Why Didn't Xykon Hide His Phylactery?

[Sylthia]

Why did Xykon continue to let Redcloak use his phylactery as a Holy Symbol? Keeping his phylactery out in the open in plain site when he could hide it on another plane or somewhere equally hidden seems rather foolish. In the event that Xykon was defeated, it would not be too difficult to the defeat Redcloak and destroy the phylactery as Soon had almost done. Maybe he will be more careful when/if he finds it.

[CrimsonAngel]

He could always give it to goblin # 735

[martianmister]

Why did Xykon continue to let Redcloak use his phylactery as a Holy Symbol? Keeping his phylactery out in the open in plain site when he could hide it on another plane or somewhere equally hidden seems rather foolish. In the event that Xykon was defeated, it would not be too difficult to the defeat Redcloak and destroy the phylactery as Soon had almost done. Maybe he will be more careful when/if he finds it.

And what he'll do without Redcloak? Living in a phylactery till end?

[Sylthia]

If he hides it somewhere, he'd just reform by it. If he trusts anyone enough to tell them where it is, they could go fetch his body until he reforms, otherwise, he'd just chill there until his body's fully formed.

[Deliverance]

Xykon's alliance with Redcloak might not have been able to survive Xykon taking Redcloak's holy symbol without Redcloak's acceptance.

Up until the point when it was lost it probably seemed like a really good idea to Xykon not to rock the boat.

What it will do, should it regain the phylactery, is a good question. Xykon has a back up in the clerical department now meaning that Redcloak, while preferable, is no longer essential, and Xykon's faith in Redcloak have been shaken.

[Morquard]

To quote the FAQ, which doesn't exactly answer this question, but close neough:


Q: In Strip #X, why didn.t character Y take action Z? If they had done so, they could have avoided a whole lot of trouble.

A: You just answered your own question. The strip is ABOUT the trouble these characters get in; if a tactic would result in an effortless solution to their latest problem, there would be little point in showing it, see? The characters are woefully inefficient as a result, and often take actions that are rarely seen in a real D&D game, like running away from moderate danger or .forgetting. major abilities for the sake of a joke. But their foibles are what fuel the humor.

So the answer is: "If he did it, it would have been boring".

IC explanation: He didn't think anyone would know. Sure RC could be killed, but what are the chances they'd bother to also destroy his holy symbol. And in the beginning he didn't know anything about Lich and Phylacteries to care.

[Gift Jeraff]

In SoD, Redcloak told Right-Eye that he would lie to Xykon and say that making the phylactery being his holy symbol was a necessary part of the procedure. Xykon probably eventually got a clue (if he didn't already know), but Redcloak earned his trust to continue holding it by killing Right-Eye to protect Xykon.

I highly doubt Redcloak will get to hold it when they retrieve it; Tsukiko or Jirix* seem more likely. Having it with another person means that anyone fighting Xykon must choose between A.) fighting the person with the phylactery likely in addition to X, B.) fighting Xykon and allowing the person with the phylactery to escape, or C.) split up resources to take care of both. The alternative is letting it hang out with his keys and TeeVo receipt.

Wherever they are.

*This would actually be pretty smart. If another thing like ghost-Soon happens, Xykon respawns on the opposite side of the world.

[BRC]

SoD Spoilers

When Redcloak first hatched the idea of turning Xykon into a Lich, he made his holy symbol the phylactery in order to have leverage over Xykon. That didn't work out too well in the end, but apparently he convinced Xykon, who didn't even know what a Lich was, that designating his holy symbol as the phylactery was necessary.
Also, ever since the end of SoD, Xykon has been as sure as one could be about Redcloak's loyalty. The problem with hiding it somewhere else is that, unless he wants to set up a stash of stuff to pick up in case he dies, he's stuck with nothing at all when he regenerates. If he DOES set up such a stash, it is inevitable that adventurers will show up, meaning he needs to build a dungeon crawl and blah blah blah.

[Dr.Epic]

Red Cloak is a high level cleric who can defend himself and the phylactery. Also, not everyone knows what Xykon's phylactery is.

[TimelordSimone]

Also, if he hid it somewhere, he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on it as easily.

As RC's holy symbol it's under his watch, but completely inconspicuous.

[Souhiro]

You know, He's a sorcerer and don't have any need for an spellbook.

If I were him, I would build a huge Cathedral, and leave a gap on the foundations where I would drop the philactery, and won't say anything to anybody about it.

