“How do you Borys isn’t dead?” Rikus demanded, stopping just beyond the wraith’s reach. “He could have died someplace else.”
“You know that cannot be,” she answered confidently.
“Why not?”
The wraith pointed at the dark opal in the broken lid of Rikus’s sarcophagus. “If you were dead, your spirit would have returned to light your gem.”
-Troy Denning, The Crimson Legion, p. 175
One of the great questions of post-Prism Pentad Athas: can Borys of Ebe be reincarnated?
As we all know, the black slime from the broken Scourge of Rkard dissolved the Dragon’s body. The Dragon therefor is no more. But did his soul survive? Did Rajaat somehow capture and consume or otherwise banish his soul?
As her body was destroyed in a similar way, the same question perhaps can be asked of Abalach-re. But in Borys’ case, we have this very interesting scene cited above, from when Rikus is trapped in the shrine that houses the corpses of Borys’ twelve knights.
I suspect that the spirit of Borys lives on in the Black Opal upon his sarcophagus. Indeed, being immortal, when the sarcophagus was designed, this surely was some sort of magic jar spell to retain his living soul upon dead. Like a lich, he might now be able to swap souls with those who draw near to his tomb.
I speculate this is actually the case, and that Borys’ living soul (not undead) lives on in the Black Opal, so long as it survives. Though his Dragon’s body has been destroyed, I speculate that all his native wizardly skills and psionic powers remain. Upon reincarnation, he might quickly pursue dragon metamorphosis, and attempt to slowly return to something of his old self.
SeruZmaj argues that the spiritual conduit is tied to the soul of the Champion, and not to the energies of his Dark Lens empowered body. I could agree with this… so if so his ability to grant templar spells would remain. However, his body would be a mortal one, and I think he would have lost the ability to spellcast with ease, forming spells with no study and wielding psionic powers with no deep contemplations, as was the case for those who were empowered by the Dark Lens under the Steeple of Crystals.
In 2nd Edition terms, upon reincarnation in a suitable human body, I believe I would rate Borys to be a 20th level defiler / 20th level psionicist. He would have to regather spellbooks and learn all his spell anew to reaquaint himself with how a normal wizard must rememorize spells, and much contemplation and psionic study would be required to reharness all his powers as would a mortal, but he ultimately could do it. For clarity, I would deny him advanced levels (30/30), for these extra psionic skills, PSPs, spells and casting levels were simply too dependent upon his radically Dark Lens altered body, and he surely was far too used to wielding his powers as Sadira of Tyr can do so, without the need of any spellbook or hyper-extreme psionic discipline. He is reduced now to what his new mortal frame can hold and maintain.
And what would be his motives? His goals? Vengeance surely, on the Heroes of Tyr and probably Tyr in general. But he probably would also soon enough learn the nature of Rajaat’s new prison, and how comparatively weakly it is guarded by Sadira’s magic. The entirety of Ur Draxa once protected Rajaat’s prison, along with the might and magic of a fully metamorphosized 30th level dragon. Now, only the Cerulean Storm and Sadira’s 9th level spells guard Rajaat’s sun-prison. Borys would probably (and rightly) calculate this is a great risk, and work to imprison Rajaat more securely if he can.
Thoughts? Can Borys’ be reincarnated in your game? What powers would he have? What would he do? What would be his goals?
