn't yet ready for Khorrenthal to rise again & begins taking active measures to make space in the world for a new empire. The party 1st learns of her when she begins creating eyes of purgos, but they may encounter an increasing # of undead creatures before then. This' more likely to get their attention if you use undead templates to present undead variations on creatures they’re accustomed to seeing. A zombie roc swooping down from above's sure to get their attention.
Routine. Purgos begins her routine casting several defensive spells on herself. She always casts foresight & mind blank. If she has evidence she's being targeted w/ divination spells, she casts nondetection every 8 hr. If she has a simulacrum available, she casts telepathic bond on it, allowing her to see thru its senses & maintain constant communication w/ it so long as they're on the same plane. If the world isn't yet aware of her existence, she casts seeming on it before sending it out, giving it the appearance of a living elf wizard. Once Purgos secures access to spell components, she can recreate a new simulacrum as part of her routine as needed, though she's still limited to having only 1 active at a time.
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