Then, when Roy, O'Chul or The Belkster destroy my body, my soul would return to the Soul Hidey Place, and quietly reforms over the course of one or two weeks. Then I would only have to cast TELEPORT, and pop out, like a new liche, Since I don't need to prepare spells, this is a great possibility.

If Xykon takes this approach and grow impacient, he could cast "Still Teleport" too, go to a library, fetch a book with his teeth, and Still Silent Teleport back to his little gap. He could even Still Teleport to a teathre, and get in without pay, since that would be evil.

[Querzis]

You know, He's a sorcerer and don't have any need for an spellbook.

If I were him, I would build a huge Cathedral, and leave a gap on the foundations where I would drop the philactery, and won't say anything to anybody.

Huge Cathedral are looted by adventurers all the time. Xykon phylactery would be found eventually just with a detect evil. Besides, leaving it in a gap in the foundation sounds like it could get destroyed with a natural earthquake.

No, in Xykon mind, the only safe place for his phylactery is near him and hes perfectly right. Xykon has lots of enemies and some are quite powerful, while almost nobody on the planet would attack him directly, you can be sure as hell that they would be ready to invent new scrying spells or even use a Wish and lose some XP just to find and destroy his phylactery.

[Porthos]

Here's the thing about all of the so-called "logical" reasons why Xykon should hide his soul-hidey-place somewhere it could "never" be found:

People aren't always logical.

Crazy concept, I know. :smallwink:

Even ignoring the orgin story in SoD, we have to take personality into account. Xykon isn't the type of person to just "trust" that his soul-hidey-place would be undiscovered and safe. Sure he could make it as safe as possible by layering it with traps and an "unconquerable/unfindable dungeon". But doing so is just asking for a band of PCs to go hunting for it trouble.

And even if it's the right thing to do, one still has to convince Xykon that it is a good idea for him to have it out of sight. And are you going to be the one to walk up to Xykon and suggest to him that he should put it somewhere out of his sight? :smalltongue:

Besides, Xykon problably figures that he is by far the most powerful thing that could possibly defend his phylactery. :smallwink:

[Mercenary Pen]

Besides, Xykon problably figures that he is by far the most powerful thing that could possibly defend his phylactery. :smallwink:

Apart from perhaps Monster in the Dark, but that would involve revealing him too early...

[Sylthia]

Yeah, trying to put logic into the situation may be folly. Although as Xykon said in SoD, the phylactery is just a bauble that could be replaced until his body is destroyed. I'm not sure if liches feel anything when their phylacteries are destroyed, but keeping both his himself and his backup spawn point in the same location always seemed odd. And now there have been two points in the story that almost caused Xykon's phylactery to be destroyed due to this.

[factotum]

I would have thought hiding your phylactery as your second-in-command's holy symbol was actually a rather GOOD idea--even if the heroes manage to destroy both of you, and they do a Detect Magic on the holy symbol, they'll just assume it detects as magical because it's a holy symbol and will just throw it away or sell it. Don't forget, O-Chul only knew Redcloak's holy symbol was the phylactery because he was present in the throne room when Soon revealed that information!

[BaronOfHell]

He could even Still Teleport to a teathre, and get in without pay, since that would be evil.

:smallbiggrin:

Dunno about game rules, but if Xykon really wanted to make his phylaphingy safe, he should turn the entire world, atom for atom (or whatever the smallest unit a phylaphingy can be within), into independent phylaphingies and then in case of need, for any given one working it should restore him.

[Souhiro]

Now, I must agree with the above.

Besides, I think that without RedCloak, Xykon wouldn't last for long. Sure, he is Evil, while RC is just evil (Without capitalizing) but more cunning.

Being inteligent and don't using your inteligence is like having a strong physical build, but never doing any exercise. If from a strip to another Xykon start to pulls Xanathos, it would feel cheap, since his actions always have been short sighed, and more of "Quick Response".


I mean, Redcloak ideal dungeon would have traps, long corridors, more traps, comandos, special forces, multiple levels... Xykon's just would have a bunch of undeads, since he [couldn't / won't bother to] think about it.

[slayerx]

Why did Xykon continue to let Redcloak use his phylactery as a Holy Symbol? Keeping his phylactery out in the open in plain site when he could hide it on another plane or somewhere equally hidden seems rather foolish. In the event that Xykon was defeated, it would not be too difficult to the defeat Redcloak and destroy the phylactery as Soon had almost done. Maybe he will be more careful when/if he finds it.

