Mith
2015-10-28, 04:54 PM
Hi everybody,
I just came up with this idea for a potential regional effect for a Lich. It has always kind of bothered me that there exist means to destroy souls when they are described in the terms of "immortal soul" (at least in the understanding I have of the material I have read for most settings that bother to deal with it). So the fact that the lich's phylantry consumes souls completely seems out of place in that context. So I developed this idea that can be incorporated into a setting as a means to find a lich's lair (or more specifically, their phylantry's location)
Lost Stars
In the night sky above the location the location of a lich's phylantry, one can observe faint pinpricks of light (think of the faint band of stars that forms the band of the Milky Way, but likely (hopefully) not as dense), that appear to be stars. These stars are only visible during the waning phase of the moon, and only when one is in a 1 mile of the phylantry's location. These lights are actually the souls of all those the lich has fed to their phylantry to continue their existence, and they remain trapped, unable to move on the after life. Destroying the phylantry results in the formation of a small grey rock known as a soul stone (better names welcomed if this term is already in use). Where ever the soul stone is located, the lost stars can be observed in the night sky, the same as with the phylantry, but no new souls can be fed to it. If the soulstone is laid to rest under proper burial rites (a rite that is done in a manner that prevents animation of undead to be made from the remains), the souls are released to their final rest.
I personally like this idea, and I thought I would share it for others to use. It serves as an additional quest I think to add some depth to the world (it's not a necessary component to the quest of "destroy the evil lich", but if the PCs do follow through with it, it can give a sense of 'there are inhabitants of this world" sort of thing). Plus, it gives a potential nifty way to find the lich in the first place, if they are residing in the same place as their phylantry.
I just came up with this idea for a potential regional effect for a Lich. It has always kind of bothered me that there exist means to destroy souls when they are described in the terms of "immortal soul" (at least in the understanding I have of the material I have read for most settings that bother to deal with it). So the fact that the lich's phylantry consumes souls completely seems out of place in that context. So I developed this idea that can be incorporated into a setting as a means to find a lich's lair (or more specifically, their phylantry's location)
Lost Stars
In the night sky above the location the location of a lich's phylantry, one can observe faint pinpricks of light (think of the faint band of stars that forms the band of the Milky Way, but likely (hopefully) not as dense), that appear to be stars. These stars are only visible during the waning phase of the moon, and only when one is in a 1 mile of the phylantry's location. These lights are actually the souls of all those the lich has fed to their phylantry to continue their existence, and they remain trapped, unable to move on the after life. Destroying the phylantry results in the formation of a small grey rock known as a soul stone (better names welcomed if this term is already in use). Where ever the soul stone is located, the lost stars can be observed in the night sky, the same as with the phylantry, but no new souls can be fed to it. If the soulstone is laid to rest under proper burial rites (a rite that is done in a manner that prevents animation of undead to be made from the remains), the souls are released to their final rest.
I personally like this idea, and I thought I would share it for others to use. It serves as an additional quest I think to add some depth to the world (it's not a necessary component to the quest of "destroy the evil lich", but if the PCs do follow through with it, it can give a sense of 'there are inhabitants of this world" sort of thing). Plus, it gives a potential nifty way to find the lich in the first place, if they are residing in the same place as their phylantry.