#vlaakith 157th

[depressedandasian]

This game is so good, when I got to this scene I was stunned:

[bg3smash-or-pass]

[cellphishthekaiju]

Crackpot Headcanon: Vlaakith's 'Grand Design' for Lae'zel (and the Githyanki)

Back again on my raving bullshit for Baldur's Gate 3 (D&D and Forgotten Realms by relation), this time we're looking at the Lich Queen Tyrant, Vlaakith CLVII... cause I have lunatic thoughts of this bitch that fuel the fanfiction I write.

As with all my lunatic fandom ravings, spoilers abound for Baldur's Gate 3, associated materials, and course, take this all with COPIOUS amounts of salt. I get most, if not all, of my 'canon' info from the Forgotten Realms wiki and try to doublecheck the sources but I don't always have the time or means to.

So what is known of Vlaakith is actually very little. The one in Baldur's Gate 3 is, presumably, the 157th githyanki to hold this title and has reigned for a thousand years (mostly as a lich). She has no known heirs and aspires to ascend to godhood (primarily through spam-casting Wish). D&D Lore is very sparse on the githyanki and even more so when it comes to nuances with the githyanki. They have existed since the days of AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) but we didn't have much about them, canonically, for a long time.

So, lunatics like myself, let the brain worms fill in the blanks.

We know that Gith, for which the people get their namesake, was the figurehead and Leader of the rebellion that led to the toppling and near extinction of the Illithid Empire unknown millenia before. At her side, I believe both Vlaakith and Zerthimon assisted her (as advisors in different capacities... and to some unknown extent, her only 'confirmed' blood relative, her son Orpheus). As to their exact roles, it is unknown how Vlaakith advised Gith in the matters of her rebellion but given she is referred to as the first of a long series of Lich-Queens that rule the githyanki, her capacity likely involved her skill and knowledge in the arcane/Weave.

After the rebellion, it is believed Gith and Zerthimon fell to infighting, as Gith presumably was so consumed with righteous fury, she single-mindedly wanted to continue hunting down the remaining illithids while Zerthimon, seeing they had won, wished to carve a new life for the 'gith' now that they were free.

In my deranged mind, I suspect/believe that the Proclamation of Two Skies (how the gith refer to their civil war that led to the creation of the -yanki and the -zerai) was stoked and brought to fruition by Vlaakith I. She was always manipulative and concerned, primarily, with her own ambitions. Having witnessed how Gith roused and united the gith, how they called her 'mother' may have stoked jealousy in Vlaakith and so she conspired to take that power and reverence for herself, especially under the suspicion I have that Gith and Zerthimon were lovers/mates (I wrote a theory pointing at Orpheus may be their son).

Vlaakith conspired to turn Gith and Zerthimon upon each other but her plan had an unintended consequence; the division of the gith people into the Githyanki and the Githzerai (and with time, further fracturing in the form of Pirates of Gith, Sha'sal Khou and the Githvyrik (dunno how canon this is anymore because only occurs in one novel)). However, Vlaakith saw an opportunity in this fracture; Gith to be the sacrificial lamb on the altar of her ambitions.

It's believed Vlaakith I's first attempt at bargaining with Baator (The Nine Hells) was seeking a pact with Dispater. However, Vlaakith's attempt(s) failed for one reason or another... likely because Dispater is far more paranoid than Vlaakith is and saw no merit in a deal with such a conniving creature.

Having failed in bargaining with the Lord of Dis, Second Layer of Baator, Vlaakith found herself bargaining with Tiamat. It is, still, unknown the terms of their pact (or how she even got to bargaining with the Chromatic Dragon Queen to begin with) but the bargain was successful and Gith ended up being part of the price.

