Demilich

Despite the name, a demilich was not a lesser lich, but rather a lich who had evolved beyond a need for its undead body.

Personality
Great wizards and sorcerers usually became liches in order to continue their pursuit of magic and power beyond death. Demiliches were those who were close to reaching the end of their arcane journey; who understood the nature of magic and reality in a way no mortal could conceive.

Becoming a demilich
A lich could become a demilich when he no longer needed to be continually tied to a body. The lich must somehow learn the art of creating soul gems and replace eight small pieces of its body with them. Often the soul gems became jeweled eyes and teeth in the lich's skull, but they could also become joints in a hand, or discs in the lich's spine. Once the power of the lich was focused in one part of its body, the rest of its skeleton crumbled away. The part that remained contained the soul gems; the eight gems acted similar to the demilich's phylactery, allowing the demilich to reappear within a tenday after "death" unless all eight gems and the phylactery were destroyed.

Powers
Demiliches were extraordinarily resistant to the magic of others. They had total spell immunity, with the exceptions of shatter, dispel evil, and holy smite.

Known demiliches

 * Acererak
 * Alsigard the Maker
 * Ander, Netherese wizard of Thyndlamdrivvar
 * Kangaxx
 * Rammaq
 * Shoon VII, former emperor of the Shoon Empire, possessing Zallanora Argentresses
 * Wulgreth, the original Netherese wizard
 * Ythazz Buvaar, former Zulkir, and one of the founders of modern Thay

Appearances

 * Comics
 * Forgotten Realms (#14) • TSR Worlds Annual #1
 * Video Games
 *  Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn • Neverwinter Nights &bull; Neverwinter Nights: Darkness over Daggerford
 * Board Games
 * Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins

Connections
Halbleichnam