Journeying Jormungandr

d66 Phylacteries

1:

  1. The standard. A small durable object that reforms and rejuvenates the lich in a week-ish.
  2. An adamantine altar, hidden deep within a trapped vault, enchanted to be (even more) indestructible. A dusty, cob-web-covered pewter mug on shelf in a back corner of the vault is the actual phylactery - once the lich regenerates a finger bone, it has just enough strength to teleport to the altar so it seems to be regenerating there.
  3. A great firepit. As long as any flame burns within, the Lich cannot die. If it is relit, the Lich returns.
  4. A stone sarcophagus. If a suitable living creature is trapped within while the lich is dead, the creature is slain and the lich is revived in a matter of minutes.
  5. Several dozen cloning vats holding inert necrobiotic replicas.
  6. The lich's living descendants. When slain, it can possess any one of them, transforming them in to a lich and slowly regaining its powers over the next few weeks. The descendants of the victim become the new candidates for possession next time it dies.

2:

  1. Its skull, which flies off and seeks a safe place to rejuvenate. Careful - it has powerful telekinetic abilities.
  2. Its audibly pounding heart, still nestled in its chest. The lich has massive regeneration abilities and formidable physical attributes, but if the heart is destroyed the lich perishes for good.
  3. A cursed golden chalice. The lich can be reborn from the flesh of any who have drunk from it.
  4. A great gnarled tree deep in a cursed forest. When the lich dies, a massive fruit will grow. When it falls and bursts, the lich comes out.
  5. A swarm of spiders burst from its body as it falls! If enough escape, they'll weave the lich a new body with their webs.
  6. It dies with a mocking laugh, saying you'll never find its phylactery. It doesn't have one, and is magically reborn when everyone gives up on looking for the phylactery.

3:

  1. Its circlet, which grants great magical power but slowly and subtly twists the wearer until they perform a dark ritual to resurrect the lich.
  2. Another lich. Each is the other's phylactery. They intentionally have no association other than mutually beneficial security for rejuvenation.
  3. A bowl, carved from the top of the Lich's skull. It is filled with the Lich's lifeblood - the few drops that, when spilled, will end its life.
  4. A mirror, holding the lich's reflection. When the lich is slain, the mirror shatters and the lich steps out, instantly fully rejuvenated. It will hurry to enchant a new mirror.
  5. Its strategically decentralized and mostly self-sustaining cult, who will seek to resurrect it via dark rituals.
  6. The lich acts only through simulacra, remotely controlled from an elaborate unlife-support throne.

4:

  1. The lich has nine unlives, and replenishes them by draining them from beloved housecats (one cat per life).
  2. Its horde of gold, gems, and other treasures. If anyone takes an unfair share of it, they will be slowly overtaken by the lich.
  3. A diamond hidden among the massive horde of a mighty red dragon. The lich sneaks out after rejuvenating, careful to not steal a single coin.
  4. The rusted shackles in a sealed oubliette deep in the bowels of the castle of a paranoid, wicked king.
  5. A flock of giant vultures. The next egg they lay will hatch in to the lich.
  6. A cloud of respiratory disease with a long incubation period released upon its death. Exposure to the cloud nearly guarantees infection. Unlikely to be dangerous to a seasoned adventurer, but they might transmit it to someone infirm. The body of the first person to die while infected will be reborn as the lich after a few hours, but promptly and thoroughly burning the body (or the extinction of the disease) can kill the lich for good.

5:

  1. A simmering cauldron holding the perpetual stew of a long-standing inn. Any who eat of it after the lich's destruction risk possession and subsumption.
  2. A popular self-help book. Any who follow its affirmation rituals risk possession and subsumption.
  3. The lich is a charming casanova and skilled in illusion or shapeshifting. Its progeny are invariably stillborn until the lich is destroyed, after which any born are remarkably healthy - until the lich overtakes one of their bodies and absorbs the life force of the others.
  4. A stone arch in the barren countryside. If a child walks in, the lich steps out.
  5. A stone box behind a loose brick in a buried cell in an outer plane. The lich has a Deck of Many Things in its effects. The Donjon card takes you here, absent any gear. The lich keeps a backup spellbook and some smoke bombs (to asphyxiate adventurers) in its nook.
  6. The lich's left hand falls off and tries to skitter away. Catch it, or it'll build a new body from loose bones. Careful - it has the lich's paralytic touch.

6:

  1. Its mind jumps to a fine weapon in its hoard. It picks the weapon and grants it powers to appeal to whichever of its killers seems easiest to manipulate. The weapon doesn't sound like the lich, and it has a thorough backstory already though-up.
  2. It has a deal with a well-established church. In exchange for doing their dirty work, they'll bring it back.
  3. Whoever kills it has a to call a coin toss. If they fail, the lich instantly reforms, fully restored and its magic recharged. Win, and it's gone for good.
  4. It has two bodies that it keeps far from each other. When one is destroyed, the other will track down the pieces - even using magic to recover dust - and repair it.
  5. It doesn't have a phylactery, but acts through remotely-controlled necromantic body doubles.
  6. A ring of three wishes. Spend all three, and the lich is restored. Only by spending all three wishes to destroy can it be slain for good.

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