#lich!verse;

[relentlessgrief]

@lordgortrash is getting resurrected from the dead!

Enver Gortash. Former lord. A proud man. Who didn't know about him and his untimely demise?

When his corpse was retrieved and brought back to the Wood of Sharp Teeth, it was done fairly smoothly by using underground tunnels and systems to get out of Baldur's Gate. His ghastly underlings ensured of that. Sealed away in a burlap sack, when he was brought to the secret and hidden lair and laid on a flat stone slab, he was met with four loving hands that eagerly roamed across his corpse. It was an examination of damage, if any, amid the travel. There didn't look to be any. Not that it mattered--when he'd be brought back, he'd be whole again.

'Lich of the Werewolf Woods', as he was called by rumor, was an eldritch undead of miracles, surrounded by a forest full of nymphs, dryads, and the occasional lycanthropes. Some would seek him out to see if they could strike a bargain with him to bring their loved ones back to life, and sometimes he'd oblige. Other times, he'd turn them away.

The cost was high for all who came to visit.

Fortunately for Enver, his ticket was free, so as long as his soul was willing.

Skeletal hands run a hand across his cheek, admiring the dead body. Despite how nature had had its way with his carcass, it didn't take a genius to see that he was handsome in life.

How curious it'll be should his soul accept going back into his body. Once all wounds on his person are knitted back together, discoloration rectified with a beating heart, desperate lungs, and sense of self returned will Connor get to see the legend himself.

With the crushing of a rather expensive diamond that could feed the field ward of Waterdeep for centuries, the lich begins to perform the somatic component, gesturing with his hands as he speaks.

His eyes light up in a sickening green glow, that travels down to his rib bones that are etched with symbols. That same color now begins to wrap around the man's corpse.

"Enver Gortash... With this spell I reach out. Ensnared within the clutches of thy merciless god in death, I offer an escape, back into mortal coil of this material plane! I beckon thee, ARISE!"

[fadewalking]

I will sit alone in a camp of the choices for more spirit Cole and Lich Emmrich 😌

[scvcnofswords]

tag dump for emmrich volkarin

[jr-verse]

The Lich. He's my favorite Adventure Time villain.

Literally The Embodiment Of Evil And Death... at least in my view.

[medicus-mortem]

[💀] - Was thinking about small things I could do for the Halloween month and realised I have three verses that are spooky. They are his lich verse, the weird west verse, and the demon hunter verse. I wonder if I can get some more interest flowing for them during this spooky month.

[ghetsis-a]

man I just have fantasy brain rot rn

[endawn]

when the mage-templar war broke out, pax began aiding mages any way he could and would defend them against templars. many mages assumed at first he was a templar sympathizer given his role as a knight. likewise, many templars assumed he was there to aid them. imagine the surprise when he’d ignite his arms in flames as he goes to throw a fireball ( he’s allergic to staves ).

[quietlyblooms]

🚢 hehe

shipping sheet | @vixthem was curious!

send 🚢 or ( 'SHIP' ) if you ever considered shipping our characters romantically and want me to fill out the following form for our muses. bold all that definitely applies, italicize what could potentially apply. feel free to add more if you think certain options are missing or you just want to add more.

do i ship our characters together?: yes | no | not yet but maybe soon

would i like to ship with you?: yes | maybe, i'm willing to try | no

type of relationship i could see: childhood or high school sweethearts | exes | engaged | married | long-term relationship | crushes | unrequited love | fling | long distance | online relationship | just dating | new relationship | toxic lovers | friends with benefits

tropes i'd enjoy writing for them: friends to lovers | enemies to lovers | exes to lovers | fake relationship / dating | forbidden love | grumpy and sunshine | star-crossed lovers | surprise pregnancy | second chance | soulmates | amnesia / mistaken identity | forced proximity | secret relationship | slow burn relationship

would i rather plot first or jump right in and see where it goes?: develop their relationship first | jump right in | something in between

what now?: let's plot something | send me shippy memes | i'll send you shippy memes | write me a random starter | i'll write you a random starter

anything else i want you to know about me / my character / my shipping habits: not much else to know other than shipping with chiyo is almost always gonna be a slow burn bc of her personality, but!! that can change depending on spencer. either way, i think it'd be interesting to see how it develops ( especially with all the extra details around them -- like spencer's being a lich ), and i just really love the vibe they have rn <3 spencer has brought out chiyo's playful side from day one which always gets me smiling hehe

[grcvewctcherarchivedarchived]

tag dump 1

[mindfoster]

“&– - .....I do hope my mentions of my own relations with a Lich did not bring up bad memories or sully opinions given your own history.” // @unfortunatedarling liked for a oneliner starter!

[relentlessgrief]

@bhaaalmade is a prisoner!

She was a bit of a misfit, wasn't she? Between babbling bouts of nonsense (at least to him) or trying to goad him into reacting to her, it was almost always childlike. Oh, how she'd smile and get this sick and twisted joy in riling him up.

