"Immortality has many benefits for an aspiring sorcerer. Why should lifetimes of research, study, and mastering of the arcane arts be swept away by something so trivial as death? There are a few drawbacks to living forever of course. I do miss the taste of wine, and the heat of the summer sun upon my skin. I lament the loss of generations of friends, and loved ones. But this power? I wouldn't trade it for all the carnal pleasures of the world."
"They call these the dark arts, and they call me a monster, but when I stand at the end of the ages over the graves of all those who were too afraid to follow me, I alone will be left to write the law, and morality of the world. — Raafion, Sultan of Samur-Shadel
There are many ways in which a mortal of the world of Orr might conquer death. There are blessings from the seraphim of Elysium, legends of giant's milk which will extend one's life to that of those ancient beings, tales of wondrous springs in the Feywild which restore youth, and the power of Resonance itself...
But those who wish to outlast death itself will likely turn to the arcane, and the powers of Necromancy perfected by the clerics of the black cloth of ancient Zarcania. In order to understand the profane nature of these spells and to truly appreciate both their power, and the severity of their casting, we must examine both their history and their use in the world.
The Circle of Nine in Dalair has preserved these spells as a matter of historical record, and while their use is strictly forbidden by the Magisterium, it is no secret that liches serve upon the councils of sorcery in Dalair, and sequester themselves in hidden places throughout the realms.
Zarcania, and the First Undead
The Elder Realm of Dalair is often sited as the first mortal civilization to rise after the devastating events of the Cataclysm, where the heaven-dragons splintered time, and the planes. This however, is only a veiled truth for in the Time of Tyrannis, before the First Age, when Giant Lords, and Dragon Kings reigned over the earth and enslaved mortalkind there existed a realm protected from these primeval evils, but not from the dark ambitions of those who ruled it.
The black deserts of Zarcania were the birth place of Necromancy, although in that ancient age it was known only as the 'Divine Power', and the clerics who wielded it known as the
Shalamkhar. These clerics served the royal kings, and queens of that profane land who warred against the other terrible powers that sought to bring mortalkind to heel. To ensure their victory, these royals enslaved their own kind, and bonded them into service even beyond death. Thus were the first undead born into the world.
In this time, the Endless had not yet been formed, and the souls of the dead had no means to transition to their resting places in the outer planes. Wraiths, and spirits roamed the earth and the Shalamkhar of Zarcania were the first to master and learn to command them. Through bloody, and brutal trial and error did they divine the secrets of forcing these spirits to reside once more in mortal shells. The rituals and rites to create zombies, skeletons, wights, revenants, ghouls, and all other manner of undead were discovered by these ancient practioners of the dark arts, and the suffering and misery inflicted by the priests of the Shalamkhar has left Zarcania as a twisted, haunted wasteland ravaged by vengeful spirits.
The crowning achievement of the Shalamkhar, however, was the ritual of undeath that allowed the royalty of Zarcania to reign over their lands even in death. The spell of Immortality. The ritual of the Lich. It was known in that time as the Zenith of Death, and thousands of mortals were slaughter in the pursuit of this profane magic.
The Dark Ritual
Five precious gemstones of immaculate quality are required for the casting of the Dark Ritual; A diamond, a sapphire, a jet, a ruby, and an emerald. In addition, an object to serve as the caster's phylactery, the sap of a Blood Scythe Tree, an altar, a ritual dagger, kindling, wood, and five human sacrifices are required to complete the ritual.
The diamond must be cut with exactly three-hundred edges. The first human sacrifice must swallow the diamond, and be bound upon a raised platform at the zenith of the day. The sacrifice's stomach must be cut, and the bloody diamond removed from their innards through this wound. The sacrifice must then be hung above the altar for their blood to drain and dry upon the stone. Its guts are then exhumed and it is annointed with ceremonial oils. The body must be wrapped and buried to the north of the altar. The diamond is then crushed and spread over the grave.
The exhumed innards of the first sacrifice are boiled, or roasted and must be fed to the second sacrifice (often requiring the sacrifice's lower jaw to be removed so that the mixture may be poured directly). The second sacrifice is then buried to the south of the altar. An eye is removed, and the sapphire is placed in the empty socket. The sacrifice is covered in honey, or wine, and is left to be eaten alive by insects, birds of prey, or other animals. When the corpse has been completely stripped, and bleached the bones, and the sapphire are collected.
On the new moon the bones are placed upon the altar in an arcane configuration. The third sacrifice is bound within this circle with the jet suspended above. The sacrifice's body is cut, and left to bleed until the witching hour of the night, then is slain with the ritual dagger. All of the hair on the sacrifice must be shaved, and collected, and then the body must be drug to the west of the altar and buried before the morning light. The grave cannot be dug before the ritual is conducted, and it must be at least six feet deep.
On the full moon that follows the burial of the third sacrifice the fourth must be brought to the altar and bound with the ruby in their hands. At the zenith of the moon the hair of the third sacrifice is placed at their feet and then kindling and wood brought to surround them. The pyre is lit and is left to burn down into ashes. The ashes are collected into an urn and the object which the caster chooses as their phylactery intured with it until the spell is complete.
The final sacrifice must dig their own grave to the east of the altar and this is slain and put to rest with the emerald. The caster then must be lain to rest in the altar by its attendants. It is fed a poison made of the Blood Scythe sap. The attendants must then exhume the caster's heart, liver, lungs, and intestines. These are placed into ceramic, or stone jars and laid at the cardinal directions. Three days will pass, and the new lich will awaken.
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