Concluding Session #53 (Part I): THE LICH OF THE DRUMLIN HILLS

The Company of Light and Darkness escaped Ssethuan with the Fiend Scepter of Impiltur and the Lizard King, Yarshag, in tow. He led them through the tall grasses and creature denizens of the Flooded Forest to a clearing a few miles away that rest in magically infused water.

A Black Dragon near the ancient Sarukh standing stones took to flight under the apparent control of D'Theka, the sky mage, who followed the PCs from the town of Manyoak. The dragon had been trying to guess the password to the central stone that bore sigils and ancient markings upon it. It had tracked down the creature who had been taking it's eggs and was angry and hostile and ready for a fight.

Animosus aquired an amulet of dragon control after slicing down D'Theka. Soon the dragon too fell and was skinned for precious dragonscale armor components. The party spotted a small hut with a roof covered in bird droppings, appearing perhaps 50 years old and very sturdy. The wood was an exotic reddish color, perhaps coming from far away. But the witch's hut turned out to be a giant mimic that glued Maerstar to it's side. The creature slammed into the party, but was routed, slowly skulking further back into the swamp.

The party used knowledge of Mohrgret's sentimental side to guess the password, "Azhurdean."

A passageway into the earth was guarded by serpent creatures who fired arrows protecting the burial/hybernation place of one of Faerun's oldest creatures, a member of the Sarukh progenitor race.

They discovered Mohrgret who fooled Leif into drawing closer before turning him to stone. Luckily Maerstar's training as a red wizard restored the bard to the flesh. The party entered Mohrgret's lair and saw the black dragon egg used there in alchemical experiments, and her many potions and elixirs. In tapestries they saw that Mohrgret's purpose was to protect the phylactery (the iron box) of the ancient lich. They learned that Mohrgret was further developing the alchemical and magical process for the ritual of the phylactery seed. Perhaps the location of her lair, so close to the magically infused water, helped make magic and spellcraft particularly strong, for such magic is known to make portals more powerful and magical nodes grow.

Apparently, Yarshag's people were protecting the standing stones in trade for continued alchemical support for the creation of Dark Talon young, a more powerful race of lizardkind. The lich's phylactery survived the encounter when Mohrgret duped the party into waiting above. During that time she quickly gathered rare components, including the Carniprocot seed to activate the Sarukh portal and escaped with the iron box.

Here is a summary of the status of the Lich's phylacteries as portreyed in the mural upon Mohrgret's wall:

• Nethad D'Hathek, the lich of the Drumlin Hills = destroyed by the Company of the Talking Shield many years ago.
• Szchulan Darkoon = currently lost on the planes, was thrown into Shaundakul's rift by Animosus Constans. (Szchulan was created to be a phylactery, but his story is that his ego led him to conclude that it was Myrkul rather than the voice of the lich who wanted to used his body. He has defied conversion into the lich for years.)
• Yrengreth Drachmanor = a contemporary of Nethad and former Dragon Cult member, creator of Theadn, biological father of Claudia. (Claudia was a failed attempt at creating a phylactery.) (Remember, Claudia was beaten, raped, disfigured and buried alive in the graves of St. Sollars on 13 Kythorn by this horrible and twisted villain to create Theadn. Claudia was rescued from the grave by Pavel who used his gift a second time that night when he took on the suffering of heart and mind to restore Animosus to life.
• Theadn Drachmanor = Claudia's child born on 17 Kythorn in the Temple of the Black Triad. The powers of the hidden portal triggered a sudden quickening of gestation and birth. Pavel Nemetsk used his gift a third and final time when he gave his life to restore Claudia back to life. The child-phylactery was eventually struck down by Animosus Constans in his final test of triadic courage.
• The Original Iron Box = this was successfully protected once again by Mohrgret.

The Lich Of The Drumlin Hills

The lich of the Drumlin Hills is the persisting soul of the grandson of Sarchel of Impiltur who's brother chased him to other planes of existence. It was on these planes that he became very powerful. He became a lich upon his return to Toril in a place called the Drumlin hills of The Vast. Interestingly, this history is replaying now in the struggled between Animosus and Szchulan.

100 years ago, the lich entrapped the great hierophant (druid) of the eastern arm of the Cormanthor forest. This drained the forest of life so the lich might have life eternal. So powerful, but not yet satisfied, he wished to clinch immortality by creating "living phylacteries." This continued his life and guaranteed his contant returning. The story becomes interesting because the process of making living phylacteries is not-yet perfected and each of the creations have imperfections that cause ripples in the plans of the lich. For example, the first living phylactery was Szchulan, around 1333, but Szchulan refuses to acknowledge his own reality, in essence his mind has gone insane to protect itself from losing control of his life. This has led Szchulan to evil schemes and thoughts of dominating The Vast, imagining that he is the chosen servant of the dead god, Myrkul, and his persistant epic attacks upon Animosus Constans who Szchulan thinks is the reincarnation of the grandson of Sarshel. The second living phylactery was Yrengreth Drachmanor who was in the cult of the dragon and survived the slaughter by Nethad (see dragon cult story in session 2 of our campaign). Nethad was the third living phylactery who grew up in a dragon cult but was destroyed by the CTS. The fourth living phylactery was supposed to be Claudia (who was a failed attempt at creating another phylactery), so the actual fourth was Theadn who was destroyed by Animosus Constans.

[In my next post, we'll review the relationship between Azhurdean and Mohrgret, as well as the story of Unther Ravenhelm.]