Phylactery of the Undying - Magic Item (Patreon)

Phylactery of the Undying 🖤💍

In an age before memory, where time itself was still taking form, the world knew not of death's permanence. Elders whispered tales of Erasyl, the Eternal Alchemist. It was he who grieved for his lost love, a maiden of unparalleled beauty and grace, who had been taken from him by the cruel hand of mortality. To reclaim her from the shadowed void, Erasyl ventured beyond the known realms, where even stars dared not shine.

On his quest, in the heart of the Obsidian Abyss, Erasyl chanced upon an ancient entity – the Serpent of Time, Ourothel. From Ourothel's ageless scales, shimmering in colors yet unnamed, the alchemist extracted an essence, a drop of pure eternity. With this elixir and his own undying love, he forged the Phylactery of the Undying, a vessel to contain not just a soul, but the very essence of life and death.

The ring, black as the abyss, held the power of countless lifetimes. Its golden skulls screamed silently of sacrifices made, and its gem pulsed with the heartbeat of the universe. The Phylactery was Erasyl's magnum opus, his final bid against the inexorable march of time.

While the Phylactery did reunite Erasyl with his love, it also bound them both to an endless cycle, forever caught between life and death, creation and decay. Their tale, whispered through the eons, serves as a poignant reminder – that in our pursuit of eternity, we may lose the very essence of the fleeting moments we so cherish.

Phylactery of the Undying

Ring, artifact (requires attunement)

This black copper ring radiates an icy chill, with its gleaming silver designs running across the band. Two meticulously crafted golden skulls, their mouths frozen in a perpetual scream, are situated on either end. Between them, a silver bloom unfurls, its petals delicately carved. In the heart of this bloom, a gold setting holds a yellow gemstone. This setting is adorned with four skull faces, each screaming into a different cardinal direction.

Undying Soul. If you die while attuned to this ring, your soul is transferred into the phylactery. Over the course of 24 hours, it works to restore your body, and when you return, you are at your maximum hit points. If your body has been destroyed or is unavailable, the ring creates a new one for you, and you emerge as a reborn. Each time this resurrection occurs, the wearer undergoes a transformation:

1st Death - Unearthly Intellect:

Your Intelligence increases by 4, to a maximum of 24.
You can grow up to 2 feet taller than your original height.
You cease to age. Your bones show signs of your deeds, becoming dull or stained based on your past and predicted future actions.
Your pupils emit a haunting, red glow, granting you Blindsight up to 30 feet.
Your skin becomes pale, taking on a slight translucent quality, allowing you to blend more easily into shadows. You gain advantage on Stealth checks made in dim light or darkness.

2nd Death - Undeath’s Embrace:

Your creature type becomes undead if not reborn already.
You gain resistance to necrotic and cold damage.
Immunity to poison damage and the poisoned condition.
Your touch chills the living. Your unarmed strikes deal an additional 1d6 cold damage.
The shadows around you become your allies. Once per long rest, you can cast the Shadow Step monk feature, allowing you to teleport from one shadow to another within 60 feet.

3rd Death - Lich's Aura:

Creatures instinctively recognize the deathly aura surrounding you. You gain advantage on Intimidation checks against living creatures but suffer disadvantage on Persuasion checks with them.
You can cast Animate Dead three times per long rest without expending spell slots..
The veil between life and death thins for you. You can cast Speak with Dead without requiring a corpse's mouth or expending spell slots.

4th Death - Lichdom:

You complete your transformation into a lich, gaining all the standard abilities and traits of a lich.
Your soul becomes eternally bound to the phylactery. If the phylactery is destroyed while you are a lich, you are destroyed with it.
From this point onward, your character becomes an NPC under the GM's control.

Curse. Once attuned, the ring cannot be unattuned except by a Wish spell or similar magic. If forcibly removed, the wearer suffers the effects of the Finger of Death spell as the ring attempts to claim the wearer's life.

Destroying the Phylactery. Immersing the phylactery in the holy waters of a deity opposing undeath while casting the Sunburst spell upon it will destroy the ring.

Random Properties. Phylactery of the Undying have the following random properties:

• 2 minor beneficial property
• 2 major beneficial property
• 3 minor detrimental property
• 1 major detrimental property