The Lich's Honest Bones

by Frazer 👁 22 views

This mismatched pair of ivory dice is carved from yellowed knucklebones, each face engraved with cramped black numerals. Hairline cracks run through the bones like tiny veins, and faint gray dust gathers in the recessed pips. Whenever the dice are shaken, they click with the dry sound of teeth. Their edges are unnaturally sharp, and neither die ever seems to tumble quite naturally before coming to rest.

The Desired Roll These two six-sided dice always land showing the result the lich they were carved from would have wanted in the circumstances. The DM determines the result, taking into account the lich's goals, personality, and knowledge at the moment the dice are rolled. The dice cannot be influenced by sleight of hand, magical manipulation, or ordinary probability.

Unwelcome Honesty The dice do not roll the result desired by the creature throwing them unless that result happens to be what the lich would have wanted. If the lich would have preferred an outcome harmful to the roller, the dice show that outcome instead. When the lich's desired result is ambiguous, the dice roll normally.

A Dead Villain's Opinion The dice can be used for any game or random determination involving two six-sided dice. They have no power to alter events beyond determining the numbers shown. If a creature asks the dice a question by rolling them, the result is not an omen or prophecy; it is merely the answer the lich would have preferred.

Lore

The dice were carved by the lich Vhalzura the Patient, who believed chance was merely ignorance wearing a mask. She used them to settle disputes among her servants, select victims for experiments, and decide which kingdoms deserved to survive another year. Vhalzura claimed the dice were perfectly fair because they never lied about what she wanted.

History

After Vhalzura was destroyed by adventurers, her phylactery was shattered beneath a consecrated gambling hall. The dice were recovered from the lich's skeletal hand, still clutched around them. Several owners have since used them to settle wagers, only to discover that the dice favored lost causes, doomed villains, and sacrifices that would have amused their former master.

Created by Frazer 👁 22 views