After the githyanki retreated into the Astral Plane, since the civil war left them weakened (and the githzerai went to Limbo), Vlaakith convinces Gith to travel to Avernus (First Layer of Baator), likely with promises that fed into Gith's violent ego and giving no indication that Gith was not going to make it back. With the bargain paid, Tiamat imprisoned Gith among her hoard (presumably) while Vlaakith returned to the githyanki on the back of Ephelomon, Tiamat's Chromatic Red consort. Together, the two convinced the githyanki that Gith had martyred herself in the bargain and commanded that Vlaakith guide and rule their people in her absence.

This is where the canon gets messy, as there appears to be a discrepancy in the order of events. In the 5e Monster Manual, it suggests Vlaakith sealed the bargain with Tiamat before the Proclamation of Two Skies happened. Texts like Mordenkaine's Tome of Foes suggests the bargain with Tiamat was struck after the split. I'm more inclined to agree it happened after, since the Githzerai and other non-yanki Gith do not benefit from the terms of the pact (mainly the access to Red Dragons)

So, what's this all got to do with the current Vlaakith?

Vlaakith CVII is more than I (want to) believe Larian has told/shown us.

Like her namesake, Vlaakith CVII is a lich that has, supposedly been in power for, roughly, a thousand years by the time the events of Baldur's Gate 3 happen. She upholds the teachings, protocols, and ambitions of her originator and predecessors yet has no known heirs (blood relative or otherwise).

My crazy idea is that Vlaakith CVII is actually Vlaakith I... and all other holders of the 'title' before her have just been Vlaakith. Vlaakith is too vain and ambitious to let something like death get in her way and likely sought every means possible to buy herself the time she needed to achieve her ultimate ambition; Godhood.

Vlaakith's insanity is well in line with the 'canon' behavior of liches, especially 'long-lived' ones. Now, she is just a creature driven by the all-consuming desire to ascend and achieve the ultimate power by any means necessary.

Ascending to divinity/godhood in D&D is... not very clear. The primary factor is faith, as a god needs followers to thrive and derive power from. By controlling the githyanki in all aspects of life, establishing castes like the Inquisitors to hunt down and silence dissenters, sealing Prince Orpheus within the Astral Prism (and infernal chains), using Gith's name and 'sacrifice' as a catylst to keep the people's devotion on herself... but this is a slow process so Vlaakith also encouraged and regulates the militaristic structure of githyanki society to produce powerful warriors that she can, later, consume and sacrifice in her spam-casting of the Wish spell and whatever other means she uses those poor souls for (aside from the husks she keeps)

So, how and why does Lae'zel factor into all of this?

Literally, this is all because of one dialogue line Vlaakith gives in Act 3 of Baldur's Gate 3: Promising to make Lae'zel Baht Vlaakith, the Commander of Dragons; her Chosen (despite having no true divine power). She offers Lae'zel's greatest ambition; to be Kith'rak, to ascend beyond even the standards of her people and serve at Vlaakith's feet.

Weird thing to say to someone you can just Thanos-snap from existence, which Vlaakith does if your party refuses to comply with her at Creche Y'llek. (Seriously, this woman will waste a Wish on you just to remove the entire party from existence for 'waving hello' at her)

Vlaakith has determined Lae'zel as her 'heir' and needs her to return so that she may possess/control her (either through the use of spells like Domination or something more sinister, like excising her soul and possessing her body; no clue if liches can do this). I believe some githyanki that held the title of 'Vlaakith' were simply thralls to Vlaakith I, enhancing her duplicity to make it seem like the title passes on between individuals (despite having NO information on how this is determined within githyanki society).

The only other 'brain worm' I have about why Vlaakith attempts to bargain with Lae'zel one more time about killing Orpheus instead of, I dunno, simply Wish-murder the party, is there is something important about Lae'zel that not even the githyanki herself is aware of. Not to the degree of a psionic null zone but perhaps something Vlaakith has been nurturing through controlled breeding to accelerate her consumption of power... or as an offering to Tiamat.

Hells, if you talk to Withers in the Epilogue about the fate of a Vlaakith aligned Lae'zel... he says she's just gone. Her soul no longer exists.

A fate worse than death and Lae'zel went to it, oblivious.