First if Xykon hides it he can not keep an eye on it... For all he knows some monster could stumble upon it and eat it, or maybe an adventurer will find it and hold on to and who knows where it might go from there. In the end the thing could be destroyed.

Second when Xykon regenerates he does so where the phylactery is; and should it find it's way to someplace unpleasent he might end up being a problem for him; like say if suddenly found himself about 20 ft buried underground unable to move an inch.

Third, Redcloak is normally a good hiding place; It may be in plain sight but most people would never realize its true nature. Redcloak is able to run, hell a word of recall would get him a quick retreat, but even if the enemy killed him they may not realize the true purpose of the amulet. Soon was a very rare exception in that he could somehow see the true nature of the holy symbol. Though Xykon should have started taking precautions now that the secret is out.

[Thanatosia]

O-Chul only knew Redcloak's holy symbol was the phylactery because he was present in the throne room when Soon revealed that information!

That does not change the fact that Soon was able to imediately recognize the Phylactery for what it was, something that still has never been explained.

I thought the Holy Symbol was a good place to keep it too, as it let him keep an eye on it without making an obvious connection to observers that it is something of value to him..... but if Soon can identify a Phylactery on Sight, presumably others can to, which makes the decision much less sensible in that context - Hiding it in plain sight only works when it can't be identified in plain sight.

Maybe Xykon himself didn't know that there is some way for some people to identify a Phylactery just by looking at it?

[Toper]

Yeah, hiding the phylactery in plain sight but under heavy guard of high-level cleric + abjuration seems a pretty reasonable decision, especially since Xykon plans to be constantly on the move and is inclined to keep personal tight control of basically everything.

Though Xykon should have started taking precautions now that the secret is out.
Even assuming that Redcloak and Xykon realized that O-Chul knew about the phylactery, the secret appeared to be quite secure until O-Chul escaped, which happened about three rounds after the phylactery was lost.

Maybe Xykon himself didn't know that there is some way for some people to identify a Phylactery just by looking at it?
That seems plausible. I suspect he added most of the abjurations after the Soon fight to prevent that sort of thing in the future.

[factotum]

That does not change the fact that Soon was able to imediately recognize the Phylactery for what it was, something that still has never been explained.


Soon being a ghost probably had access to sources of information not available to anyone else--we can't assume that just because he recognised it as a phylactery that anyone else would have been able to do so.

[SadisticFishing]

I have this theory.

Look at all Liches in fiction. Do any of them hide their phylactery as a rock on the Elemental Plane of Earth?

No. Not a single one.

Why?

Because it's their SOUL. There is nothing in the world more important to them than it is. They put it somewhere important to them, somewhere where it's always... important. A soul is not something you are able to hide in a rock under a tree.

It's not about arrogance, or even conscious thought, it's about wanting a connection with your Soul. Also, I guess, the villain ball, as an invincible villain does not a good story make.

[Psyren]

If Xykon takes this approach and grow impacient, he could cast "Still Teleport" too, go to a library, fetch a book with his teeth, and Still Silent Teleport back to his little gap. He could even Still Teleport to a teathre, and get in without pay, since that would be evil.

Just wanted to note that Teleport has no somatic component; "Still Teleport" is redundant :smallwink:

[Tazar]

I'm personally of the opinion that Xykon's too much of a stone-cold badass to hide his phylactery anywhere like some kind of wussy.

[Captainocaptain]

I just remembered something about Phylactery(s) that I do not think Xykon is aware of.
When a Phylactery is destroyed, thats it. There is no making a new one. A lich gets 1, and only 1, and once its gone its gone, even if the lich is still alive.

Xykon would probably defend it better if he knew he could not make a new one.

[MReav]

That does not change the fact that Soon was able to imediately recognize the Phylactery for what it was, something that still has never been explained.

My best guess is Epic Level Knowledge Religion Check (okay, maybe epic is not necessary, but Soon probably has a high knowledge religion, since Paladins get that as a class skill, and all things undead in 3rd Ed are K. Religion).

[Mewtarthio]

Look at all Liches in fiction. Do any of them hide their phylactery as a rock on the Elemental Plane of Earth?

No. Not a single one.

Does hiding it in a needle inside an egg inside a duck inside a rabbit inside an iron chest buried under a tree on a teleporting island in the middle of the ocean count?

