Vlaakith

The Lich Queen
Vlaakith
Stats
Race	Undead, formerly Githyanki
Character information
Allies	Githyanki, Ch'r'ai W'wargaz
Enemies	The Emperor, Orpheus, Lae'zel (dependant)
Symbol

Vlaakith The Lich Queen is the current and undying ruler of the Githyanki. She oversees their operations in all the planes, and at the time of the events of Baldur's Gate 3, is actively seeking the Mysterious Artefact that was stolen from her. She can also be chosen as a patron deity by Githyanki clerics.

“	Vlaakith herself. She is both the sun that blinds us and the void that contains us. Praise be.	„
	— Lae'zel, when observing a portrait of Vlaakith in Crèche Y'llek.

Background

Vlaakith is the imperious queen of the Githyanki. A deathless lich of divine strength, she has used the prior millennia to fashion Githyanki society around her image, imbuing in her gith subjects a loyalty bordering on fanaticism.

Being chosen by Vlaakith to "ascend" is the ultimate reward for the conquest exacted by githyanki warriors. In reality, however, this "ascension" is the utter absorption of the warrior's soul into Vlaakith's own life essence, providing the fuel that allows her to maintain undying life and divine power.

Through commonly accepted lore, Vlaakith is the blood descendent of and successor to the original gith leader Gith, a powerful psionic prodigy who led the rebellion to free their race from Illithid slavery. However, this is just a convenient fable to preserve her power; Gith's son Orpheus was the only inheritor of her unique powers of Illithid suppression. To cement her power, Vlaakith had Orpheus imprisoned in the Astral Prism and erased all mentions of him from githyanki histories.

Interactions

Act 1

Vlaakith appears as a massive projection before the party in Crèche Y'llek. She orders the party to venture inside the Astral Prism to kill its inhabitant.

Defying the deity by asking her to kill the being inside the prism herself, or treating her with enough continuous disrespect, results in her wishing death upon the party, an instant Game Over.

Act 3

If playing as Lae'zel or keeping her as a companion, Vlaakith will project herself to the party once more during a Long Rest after they discover the truth about Orpheus. She reiterates the request to kill Orpheus, this time promising Lae'zel to anoint her as Baht t'Vlaakith, Vlaakith's Chosen. The decision Lae'zel makes at this point will, with finality, result in her embracing or rebuking Vlaakith.

Champions

• Ch'r'ai Tska'an, Avatar of Vlaakith
• Ch'r'ai Har'rak, Paladin of Vlaakith

Notes

• Her full title is Vlaakith CLVII, as she is the 157th gith queen in her line, all of them having descended from Vlaakith I after Gith disappeared.
  • This is presumably the reason that Vlaakith does not know how Gith defeated the Illithid Empire - because she isn't the same Vlaakith who marched at Gith's side. In earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons, Vlaaktith CLVII's pedigree wasn't a secret, nor was the fact that she bore no daughters and became a lich to remain on the throne forever. The current edition suggests that both of these facts are closely guarded so that she can maintain her grip on githyanki society.
• She can be traded with during each encounter and appears as a Level 1 Githyanki.
  • In Act 1. she will have a Divine Bone Shard in her inventory.
  • In Act 3, she will possess a Silver Ingot.

Gallery

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  Concept art

• 

  Concept art that is also used as an in-game painting.

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  Portrait in the Crèche

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  Concept Art by Stepan Alekseev

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  Concept Art by Stepan Alekseev

External Links

Vlaakith on the Forgotten Realms Wiki