Sometimes a gag would work. Other times inflicting punishment by hanging her upside down for a few hours could work until she shut up. Whipping her wasn't the best option, necessarily, primarily because she LIKED it, but sometimes it felt good for him to let out that frustration on her. The various methods of punishment and torture would depend on the day.

Some days he kept her completely in the dark, in a cell of her own. No one to talk to but herself. Other days he kept her out on a leash. Some other days he chained her hands and legs too.

Today was just a leash day.

The undead makes his way from his own personal library, down a handful of corridors and past a few other rooms until finally coming to her holding cell, where he opens the stone door and sees her.

"Orin," The lich speaks. Voice the typical deep tone that's often dripping with malice.

"How are we feeling today?"

[fadewalking]

Speaking of Post-Game, I guess I better think about detailing a verse of what comes After for him.

There will be at least two

The Good Ending and The Bad Ending verses.

[stellarhistoria]

@nostomannia reminds him of himself, in a way.

"Have you ever thought of taking up a hobby?" the lich king chuckles absently, reaching over to place a hand on the much younger lady's shoulder. "Sometimes a good book, or trying really hard at something that is difficult to do, makes the dread of existence go away. For at least a little while."

[vaguely-concerned]

to be distressingly earnest for a moment, I cannot applaud sylvia feketekuty enough for how incredibly well she balances comedy and actual emotional impact in emmrich's storyline. it's such a fine line to walk as a writer, and she does it perfectly to my mind. johanna hezenkoss is a wonderfully cartoonish heightened comedy character whose literal stated goal is world domination by means of necromancy and also this giant skeleton mecha monster I built. her main redeeming quality is that she's SO entertaining and perfectly unrepentantly herself at every turn and never ever does she grow anything we might readily recognize as a conscience; she may be a monster but in such a marvellous way you simply cannot begrudge her for it. we are going full tilt into the yzma zone here and never looking back. and yet! emmrich's reactions to her, and the lingering emotional fallout of their friendship ending clinging to everything, are very real and grounded and genuine, and her functionality in the narrative rock solid. it's still funny the whole way through, but also weirdly poignant.

she is a blunt archetype, but her presence causes nuance in other places. it tests emmrich's inherent kindness to show some of the flaws running through it. it shows quirks in his character you couldn't get at otherwise, exposes what the lines of temptation can get their hooks in him even in all his genuine basic well-meaningness way before the lich storyline gets fully unveiled -- that there is something in him that was drawn to her ambition and unceasing intellectual exploration of the world, even when it edged up on ruthless; that it was only when the line was openly crossed he put his foot down for good. it exposes the darker side of nevarra's political life, especially the mortalitasi -- that it would only take a handful of them forsaking their oaths and morals and deciding that ruling from behind the throne isn't enough. in the words of emmrich, how easily it would make them a new tevinter, except with a skeleton army so arguably much more metal. the slope is slippery. watch where you put your feet, watcher.

and johanna's cheerful and unrepentant spider verse doc ock supervillain antics are emblematic of the way that aside from anything else, this storyline is also -- and I must return to it once more, one cannot emphasize this enough -- so so SO entertaining about it along the way. it sets the tone in that it's campy and over the top and hilarious... a levity you really do need to bring to emmrich's arc, revolving as it does around *checks notes scribbled on hand* ah. the desperate crippling all-consuming terror of death. like um. yes. you need some liberal spoonfuls of comedic relief to make that particular theme palatable enough to get through and process, and providing that feels like both a very kind, a very intelligent, and very wise thing to do as a writer. and also ties in so perfectly with the whole thematic structure and conclusion -- the message that perhaps you will always be afraid of this thing. maybe that fear of cessation, of irretrievable loss, will be with you forever. but there is kindness and connection and fascinating things to discover in this world to make it bearable. it's all very elegantly done and I admire it deeply on a craft level as much as I appreciate getting to engage with it as a player. a masterful balancing act of tone. thank you for coming to my ted talk and goodbye

[medicus-mortem]

[💀] - Let Lich!Law turn your muse into an undead thrall to serve him for all eternity.

[lady-quen]

Places this in the sea of "Trahearne survives" AUs. Presenting Trahearne Inmorte, resident seething Firstborn plant bonded to a frankenstein bug. Alternatively, Trahearne if he picked ferocity in the character creator.

Anyway, finally posting about my version of the good ole Marshal, lovingly dubbed Crankhearne - aka Risen Lich Trahearne, revived immediately post-getting to know his sword too closely, courtesy of Morivitae, ( @commanderteag ) the Pact's pet Scion of Zhaitan. Having kept a dragon of dubious morals on a metaphorical leash, Trahy promptly gets UNO reversed. These two start toxic but get better over time, creating a fun contrast to the Commander of the verse, Aestus, who belongs to @mithosis.

Similarly to my own Commander, Mael, he keeps his condition as a lich secret from everyone aside from his closest circle. I swear I'm not collecting undead plants, the Zhaitan Scion Champion opportunity was just far too good to pass up. Have some more screenshots, and more (a lot more) lore ranting below the cut.