Yep, there it is... more cracked brainworm thoughts for Baldur's Gate 3.

I'm also not a fan of Vlaakith but hey, I feel like there needs to be way more depth and analyzing some of this stuff my brain just does on its own.. and it fuels my fan-fic writing (which you should totally check out)

I hope folks are enjoying my insane ramblings.

[sequesteredbhaalspawn]

I am still infinitely disappointed that Githzerai where not an official playable race for bg3 (yay for mods though!). LIKE if I play a cleric of Selûne and romance Sahdowheart (before Nightsong stuff- I think when you give her the idol of Shar?) I can have that Tav to ask Shadowheart to kiss them like she hates them- but I don't get to that with a Githzerai and Lea'zel? Disappointing.

It would also add more flavor for all of the Orpheus stuff. Such as pointing out that Gith was the problem herself for wanting to commit genocide and enslave all beings in Realmspace in the name of Githyanki "freedom"- remember that Githyanki embody real world Western Imperialism- specifically of the American variety (the desire to control everybody and calling it freedom, etc). Vlaakith the 157th just used her position as queen to make it so that it all was put to work for her quest for godhood instead of Gith's original plan of, again, committing genocide and mass enslavement.

Like siding with Orpheus is such an evil choice. Yes you can make him turn into a Mind Flayer and kill him afterwards but his movement "freeing the Githyanki from Vlaakith so they can live as Mother Gith intended" still lives. It would be better to inspire Lae'zel leave that mindset entirely. Of starting her own movement of de-imperializing Githyanki culture, not just breaking away from Vlaakith- because Vlaakith is really not the major problem here (Vlaakith is evil, and a threat- I am not saying she isn't a problem at all), it is the culture that created her that is.

bg3 just omitted so much Githyanki/Githzerai/Gith lore that is bothers me greatly.

[thatboomerkid]

City of Looking-Glass Shadows

City of Looking-Glass Shadows -- an urban-fantasy D&D 5E campaign

The year is 199X.

It’s been this way for a while now.

The world is a lie. We live within an artificial construct, a facsimile of mundane reality forged upon a pocket-shard of arable land -- adrift somewhere deep in the Shadowfell -- built with slave labor by the illithid to house, to monitor & to control a teeming, screeching, anxious mass of hand-selected human cattle.

The goal of their project is simple: we are here to generate new technological applications. We are a living algorithm, assembled by our starry masters to the endless & perpetually-accelerating task of spitting out ever-deadlier and more brutally efficient weapons of conquest & control, engines of wealth & war, tools of mechanical intelligence & information-manipulation.

No wonder we all feel a little ... stuck, huh?

The simplest, most brute-force way to produce the desired technological output at the necessary volume involved building an invisible cage and keeping several hundred million humans magically-illiterate, desperate, confused & tech-hungry.

So that’s what they built, way out here in the echoing void.

Welcome home.

A desperate, silent war for the future of this ugly, distant demiplane is being fought in the shadows, right now ... and the monsters are winning.

Brought to you absolutely free to enjoy, to test & to share – as always – by the fine folks of my Patreon.

Inspired by Big Trouble in Little China, Blade, Dark City, Hackers, Heavy Metal, Highlander, They Live & Werewolf: the Apocalypse.

This website references trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Hasbro, Inc. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This website is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Hasbro. This material is posted under the Fair Use clause of copyright law.

Created by Clinton Boomer & Uncle Twitchy.

Special thanks to Jessica Redekop of Redcap Miniatures, Blaine Bass of Scrapfinder, Landon Bellavia of Quest Writer, Neal Litherland of Improved Initiative & Sam Berry of Nomad Tattoos for being my beta-readers.

image by jim pinto

Our false universe has been invaded. Several times.

Playable Races:

Awakened Human: Somewhere in the range of 99.9% of all humans within the City of Looking-Glass Shadows exist fully under the thrall of the illithid; seeing only what their masters desire for them to see, knowing only what their master choose for them to know, remembering only what their masters allow them to remember. But a small, ultra-select few have shaken off the chains. These are the crazy folks, the dirty & paranoid madmen. People like you: people who know that magic is real.

