Acererak

Greyhawk Character

Acererak
General info
Home:	Vast Swamp
Alignment:	Neutral evil
Gender:	Male
Species:	Half-fiend human
Class:	Wizard
Dates
Age:	800+

Acererak was a powerful wizard who became a demilich.

Relationships

Acererak was the son and ally of the balor Tarnhem and an apprentice of Vecna. In life, he was the enemy of a paladin of Pelor named Pentivel. He is revered by a group of wizards known as the Covenenticle of Acererak. The group known as the Votaries of Vecna is made up of former followers of Acererak.

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

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 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.

Bibliography

• Brown, Anne. Player's Guide (TSR, 1998).

• Brown, Lloyd III. "Wizard Societies." Dragon #258. Renton, WA: TSR, 1999.

• Cordell, Bruce. Return to the Tomb of Horrors (TSR, 1998).
  • Cordell, Bruce R. "Return to the Tomb of Horrors." Dragon #249 (TSR, 1998).

• Greer, Stephen S. "Prisoner of the Castle Perilous." Dungeon #153. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2008. Available online: [1]

• Gygax, Gary. Tomb of Horrors (TSR, 1978).
  • 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.

• Sernett, Matthew, David Noonan, Ari Marmell, and Robert J. Schwalb. Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic (Wizards of the Coast, 2006).

• Thorsson, Modi, and Kevin McCann. Vecna: Hand of the Revenant (Iron Hammer Graphics, 2002).