Anaxel

Anaxel's Castle

Anaxel's desire to bend the world powers to his designs drove him to create his castle on an inverted crag, floating above the tallest mountain in the middle of the continent. Filled with the results of his twisted experiments in arcana, Anaxel's Castle is almost as dangerous as its master.

Anaxel encountered in his lair has a challenge rating of 22 (41,000 XP).

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Anaxel can take a lair action to cause one of the following magical effects; he can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

• Anaxel rolls a d8 and regains a spell slot of that level or lower. If he has no spent spell slots of that level or lower, nothing happens.
• Anaxel targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. A crackling cord of negative energy tethers Anaxel to the target. Whenever Anaxel takes damage, the target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, Anaxel takes half the damage (rounded down), and the target takes the remaining damage. This tether lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round or until Anaxel or the target is no longer in Anaxel’s lair.
• Anaxel spent years accumulating body parts for his dark experimentations. Reaching out a hand to a nearby pile of limbs, Anaxel calls forth one of the following: Banderhobb, Chimera, or Conjurer.

• Anaxel calls his disciples* to his aid. If the PCs have killed a disciple and accepted the power released for a free dark level, this lair action draws the power out of them and heals Anaxel (as a short rest, where the number of hit dice rolled equals the number of dark levels used). The PCs lose one dark level each time Anaxel uses this lair action (or all dark levels at once if Anaxel drops to 0 HP while in his lair, see below), with effects happening in the following order:

  • First, they must reroll their max HP using only the hit dice they would have without the dark levels; this is their new max HP (e.g. 8th level bard took 3 dark levels in bard;  player rolls 8d8 + CON×8 for their new max HP)
  • Second, they lose any spell slots and spells known gained from the dark level.
  • Finally, they lose any class features gained from the dark level.
  • Note: Any feats, ability score improvements, or already-known class feature improvements gained by the dark level are kept. (e.g. If a 9th level bard took a dark level to go to level 10 bard, when Anaxel uses this lair action, the bard loses Max HP, spells slots/spells known, and Expertise/Magical Secrets, but keeps the d10 for Bardic Inspiration)
  • Also note: If the lost dark level drops the character below a 2nd/3rd level feature, at the DM's discretion, the PC may keep the path/school/domain/style/etc. but with a decreased power. (e.g. multiclassed PC with 1 level of fighter took 2 dark levels in fighter as a Battle Master would normally lose their Martial Archetype; at the DM's discretion, the PC may keep their Archetype, but they only have 1 (or 1d4 - 1) Superiority Dice; this will have to be adjudicated by the DM for each class feature, but it should be something that can be modified down to a single-use or significantly degraded feature)
• If Anaxel drops to 0 HP while in his lair, all outstanding dark levels return to him (if there are disciples alive, they lose the dark levels; if the PCs have killed them all, they lose all dark levels as above) and brings him back to full HP. 

*Known disciples: Thalia the Quick, Brunnis the Steady, Smurr the Inert, and Bogthes the Cheerful