Liches

A Lich is a powerful being, usually a necromancer, who has through powerful magic trapped part of his soul into a phylactery thus granting him eternal life. Requiring only to feed their phylactery souls to sustain their life liches possess significant magical power and can draw on the phylactery's reserves to further bolster their abilities. If slain a Lich reforms from its phylactery at a level of strength proportional to its own feeding. An empty phylactery will not restore a Lich to life instead leaving them forever trapped and weak. If a phylactery is destroyed while a Lich lives they are rendered significantly weakened unable to heal their wounds but not susceptible to old age. The ritual to become a Lich is extremely difficult for a number of reasons. Firstly it requires an extremely advanced knowledge of necromancy with a capability of manipulating magic to a highly advanced level. Secondly the practitioner must have a fluency of Quori allowing for the spell to be spoken in its entirety. Thirdly it requires a great range of resources and substantial access to Arcanum in order to bolster the caster, and their assistants, magical abilities to perform the ritual. Fourth, and perhaps most difficult to obtain, is a detailed knowledge of the ritual which exists in only in a handful of texts across Aesalia and which are most often heavily protected and restricted by their owners whose very possession is often denied. Finally and perhaps easiest they must choose an object to become their phylactery.
When all of this is gathered then the ritual may be commenced yet it still then takes a full month with the full concentration of the caster, and their assistants who are consumed in the process alongside the other sacrifices, to create the phylactery. Intervention during the ritual by outside forces can easily destabilize the process often proving fatal to the caster and their assistants. The formed phylactery, whatever form it takes, is indestructible to normal weapons and can be destroyed only by a means defined within the ritual of its formation. As such only those that witnessed the ritual, who rarely survive, or the caster possess knowledge of the means of its destruction though this can also be found with a powerful use of the Identify spell.

Cultural Reception

Liches are considered abominations by near all parts of Aesalian society. Believed to be power hungry and sub-human in their evil primal desires many organisations seek to destroy Liches wherever they are found. Similarly however many magical societies venerate Liches as the apex of their field considering them masters of Necromancy and seeking them out as teachers and mentors.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

• Mer