[Sylthia]

Are phylacteries a one-shot deal? I always thought he could make a new one as long as he still unalive so to speak.

[factotum]

I think that's one of those things that's unclear from RAW--some people interpret the base rules one way, some another. I think there was an expansion (BoVD?) that made it clearer, but I can't remember which way it pushed it!

[Sylthia]

The way I always interpretted it was he can make a new one if the current one is destroyed, but not until then. Even with this, it takes about four months or so to do that, so he'd be vulnerable.

[Onyavar]

Does hiding it in a needle inside an egg inside a duck inside a rabbit inside an iron chest buried under a tree on a teleporting island in the middle of the ocean count?

Oh, that reminds me of the fairy tales I read as a child. The bad wizard hides his soul [as described above]. I was bored by that trope already before I knew what a trope is and before I heard people call it phylactery or horcrux.

btw: are there more names for "soul-hidey-thingy" except of "phylactery" and "horcrux"? Quite curious here...

[hamishspence]

"Magic jar"?

[factotum]

"Magic jar"?

Although in that case I think you still have to be alive, so it's more like a horcrux than a phylactery.

[Darth Hunterix]

Xykon didn't hide his phylactery for the simplest reason of all:
He would have forgotten where it's hidden 3 rounds after hiding it. Tops.

[Zmflavius]

Xykon didn't hide his phylactery for the simplest reason of all:
He would have forgotten where it's hidden 3 rounds after hiding it. Tops.

Personally to be honest, I'm going to have to disagree with that. He might seem stupid and funny, but I think his dialogue during the fight with Vaarsuvius showed that this was because he usually doesn't get excited enough to care.

[Darth Hunterix]

Personally to be honest, I'm going to have to disagree with that. He might seem stupid and funny, but I think his dialogue during the fight with Vaarsuvius showed that this was because he usually doesn't get excited enough to care.

"Stupid" is not the word I had in mind. I would rather call him "absent-minded". Maybe a little unfocused as well.

[Thanatosia]

My best guess is Epic Level Knowledge Religion Check (okay, maybe epic is not necessary, but Soon probably has a high knowledge religion, since Paladins get that as a class skill, and all things undead in 3rd Ed are K. Religion).
My pet theory is that as a ghost, he can see spectral things that mortals can't see (like other ghosts)... and as a soul repository, the phylactery has such a spectral aspect that ghosts can see.

Either way, unless the missing Phylactery ends up having no more plot relevance then holding up Xykon from moving out from Sapphire city for a bit, I do think the Giant should explain how Soon Identified it.

If by the end of the story Xykon ends up loosing because of his misplaced phylactery, because O-chul yanked it, because Soon revealed it to be the Phylactery in O-chul's presence, I will feel very disatisifed if the chain of events leading to the resolution of the main villains threat ended up hinging on an ass-pull unexplained ability with no foundation in D&D rules, expected behavior, or common sense - that we can only sit around and try to patch up with fan speculation theories as to how it was done. Just does not sit right with me.

[lonewolf23k]

Xykon did hide the Phylactery where nobody would (at first) think of finding it. Anyone who didn't know about the Holy Symbol thing would assume he'd hide his Phylactery in a hidden Vault in the most inaccessible area possible. Why would their first guess be "oh, his Second in Command is carrying it around his neck"?

Hiding in Plain Sight. Try it sometimes, it works.

[snikrept]

Xykon did hide the Phylactery where nobody would (at first) think of finding it. Anyone who didn't know about the Holy Symbol thing would assume he'd hide his Phylactery in a hidden Vault in the most inaccessible area possible. Why would their first guess be "oh, his Second in Command is carrying it around his neck"?

Hiding in Plain Sight. Try it sometimes, it works.

Speaking of which, how did Soon figure out where the phylactery was (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0462.html)? Nobody else in Azure City seemed to know much about Xykon.

[Vectner]

Xykon didn't hide his phylactery for the simplest reason of all:
He would have forgotten where it's hidden 3 rounds after hiding it. Tops.

I have to agree with you %100. Xykon can't be bothered with petty details like where he should keep the most important item of his life. I'm not being facetious either. I think if asked where he would hide it, he would tell some one else, probably Redcloak, to put it where they felt it would be safest.

Xykon is not about details and responsibilty, he is about chaos and delegation.

[The Extinguisher]

My pet theory is that as a ghost, he can see spectral things that mortals can't see (like other ghosts)... and as a soul repository, the phylactery has such a spectral aspect that ghosts can see.

