Luxaeternum. There is a enchanted vein of gold ore that contains the lich’s soul. When the lich dies, it dissolves into liquid gold, which then vanishes into the ground. In 2d4 days, the vein of gold causes the lich to reappear within 1d4 miles. If the lich died inside a magic circle cast to contain Undead, the lich instead becomes petrified, made of solid gold. If the golden statue is broken or melted in any way, the enchanted vein of gold ore corrupts and changes into a non-magical ore of tin and silver and the statue dissolves away and becomes a regular lich without a phylactery in 1d4 days.
Golden Purview. The lich can spend 1 hour casting a spell that teleports it to or from its enchanted gold vein, usually somewhere deep in the earth. While the lich is present in its vein, the gold ore walls act as a Crystal Ball of True Seeing.
Legendary Resistance (4/Day). If the lich fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Unusual Nature. The lich doesn’t need air, food, drink, or sleep.
Heated Armor. A creature that touches the lich while it is armored or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 5 (1d10) fire damage. If the lich is unarmored, they take 1 (1d4) fire damage instead.
Multiattack. The lich uses Heat Gold and uses Spellcasting and then the lich uses Savage Gilting once.
Heat Gold. The lich heats a nonmagical golden weapon or item, or an item that is mostly gold or covered in gold, that it can see within 90 ft. Any creature in physical contact with the object takes 8 (2d8) fire damage and the gold of the item melts into molten liquid.
Savage Gilting. The lich targets one creature it can see within 35 feet of itself as its liquid armor flows forward as a heated weapon. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or the lich becomes unarmored (see AC) and the target is grappled and restrained (escape DC 17). A creature restrained in this way takes 9 (2d10) fire damage at the beginning of each of their turns. When the creature falls unconscious or escapes, the armor immediately moves 60 ft per round and returns to don upon the lich as liquid armor again.
Spellcasting. The lich casts one of the following spells, using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 17):
At will: detect magic, mage hand, identify
2/day each: dispel magic, bestow curse (range 20 ft), lightning bolt
1/day each: confusion, dimension door, delayed blast fireball (bead of liquid gold), sickening radiance (range 45 ft)
Description
Like other liches, auroumant liches are spellcasters who have cheated death, though the auroumant does this through corrupting an untouched, unmined, vein of gold ore, called a Luxaeternum. The magical properties of the pure ore and the rituals bestowed bestow undeath upon the spellcaster and causes a direct connection to form between the gold and the lich. The lich prefers to stay near its gold vein of ore (1-10 miles) and immediately destroys any digging creature that gets to near.
Canny foes can sabotage a this lich’s revival by slaying the lich in a magic circle, thereby destroying its vein, and forcing the lich to only potentially return without a backup. The Luxaeternum is also destroyed if it is ever exposed to air, if the gold is mined, or if the lich makes any other form of phylactery.
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