sort of... mission... quest... thing

[Mystery Man]

I'm looking for ideas but in a different direction.

It's a high level game in the Forgotten Realms I'm running that has sort of evolved from another plot I was running (like that never happens). A genius loci or an undead genius loci actualy has been manifested by a fallen solar to get revenge on my players for something they thwarted some time ago. They have managed to deal with the fallen solar but now have this genius loci to contend with, and actually they're starting to realize it is what it is but can't do anything about it since it's powers are currently growing beyond their ability to control and they cannot communicate with it. They only know that they cannot destroy by the means that they have available to them now. The genius loci has not reached it's full power yet, it is still growing as sort of a necrotic cyst, a blight on the land that has wiped out an entire village, people, buildings and all. Where people have died as it grows they sort of wander around on its surface as crimson death (MMII) a whole crapload of them. And it is still growing...

Realizing they're in way over their head they wisely flee the area. And a divination reveals to them that "the answer they seek (to destroy it) is in the Anourach desert, a lich holds the key. First find the Temple of Marru in the Plain of Standing Stones."

At the temple they fought and destroyed a blackstone gigant (that was quite an encounter let me tell you) and received their first clue. As the gigant was destroyed the walls of the temple melted like wax and revealed to them various illustrations, of them (the PC's) yet not them (there were subtle differences) battling hordes of demons, meeting with kings, holding counsel with a giant spynx, leading a large host into battle...none of which has happened IC so they surmised that this was a portent of things to come. They're right of course.

Also, after defeating the gigant they pulled various colored crystals from its body and realized that if they use the crystals in various combinations in compartments found on a large altar a massive map of the desert appears all around them and they can manipulate it (almost "scroll" through the desert) and see whatever it is they need to see. We left off there for the evening.

The one thing that I did not reveal to them was the location of the lich.

Given the facts (I hope I've given them all if not I'll elaborate as needed) how would you go about finding said lich? When I say "lich" what do you automatically assume?

 

[AuraSeer]

Given the facts (I hope I've given them all if not I'll elaborate as needed) how would you go about finding said lich? When I say "lich" what do you automatically assume?

When you say "lich" I assume a powerful undead of some sort. In ordinary cases I take the word to mean a powerful once-humanoid spellcaster with the Lich template from the MM, but this isn't an ordinary case. We're talking about a prophecy here, so I would assume it has an unusual meaning that needs interpretation. My best guess would be some a variation on the standard lich; in FR that's equally likely to be a dracolich, or a lichlike Good creature such as a baelnorn.

Or, given the description of the prophetic illustrations, I'd think perhaps the giant sphynx has something to do with it. Necromancers been known to stick their souls into all kinds of weird vessels and golems in their attempts to acheive immortality.

Depending on how strongly the DM sticks to FR canon, I would remain open to the possibility of finding another undead genius loci. The whole desert could potentially be a chunk of sentient terrain that made itself into a lich. In fact, that idea is so evil I think I'll have to use it myself sometime.

To find any kind of "lich" in the situation you describe, I'd first have my party search the whole temple thoroughly, for other clues or hidden chambers. If no such thing as found, I would set to using the magic map to find another clue. Start near the temple and spiral outward, looking for anything that looks similiar to a scene from one of the wall illustrations. A giant sphynx or a horde of demons should be pretty easy to spot.

 

[Mystery Man]

Mah-nah-mahnah (or..bump!)

 

[Mark Hope]

Why not have the key to destroying the genius loci be located inside the sphinx? The PCs find the sphinx, which is a sentient construct of some kind, and it tells them that it hold s the key in a chamber deep within its body. It will only open the chamber to a lich, however. Have the sphinx (or some other source, such as inscriptions in nearby ruins or knowledge gained from a meeting with the kings) provide the PCs with the ritual to become a lich. The prophesied lich, therefore, is one of the PCs, who must become undead in order to open the chamber holding the key...

 

[Mystery Man]

Depending on how strongly the DM sticks to FR canon, I would remain open to the possibility of finding another undead genius loci. The whole desert could potentially be a chunk of sentient terrain that made itself into a lich. In fact, that idea is so evil I think I'll have to use it myself sometime.

Once the genius loci hits its growth and devours everything in the area...its going to start moving.
It's not too far away from my players' Keep actually.