Either way, unless the missing Phylactery ends up having no more plot relevance then holding up Xykon from moving out from Sapphire city for a bit, I do think the Giant should explain how Soon Identified it.

If by the end of the story Xykon ends up loosing because of his misplaced phylactery, because O-chul yanked it, because Soon revealed it to be the Phylactery in O-chul's presence, I will feel very disatisifed if the chain of events leading to the resolution of the main villains threat ended up hinging on an ass-pull unexplained ability with no foundation in D&D rules, expected behavior, or common sense - that we can only sit around and try to patch up with fan speculation theories as to how it was done. Just does not sit right with me.

Soon is an epic level paladin made of positive energy. The phylactery is an radiating more evil and negative energy than Sauron riding the Death Star.

They fight crime. I'm not surprised he was able to find it.

[Grendus]

Soon is an epic level paladin made of positive energy. The phylactery is an radiating more evil and negative energy than Sauron riding the Death Star.

I like the metaphor. I also think you're very right, he would have seen (or felt) the phylactery radiating more evil than a 15th (ish) level evil cleric would give off, and as a highly devout epic level paladin he would have the Knowledge(Religion) skill ranks to know what a phylactery is. Contrary to Girard's belief, Soon was not an idiot (in fact, I think he was brilliant, who would expect a paladin to wait in ambush?), he could have put two and two together.

[megabyter5]

Hiding in Plain Sight. Try it sometimes, it works.

But neither Xykon nor Redcloak are a 17th level ranger! :smalltongue:

[IronWilliam]

He wouldn't hide it because he"s more capable of protecting it then anyone else. He can"t trust others with it. As shown in the origin of darkness, he knows that for the time being, Redcloak can be trusted with his phylactery. If he hid it, anyone could get lucky and find it. But there are very few people capable of defeating an epic-level sorcerer lich.

[MoonCat]

The idea was originally Redcloak's, and by now Xykon knows he won't do anything to it because
Redcloak would have to admit that all the lives he threw away after this original plan (to control Xykon and master the gates) were wasted. This includes his killing of his baby brother, all the unnamed goblins, and that he would have made a mistake

[The MunchKING]

Why did Xykon continue to let Redcloak use his phylactery as a Holy Symbol?

He's a high level cleric. Who else in his campaign world could defend it so well??

[The MunchKING]

Soon is an epic level paladin made of positive energy. The phylactery is an radiating more evil and negative energy than Sauron riding the Death Star.

They fight crime. I'm not surprised he was able to find it.

Paladins also get "Detect Evil" as an at-will ability.

[Cizak]

From the FAQ:



Q: In Strip #X, why didn.t character Y take action Z? If they had done so, they could have avoided a whole lot of trouble.


A: You just answered your own question. The strip is ABOUT the trouble these characters get in; if a tactic would result in an effortless solution to their latest problem, there would be little point in showing it, see? The characters are woefully inefficient as a result, and often take actions that are rarely seen in a real D&D game, like running away from moderate danger or .forgetting. major abilities for the sake of a joke. But their foibles are what fuel the humor.

Writer and Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski had a standard answer for overzealous fans who would ask him obscure questions like, .How fast does a Starfury (the show.s standard fighter ship) fly?. He would say, .They travel at the speed of plot,. meaning that if the script called for them to get somewhere in a certain amount of time, they could.and if the script called for them to get there too late, they couldn.t. The Order of the Stick travels almost exclusively at the speed of plot.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

The idea was originally Redcloak's, and by now Xykon knows he won't do anything to it because
Redcloak would have to admit that all the lives he threw away after this original plan (to control Xykon and master the gates) were wasted. This includes his killing of his baby brother, all the unnamed goblins, and that he would have made a mistake
Of course, while Redcloack won’t willingly endanger the phylactery, he has now proven himself in Xykon’s eyes to be incompetent at actually protecting it. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens if/when big X recovers it.

