Lich

## Common Knowledge

Liches are mythical necromancers, heard of only in stories. Scholars of Soul magic may have read whispers of a way to attain immortality and immense magical power. Necromancers are often more familiar with the path to these things, and may be seeking them out.

## Location

Liches, being intelligent former mortals, are not naturally drawn to any particular haunts, instead locating themselves based upon their own whims and desires. Generally, liches will establish themselves in areas with large amounts of dead or undead for easy access to resources, or areas far away from any groups of people.

A notable exception to this rule is Morsland, a safe haven for undead where liches can sometimes be found.

## Biology

Liches look very similar to how their bodies looked in life, but with distinctive marks of undeath (missing patches of flesh, exposed bones, glowing eyes, etc.) Older liches, or those who desire a certain aesthetic, may appear more skeletal or with a near-lack of flesh at all. Some liches also have glowing eyes, or even a visible aura of undead energy.

Liches do not require any sustenance or sleep, and they do not deteriorate with age, instead slowly gaining more power both through empowering rituals and the natural development of their soul.

As is often the case with powerful, amoral Soul magic users, liches tend to keep a small horde of undead thralls on hand for self-defense and conquest. Aside from these, though, liches tend to travel alone.

Any societies formed amongst liches are a result of their relationships before attaining lichdom.

The main appeal to lichdom, and indeed its primary focus, is a specialized kind of immortality. In order to become a lich, the lich-to-be must place their soul within an item or object, called a phylactery. When the lich’s body is destroyed, their body reappears some time later near their phylactery. The exact means by which this occurs vary by case, sometimes turning the original body and its belongings to dust and slowly pulling them to the phylactery, simply creating a new body from pure arcane energy, or even reconstructing a new body from organic matter nearby. A lich can only be killed if its phylactery is destroyed (or if its phylacteries are all destroyed, if it has more than one).

## Rarity/Power Level

Liches are rare and powerful.  In order to become a lich, a creature must already be a powerful and experienced user of Soul magic, and those who succeed in such a ritual become even more capable with it. This prowess also leads to them developing new magics for them to unleash upon foes.

Many liches, especially older liches, passively and slowly raise undead within a certain radius around them, usually not exceeding 5 miles. These zombies are not immediately under the control of the lich that “summoned” them, but most liches have some way to rectify this should they stumble upon the freshly-raised in question. Even the most powerful of liches can only raise a handful of undead per day this way. It is unclear if this is a natural outcome of lichdom, or the result of another, equally common ritual that many liches perform.

## History

Lichdom has no set origin point, but it is likely that the first lich appeared before the fall of Old Binturia.

## Further/Related Information

* Magic
* Morsland
* Old Binturia
* Soul
* Zombie