The Revered Queen

Vlaakith sits at the center of everything concerning the githyanki. She is their ruler in every sphere of activity and, as such, demands and receives utter obedience.

During the war with the illithids, Vlaakith urged Gith to seek out allies from among the planes and in particular advised her to seek counsel with Tiamat. Gith agreed to venture into the Nine Hells to forge an alliance with the Queen of Dragons. She didn’t return. Instead, the great red dragon Ephelomon brought news to the gith: Tiamat had pledged many of her red dragon servants to the gith cause. They would refrain from attacking gith and would provide support against the illithids and protection for the gith’s outposts on the Material Plane. In return, a few select young dragons would serve alongside the gith for a time, for purposes known only to Tiamat. Ephelomon also proclaimed that Vlaakith was to rule in Gith’s place until she returned.

After the gith overthrew the mind flayers and Zerthimon’s followers began to emerge as a threat to Gith’s preeminence, Vlaakith played a critical role in ensuring that the githyanki under her rule were protected from an immediate, direct assault by their kin. Using her mastery of arcane magic, she helped the githyanki establish a permanent stronghold on the Astral Plane. From there, she began making plans to strike back at both the hated mind flayers and the traitorous githzerai.

The Grand Proclamation

Vlaakith cemented her position as the supreme ruler of the githyanki with a grand proclamation that defined the githyanki’s all-encompassing mission. They had been bred and trained for war by their one-time masters and had never known anything other than a martial existence. They needed a clear purpose and a forceful commander to spur them on, and Vlaakith provided both.

Vlaakith decreed that, having defeated the mind flayers, the githyanki would take the place of the illithids as sovereigns of the Material Plane. The many worlds of the Material Plane would be the githyanki’s gardens, prime for harvesting as they saw fit. The Astral Plane would be their home domain, because in that timeless realm they could ignore the need for food, water, and other mundane concerns that plague lesser races.

Vlaakith also proclaimed that githyanki who proved themselves skilled in battle would ascend to an even greater paradise. A long lifetime of service would earn any githyanki a journey to the boundless delights of her innermost court — the wondrous realm that Gith discovered in her journeys, and where she awaits those who have proven themselves worthy.

The Bitter Truth

In the time since Vlaakith made this promise to her people, she has called many of the most formidable githyanki warriors to their reward. At the culmination of a grand ceremony that supposedly readies them for their journey to where Gith awaits, the supplicants enter her inner sanctum and are never seen again.

In truth, instead of sending them to paradise, Vlaakith drains their souls and absorbs their strength, gaining more power with every “ascension.” Her knowledge of arcane magic equals that of a conclave of archmages, while her combat skill matches the combined talents of hundreds of sword masters.

Perhaps the lich-queen’s promise isn’t a complete fabrication, but no others can say for sure. If Vlaakith knows anything more, she has taken drastic measures to keep it secret. A few sages and spellcasters have sought to learn the truth about Gith’s fate using arcane magic, only to fall victim to a bizarre curse that transforms them into the formless creatures known as allips.

All attempts to learn about Gith through divine magic return utter silence. Those who try experience a strange sensation, as if their minds were teetering on the edge of a great abyss, one that spans time, space, and memory.

Final Test of Loyalty

By the time a group of githyanki come of age, they have heard years of stories of Vlaakith and her immortal warriors dwelling in the silvery void. The young are told they are on the verge of entering the queen’s realm, each one of them destined to take a special place in the society. Their skills have proven them worthy, and now only their loyalty to the Revered Queen remains to be determined.

As their last test, a group of githyanki entering adulthood must slay a mind flayer as a sacred rite of passage before they are permitted to join their people on the Astral Plane. When the victors enter Tu’narath for the first time, they carry the bounty of their hunt directly to Vlaakith. She accepts the gift and intones a ritual chant that marks the youngsters’ induction into githyanki society.

Vlaakith’s Dilemma

Long gone are the days when the gith race was fully embroiled in conflict. When the githyanki settled Tu’narath and took up residence in the Astral Plane, they no longer had to fight constantly for survival, and in that respect the lives of all githyanki became easier.

The mission laid out by Vlaakith in her grand proclamation remains of utmost importance. Her rule remains absolute, in part because she suffers no competition or divergent viewpoints. And her regime is in no danger, yet to an outsider in Tu’narath it might seem as though the place is in decline.

Indeed, in a way the githyanki are victims of their own success. After centuries of staging lucrative raids throughout the multiverse, the folk of Tu’narath have become spoiled and decadent. Vlaakith can still summon her people to action, and when she does so they obey her willingly. But when they aren’t otherwise occupied, many of the citizens of the city spend their time in self-indulgent activities.

For all her seeming invincibility, Vlaakith finds herself in an awkward situation that — in her paranoid mind — has no easy resolution. If she keeps her people busy more often by ordering an increase in raids, she risks her best warriors and marauders becoming experienced and powerful enough to challenge her rule. Also, if she sends out too many raiding parties at one time, the security of Tu’narath might be compromised. So she addresses the problem by not dealing with it directly, but by trying to encourage her indolent followers to find purpose in meaningful activities that don’t involve plundering and killing. She isn’t always successful in that effort.