[blazingshadow]

how would any of you hide your phylactery without being too inconvenient after you regenerate?

i for one think that xykon having his soul jar close to him and defended by another high level character seems like a good place as any to hide something that important.

other ways to hide it is to make an item familiar with a false magic aura out of it and wear it yourself. if they loot your bones then as a sorcerer one can always zap the guy that killed you with stilled silent meteor swarms or time stop and multiple delayed blast fireballs if he has those spells

if i had to hide my own phylactery i would make it into a big enough cornerstone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerstone) with a small enough hole under it for my head to regenerate enough before teleporting out. if the building is used by a king or an important group of ppl then having it destroyed will prove quite difficult

edit: having it as a cornerstone can also make it hard to find if it is moved to a museum or to the elemental plane of earth

[The Pilgrim]

Soon is an epic level paladin made of positive energy. The phylactery is an radiating more evil and negative energy than Sauron riding the Death Star.

They fight crime. I'm not surprised he was able to find it.

It was being carried by a high level evil cleric wearing the Dark One's Crimson Mantle, which, being an unique, godly-crafted artifact, probably irradiates a lot more evil than the Phil.

Anyway, Soon had other means to figure out it. Plus it was plot-required to build up the awesome climax that the given strip is.

[The Pilgrim]

Regarding why Xykon keeps his Phil at hand, that follows Rule #5 of the Evil Overlord's List (http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html)

The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

RedCloak is Xykon's walking safe-box.

[KillItWithFire]

Anyway, Soon had other means to figure out it. Plus it was plot-required to build up the awesome climax that the given strip is.

Yeah epic characters frequently have ways of knowing things. Soon was adventuring for a while and probably fought his fair share of liches. Someone also talked about the knowledge check. In summery, epic characters tend to know things.

[Gnoman]

Let's look at the two (currently) most famous liches in the world (neither is "called" a lich, but one served as a significant inspiration for the D&D version, and the other is near identical). One kept the phylactery on him at all times, one made several and hid them. The former required the second or third most powerful army in the history of Middle-Earth to even take it away from him, and THEN the protections on it came into play. The other was defeated by three teenagers and a very old man, who were able to break his protections with comparitive ease, although it got one of them killed (essentially twice).

[Skull the Troll]

I noticed a couple points in the posts that I wanted to comment on. As far as taking the holy symbol away from Redcloak, that really shouldn't be an issue for either of them. It's stated pretty plainly in SoD that Redcloak is in fact Xylon's bitch. (excuse the language, but its exactly what the author said...) That said, I think Xylon has a pretty good plan going. In a world where some one could cast a spell and identify exactly where something is, hiding it as a rock in a field of rocks, or some other 'plain sight' method wouldn't be as effective as it would in our world. Also in SoD its made clear that you don't just have to kill the phylactery to kill Xylon, you have to get Xylon himself. Its not where his soul is all the time like in the Harry Potter books, its just where it goes if his body is destroyed. Having both in the same room is probably good.

[Occasional Sage]

My pet theory is that as a ghost, he can see spectral things that mortals can't see (like other ghosts)... and as a soul repository, the phylactery has such a spectral aspect that ghosts can see.

Either way, unless the missing Phylactery ends up having no more plot relevance then holding up Xykon from moving out from Sapphire city for a bit, I do think the Giant should explain how Soon Identified it.

If by the end of the story Xykon ends up loosing because of his misplaced phylactery, because O-chul yanked it, because Soon revealed it to be the Phylactery in O-chul's presence, I will feel very disatisifed if the chain of events leading to the resolution of the main villains threat ended up hinging on an ass-pull unexplained ability with no foundation in D&D rules, expected behavior, or common sense - that we can only sit around and try to patch up with fan speculation theories as to how it was done. Just does not sit right with me.

Eh. The storytelling is consistently strong, which gives me faith. If I trust the author to be good at his job, I don't need exposition for everything. I believe he knows how it happened and thinks the explanation is a solid one. As long as that confidence isn't abused, I'm fine with some lingering mysteries.

[Ninja Dragon]

Evil Overlord List #5 (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilOverlordList)

The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

Trust me, it never works. Better keep them near yourself.

EDIT:

It seems The Pilgrim posted it before me. Dammit. :smallbiggrin:

[The Pilgrim]

Yeah epic characters frequently have ways of knowing things. Soon was adventuring for a while and probably fought his fair share of liches. Someone also talked about the knowledge check. In summery, epic characters tend to know things.

That, plus the fact that after Eugene informed the OOTS, in front of Lord Shojo, that Xykon was still alive, everyone realized the Philactery thing. Soon, like all the other good guys, already knew that in order to terminate Xykon for good, the Phil had to be destroyed.

Realizing that the Holy Symbol of the High Priest of the Dark One was it, taking into account that he has been wearing it in plain sight for the whole comic, and was (toghether with MiD) Xykon's only minion to survive Dorukan's Dungeon, was not that dificult.