Duergar: The brick-&-mortar labor force of the illithid, thousands of mind-wiped duergar still serve deep beneath the earth in vast, dim-lit caverns, forge-pits and echoing armories alongside masses of grimlocks, ogres, quaggoths, troglodytes and other, less-describable slave races. The grey dwarves possess resilient minds, however ... and they are the most-common escapees of this prison.

Githyanki: Way back in 198X, a force of githyanki warriors and their red dragonborn allies stormed the gate between the Astral Plane and the City of Looking-Glass Shadows: it was an apocalypse of fire, psychic thunder, death-screams & silver heavy-blades above exploding skyscrapers and panicked crowds. It’s all been wiped from the history & memory of the world, of course: you’ll find nary a whisper in the official records. But a few survivors still plot in the shadows, rebuilding their strength.

Githzerai: Even further back, in 197X, a trio of githzerai dojos assaulted this stronghold of the illithid. Those who fled, bleeding, from the failure of that onslaught are still hiding here amongst a teeming press of the timid humans who huddle against one another in the delusion of warmth and safety. Within their sewer strongholds and rooftop dojos, these stubborn students of Zerthimon train, maintaining the secretive ZethiNet and making plans to strike once more.

Prized Exotic: Although there are only a handful of aasimar, tiefling & dark elf inhabitants of the world, some are kept as beloved pets by illithid masters. The rarest of escapees, these creatures -- once their chains are flung free -- are hunted a with singular devotion of purpose. A very few are rumored to have maintained their freedom.

Red Dragonborn: It is well known that Vlaakith the Lich-Queen, 157th of her name, bears the dread Scepter of Ephelomon; by means of this unholy artifact, she commands the obedience of all crimson-scaled wyrms for use in her eternal war. Far from her omnipotent influence, the red dragonborn who once served alongside the githyanki are free again.

Shadar-Kai: The original inhabitants of that stark chuck of rock from which the City of Looking-Glass Shadows rises are still here. They lurk, and they hate, and they take their kills where they can. Many are allied to the mysterious Sleeper in the Woods, and they make sacrifices around huge bonfires to whatever entity it is.

image from here

First-Level PC Character-Origin Options:

Awakened From Injury: Those abject horrors which open battle with the illithid can inflict upon a mortal mind & body are impossible to describe in any sane language. Some of the first through the gate into the City of Looking-Glass Shadows are only now being revived from their comas, their memories scattered like fallen leaves.

Recent Summoning: The githyanki & githzerai alike are highly active in their ongoing quest, attempting to pull resources & reinforcements to the demiplane in mass numbers. Unfortunately, the few who are successfully brought here via ritual-summoning are often limited in their abilities ... and unable to return home by magical means.

Thrown Off the Shackles: Most humans, duergar and assorted other slaves of the illithid are badly damaged, psychically, when they pull free of the influence of their hideous, alien masters: losing bits of themselves in the process of awakening to the world as it truly is.

Eleven Fun Facts about the City of Looking-Glass Shadows

Everyone looks like a human. If it has an Intelligence score higher than an animal and is approximately human-sized, it looks like a person. That means that the illithid and their monstrous slaves can function in public without disguises ... and you can, too. This is some unshakable type of artifact programming inherent to the original demiplane, and it’s one of the reasons they chose the site for their experiment in the first place.

Reflections show the truth. If you’re a non-human, or an Awakened Human, any type of reflection -- in a mirror, in water, whatever -- will show you the truth of who you’re talking to. This may require you to keep a particularly paranoid eye on your surroundings. Have fun!