Merciless Marauders

When Vlaakith decrees that another githyanki raid is in the offing, Tu’narath comes alive with anticipation. The knights and other soldiers selected for the mission consider it a high privilege. All the raiders do their best to honor Vlaakith by savaging their target — killing creatures indiscriminately, taking whatever treasures catch their fancy, and leaving destruction in their wake.

When one of the githyanki’s astral vessels returns home after a raid, it is laden with the spoils of the incursion. Vlaakith makes no specific demands but allows each individual raider freedom of choice in what they bring back. Some might seek exotic spices and herbs, while others pillage to find scrolls or tomes of knowledge. As a result, Tu’narath is cluttered (if not crowded) by a nearly infinite variety of objects that the githyanki have pirated from other planes, ranging in size from enormous buildings down to the smallest pieces of exquisite jewelry.

Indolent Dilettantes

As a race bred and shaped by the mind flayers for a life of fighting, the githyanki never knew anything else while they were enslaved. Now that they aren’t constantly at war, keeping her people occupied is perhaps the greatest challenge Vlaakith faces.

When githyanki aren’t on raids or other missions for Vlaakith, they enjoy a languid existence in Tu’narath. Since time doesn’t pass on the Astral Plane, the githyanki have no need to labor for food or water. To keep their minds sharp, Vlaakith orders them to pursue a variety of arts and studies. She regularly arranges contests, scavenger hunts, and other trials to keep her servants involved in purposeful activity, but the attraction of such diversions wears off after a brief time. Most of the citizens of Tu’narath, when they haven’t been called for duty on a raid or for some other mission, indulge themselves in any way they see fit.

Githyanki, with an infinite amount of time on their hands, crave novelty. They expect every returning raid to provide new forms of entertainment. This preoccupation with newness stands at the hollow center of githyanki culture. They dabble in creating art, but never master it. They stand among treasures taken from countless worlds but are never truly appreciative of them. The githyanki flit from topic to topic, craft to craft, never settling on one endeavor for long. Tu’narath is littered with half-built sculptures, partially completed frescoes, and other unfinished works of all sorts. The githyanki simply abandon personal projects that bore them, and every such endeavor they undertake ends in this manner.

A Blade Kept Sharp

Despite the decadent lifestyle the githyanki indulge in, they remain in fighting shape. All are required to attend weapon and combat drills, which serve as a brief respite from their boredom.

Vlaakith, of course, stands atop the githyanki military hierarchy. Under her serve the supreme commanders, each of whom oversees a regiment of one thousand githyanki warriors. Ten kith’rak, each responsible for a company of one hundred, answer to a commander. Each kith’rak in turn commands ten sarths, each of whom leads a party of ten warriors. A githyanki war leader retains that status in times of peace, looking after her underlings and maintaining their discipline and combat training.

Playing Vlaakith                                                                                     heres what you need to know about Vlaakith.

1: Vlaakith's true alignment is unknown, though she is definitely evil. Because of this, you can play her as a mental nutjob, a stern martial despot, a little of both, or neither. here, have a table to figure out how Vlaakith is feeling at the moment.

1d10.

1-3: Chaotic. Choices are based on whim, executions and other punishments are less common unless angered, could be even be a little childish.

4-6: Lawful. Choices are based on loyalty and the law, outsiders are treated with more distrust and probably arrested for minor reasons. could be incredibly cold and calculating.

7-9: Neutral. Choices are based on survival, and nothing else, executions, distrust, and violence rule the streets, though soldiers keep the peace. surprisingly receptive to visitors, though will not tolerate dissent.

10: Unstable. Choices are made randomly, she refuses to see anyone except a few close generals and advisors. if fought, she holds nothing back and unleashes the hells, screaming and laughing all the way.

Vlaakith's Lair

Vlaakith resides in Susurrus in the fortress-city of Tu'narath, where she plots her evil plans too... i honestly have no clue, all most sages know about her plans is that she was driven to insanity from both several thousand years of existence and the stress of ruler-ship. Oh, and the city is made from the dead body of a god, and Susurrus [also called the palace of whispers] is made from it's skull. #Vlaakithisveryhardcoreandhergitharen'tveryniceAMIRITE!?!?!?!?!?! [go ahead and send that hashtag to everyone you know]

A lich encountered in its lair has a challenge rating of 23 (50,000 XP).

Lair Actions

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

• Vlaakith rolls a d8 and regains a spell slot of that level or lower. If she has no spent spell slots of that level or lower, she looks mildly embarrassed and nothing else happens.
• Vlaakith targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. A crackling cord of aberrant energy tethers her to the target. Whenever she takes damage, the target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, Vlaakith 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.
• Vlaakith calls forth the spirits of githyanki that died in service to her. These apparitions materialize and attack one creature that the lich can see within 60 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 52 (15d6) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success. The apparitions then disappear.