Crowle Parlow’s Journal - Diary of an Aspiring Lich

Origin

The Diary of an Aspiring Lich is the nickname given to a series of journals written by a man named Doctor Crowle Parlow several hundred years ago. Doctor Crowle Parlow was a known and knowledgeable mage and advisor to the King of Heldrin before his dealings in necromancy were discovered.

The original necromancer's manuscript that Parlow learned from. Its status is unknown, but it is believed to have been destroyed.

These journals were primarily written over the span of twelve years concluding in the year of Parlow's death about a dozen or so years before the end of the Era of Crowns.
Doctor Crowle Parlow began his first journal shortly after he came into possession of an old necromantic manuscript, in which its contents became his obsession and would spiral him onto a path of obsession and madness.
Writing furiously, often for hours at a time, Parlow would fill several large volumes over the years with his thoughts, theories, research, potential spells and their rituals and material, random inane thoughts and ramblings, and eventually bizarre sketches of his dreams.

These writings were eventually confiscated by representatives of the royal court upon Parlow's imprisonment.
Its insane and dangerous writings and what was found in Parlow's basement would be the main factor in Heldrin's courts outlawing the study and practice of necromancy officially throughout its territories.
And to this day these laws stand, though the research of necromancy's history is allowed for historical purposes and educating people to the dangers of its use.
Which some groups would utilize as a loophole to delve into the usages of necromancy in the modern age.

Crowle Parlow's first journal, depicts him finding the necromancer's manuscript and his first experiments with necromancy.

---

Contents of a Madman's Journals

All of the journals are important when it comes to understanding the man which Parlow was and would become. The journals are semi-autobiographical in nature and Parlow, especially in his early volumes goes into intimate detail on his childhood, education, and career in politics in the Royal Court of Sumner. Describing a child that was instilled with deep nationalism and hatred towards Heldrin's enemies, especially that of Roseport. A driven student, a strict but respected professor, and eventually a desperate advisor seeking the ear of his king and failing.

Parlow eventually believed that adorning his journal's pages in necrotic writings would help him to understand the finer details of the magic.

He describes this intense need to serve his country, like all in his family had done before him, hundreds of times throughout his writings. Even during his later years when other obsessions and madnesses began to take hold his urge to serve his country was always imperative to him, always the goal.
Parlow's extreme nationalism is very evident and on display in these writings, his great need and desire to serve his country and all his ideas served to the king and his court of advisors falling on deaf ears, all leading to more and more desperation.
And an eventual need to seek out the extreme corners of magic to fulfill them, as he would come to do with his necromantic studies and experiments.

The journal catalogues his discovery of the old necromancer catalogues and his excitement at its contents, if anything is revealed by the earlier stages of his journals is that Parlow had no hesitation when diving into the realm of necromancy by this point of his life. He rushed home after purchasing the original necromancer's manuscript and was barely able to contain his giddiness after reading the first few sentences. The excitement of reading something so taboo, and believing that it would lead to recognition and the raising of his nation through his efforts.

---

Learning Necromancy for Beginners

Throughout all of the journals, Parlow goes into great detail on his own journey in learning the basics of necromancy and how he became a proficient and rather adept necromancer himself. He explains everything about his self-education. What he found difficult, where he had to fill in missing gaps, and hurdles he had to overcome both scholarly and ethically. Later he would develop thoughts on what spells and experiments he found overly complicated and could be further simplified with small tweaks and changes.

He even went as far as to catalogue each and every spell he learned in detail, hoping to one day teach others necromancy so that they too may serve their country in the same way as he sought to do. Maybe even return to his days as a teacher in a bizarre twist. But this responsibility, he would never have the opportunity to pursue.
But he did still write down each and every spell he learned. These spells included his own tweaks and variations, with small changes made here and there to make the spells easier to parse and conduct in simpler ways. Eventually, he would develop a few of his own original spells as well.
Making these journals a dreadfully fantastic way to learn necromantic spells a plenty. Spells that would allow for the raising of corpses for use as undead servants.

One of the pages in which describes how to revive a corpse into a powerful undead servant

The ability to rot away healthy flesh or even repair damaged flesh if need be. And even thoughts on the spells and power sources necessary to raise an undead army, something Parlow desperately wished to achieve one day. It was to be his gift to his nation. Some of his spells even described the ability to stitch together various pieces of muscle and bone to form...new creatures.
These writings have also been heavily restricted, and most of it has not been released to the public. And what has been released was only to publically show how grotesque some of these teachings were, with the actual instructions on how to perform them redacted. However, a good chunk of these spells and teachings have made their way unedited to higher status members of the Crowle Community for Necromantic Research and History.

---

Experiments into Lichdom

The most dangerous pages of the Diary of an Aspiring Lich are Parlow's thoughts and writings on the concept and procedure of lichdom. These pages have never been released to the public in any form and only a few short and edited quotes have made their way into publication. These pages of Parlow's journals fully describe his efforts and experiments into turning himself into a lich.

