"For centuries, Risen have lived with the mortal fear of death. It comes to all regardless of species or power. I now have discovered an answer to bring forth an existence beyond death. Many will judge my obsession and many more beyond that will despise the methods. I care not. I am beyond death, beyond morals, beyond inhibition. This here is my confession to my vanity as the first Risen to achieve lichdom." - Theano Galanis, Grimoire Introduction
Recipe for Eternal Life
The idea of death has haunted Risen for as long as they have known of its existence. Those who possess a higher potency of magick flowing within their veins will find themselves living well beyond their counterparts. Even still, be it with a century or more of additional years added onto their life, the signs of age will appear and death will come. Few fear this more than Humans, the shortest-lived of all Risen.
Theano Galanis was a resident Ignosian and widely regarded as an expert magi. Around the age of seventy, she held a seat on
Ignosi's council, yet exited prematurely after seven years to pursue her ambitions in private. Being gifted with natural magickal talent, she was destined to far outlive the average Risen, but this simply was not enough for her. All of her studies began to shift their focus to the extension of natural life. When those pursuits failed, she began to experiment with methods that would reach into the domain of the supernatural. She discovered more than an extension; a permanent halt to natural death, though only through truly daunting and depraved means could this be achieved.
The Grimoire of Theano Galanis is the culmination of those haunting experiments in writing. It is widely regarded as the penultimate text on necromancy and is widely blamed for all incidents of undead terrorism. Inside are the spells and rituals of many necromantic arts, from the withering of plants to the creation of complex undead servants. Most sought after, however, is so far the only known path to becoming a Lich.
Lichdom is a path to eternal life sought after by only the most heinous of individuals. The path is known to involve murder, sacrifice, and barbaric rituals corrupting the very soul of those who wish to partake in it. It is abhorrent to all Risen with proper morals. Those who seek power over righteousness, however, salivate at the thought of such unholy might. Many such individuals have begun searching for the grimoire, willing to sacrifice their souls in order to go down that bloody path themselves. For what could eternity in the afterlife matter when you could live forever in the current one?
Two official copies written by Theano herself are currently known. The location of the original grimoire is unknown, likely sealed within Theano's tower, wherever it may be currently hidden. One copy each is held by
The Collective as well as the Grand Library in Ignosi. Both are held under significant security with the spells and rituals inside being treated as an open and active threat were they to be received by the wrong hands. Before both copies were secured by their respective holders, a number of unofficial copies were reproduced and spread throughout
Nora. Many affluent magi and governmental officials have placed bounties on copies of the grimoire, either seeking to destroy them or store them in their own private collection. Imitations have appeared on merchant shelves and black markets the world over in an attempt to make some quick coin.
No person knows why Theano shared her secrets, whether she thought these deserved to be shared with the world or if she had made some forbidden pacts that required their disclosure. The fact remains that this knowledge has been shared and more than once verified with the appearance of a lich to terrify the local populace. Throughout most of Nora, including but not limited to
La Patria,
Nioyaathep,
Vasileio, and
Tamaha, possession of these texts is illegal and bearers are treated with extreme prejudice. Discovered owners of the grimoire, imitation or real, are hanged, drawn, quartered, with their remains burned and spread to far corners of the land.
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