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View Full Version : Reversing unwilling (draco)-lichification--ideas?



PhoenixPhyre
2019-04-28, 11:09 AM
So there's the dracolich in my setting (I'm the DM) that didn't want to be that way. Blame a beyond-deific[0] being incarnated into flesh who wanted a suitable mount.

This dracolich was killed and his creator "banished"[1] about 200 years ago, but has been in a form of stasis since then, unable to reconstitute himself or really die. That stasis is going to end real soon (due to meddling PCs). The PCs might want to turn him back into his previous self, something the dragon's mate wants more than anything. They do not have access to wish (and that would not be a safe wish) or true resurrection.

Not worrying about specific game mechanics here, if they wanted to turn him back, what sorts of things might be suitable/interesting/thematic to require? What sorts of ceremonies, rituals, etc? There's a new pair of demigods of redemption in the setting; the party also has the aid of a fey creature obsessed with love/romance and another lich, although that other lich isn't all that directly powerful himself (just has lots of knowledge).

I'm willing to do this in narrative time (ie have it be a quest that happens off camera over a long period of time).

[0] as in "primordial force of chaos from the dawn of creation, turned rebel".
[1] he lost due to a freak accident and the self-sacrifice of all his compatriot primordial forces. He's less "banished" than "unmade", incorporated into reality itself. He's not coming back.

Faily
2019-04-28, 11:26 AM
Since Wish, Miracle, and True Resurrection is out the window...

Make a long and difficult quest to find an avatar or voice of a god to which you can deliver the plea for the dragon to be restored to true life? Maybe from a life-focused god, or maybe even a dragon-centric god?

The god/voice/avatar might ask them for favors in return, or task them to find a super-rare ingredient for the ritual to restore life, such as maybe the feathers of a baby phoenix after it has hatched, water from another plane that has healing properties/water from the river Styx-kind of thing. Though maybe keep the ingredients thematicelly related to rebirth and life.

Mr Beer
2019-04-28, 06:39 PM
A quest to get either Bahamut or Tiamat to grant this boon would seem appropriate.

PhoenixPhyre
2019-04-28, 06:43 PM
A quest to get either Bahamut or Tiamat to grant this boon would seem appropriate.

One problem--neither Bahamut nor Tiamat exist in my setting. But there are deities who would see the redemption of this dracolich as a proof of their status (they being newly-ascended godlings).

InvisibleBison
2019-04-28, 11:15 PM
It seems to me that since the dragon was made into a dracolich by this primordial force of chaos rather than the normal method, there would be some link between the dracolichdom and the PFoC. Perhaps there's some remnant of the PFoC that the players could track down and eliminate, which would restore the dracolich to life (and maybe do other things as well...). Or perhaps there's some lingering chaotic forces in the dracolich that need to be extracted and then dealt with before they cause more trouble.

Kaptin Keen
2019-04-29, 12:43 AM
It seems to me the proper terms would be belichment - and delichment. Other than that, I'm afraid I have no idea how to achieve delichment, other than what others have proposed: Ask someone powerful enough to do it for help. Or you know, kill the lich, then travel to the afterlife and free it. Provided there is a dracolysium for good little dragons to go to. Or, well, I dunno. I imagine all dragons go the same place, regardless of alignment. What is 'hell' for evil dragons, anyways? But, sure, dracabyss, if you like.

Vizzerdrix
2019-04-29, 03:35 AM
I could have sworn their was a spell that undeaded an undead.

Cluedrew
2019-04-29, 06:07 PM
They have the spiritual side (or will once the stasis brakes) so the only thing left to do is forage a new living body and connect the two. The friendly lich can help create the body from the appropriate materials (I recommend cattle) maybe using the mate as a point of reference. The gods of redemption might require a bit of a quest on the dragon's side, say some time in a lessor form doing good work, then they can bless the soul, give it to the fey who can preform a ritual involving the loving connection of the partner to pull the spirit and soul into the body and bring it to life again.

Phhase
2019-04-30, 12:17 AM
Hmmm. Technically, the dracolich's soul still inhabits its body, yes? Undead or otherwise? Therefore, take a sliver of bone, cast clone to create a new body, kill the dracolich, and voila! He wakes up all meaty again.

Edit: Hmm, just remembered you want plot hooks more than simple fixes. Perhaps the clone method will still work, but the PCs have to find and retrieve the dragon's soul from the afterlife/transitory plane in order to reunite it with the body? And such a flagrant violation of planar law might attract other unwanted attention?