One of the most dangerous pages in Parlow's journals. One that depicts steps towards becoming a lich.

A sketch depicting one of the monstrosities developed by Parlow during his experiments.

Parlow first read of lichdom from the original necromancer's manuscript, with the writer speaking of its untold potential and power. That the successful creation of a lich could turn a mage into an immortal being on endless magical power and intellect. Parlow very much liked the idea of this and became infatuated with the idea of turning himself into a lich.
It is largely unknown how far along the mysterious necromancer of the manuscript made in his attempts at becoming a lich, or if they even tried. What is known, is that Parlow, a well-educated and experienced mage would throw himself into research lichdom.
With little information to go from, he began to experiment and detailed it in graphic details. He first experiment on live rodents, attempting various rituals and spells on them to see how they would react. He would quickly abandon this route and would escalate his experiments quickly.
First by stealing even more corpses, which he had already begun doing to test other necromantic spells. And then eventually kidnapping drunk and mentally ill homeless people and experimenting on them.
None of them would survive, but many of them would continue to serve Parlow's purposes as undead servants.
But he would first do such things as carve necromantic runes into their skin with sharp blades, and cast a variety of necromantic spells on them all while the victim was still breathing.

Often having their life painfully extended by the use of necromantic 'healing' a process that was used only to delay death and get further use out of each subject and not for actual pain relief or recovery.
During this time Parlow would develop several rituals designed to strip a body of its humanity and preserve it in various containers or shells. He would develop spells that were for the express purpose of creating, advanced undead. Undead that held on to more of their intellect and personality. All so that Parlow could spin this research on to himself eventually so that he could attain what he wanted.
To become undying, and unending symbol of necromantic power. Parlow would crave this nearly as much as he hungered for the respect and adulation of his nation by the end. He thought if he could live forever, and gain the power a lichdom promised he could merely take whatever his nation wished him to take upon request.
Nobody, not even the growing pull and funds of the Crowle Community for Necromantic Research and History have been able to gather even a scrap of this information regarding these experiments and rituals.

---

The Final Journal

Parlow's personal writings would take a maddening dive in the later years of his journaling. He would begin to sketch out various visions of the dead, often with himself depicted as their undead lich king. Often without purpose or notes as to his thoughts on their meanings, outside of numerous times in which he seemed to just scribble on the page without a chosen language.
Despite the grotesque nature of Parlow's writing, he was always keen to be clear in his communication and wrote numerous notes and details about his thought process. This turn towards the insane was sudden and drastic and came in the last few months before his tenure with the court came to an end. And in the few days in between his dismissal from the court and his imprisonment he would sketch dozens of these twisted sketches with even more nonsensical scribblings all of the pages.

Two of Parlow's later sketches, one depicting himself as a lich and the other a shambling corpse he had brazenly resurrected in a graveyard.

These ravings and scribbles are just assumed to be the ramblings of a man gone insane and nearing death, after years of abusing necromancy and subjecting himself to various rituals. But new supporters of Crowle's work believe he left his final research coded in these ramblings, left for those seeking his wisdom. And possible so that he himself could parse the words when he would next return. Risen as a newborn lich. Sadly for Parlow, this has yet to happen, even hundreds of years after his death.
In a depressing final entry, outside of these ramblings, Parlow, in a rare moment of clear thought wrote about his sadness and disappointment at his dismissal and that the court would learn to regret their decisions. He would be captured mere hours after this entry, and die in captivity shortly afterwards without attaining his life's purpose.

Summary

Crowle Parlow's personal series of journals which detail his descent into the necromantic arts and his aspirations and attempts at becoming a lich.
The journal goes into great detail on how he learned necromancy, how he planned to source and raise an undead army for use by himself and the kingdom, and the steps he took in order to reanimate himself as a lich. The journals also catalogue Parlow's slow descent into madness, with his writings and sketches becoming more and more bizarre and morbid.

---

One of Parlow's many journals, they would become more ornate and gothically adorned as time went on and Parlow fell deeper into madness.

---

Locked Away and Heavily Edited Publications

The actual journal is locked up in the Royal Treasury of Kings but its contents were partially transcribed and reprinted for use in a heavily edited and publically sold printing. The book was released to act as a cautionary tale to the public, as to why necromancy is dangerous and should be avoided.
Ironically, it would do the opposite for a small portion of the population and start a small movement of pro-necromancy sympathizers to form. Eventually the more affluent of these individuals would form a group known as The Crowle Community for Necromantic Research and History. This group's purpose is to rekindle intrigue into necromancy and one day make it an accepted form of magic. They have somehow acquired less censored passages of Parlow's writings, and use them as part of the group's main focus of interest and study.

---

Related Articles