Acererak
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In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Acererak is a powerful lich.
[edit] History
Acererak the Devourer was born a cambion, the product of a balor named Tarnhem who took his human mother by force. At some point during his life, Acererak took up the study of wizardry and entered the service of the arch-lich Vecna, who ruled a great empire in the Flanaess, between the Barrier Peaks and the Nyr Dyv. During Vecna's siege of Fleeth, the arch-lich was severely wounded and rescued by Acererak. Vecna subsequently promoted Acererak.
It is unknown if Acererak was present when Vecna was betrayed by Kas the Bloody-Handed in the fourth century before the Common Year, but at some point, he moved to the Vast Swamp where he constructed a lair for himself, colloquially known as the Tomb of Horrors (and described in an adventure module of the same name). Over the centuries, Acererak's body degraded until he became a demilich. Many adventurers over the years have attempted to raid Acererak's tomb, but it is believed that none have been able to destroy him, despite some claims.
The sequel module Return to the Tomb of Horrors retconned and expanded on the setting. At some point, a group of necromancers settled the area outside the tomb, creating a community of sorts. Acererak's tomb was revealed to be a mere antechamber to the demilich's true dwelling, a fortress on the border of the negative material plane, where he had spent thousands of years working on a process to fuse his essence with the plane and gain control over all undead throughout the multiverse.
According to the Tome of Magic, Acererak, following his destruction by adventurers completing the Tomb of Horrors, passed on to become a vestige - an ineffable, amoral entity which can be summoned and bound by characters known as Binders. Acererak grants his summoner lich-like powers, including immunity to cold and the ability to speak with the dead.
[edit] References
- Brown, Anne. Player's Guide (TSR, 1998).
- Cordell, Bruce. Return to the Tomb of Horrors (TSR, 1998).
- Cordell, Bruce R. "Return to the Tomb of Horrors." Dragon #249 (TSR, 1998).
- Gygax, Gary. Tomb of Horrors (TSR, 1978).
- Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (TSR, 1983).
- Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).
- Mullin, Robert S. "Arcane Lore: Greyhawk Grimoires II." Dragon #241 (TSR, 1997).
- Reynolds, Sean K. Crypt of Lyzandred the Mad (TSR, 1998).
- Reynolds, Sean K. The Scarlet Brotherhood (TSR, 1999).
- Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes (TSR, 1992).
- Sernett, Matthew, Dave Noonan, Ari Marmell, and Robert J. Schwalb. Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic (Wizards of the Coast, 2006).
- Thorsson, Modi, and Kevin McCann. Vecna: Hand of the Revenant (Iron Hammer Graphics, 2002).
