The cabal of the Veiled Reprieve were not merely abjurers — they were architects of defiance against the inevitability of death. Scholars and wardmasters whose paranoia rivaled their genius, they worked under the doctrine of “Return or Ruin.” Their magnum opus was the Phylacorus, a relic shaped as a smooth argent band curving across the upper chest and collarbones, chased with threads of protective sigils and set with three perfect rubies, each no larger than a thumb joint but of a clarity beyond earthly measure.
It is said that every member of the cabal wore such a band. When active, the Phylacorus glows faintly with latticework light, the sigils mapping across the heart and shoulders like veins of liquid geometry. The first ruby wards the flesh — an abjurative core that replicates the protection of mage armor. The second ruby anchors a lich soul, one of the ancient masters of the cabal, suspended in forced dormancy and bound by an oath older than recorded history. The third ruby remains unset — an intentional gap, a choice left to the wearer.
When the wearer knows death is upon them, they set the final ruby. In that moment, the latent phylactery activates. The lich bound within the gems awakens, its soul uncoiling through the corpse of the fallen mage, reanimating the body as an undead shell. The lich believes itself reborn, but the twin rubies binding it burn with the sigils of compulsion — it must seek resurrection for the body it inhabits, or its torment grows unbearable. Should the resurrection succeed, the lich is wrenched screaming back into the gems, and the restored mage returns to life, pale and shaken but whole.
Some accounts whisper that the liches remember everything that occurs during their forced service — and that each resurrection strengthens their hatred, their yearning for release.
Mordenkainen was known to have worn such a band beneath his robes during his wanderings between worlds, though none ever saw him activate it. The Sage Picaroon of Candlekeep, however, reputedly did.
Excerpt from the annals of Candlekeep, penned by the half-mad chronicler Jarvoon the Left-Handed (1492 DR)
“Picaroon was found cold and gray beneath the Dome of Silences, his candle spent, his notes unfinished. The rubies of his collar were dim. Three nights later, a tremor in the air, and the scent of copper in the hall — then he stood again, eyes burning, voice not his own. For two days he labored in the Spellhold, his words black and heavy as stone, until the air burst with white fire and Picaroon gasped once more as himself. The central ruby was cracked. He never spoke of it, but the crack never healed.”
Bound Soul Example: The Lich Iquandros the Barrier-Lord
Iquandros was one of the founding abjurers of the Veiled Reprieve, a perfectionist obsessed with containment magic. In undeath, his soul was captured and divided among several Phylacorus bands, each a prison he despises. When awakened through the third ruby, Iquandros manifests as a cold, methodical intellect within the corpse he animates — disgusted by the flesh, but compelled to preserve it. His manner is that of a cruel surgeon bound by oath, lecturing aloud to his “host” as he channels obscene necromantic energies to reform their soul’s vessel.
He speaks with dry, rasping disdain:
“This flesh is a weak cipher, but the equations of death still balance. Do not thank me when you breathe again — I am no savior, only a slave to your heartbeat.”
Should the resurrection fail or be interrupted, Iquandros remains trapped within the body, a lich masquerading in living skin, using the host’s identity until the binding rubies reassert control or are shattered. Such events are rare — but rumored to have occurred once in Candlekeep itself.
Phylacorus of the Triune Ruby
Wondrous Item, legendary (requires attunement by a wizard)
While wearing this argent chest band, you gain the following benefits:
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You are under the constant effect of the mage armor spell (AC 13 + your Dexterity modifier).
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The band bears three ruby settings. Two contain dormant lich souls bound by abjurative seals; the third is empty.
Activation (Manual Inset). If you die while wearing the Phylacorus, you may choose (as a pre-established condition or magical trigger) to have the third ruby automatically set into the band. When this occurs:
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The Phylacorus becomes a functioning phylactery for one of the liches bound within it.
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Your body is reanimated as an undead form controlled by the lich.
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The lich is magically compelled to seek resurrection for you, using all available means within 7 days.
Binding Clause. The lich is dominated by the dual binding of the two other rubies, which force it to restore your soul and body at all costs. This compulsion functions as if under a permanent geas spell (save DC 22) that cannot be removed except by a wish.
Resurrection Outcome.
If the lich succeeds in resurrecting your body (through true resurrection, wish, or similar magic), your soul returns to life and the lich is instantly drawn back into its gem prison. The central ruby becomes inert until removed again.
If the lich fails within 7 days, your body decays, and the lich remains trapped within, free-willed but still partially bound to the Phylacorus. Such beings are unstable and dangerous, often seeking to destroy the band itself to end their torment.
Curse. Once activated, the Phylacorus cannot be removed until the lich is reimprisoned or destroyed. A remove curse spell has no effect.
Destruction. Destroying a Phylacorus requires bathing it in the blood of its original wearer and casting disjunction under the light of a total eclipse.
