Are there any spells other than Wish that can locate an object through lead shielding?

Question

We recently stole a phylactery. We now have to figure out how to destroy it, and in the meantime need to conceal it from being located by its owner that will soon be realizing what is going on. We figure the lich knows wish, and so simply putting it into a lead box will do us no good -- the lich could just wish for the thing to be in their possession again.

So our current plan is to put it into a dead-magic zone we know of, that suppresses all magic and put it into a lead box there. There is a Q&A about wish being able to overcome such an effect, but that at least would force the lich to burn one wish to try and locate or retrieve it, then when that does not work another one to become immune from whatever is shielding it, and lastly a third one to finally really locate and retrieve it. If we are lucky, one of the first two off-label uses would burn the lich's ability to ever cast wish again.

However, this plan hinges on the assumption that there are no other spells that could locate an object shielded by lead. If there are they'd only need a single off-label wish, and that would always be possible. Are there any such spells?

Answer 1

Yes, the usual suspects should work here

The divination spell allows you to ask a god a single question "concerning a specific goal, event, or activity to occur within 7 days". It's not immediately clear if "where is my phylactery" qualifies as a valid question, but "I'm going to embark on a seven-day search for my phylactery, where should I look" seems like it should work.

The legend lore spell allows you to get information about an object or person, provided that object or person is "legendary". It seems to me that a lich's phylactery would qualify; if the phylactery isn't legendary enough, the lich could try casting the spell to learn more information about itself, which might reveal where its phylactery was.

Neither of these spells directly affects the object, so I think there's a strong argument that either of them would ignore a dead-magic zone. In particular, an antimagic field suppresses spells "except those created by [...] a deity", so presumably the lich's god still knows what you did.

The wish spell can replicate the effect of either spell, without risking losing the ability to cast wish.

Answer 2

Check the phylactery for Drawmij's instant summons.

If I am a Lich, I'm putting Drawmij's instant summons on my phylactery:

You touch an object weighing 10 pounds or less whose longest dimension is 6 feet or less. The spell leaves an invisible mark on its surface and invisibly inscribes the name of the item on the sapphire you use as the material component. Each time you cast this spell, you must use a different sapphire.

At any time thereafter, you can use your action to speak the item’s name and crush the sapphire. The item instantly appears in your hand regardless of physical or planar distances, and the spell ends.

If another creature is holding or carrying the item, crushing the sapphire doesn’t transport the item to you, but instead you learn who the creature possessing the object is and roughly where that creature is located at that moment.

Upon finding a Lich's phylactery, one should immediately attempt to dispel Drawmij's instant summons from it, because any Lich who isn't an idiot has cast the spell on their phylactery, which would allow them to either summon or locate their phylactery the moment they know it is missing.

Answer 3

Legend lore is the classic answer to anti-divination protections, and in this case, we can presume that the lich is very familiar with their own phylactery. It’s not entirely clear if the phylactery of a legendary lich is itself a legendary item, but I’d argue it probably ought to be, and certainly rule that way when I’m the DM—so it will be down to how well-known the lich is.

Unfortunately, there is no protection against legend lore when it applies—you aren’t targeting the legendary object or figure itself, so the conditions or protections that apply to it don’t matter to the spell. You’re effectively querying “the cosmos” for information about something that has been significant enough to affect history, and there’s no erasing or hiding that information.¹

One presumes that wish can operate in the same manner. Wish’s divinatory abilities are thus unlikely to be blocked by your preparations, though they probably will block attempts to summon the phylactery.

1. _{Short, perhaps, of divine intervention—and even that is only a maybe.}