Lich Hunting

It is highly probable that the heroes may not survive a direct, violent confrontation with Vermissa. If the DM wishes to stage one anyway, in a truly epic style, feel free to introduce the party to King Talib, lich-hunter, as an individual who can provide them with some much-needed aid. Introducing Talib helps muddy the situation even further, given his past involvement with Kazerabet and her secret intention to become a lich herself. Naturally, Talib does not reveal that he is still Kazerabet’s husband, and he does not know that his wife is currently on Sahu in the Summer Palace.

Once Talib learns that the adventurers have visited Sahu, he will approach them (in a corpse host) to learn about their adventures. He will offer money, magical items, or even his services as a lich-hunter in exchange for all they know about the island. He has long suspected that Sahu might be the haven for (at least) one lich and has researched its history quite thoroughly. He has reason to believe that Vermissa and Uruk made the transformation centuries ago. Talib confides all these secrets to the heroes, hoping to sway them to his side. Later, when he gets to know the party better, he may even reveal the personal reason for his crusade against liches.

Talib is respectfully cautious, particularly where liches are concerned. He has completed some discreet magical reconnaissance of the island and uncovered the existence of the Cult of Worms in Misbahd and Jinutt. He now feels ready to visit the island, albeit disguised in a corpse host. He needs the adventurers because of their familiarity with the island, and he would appreciate their company during the visit. He promises them the wealth of the Necromancer Kings if they seem uncertain (and are motivated by greed); he also warns of the danger to the surrounding world when Vermissa finally earns her freedom.

Talib’s relationship with Kazerabet adds another convolution to the exploration of Sahu. If the party has already encountered her and informs Talib of this, his first goal will be to track down his wife, determine her motives for staying on Sahu, and try to convince her to join him on his lich-hunt. If the party hasn’t met her before, he will insist on exploring the ruins of Nycopolis, where they will find the “back door” into the Summer Palace and there encounter Kazerabet. The melodramatic reunion between husband and wife gets off to a shaky start (Talib is, after all, disguised in a corpse host). Kazerabet angrily sets her wards blazing when she sees the party, threatening to wipe them out for disturbing her research one too many times. Then Talib calls her by her true name (Inanna) to get her attention, and he reveals his true identity. She calls his corpse host a “neat trick,” and he praises her radiant beauty and asks her to come back to him. “You finished your precious book,” Talib notes casually. “I enjoyed reading it enormously,” he adds, complimenting her further (he knows too well how to butter her up).

Kazerabet still loves her husband, but she tries very hard not to show it. She refuses to join him and the party against Vermissa (that would be contrary to her personal code of honor), but she will allow him (along with the adventurers) to use the gate in her basement to quickly reach the Garden. She says as little as possible about her involvement with the lich, except that she was studying Vermissa for a new book. Her interest in Sahu, she claims, was purely academic.

Aided by Talib, the adventurers may now be able to defeat Vermissa. Before her destruction, however, at a climactic moment in the battle, Vermissa reveals the true reason Kazerabet was helping her, and suggests that Talib’s wife has already made the transformation into a lich. Before Vermissa dies, she wishes Talib joy in hunting his wife down and slaying her.

Make sure to arrange for Talib’s corpse host to die a grisly death before the climactic scene, leaving the final dirty work in the battle, and the destruction of Vermissa’s phylactery, up to the heroes alone. After her death, presuming that the adventurers emerge from the battle victorious, the party hears a distant roar, and Thasmudyan informs them of his displeasure. He curses the heroes with any malediction the DM finds appropriate (save vs. spells at –4). The curse can only be removed by a 20th level or higher priest.

Afterward, confirming Vermissa’s allegations, the PCs will find the Summer Palace completely empty should they return there via the gate, with no trace of Kazerabet’s former occupancy. Talib teleports there in person to congratulate the adventurers, and he searches the palace for any clues to Kazerabet’s current whereabouts. She has indeed left a clue, a small vase on a neglected mantle. A legend lore cast on the vase will reveal the distant location of its manufacture, another renowned center of magical learning. Kazerabet might be found somewhere near that vicinity, but perhaps the vase is nothing more than a red herring, planted there to throw a persistent husband off her trail.

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