Members of sentient non-human species can always “feel” the presence of others of their own kind. If a Shadar-Kai, for example, is within 30 feet of another Shadar-Kai, she gets a little “ping”; all gith ping in the same way, which causes a certain level of confusion amongst the two races. Awakened Humans have the distinct advantage of always feeling it when they get within 30 feet of any non-human sentient creature, but the reverse isn’t true: Shadar-Kai have no way of knowing if a given human is Awakened or not, for example, short of seeing the human manipulate magical energies in some way.

The illithid have access to 21st century technology. Everyone else is wandering around with pagers, beepers and battery-hungry car-phones the size of briefcases, while the illithid have smart phones, YouTube and GPS. This gives them several dangerous advantages.

The illithid occupy most positions of power. Not every billionaire CEO, mega-church pastor or politician is an illithid. Some are just their thralls. But it’s even money that if someone has a lifestyle in the top 1%, they’re one of the squid-faced, brain-eating elder horrors.

Sentient non-humans are immune to mundane guns. No one knows why, but anything that isn’t a human or an animal simply isn’t affected by firearms. This means that a single githyanki can casually stand up to an entire SWAT team ... and that an armed populace will never overthrow their alien overlords (for more on the topic, see “This is Not Guns Against the Darkness,” Bloodlines & Black Magic, page 160).

There are three Elder Brains in charge of the City. The three entities are in a constant state of “friendly” competition with each other; their genteel attacks, counterattacks & diversion-tactics drive innovation forward at an enormous cost in human life & sanity. Each one rules a section of the city from a hidden penthouse apartment, underground spa or other luxurious -- but inaccessible & highly fortified -- location.

Undead are dangerously common in the City. As a side effect of the demiplane’s location “within” the Shadowfell, these undead can spawn randomly; these spontaneously-generated undead are a HUGE problem for the illithid, who are on highest possible alert for any new outbreaks. This is often used as a smoke-screen by the Githyanki & Shadar-Kai, especially ... who mask their own operations behind seemingly-mindless attacks by the undead. Undead in the demiplane are also extremely resilient to being turned: undead have advantage on turn saves.

The illithid have access to the only stable portal into & out of the demiplane. While travel from the sprawling city is dangerous & relatively uncommon, the illithid can resupply much more easily than any other faction, moving to and from the deminplane in massive vessels once every month. Maintaining total control of this hidden portal is of the utmost importance to the mind flayers ... and taking the portal is the highest goal of every other faction. 

Because of the demiplane’s “locked” property, spells that rely on dimensional travel or manipulation -- Rope Trick, Blink, Dimension Door, Conjure (Minor) Elemental, Summon Lesser/Greater Demon, Contact Other Plane, Conjure Fey, Planar Ally, Conjure Celestial, Plane Shift, Astral Projection, Gate and others, subject to DM discretion -- are unreliable. In order to cast any of those spells, the caster must succeed at a DC 18 save using their spell-casting stat at disadvantage. A critical failure when casting a spell of this type spontaneously generates an aggressive, uncontrollable undead creature with a CR equal to the level of the spell being cast. Casting such spells in a ritually-prepared “sacred space” allows a character to attempt the spell without disadvantage.

Something dangerous & ancient sleeps in the woods. Several rebel factions have made attempts to contact or awaken this unknown entity in a suicidal bid at challenging illithid control ... but what is it? None can say for certain. Some say it’s an ancient midnight-blue shadow dragon of unutterable age; others suggest that it is Moloch, trapped here after a disastrous attempt to gain the Raven Queen’s support to end his exile. Still others suggest that it’s one of the obscene Great Old Ones, which serves as a patron for some particularly cruel & debased warlocks ...

original photography by Resa LaMont, digital editing by Tim Jenkins of Battle! Studio; image also used here

10 Plot Hooks

Maybe you’re starting a brand new campaign from scratch.

Maybe you’ve just ended a long, complex story-line a little bit early, without all of the mysteries solved; maybe you can’t jump into the next chapter of your narrative until the PCs achieve a certain slightly higher level or meet a specific NPC or learn a particular secret; maybe only half of your players showed up to this session and you need a quick “filler” episode.

