monster

Malakor, the Abyssal Lich

CR 21

Medium Undead, Neutral Evil

Reveal Stat Block

Armor Class

20 (Natural Armor)

Hit Points

310 (27d8 + 189)

Speed

30 ft., swim 60 ft.

str

dex

con

int

wis

cha

Saves DEX +10, CON +14, WIS +11, CHA +10

Skills ARCANA +20, HISTORY +13, INSIGHT +11, PERCEPTION +11, STEALTH +10

Senses Truesight 120 ft., Passive Perception 21

Languages Abyssal, Common, Primordial (Aquan)

Traits

Abyssal Magic.When Malakor casts a spell that deals fire damage, it deals half fire and half acid damage instead (superheated steam). When he casts a spell that deals force damage, it deals piercing damage (abyssal glass). Spells cast by Malakor require no verbal components while underwater.

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

Pressure Immunity.Malakor is immune to the effects of high-pressure environments.

Rejuvenation.If he has a phylactery (the corrupted Aether-node), a destroyed Malakor gains a new body in 1d10 days, regaining all his hit points and becoming active again. The new body appears within 5 feet of the Aether-node.

Spellcasting.Malakor is a 20th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 21, +13 to hit with spell attacks). He has the following wizard spells prepared: Cantrips (at will): Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost; 1st level (4 slots): Detect Magic, Magic Missile, Shield, Thunderwave; 2nd level (3 slots): Acid Arrow, Detect Thoughts, Invisibility, Mirror Image; 3rd level (3 slots): Counterspell, Dispel Magic, Fireball (Steam), Slow; 4th level (3 slots): Blight, Control Water; 5th level (3 slots): Cloudkill, Scrying, Wall of Force; 6th level (1 slot): Disintegrate, Globe of Invulnerability; 7th level (1 slot): Finger of Death, Plane Shift; 8th level (1 slot): Dominate Monster, Power Word Stun; 9th level (1 slot): Power Word Kill.

Turn Resistance.Malakor has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.

Actions

Multiattack.Malakor uses his Abyssal Blast and then makes one Paralyzing Touch attack.

Paralyzing Touch.Melee Spell Attack: +13 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (3d6) cold damage. The target must succeed on a DC 18 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.

Abyssal Blast.Ranged Spell Attack: +13 to hit, range 120 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (6d6) necrotic damage plus 21 (6d6) cold damage.

Tentacle Grapple (Bonus Action).Malakor targets one creature he can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 21 Strength saving throw or be grappled (escape DC 21) by spectral tentacles. Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained and begins to drown as Malakor siphons the oxygen from their lungs; the creature can hold its breath for only 1 round before falling to 0 hit points and dying (as per the suffocation rules).

Water Form (Bonus Action).Malakor casts Dimension Door without requiring components. He must be submerged in water to use this ability and must reappear in a space that is also submerged.

Leyline Siphon (Reaction).When Malakor takes damage from a creature he can see within 60 feet, he siphons energy from the nearby Aether-node. He regains hit points equal to half the damage taken. Additionally, the attacker must make a DC 21 Intelligence saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) force damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success, as arcane feedback explodes around them.

Malakor, the Abyssal Lich

Ecology

Malakor is a true anomaly—an ancient arcanist who achieved lichdom not through traditional necromancy, but by bonding his soul to the crushing depths of the Midnight Trench and the corrupted Aether-Ribbons that flow through it. He exists in an environment that should instantly crush any physical body. He does not consume souls directly; instead, he feeds on the raw, geothermic magic bleeding from ruptured underwater leylines, slowly absorbing the world's magical lifeforce into himself.

Appearance

Malakor is a terrifying sight to behold. He wears no robes, for they would instantly shred in the deep currents. His skeletal form is fused with jagged, black volcanic rock and bioluminescent deep-sea coral. A massive, rusted diver's helmet (a remnant of a failed expedition he slaughtered) is welded to his skull, glowing with an eerie, sickly green light from within. Ghostly, translucent tentacles constantly writhe from his ribcage, testing the water around him.

Lair Actions (The Midnight Trench)

While in his sunken sanctum, Malakor commands the very ocean on initiative count 20:

Crushing Pressure: Malakor increases the ambient pressure. All creatures not native to the deep ocean must make a DC 18 Constitution save or take 4d10 bludgeoning damage and have their movement speed halved until the next initiative count 20.
Boiling Vents: Geysers of superheated, highly acidic water erupt. Malakor chooses three 10-foot radius areas. Creatures in those areas must make a Dexterity save or take 3d8 fire and 3d8 acid damage.
Sensory Deprivation: Malakor extinguishing all light sources, magical or otherwise, within 120 feet. The water becomes thick with blinding black ink.

Combat Mechanics

Abyssal Magic: Malakor casts spells, but their elements are altered. Fireball becomes a sphere of superheated steam. Magic Missile fires jagged shards of abyssal glass.
Tentacle Grapple: As a bonus action, his spectral tentacles can lash out up to 30 feet to grapple a target. A grappled creature begins to drown, losing air rapidly as the tentacles siphon the oxygen directly from their lungs.
Leyline Siphon: When Malakor takes damage, he can use his reaction to drain energy from a nearby Aether-node, healing himself for half the damage taken and causing an arcane feedback explosion in a 10-foot radius around the attacker.
Water Form: He has a swimming speed of 60 feet and can cast Dimension Door without components, dissolving into the water and reforming elsewhere.

Loot

Malakor's phylactery is not an object, but a specific, corrupted Aether-node on the ocean floor that must be physically destroyed. Defeating him yields the Helm of the Abyss (grants water breathing, a swim speed, and immunity to pressure damage) and the Trench-Lord's Staff, an artifact that allows the user to cast Control Water and Tsunami.