The very last thing the Pact Marshal expected when waging war against Zhaitan was to strike a bargain with Zhaitan's child. Information against his master and aid in cleansing Orr - in exchange for freedom once the Elder Dragon was slain. But, still, keeping a beast of that caliber on a leash proved a challenge, even when he could shapeshift more or less into mortal shape. After all, an ancient beast that subsisted on eating life force and grafting foreign body parts to itself did not take to Tyrian morals immediately. It wasn't a partnership by any means - a monster was a monster, but so was a promise. As long as the creature called "Morivitae" behaved, he could prove an asset against the other Dragons. A weapon. A wildcard. But then, awakened Mordremoth. The Maguuma disaster. His greatest failure, and, ultimately, his end. A final request for the Commander to take Caladbolg from his shaking hands and strike. But something within the Death Scion stirred at the sorrow. At the Commander's cries. An inkling of emotion, a faint flicker of something unfathomable. And gold eyes opened again. Welcome, O Champion of Shadow and Death. And now, the Marshal was on a leash of his own.

Trahearne went to the Domain of the Lost when he died, and time flowed differently there. So he spent "days" wandering and fighting the phantoms that took his name and face, just like the Commander. He met the Judge but there was no crisis in the Mists, so no offer to come back like during PoF, just gotta accept death but also have to process it first. Poor Trahearne was dissociated the whole time, thinking he was Mordremoth. He had to be given a second name to latch onto until he found his real one - and then he was ripped out of the Mists by Mori just before he could claim his rightful rest. Needless to say, waking back up a Risen of all things and cut off from the Dream did not do his mental health any favors.

"I don't remember my name but I was something horrible. You mustn't let me into the afterlife. I can't destroy it, too..." "You must find your name before you continue onward, wherever your final destination lies. If you fail, your soul will fade." "Good. I want to fade. I need to." "No, you must find the truth. That is the law of this place. Your spirit is noble, there is no malice in you. But there is suffering, and this isn't your final punishment." "I'm fading. I can't tell how - why - I can't move anymore. I need to... what am I..." "You are.. Inmorte, The Lost Wanderer. This name I give you now so you may continue. Hold onto it tightly and find your purpose. Your real name." "...I... I will."

Following his resurrection, he continues to lead the Pact as its Marshal, and is adamant on never using a mask nor mesmer illusions to cover his face - wearing his disfigurement openly in solidarity with all the other sylvari mutilated by Mordremoth's influence. There are questions as to why the Marshal was torn from the Dream and his glow changed to a necromantic green, but not many dare seek the truth of their own accord. Trahearne becomes a much more fearsome, decisive leader - going from scholar to truly formidable strategic mastermind, wanting nothing more than to ensure the tragedy of Maguuma never repeats.

"It's not mere confidence, it's pathological. As though everything stopped mattering back in that jungle, and yet I am ever more determined to see things through til the end. It's the only reason I can justify existing in this state."

The only instance where he does use illusions (excluding stealth missions, of course) is over his hands - due to an unfortunate incident where Caladbolg completely burned off the flesh from his fingers. As a result, his real hands are skeletal. This is due to his obsession with the sword, practically never letting it go, to the point he once fell asleep holding it. Since he no longer feels pain correctly, the damage was done before he woke back up - and Mori does not seem to possess the ability to mend, only animate that which should already be dead.

Trahearne's obsession with Caladbolg stems from the fact he initially believes the weapon to be the only thing keeping his soul from being fully corrupted by the Dragon he is bound to - clinging to a hope that the Thorn could purify the death magic in him just like it had once purified Orr. Alas, that is not the case, but also he eventually finds he is not as doomed as he had once believed - growing into a Champion of Death and Rebirth under his Scion patron as they both find their greater purpose - a balance to Aestus and Aurene's light. Still, his destiny remains irrevocably tied to the very land that haunted his Dream and cursed him with a seemingly impossible task.

"You're the First of the First, born in the garden of Eden and destined to purify a sunken hell risen from the depths on the other side of the sea. A task thought impossible, especially as your siblings begin to rise around you with destinies that seem more achievable. Compelled, you spend over twenty years studying the land of the walking dead, so much that the stench of it all is all but branded into your flesh. It's all you see when you sleep. The neverending expanse of bleak, gray-brown rock and twisting anemone and tide-torn ruins. Nothing living grows in Orr. It's all absolute desolation. There are none of your siblings there and you're so terribly lonely. ...In all your years, you never thought this could happen. With the Commander at your side and the son of Zhaitan mutinying against his father, Orr blooms again. The Artesian waters run clear, and life wanders slowly back into the land. It will take years, many more years than you'll be alive for, but the weight is lifted. You can leave. It's over. With hope in your heart, you feel like whatever comes next will only be easier. It's not. You die. And you rise. You never left Orr, because Orr never had the intention of leaving you."

Perhaps, just perhaps - one day, when the sunken kingdom heals completely, his soul will be allowed its due rest. Until then, he has some work to do.