[Nimrod's Son]

:smallsmile: Yay, I get to do my joke again!

*Clears throat*


Xylon [...] Xylon [...] Xylon [...] Xylon
The man-made fibre OF THE FUTURE!!!

[Forlong]

Because the plot needed him to lose it at this point.

Hiding stuff isn't really Xykon's style. We aren't talking about Voldemort here. Xykon knows from experience that he can trust Redcloak to look after his phylactery, it's an everyday object that most wouldn't think is important strategically, and it's protected with more spells than Xykon can remember.

[The Pilgrim]

Keeping it by his side is intelligent because, basically, anyone willing to destroy him, has to face him AND the philactery at the same time. That forces the enemy to either divide their forces, thus making themselves easier to defeat, or to focus in one of the objectives, allowing the other to escape.

That's what happened at Dorukan's. While the heroes were dizzy with success after defeating Xykon, Redcloack promptly fled. Would have worked at Soon's if Xykon had not blown his panic test and thus had not pulled himself next to Redcloack, allowing Soon to reach both of them at once. Still, they managed to survive that.

And, what really pissed Xykon at the Darth V & O-Chul Norris affair, was not that Redcloack fled, but that he fled leaving the Philactery behind. Still, thanks to the fact that he kept the Phil by his side, Xykon was able to correct Redcloack's goof and prevent it from being destroyed.

[Coidzor]

What's easier, taking out an epic sorcerer lich and high level cleric and then destroying the phylactery or finding a hidden phylactery and destroying it?

Xykon feels the latter because he's such a badass.

And that's basically it as far as I can tell. Not very complicated to understand.

[tiriricasmk]

i think letting redcloack use it as a holy symbol was the best idea
redcloack is the high priest of the dark one and a high(epic?) level cleric,he can defend it very well
o-chul only got it in the first place because of a VERY LUCKY critical with an improvised weapon...

and besides,let's say he hides it on another plane or in a nasty dungeon or in his sock drawers...if someone accidentaly finds it,steal it and leaves,what now?
the bling has many abjurations,it cant be found with magic

best to always have it in eye-sight

[Sylthia]

It all depends on whether the phylactery is a one-time use spell during the creation of the lich. In other campaigns, it's only used when the lich is killed and spawns at that point. If that's the case, it may be in character for Xykon to keep the phylactery close by, but it's not the wisest thing to do. In the event that the lich is destroyed, the phylactery is right there, whereas if it is elsewhere, it might be found-destoyed by someone, but he could always make a new one if need be. The phylactery is basically a lich's back-up plan on unlife. He gains no addition magic by keeping it close by.

[tiriricasmk]

SoD spoiler:
When redcloack trys to blackmail xykon with destroying the phylactery,xykon says that the phylactery is just a shiny bauble unless he destroys xykon first...this indicates that he can create a new one,or else he wouldnt call it "just a shiny bauble"

[The Pilgrim]

SoD spoiler:
When redcloack trys to blackmail xykon with destroying the phylactery,xykon says that the phylactery is just a shiny bauble unless he destroys xykon first...this indicates that he can create a new one,or else he wouldnt call it "just a shiny bauble"

Don't discard that he was bluffing back then. He seemed quite concerned when Blackwing almost dropped it in the Rift.

[Coidzor]

Don't discard that he was bluffing back then. He seemed quite concerned when Blackwing almost dropped it in the Rift.

Well, destroying rather than unmaking it are quite different metaphysically.

I mean, if it's the vessel for Xykon's soul, then destroying it just releases his soul. Unmaking it would carry the attendant risk of it also unmaking Xykon's soul.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

SoD spoiler:
When redcloack trys to blackmail xykon with destroying the phylactery,xykon says that the phylactery is just a shiny bauble unless he destroys xykon first...this indicates that he can create a new one,or else he wouldnt call it "just a shiny bauble"
He never said he could make a new one. Just that he wouldn’t be harmed by its destruction. If that is the case, then he would simply be no worse off than he was before he became a lich. At that point, he had spent over 70 years protecting only one body and just a day with a phylactery. He wasn’t actively dependent on the thing. So it wouldn’t be a huge loss from this perspective.

The exact language he used was also influenced by his rage at the time. As the Pilgrim said, that would be more the Bluff/Intimidate check talking than his actual attitude, even given the above.