Archlich

Archliches are beings of immense magical power outmatched by only the gods themselves. Through their many millennia of existence, archliches have mastered all arts of necromancy. But these beings are still not satisfied with their near limitless power - they still yearn for more, and they hunger for even greater arcane knowledge. Supremely intelligent, these creatures enact schemes that last for hundreds of years - which is just a blip in their unending existence.

An archlich appears almost completely skeletal, with only a few wisps of flesh and hair left on its frame. The lights of their eyes disappeared long ago, so all that remains are black, empty sockets. They choose to adorn themselves with kingly attire, believing themselves to be the rightful rulers of the land.

Dark Creation. Archliches are the oldest beings known to exist, originally and only created during the Crown Wars over ten thousand years ago. Long tired of the unending war, a few elves yearned to gain the power that would allow them end the war themselves. So these few became high mages, sages with unmatched magical power for their time. But they still needed more, as this war couldn’t be ended with normal magic in the span of a single mortal life.

So these mages devoted their entire lives to the study of necromancy, and learned the secrets to lichdom from their dealings with the dark gods of the time. These gods gave them the forbidden knowledge needed to ascend past even the most powerful liches, which hasn’t been given to a mortal mind before or since. Using this knowledge, these mages began the arcane ritual. This ritual released a huge storm of necrotic power onto the world; an event now known as the Dark Disaster.

The Dark Disaster destroyed an entire elvish kingdom, and reduced the surrounding area to a barren wasteland. This power also proved too much for the minds of the mages, and they lost all memory of their original purpose and their mortal life, but they had gained the power they had so desired.

Enemy of the Gods. Once the gods saw the destruction wrought by the Dark Disaster, they knew they needed to intervene. Celestial agents were sent to destroy these few archliches, but even the most powerful of angels couldn’t fully destroy them. But eventually, after only a few months of destruction, all the archliches were banished to other planes, supposedly to never be seen again.

After they were all dispatched, the gods sought to never allow another mortal to ascend to that degree of lichdom again. They used all their power to hide that forbidden knowledge, and even convinced some of the most evil deities to never to part with the knowledge.

Pact-makers. Although all the archliches were banished and trapped in their own demiplanes, a few of them have learned how to contact mortals in the material plane, though as of yet none have escaped the confines of their prison. By gaining mortal followers, an archlich hopes to free itself and become a ruler of the mortal world.

Those that are make a pact with an archlich are granted a degree of magical power, with the assumption that they will serve and put all their resources towards freeing their master. They believe that with the outside influence gained through these pacts, they will eventually find a creature capable of freeing them and inflicting them upon the world.

Death and Restoration. An archlich’s phylactery is located within its demiplane, and is completely indestructible and inaccessible to all but the archlich. However, this means that if an archlich were to escape from their confines and then allow their body to be destroyed, they would once again be trapped within the demiplane when their body reforms.

Since an archlich requires the assistance of powerful spell casters to return to the material plane, it is necessary for them to attempt to create and hold allegiances with mortals. If a mortal was to learn how to summon an archlich from their plane of existence, the archlich would be obligated to keep that mortal alive and allied, for the archlich may need that mortal again if their body is destroyed and they are restored to their plane.

Undead Nature. An archlich doesn’t require air, food, drink or sleep.

If an archlich were to escape its prison, it would be able to create a lair for itself fairly quickly. Using the armies of undead it easily amasses, an archlich can build great castles and towers for itself, designing grand halls, mighty defenses, and cunning traps meant to ward off all intrusion.

An archlich’s lair would be filled with strategically placed undead, meant to emerge and surround unlucky visitors. The lair would also include a residence for those that have made a pact with the archlich, both to keep those allies in good standing and to help protect the lair.

An archlich encountered in its lair has a challenge rating of 31 (175,000 XP).

Lair Actions

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

• The archlich rolls 2d8 and takes the higher roll, regaining a spell slot of the level rolled or lower. If it has no spent spell slots of that level or lower, nothing happens.
• The archlich targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. A crackling cord of negative energy tethers the lich to the target. Whenever the lich takes damage, the target must make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the lich 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 the lich or the target is no longer in the lich's lair.
• The lich calls forth the spirits of creatures that died in its lair. These apparitions materialize and attack one creature that the lich can see within 60 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw, becoming paralyzed for 1 minute and taking 52 (15d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success. The apparitions then disappear. A paralyzed creature can repeat the saving throw at the start of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.