Vhakizla the Valiant

Vhakizla the Valiant, also called the Wyrm Returned, was an adult blue dragon, the dracoqueen of Vhakizla and Ondûn's first dracolich.

"Frankly? I dunno who that dragon thought she was fooling.
Death clung to her like a cloak, no matter how hard she might wish to hide it. Wherever the skin suppurated, some surgeon more skilled than Vulture'd stitched her tight. Where needle and thread failed, they riveted shimmering sapphire armor onto those haunted bones. The finest perfumes couldn't drown out the rot that reeked from her carcass.
Only in her eyes were there any spark of life, unnatural as it may be. For they blazed an unholy pink, the same color as that great amethyst she kept so close at claw. So too did that color burn in the eyes of every undead in her power, proving all her dead legions only had eyes for her."
 – Beholder's Log

History

First Age

Vhakizla was born in 546 1A and was immediately crowned dracoqueen of Vhakizla. Unlike other dracostates, Vhakizla was unusual in that her name was derived from the existing country, rather than the opposite. The puppet of the nation's pro-draconic faction, Vhakizla the Victorious was quickly put to use as a deterrent against desert raiders from the Labyrinth Sand. Her reign was turbulent, much of the country opposed to her tyranny, but it came to an abrupt end when Thanatos invaded.

Night Wars

In 899 1A, the dead – led by vampire wretch Caliphar II – first made Sapphroan landfall in Vhakizla, thanks to the Heartvein River. Caught completely unawares, Vhakizla struggled to marshal its legions in time to confront the threat. While the defenses fell in 2A, Vhakizla the Victorious fled the battlefield, winging away into the Sphinxes and disappearing from the world.

Second Age

Vhakizla the Victorious would not emerge again until 35 2A. She descended on the capital city of Vhak, assaulting the Fangs in her new undead form. She toppled one of the towers, destroyed Caliphar II's sarcophagus and used her soul gem to seize power from the unsuspecting vampire. Within days, Caliphar II went into hiding and the necrostate was hastily converted to a necrotyranny.
To this day, none know by what fell magic she made her transformation but it granted her near total power over the nation's undead.
In 67 2A, threatened by Sanguine rebels within and Pious blockades without, Vhakizla sent the Speaker in Shreds to hire the Menagerie to help her crush her enemies foreign and domestic.

Character

Personality

Even among blues, famed for their vanity, Vhakizla was an especially narcissistic dragon. Raised to believe that only she could save the ails of the failing nation, she bought into the myth of her own superiority hook, line and sinker. Much to the chagrin of the original tyranny, she was not contented, less than other tyrants of the age, to be guided and steered by human advisors. Vhakizla must be worshipped, praised and exalted at all times – these came before all matters of state.
Her defeat at the hands of Caliphar II only exaggerated this need for praise. Now insecure about her power, she demanded more and more elaborate displays of loyalty and obeisance. Paranoia gripped the dracolich and demanded nothing less than full supplication from her subjects. Anyone who failed to properly debase themselves were certain to earn her scorn.

Abilities

For all her insecurity, Vhakizla herself made quite a formidable foe. Beyond the usual draconic powers of lightning breath, frightful presence, teeth and claws, as a dracolich, she hosted a wide array of other powers and abilities. She could breath necrotic damage rather than traditional lightning. Her soul gem gave her unparalleled command over nearby undead and she was functionally immortal, capable of rejuvenating, should her original body be slain.

Campaigns

The Menagerie

• Vhakizla: The dracolich was the campaign's employer, hiring the drunken Chimera while the company licked its wounds in Qoza. Upon their arrival, she was less than impressed with them, despite their initial successes against the Pious Blockade and set them to the tasks of locating Caliphar II and crushing the Sanguine. (Chapter 5)

Vhakizla the Valiant

the Wyrm Returned, Dracoqueen of Vhakizla

Ancestry: Dracolich (Blue Dragon)
Born: Borson 55, 546 1A (Mount Zyraxes)
Died: Gnoson 2, 35 2A (Sphinxes)
Reign: Hemson 2, 546 1A – Borson 8, 2 2A, Gnoson 24, 35 2A – ?
Height: 62'11"
Weight: 40 tons (88,000 lbs)
Scales: Blue
Eyes: Pink
Alignment: Lawful Evil
First Appeared: Chapter 5