Githyanki Background

In preparation for encounter the Githyanki, Marovic did some research for the heroes and passed on this information.


Vlaakith CLVII, the reigning sovereign of the githyanki race, is the legitimate descendant of the original Vlaakith, and her word is law. Unlike her predecessors, however, she is a lich, has no heirs, and in her undead state is now unable to produce them. Vlaakith demands unswerving loyalty and obedience from her people, and few dare question her resolve or her wisdom. She sequesters herself in her forlorn palace and is rarely seen by her subjects. She views undeath merely as a transitional state and strives to become a true god, attaining true immortality and power as vast as the Astral Plane itself. Vlaakith jealously guards her throne by devouring the essences of her most powerful followers. Any githyanki who rises above others must stand before her in the Palace of Whispers and be judged. Most come to her willingly, sped to their doom by blinding loyalty or pride. Cowards and others who try to avoid their ultimate fate are hunted down, captured, and dragged before the lich-queen in dimensional anchor shackles. In every instance, Vlaakith destroys the potential usurper and feeds on the individual’s power.

The tl’a’ikith (former githyanki knights) manifest as incorporeal githyanki wielding spectral versions of the swords they held in life. The kr’y’izoth (former githyanki warlocks and gish) manifest as entities of flickering black flame swathed in tattered robes and bandages. Those who earn the lich-queen’s undying wrath (including nongithyanki brought before her) are devoured. As zombies, they wander the halls of Susurrus as rotting mockeries of their former greatness. Githyanki who neither impress nor infuriate the lich-queen have their spirits trapped within her palace’s whispering walls so that Vlaakith can hear their grim cacophony and take comfort in the fact that they cannot harm her.

THE DUTHKA’GITHS
Years after the githyanki claimed the Astral Plane as their home, Vlaakith I began advising Gith, the githyanki liberator and ruler, in matters of state. In the pursuit of powerful allies, Vlaakith advised Gith to meet with the legendary Tiamat, queen of evil dragons. Gith agreed, and soon thereafter an eternal pact was forged between the githyanki and red dragons.

Ephelomon, Tiamat’s red dragon consort, visited the Astral Plane and informed Vlaakith I of the pact. He also reported that Gith would remain in Baator and that she had chosen Vlaakith I as her successor. Gith’s last command was that her people continue their legacy of conquest. Whenever the githyanki ventured to the Material Plane, they would find staunch allies among red dragons lairing there. Vlaakith I and her descendants have maintained this pact in the years since, carving lairs for numerous dragons in the rocky hillsides near the githyanki capital city of Tu’narath, luring red dragons to the Astral Plane with promises of long lives and vast troves.

Unable to sire children of her own, Vlaakith the Lich-Queen has taken her people’s pact with red dragons to a new level by creating the duthka’giths, fearless and brutal githyanki with red dragon blood. Originally created by an arcane spell of Vlaakith’s devising, the duthka’gith can now create progeny of their own.

Duthka’gith hatcheries can be found in many secret locations on the Material Plane. Duthka’giths that survive to adulthood often return to the Astral Plane to serve as elite shock troops and palace guards.

Most githyanki barely tolerate and secretly detest the duthka’giths. Some believe the lich-queen has perverted the pact with the red dragons and strayed from the wishes of Gith; others fear that the duthka’giths are the mad queen’s attempt to “perfect” the githyanki race—a grim harbinger of worse things to come.

THE ONE IN THE VOID
After years of research, Vlaakith has uncovered a path to godhood. The lich-queen guards it well, for she cannot take the chance that a rival might walk the path before her. In her madness, however, she often speaks of a being called the One in the Void—the one who will bring her godhood.

“The One in the Void” is the name Vlaakith has given to the dead god atop which her palace and the githyanki capital city of Tu’narath are built. This god passed into obscurity long before Gith freed her people from the tyranny of the illithids, hundreds of centuries before the emergence of the githyanki and githzerai as distinct races. The dead god’s true name is lost to the ages, and Vlaakith doesn’t actually speak to it. However, the lich-queen knows that the stony corpse of this ancient god holds a spark of divine life. She intends to capture that spark, become the revered god of the githyanki, cast off the teachings of Gith, and give birth to a new supreme order governed by priests and duthka’giths who have sworn their eternal souls to her.

Capturing the life-spark of a dead god isn’t a simple task, but Vlaakith believes she can accomplish her goal using multiple wishes. The endeavor has cost Vlaakith thousands of wish spells over her millennia-long reign.

How many wish spells does it take to capture the spark of divinity? The answer is unknown, but after a thousand years of casting spells and calling out to The One in the Void, Vlaakith believes her time is near—and she’s not the only one. In the past several months, earthquakes have rocked the githyanki capital. Some believe that the “island” on which the city is built is merely unstable. Certain githyanki hr’a’cknir (seers), whose duties include studying, cataloging, and harnessing the energies of the Silver Void, suspect something more. They believe that the dead god is awakening and that Tu’narath is doomed.

However, few see Vlaakith’s hand in the earthquakes: The lich queen’s refusal to acknowledge the tremors as anything more than natural occurrences is dismissed as arrogance or perceived as a symptom of her centuries-old madness.

THE SHA’SAL KHOU AND THE CH’R’AI
The Sha’sal Khou are githyanki and githzerai radicals working toward the reunification of their respective peoples. They labor to end the warfare between the githyanki and githzerai and create a unified nation of gith. Members of the Sha’sal Khou work secretly within their respective societies, subtly discouraging attacks on the other gith race while carefully recruiting like-minded individuals. They maintain secret redoubts on the Material Plane as well.

The Sha’sal Khou hope to raise a proper army and establish a fortified enclave where their children will grow up calling themselves simply “gith.” Their greatest ally is a powerful githyanki warlord named Zetch’r’r. He secretly supports the reunification of the githyanki and githzerai, but more importantly, he has the charisma and influence to lead the Sha’sal Khou and turn others toward their cause.

Zetch’r’r maintains a stronghold in Tu’narath, where he shelters other Sha’sal Khou members and plots against the lich-queen. He fears Vlaakith has created the duthka’giths in a mad attempt to “perfect” the githyanki race, and his most trusted hr’a’cknir reports that Vlaakith is behind the earthquakes threatening Tu’narath.

Zetch’r’r believes that a unified gith nation under his august leadership will restore his people’s failing resolve. Only under his rule can Gith’s legacy of conquest continue. The warlord’s staunch opposition to Vlaakith worries other
members of the Sha’sal Khou, who fear that the lich-queen might discover them and send her inquisitors—the Ch’r’ai—to capture and interrogate Zetch’r’r and his lieutenants.

The Ch’r’ai are githyanki spellcasters who believe Vlaakith is destined for godhood. They want a hand in creating the first true god of the githyanki people and hope that Vlaakith will, upon ascension, reward them with clerical powers. Led by a zealous githyanki warlock named Xam’kras, the Ch’r’ai are the lich-queen’s greatest sycophants, entrusted with more power and influence in Tu’narath than some feel they rightly deserve.

Vlaakith views them as instruments and potential rivals, but Xam’kras believes his order can win the lich-queen’s favor by accomplishing the myriad tasks she sets before them. Zetch’r’r dares not upset the Sha’sal Khou’s plans by opposing Vlaakith directly.