The Garden of Eternity

Deep within the core of Sahu, somewhere beneath the Vishap’s Spine, rests an ancient prison for an undying priestess of Thasmudyan, the lich Vermissa (see her NPC sheet). Imprisoned in the Garden of Eternity by King Uruk and eight lesser barons, Vermissa was abandoned in her subterranean abode and all but forgotten. The Garden is not a physical prison, but a magical binding that prevents Vermissa (or her spirit) from leaving. Others can enter and leave the Garden freely. Vermissa gives regular audiences from her prison to a steady stream of undead followers and living cult members.

The magical binding was formed with nine magical seals, each enchanted with life force transfer and wrought into the main doors of the Garden by a different necromancer. Vermissa will need another nine similarly powerful necromancers to free her, each casting revoke life force transfer on an unbroken seal.

Recently, Vermissa persuaded Kazerabet to break one of the seals, just as she convinced Nebt Bhakau (Pizentios’s former master) and four other powerful necromancers in the past centuries to aid her, for Vermissa knows the secrets of lichdom, and she gladly bestows them on wizards who aid her. It is only a matter of time before she is freed, but just to help matters along, Vermissa bestowed her patronage on the young Pizentios, expecting him to break the seventh seal when he becomes sufficiently powerful.

The garden itself is in a vast cavern whose walls have been magically smoothed. The ceiling has been imbued with continual light, and the rich soil has given root to many strange plants that Vermissa has augmented over the centuries of her imprisonment. The trees and flowers in her garden give bloom to many horrendous human parts with grotesque limbs and faces grafted into the scaly brown bark of twisted mauve bushes or somehow fused into giant orchidlike flowers. These pale limbs and contorted faces are not dead, for that would be merciful and provide little entertainment for Vermissa. The trees and flowers in the Garden are alive, after a fashion, twisted into pathetic, fleshy things that crave new fodder. Vermissa feeds her Garden frequently, sometimes with the occasional visitors when they displease her, or with hand-picked enemies from the surface.

Vermissa lives in a U-shaped palace that wraps around one half of the Garden, embracing it in a semicircle as if it were an outdoor courtyard. The largest chamber in the palace, besides the audience hall, is a huge cathedral to Thasmudyan, beneath which rests a hidden treasure vault containing Vermissa’s phylactery. The palace contains an extensive library of necromantic lore (stolen from Uruk’s vaults in Nycopolis by Vermissa’s ghouls) and a tall trophy room, where the lich saves the animated heads of her most entertaining visitors for moments when she craves light-hearted conversation. There is an entire wing of “guest” rooms, though only the necromancers Pizentios and Kazerabet (and other prominent, living cult members) make frequent visits.

Reaching the Garden is not an easy task, as it lies beyond a mazework of twisting tunnels, protected in key regions by powerful glyphs and symbols or guarded by well-organized detachments of Vermissa’s Bone Legion, an elite force of mummies and ju-ju zombies. These caverns rise to the surface in a number of locations, such as the hidden shrines outside Misbahd and Jinutt, the ruins of Ereshkigal, and the tower of Pizentios. Cult members have a secret password that they use to gain passage through the various traps and guardians of the Underdark, but these code phrases change frequently (once every few months). Perhaps the most direct way into the Garden is through the multiple gates leading from Nycopolis to the Summer Palace, and from the Palace to the Garden, but these magical portals are used only by Kazerabet herself and would probably require her personal permission (unlikely given).

The Garden of Eternity is the secret core of the Necromancer Kings campaign, and knowledge about its location and true contents should be kept mysterious for as long as possible in the campaign. Infiltrating the Garden, confronting Vermissa, and defeating the lich priestess should only be attempted by the most powerful and resourceful parties.

A more likely scenario would involve the heroes’ attempted infiltration of the garden, and their subsequent capture by the lich, who would be more then happy to give them a tour of her facilities, providing at least some opportunity for role-playing. If they entertain her sufficiently (or somehow manage to beat her at chess), the lich might release them. Otherwise, they will have to devise their own escape (possibly aided by Kazerabet if she has grown fond of the PCs by now). If not, the party will end up as souvenirs in the trophy room or as screaming nourishment for Vermissa’s Garden.

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