Green Lich

Green lichs are an interesting and rare type of lich that is formed from the spirit of an archdruid who devoted their lives to a forest. The deepest desire of a green lich is to protect its forest and all of those that reside within it. Wise and resolute, they are protectors of the forest. Nothing more, nothing less.

A green lich is a gaunt and skeletal humanoid with withered flesh stretched tight across its bones. Its eyes succumbed to decay long ago, but points of light burn in its empty sockets. It is often adorned in simple robes of earthen tones. They often have vines or twigs affixed to them to give them a little more adornment, but true to their past druidic lives, they care little for material wealth.

Fey Secrets. Becoming a green lich is not an a decision to take lightly, and the process is kept secret. Druids that decide to take up lichdom must make deals with powerful fey entities or gods in order to do so. Most turn to Titania or Oberon whose power and blessing they have given to many druids whom have taken up the mantle of eternal protectors of the forest.

A green lich is created by a ritual involving the magic of nature. During the ritual the ritual the soul of the druid is bound to the forest of their choosing, thus preventing it from travelingto the Outer Planes after death. Usually the forest chosen by the druid has some personal value to it, whether it be the forest that it grew up in, or the forest where they first trained, etc. They must have some sort of attachment to the chosen forest in order for the ritual to bind their soul.

Once the forest has been chosen and the ritual complete, the druid drinks a concoction made from the various berries and other fruits found throughout the forest and finally nightlock all mixed together. The druid then succumbs to the nightlock and falls over dead, then rises as a green lich as its soul is bound to the forest, where it forever remains.

Natural Preservation. Unlike their arcane counterparts, a green lich does not need to collect souls into a phylactery in order to preserve themselves. Their souls are bound to the forest themselves. Thus, in order to maintain themselves, they must maintain the forest. The healthier and stronger the forest is, the stronger the green lich. However, if the forest were to become weak and unhealthy, the green lich may become a green demilich.

Death and Restoration. When a lich's body is broken by accident or assault, the will and mind of the lich drains from it, leaving only a lifeless corpse behind. Within days, a new body reforms in the center of the forest that it is bound to, coalescing out of various branches and roots from nearby plants. The only way to destroy a green lich is to destroy the forest and doing so can be a challenge. The forest is protected by powerful magic from the green lich, so destroying the forest that a green lich presides in is a challenge in and of itself. Often times it involves powerful ritual magic or powerful magic items in order remove the protective enchantments on the forest. From there it typically takes burning the forest down. Even then, the forest has the ability to regrow, making the entire process rather difficult.

Lonely Existence. The life of a green lich is a lonely one. A green lich rarely associates itself with the world outside of its forest. Once in awhile, it may leave the forest to deal with outsiders who may be threatening the forest, but such is a rare case. Given the lonely existence, a green lich interacts

with few creatures outside of those that live in its forest. Often times the green lich even awakens some of the plants to give it more company.

Collectors of Nature A green lich holds to its old druidic ways and cares little for money and magic items. It cares only about nature. Thus, unlike arcane lichs they do not care to collect magic items. However, they enjoy collecting nature and knowledge of such. Their lairs are often riddled in various different types of plants and wildlife and books on such. There are often various concoctions and potions they have created simply from the nature they find around them.