Maybe your PCs befriended & adopted the Godzilla, shunted the Terminator to Khyledonia, had the Voldemort removed from office in disgrace or otherwise drove your campaign’s entire plot-arc so far off the frigging rails that you need a few weeks to re-orient your entire game from first principles.

Whatever the reason, you need a brand new plot hook on the fly, and – simply due to setting-assumptions! – “goblins attack the village” or “the princess is a werewolf” or “local knights go questing for the Vast Horror” simply won’t cut it.

No sweat, friend. We’ve got you covered.

Just roll 1d10 on the chart below; if you roll a plot hook that you’ve already used, round up to the nearest unused plot hook (if you rolled seven or above), while rounding down to the nearest unused plot hook if you rolled six or lower.

A rumor starts circulating the underground magical community -- rebels & survivors, all -- about enchanted mirror-shades which allow an Awakened or non-human user to always see another creature’s true species, as if in a reflection. Who is making them, and how? And where are they?

A rumor goes out that the secretive ZerthiNet -- the private web built and maintained by the Githzerai -- came dangerously close to being breached by human hackers in service to the illithid. While this may or may not be true, it shakes the confidence of several powerful groups who are now desperate to relocate their clandestine bases of operation.

An insane derro, presumed to be an escapee of the illithid, is claiming that he knows the exact location of one of the Elder Brains ... and how to circumvent all of the security near it. He’s willing to trade this information to the highest bidder, and a shadowy bidding-war has begun between various war-party sects desperate to make a strike.

A group of traveling Shadar-Kai who are known to work in the city proper as well as to maintain a “clan base” in the forest have begun to trade in more and more powerful magical items, selling them for relatively small change. Some folks suspect that they’ve found something valuable out in the woods: the horde of a monster, perhaps.

A massive security-breach has the entire illithid population on damage control, as a massive shambling horror of undeath & rotting flesh has begun making daring daylight attacks on seemingly-random locations before vanishing once again. Is this the dark work of a single dedicated necromancer, of a clever cabal, or beast “breathed forth” by the strange Sleeper in the Woods?

The illithid were not the first to discover this demiplane. The wreckage of an ancient ship -- perhaps a Spelljammer -- has long been rumored to lie embedded beneath the city.  Now, a recent escapee from a duergar slave camp claims to have found the ship, and perhaps even figured out how to get it flying again.

McHappy kids' meals are making the rounds with toys from the summer cinema blockbuster Secret Agent Kids, including see-around-the-corner periscopes that, as a source of reflected images, should show the truth.  However ... (roll 1d3): (1) Human children have been “waking up” in unprecedented numbers, creating a “mental health crisis” among the City’s youth. (2) Awakened humans and non-humans who look through these "toys" see misleading images, showing some mundane humans as unnatural horrors, and the real horrors as mundane humans.  This has led to certain ... misunderstandings. (3) The magically-initiated are completely unable to see through these periscope toys, and for 1d8-3 (minimum 0) minutes after trying, are unable to see creatures' true natures in reflections, seeing only their human guises.  The rush is on to figure out how this happens, and how to exploit it.

An unknown black-market agent is selling illithid-grade tech to the opposition. Smart phones -- complete with GPS location services, dual high-resolution cameras, and Candy Crush pre-loaded -- are being picked up by rival factions. Are these bonafide goods, or is it all part of a larger mind-flayer scheme?

A charming dark elf swordsman has recently established himself as the undisputed master over a small section of the city’s criminal underworld, making a grand living as a “problem solver” for rival gangs and ruling through a combination of flair & intimidation. His ability to fence stolen goods or to obtain cars & guns is unparalleled, but he’s either an agent of the illithid ... or will soon be their slave once again.

A gang of Red Dragonborn have started a turf-war with a small coterie of githzerai living in half-crumbled public housing; each group is unwilling to back down, even as the fighting drags-on and the bodies pile up; each night of aggression & retribution risks alerting the illithid to both crews.

The world is a lie. Kill its masters. Burn it to the ground.

image from here