Liches are arguably the most powerful echelon of undead. They are mortals who have used unholy, often necromantic spells and rituals to prolong their lives beyond their natural spans. They retain their sentience, but their bodies continue to decay, albiet at a severely reduced rate. Whether undead status is intended or an unexpected side effect of perceived life-prolonging processes, the aims in each case are the power and wisdom that come with countless years of unlife.
It is said that a lich's power is directly proportional to its state of decay. Liches with large portions of muscle and fatty tissues remaining may just be coming into power, while those that are naught but skeletons and dust are steeped in the forbidden knowledge of untold centuries.
Liches native to the Underworld are formed in a different way. As with most undead within the plane, they form via coalescence, be it natural or forced. As such, while the nature of Underworld liches - powerful, undead spellcasting warriors - is similar to that of liches on other planes, the means by which lichhood is attained varies. It may be theorised that liches within the Underworld coalesce into a certain state of decay, and their state of decay may be inversely proportional to the power at their command - that is, if liches native to the Underworld decay at all. Of particular note in this point are King Ugrach and Lord Kemnast, two liches whose dessicated flesh yet remains, despite Ugrach's eons-old role as first among the coalescent undead.
Liches of Note
- The Magisterion
- The forest lich Melkhiour
- Prince Slith, Lord of the Undead Legions
- Teneb, Doctor of Theoretical Planar Physics
- Ugrach, Lord of the Undead
Other Liches
- the ominous liches of Mhaldor
- the skeletal dracolich