Drath Mephruhn

Official art of Drath Mephruhn in his original form, by Olivia Samson from *Vox Machina Origins II 2*.

## Status

### Cause of death

Phylactery destroyed by Eskil Ryndarien in ritual

## Appearances

### First seen

* "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) (stream)
* *Vox Machina Origins Series II* #2 (print)

### Last seen

* *Vox Machina Origins Series II* #6 (print)

### Other work

Pre-stream

**Drath Mephruhn** (spelled "Mephrun" in an earlier work) was a shade or dying mage who briefly achieved lichdom by placing a phylactery in Grog Strongjaw's chest. As an NPC, Drath Mephruhn was played by Matthew Mercer.

## **Description**

Pike identified Drath as a "shade" and described him as "almost like a lich, but not quite". Indeed, Drath's appearance and behavior resemble those of a "lich shade" from *Pathfinder*, which was used early in the pre-stream home game.

### **Appearance**

   Although Drath is described once as a "dying mage", he had a nearly skeletal appearance, like a corporeal undead. He had glowing eyes, with wisps of shadow rising from within his tattered, hooded robes.

When he possessed Grog's body, the violet glow of his eyes was transferred to Grog.

### **Personality**

Drath looked down on others to an extreme degree, describing the adventurers who interrupted his ritual as "worthless cattle". He called Grog's body "this behemoth's shell", and in his final fight he gloated and expressed contempt for his opponents constantly.

## **Biography**

Realmseer Eskil Ryndarien remembered Drath being a young student at the Alabaster Lyceum, "long ago" as of 809 PD, who was expelled for dabbling in the dark arts.

Drath Mephruhn raised Stonejaw Strongjaw from the dead and magically compelled Stonejaw's son Grog, then in Stilben, to travel to Drath's lair, which is a crypt in a subterranean city deep within Gatshadow Mountain. There, Drath began a ritual to embed a phylactery in Grog's chest so that he could achieve lichdom and possess Grog's body.

Several of Grog's fellow adventurers arrived during the ritual. They fought the mind-controlled Grog, the reanimated Stonejaw, and some skeletons, and they seemingly destroyed Drath, but not before he could complete the ritual. Grog was freed from Drath's domination, but the angry scar on his chest caused him growing discomfort, and the party sought advice on what to do about it. Eskil Ryndarien told them that Drath would return to his phylactery within weeks. To remove the phylactery would kill Grog, and likely interfere with attempts to resurrect him, unless a particular ritual was performed, and to that end he sent the adventurers to collect the needed components.

   They collected the components, but time ran short. As Eskil was performing the ritual, Drath took control of Grog's body, and the rest of the adventurers had to contain him until the ritual was completed. Eskil finally extracted the phylactery, trapped Drath within the ritual components, and destroyed the components along with Drath.

## **Character information**

### **Abilities**

Given that Drath was a student at the Alabaster Lyceum, studied necromancy deeply, and had aspirations of lichdom, he was a wizard.

## **Appearances and mentions**

* Pre-stream
* Specials
	+ "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) (first appearance)
* *Vox Machina Origins Series II*
	+ Issue 2
	+ Issue 6

## **Quotations**

* "I will drown you in suffering!"
* "This behemoth's shell is now **mine** to command."

## **References**

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 See Vox Machina Origins II 2.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 See Vox Machina Origins II 3.
3. ↑ See "Lich Shade" at D20PFSRD.
4. ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) at 1:34.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 See Vox Machina Origins II 6.
6. ↑ See Vox Machina Origins Series II, #1, #2, and #6.
7. ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) at 1:34.
8. ↑ See Vox Machina Origins II 4.
9. ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) at 3:26.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Official art of Drath Mephruhn in his original form, by Olivia Samson from *Vox Machina Origins II 2*. Used with permission.
2. ↑ Drath Mephruhn controlling the Strongjaws."The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) at 01:34
3. ↑ Official art of Drath possessing Grog's body, by Olivia Samson from *Vox Machina Origins II 6*. Used with permission.