monster

Lady Illmarrow

CR 22

Medium Undead, Neutral Evil

Reveal Stat Block

Armor Class

19 (natural armor)

Hit Points

199 (21d8 + 105)

Speed

30 ft., fly 40 ft.

str

dex

con

int

wis

cha

Traits

Legendary Resistance (3/Day).If Illmarrow fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance.Illmarrow has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Rejuvenation.Illmarrow's body turns to dust when she drops to 0 hit points, and her equipment is left behind. She gains a new body after 1d10 days, regaining all her hit points and becoming active again. The new body appears within two hundred miles of the location at which she was destroyed.

Actions

Chill Touch (Cantrip).rs 15 to hit, range 120 ft., one creature. ({@damage 4d8) necrotic damage, and the target can't regain hit points until the start of Illmarrow's next turn. If the target is undead, it also has disadvantage on attack rolls against Illmarrow until the end of her next turn.

Paralyzing Claw.mw 10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. ({@damage 3d6 + 3) slashing damage plus 10 (3d6) cold damage, and the target must succeed on a 20 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Poison Breath 5.Illmarrow exhales poisonous gas in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a 20 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 35 (10d6) poison damage and is poisoned for 1 minute. While poisoned in this way, the creature can't regain hit points. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and isn't poisoned. A humanoid reduced to 0 hit points by this damage dies and rises at the start of Illmarrow's next turn as a zombie. The zombie acts immediately after Illmarrow in the initiative count and is permanently under her command, following her verbal orders.

Legendary Actions.The creature can take 3 legendary actions...

Cantrip.Illmarrow casts a cantrip.

Paralyzing Claw.Illmarrow uses her Paralyzing Claw.

Frightening Presence (Costs 2 Actions).Illmarrow targets up to three creatures she can see within 30 feet of her. Each target must succeed on a 20 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a target's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to Illmarrow's Frightening Presence for the next 24 hours.

Poison Breath (Costs 3 Actions).Illmarrow recharges her Poison Breath and uses it.

Lady Illmarrow

Lady Illmarrow is a legend—an ancient lich said to dwell in a castle of bone and ice in the coldest regions of the Lhazaar Principalities. Some stories say that she is served by a legion of undead and that she maintains a court of vampires and ghosts in her palace of ice. Other tales claim that when anyone dies in Lhazaar, Illmarrow chooses whether to take their soul before it passes on to the Keeper and Dolurrh.

But Lady Illmarrow is no folk tale. She is the greatest necromancer in Eberron, and after centuries of silence, she is setting ancient plots into motion at last. She is the power behind the Order of the Emerald Claw, but her motives for founding the order are buried in her past. Lady Illmarrow has no interest in ruling the living. Rather, she seeks to become Queen of the Dead.

The Mark of Death

Illmarrow is a fiefdom on the isle of Farlnen—home to a community of elves exiled from Aerenal, who have practiced necromancy for centuries. But Lady Illmarrow's roots extend far beyond her island domain.

Long ago, it was revealed that the elven line of Vol—a house that practiced the art of necromancy and bore the Dragonmark of Death—was engaged in secret blood rites with a clan of dragons. The discovery of this pact triggered an unprecedented alliance between the Sibling Kings of Aerenal and the dragons of Argonnessen. The Sibling Kings proclaimed that House Vol would be exterminated to the last member, and the Mark of Death would be eliminated from the world.

The line of Vol had long been rivals of the Undying Court, and many whisper even today that the attack on House Vol was nothing more than an excuse to eliminate a political rival. But others believe that what the Undying Court truly feared was a path shown in the Draconic Prophecy—that a child born of dragon and elf could become a godlike avatar of death.

Illmarrow Rises

Even as dragons and elves fought to destroy the line of Vol, a child was born to the house: Erandis. A scion of elf and dragon, Erandis bore a Mark of Death unlike any other. In time, it might have been her gateway to immortality and unrivaled power, but she was hunted down and killed long before she could master the mark's magic. Her mother, Minara Vol, escaped with her daughter's body to the icy reaches of Farlnen, far from the conflict. There, Minara unleashed all her necromantic power to raise Erandis as a lich.

As an undead being, Erandis lost the use of her dragonmark. Thus, when the diviners of Aerenal asked if the line of Vol had been exterminated and the Mark of Death destroyed, they received a vision affirming that the bloodline of Vol was no more. To the world, the last survivor of that bloodline is known as Lady Illmarrow. But in truth, she is Erandis Vol, heir to the Mark of Death.

Trapped in Undeath

When Minara restored Erandis as a lich, she hid her daughter's phylactery, weaving enchantments into it that cause Erandis to be reborn in a random safe haven after she is destroyed. Thus, even Erandis herself doesn't know the location or form of her phylactery.

Restoring the Mark

Though she takes great pleasure in fighting the dragons and elves who destroyed her ancestors, Lady Illmarrow has a more important goal: restoring her dragonmark and unlocking godlike powers. The agents of the Emerald Claw who serve her fight either for the good of Karrnath or for personal gain, but Illmarrow cares for nothing except increasing her necromantic knowledge and finding a way to restore her lost mark.

Lady Illmarrow and the Blood of Vol

The Blood of Vol and Lady Illmarrow are both legacies of the line of Vol, but they aren't one and the same. As far as the world knows, the line of Vol was exterminated. Followers of the Blood of Vol who have heard of Lady Illmarrow believe that she's a champion of their faith, but they don't worship or serve her. And the powers of priests of the Blood of Vol don't come from Lady Illmarrow.