Acererak

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Acererak (a-SER-ur-ak) was a powerful wizard who became a lich, and later a demilich.

Publication history

Acererak first appears in the original Tomb of Horrors adventure (1978) by Gary Gygax as the main adversary. One of the areas in the Tomb is a "Chapel of Evil", described as "obviously some form of temple area - there are scenes of normal life painted on the walls, but the people have rotting flesh, skeletal hands, worms eating them, etc." The adventure described him as "a human magic-user/cleric of surpassing evil" who took the steps necessary to preserve his life force as the lich, Acererak." The boxed set adventure Return to the Tomb of Horrors (1998) by Bruce Cordell included a small booklet titled "The Journal of the Tomb", which notes that the character Desatysso discovered that Acererak "owed much of his power" to Tenebrous. Cordell's article "Return to the Tomb of Horrors" in Dragon #249 (July 1998) mentions that "While alive, Acererak built an unholy temple to a now deceased power. When the project neared completion, he slew every worker, excavator, and consecrating priest who had assisted in the temple's construction." The article notes that the result of Acererak's work was the dungeon crawl detailed in the Tomb of Horrors module. In the aritlce "Open Grave" by Bart Carroll and Steve Winters for the "D&D Alumni" column in Dragon #371 (January 2009), the authors interviewed Bruce Cordell about the Return to the Tomb of Horrors adventure, where he revealed that he developed the origins of Acererak "as a persecuted tiefling child to his development as a wizard and priest of Orcus, to his creation of his tomb that was actually a test to winnow souls". The fourth edition adventure also titled Tomb of Horrors (2010) by Ari Marmell and Scott Fitzgerald Gray mentions in the introduction that "Acererak resurfaced as a worshiper of Orcus, using the cult's resources to construct a number of lairs and tombs - the most infamous of which would become known as the Tomb of Horrors. Some sources claim that Acererak was using Orcus's worshipers to complete his own schemes, and that he felt no true loyatly to the demon prince." The introduction goes on to say that "Once he attained lichdom, Acererak ceased paying homage to Orcus, lending credence to the notion that his worship had never been more than a means to an end."

In other media

Acererak is mentioned in the novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Fictional character background

Relationships

Acererak was the son and ally of the balor Tarnhem, a worshipper of Orcus, and an apprentice of Vecna. In life, he was the enemy of a paladin of Pelor named Pentivel, and the wizard-architect who designed his tomb is called Morghadam. He is revered by a group of wizards known as the Covenenticle of Acererak. The necromancers of Skull City, former followers of Acererak, went on to form a group known as the Votaries of Vecna, making a new home in the Black Spire on the Plane of Shadow.

The githyanki necromancer Kastya Zurith-Movya seeks to return the true Acererak to existence as an ally against his people's lich-queen.

Home

The Tomb of Horrors was long Acererak's home in undeath. As a demilich, he moved to the demiplane of Moil to complete his grand plans.

There is a shrine of Acererak, in the form of a five-foot statue of a humanoid skull, on the second layer of Pandemonium.

History

Acererak the Devourer was born a cambion, the product of a balor named Tarnhem who took his human mother by force. Apparently an ancient conjurer summoned a demon that was far beyond his ability to control. The demon devoured the wizard, and forcibly conceived a cambion son in one of the wizard's servant girls.

Acererak's mother survived her son's birth, but she was killed by a torch-wielding mob ten years later. The boy was rescued by none other than Vecna, the Whispered One, who killed the advisors that urged him to kill the child and instead took the half-demon on as an apprentice. Even then, ten year-old Acererak loathed life, looking forward to becoming undead like his master. During Vecna's siege of Fleeth, the lich was severely wounded and rescued by Acererak. Vecna subsequently promoted the cambion.

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). While alive, Acererak built a subterranean temple complex in the name of Orcus, burying its architect and all of its workers within. Eventually, Acererak succumbed to the lure of lichcraft, and had himself buried in a labyrinthine tomb where he committed himself to his studies and, eventually, demilichdom, abandoning his body for the planes beyond. 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 known as Skull City. Acererak's tomb was revealed to be a mere antechamber to the demilich's true dwelling, the lost city of Moil on the border of the Negative Energy 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 3rd edition 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.

According to the adventure "Prisoner of the Castle Perilous," Acererak created a simulacrum in the Negative Energy Plane to torment Saint Pentivel, an old foe from his mortal life. This simulacrum has since transformed itself into a complete being through the aid of an artifact known as the Soul Machine.

In 4th edition D&D, Acererak appears in the book Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead as a member of the Undead Hall of Infamy. He also features in a sidequest in the adventure Revenge of the Giants and in the 4th edition remake of Tomb of Horrors as central antagonist.

References

• Brown, Anne. Player's Guide (TSR, 1998).
• Brown, Lloyd III. "Wizard Societies." Dragon #258. Renton, WA: TSR, 1999.
• Cordell, Bruce R. and Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel. Planar Handbook. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.
• 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).
  • Mullin, Robert S. "Campaign Classics: Three Greyhawk Grimoires." Dragon #225 (TSR, 1996).
• 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).
• Schwalb, Robert J. Exemplars of Evil. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007.
• Thorsson, Modi, and Kevin McCann. Vecna: Hand of the Revenant (Iron Hammer Graphics, 2002).