Lore
Ethreain, the LichIn life, the frost-mage Ethreain (not yet a Lich) had used the threat of destructive ice to enslave entire kingdoms. His subjects, aided by a few desperate magicians, eventually grew bold enough to ambush him. Armed with enough charmed rope to bind him forever, they tied the frost mage to adamant weights and dropped him in a pool known chiefly for being bottomless. It wasn't.
He only fell for a year or so before an outcrop snagged him. There he rested, dead but undecaying, until the geomancer Anhil thought to verify the legend of the supposedly bottomless Black Pool. Anhil's plumbline snarled with the ropes that bound the drowned magician, and up he hauled an unexpected prize. Thinking that by rendering the dead undead, he could question the Lich about the properties of the pool, he removed the bindings and commenced a simple rite of resurrection. Even the descendants of Ethreain's enemies were long forgotten by time, so there were none to warn Anhil against imprudence. But he learned the error of his judgment almost immediately, as Lich threw off the shackles and consumed him.
He only fell for a year or so before an outcrop snagged him. There he rested, dead but undecaying, until the geomancer Anhil thought to verify the legend of the supposedly bottomless Black Pool. Anhil's plumbline snarled with the ropes that bound the drowned magician, and up he hauled an unexpected prize. Thinking that by rendering the dead undead, he could question the Lich about the properties of the pool, he removed the bindings and commenced a simple rite of resurrection. Even the descendants of Ethreain's enemies were long forgotten by time, so there were none to warn Anhil against imprudence. But he learned the error of his judgment almost immediately, as Lich threw off the shackles and consumed him.
| Lich | |
|---|---|
Illus. Wisnu Tan Opportunity calls to me in Roseleaf. Lion flees to Weeping Rose, and will undoubtedly be looking for allies to aid him. The Vhoul are losing their battle against The Bronze Legion and are willing to do anything for victory... and the Crystal Maiden of Icewrack happens to be on holiday. It truly is an embarrassment of riches. The only lingering question is who should I kill first.
— Ethreain, the Lich
| |
| About | |
| Associated With | |
| Heroes | Lion Crystal Maiden |
| Places | The Black Pool |
| Characters | Anhil, the Geomancer Rix |
| Cosmetics | Perversions of the Bloodwhorl |
- Over time, the Lich's frost magic became a catalyst for the otherwordly power within him that began to manifest from within his body as dense ice crystals. These growths began to creep out from his arms and back, seeking to embrace the ice mage himself. To counteract this, he wrapped his body with a length of enchanted cloth that counteracts the growth of this power, preventing it from consuming him.[1][2][3]
- Lich carries a flask on his waist that pulses with the remains of the warmth that his heart had before he died, where he can keep an eye on it.[4]
- Gravity has no pull on the Lich, allowing him to effortlessly hover above the ground even when weighed down with a weighted belt. He wears this belt as a mockery to those who seek to pull the Lich down.[5]
- Besides ice magic, Lich has the ability to preserve items to prevent them from rotting and corroding. He uses this power to preserve the charmed ropes, wearing it as a reminder that no one should hope to bind him again.[6]
- Ethreain once owned a magic tome in his life. When his rebellious subjects bound him, they shackled the tome to his back and placed a headpiece to blind him so he may never read from its dark pages.[7]
- In life, Ethreain sought out the Bloodwhorl Crown. The rumors of the artifact drove him to hunt for the item from kingdom to kingdom, but he failed to acquire it as he was thrown to his demise in the Black Pool. However, he didn't know that the crown cannot be worn by any living creature, and had he accomplished this quest in his mortal form rather than his undead form, it would've been his greatest failure of all.[8]
Artifact[]
Lich was involved in the war raging in Roseleaf. He is technically not a direct participant, but he sees it as an embarrassment of riches, as the war has many opportunities for him to take while it goes on: Lion travels to Weeping Rose, seeking asylum in the city to protect himself from the Tyler Estate and the Court of Ristul. Crystal Maiden is on holiday, who may be residing somewhere within Weeping Rose due to her duties as an external collaborator with the Sapphire Conclave. And the Vhoul rebellion, led by the rebel Rix, is currently losing against Stonehall's forces and are willing to do anything to win the fight. With all these events, Lich sizes up his options: who should he kill first?[9]
Character References
- ▶️ You disgust me Lich, your sacrifices serve no one but yourself...
Friendships and Rivalries[]
Allies meeting Lich
- ▶️ r We will bring a storm of ice and flame upon them!
- ▶️ r Lich, you freeze them, and I'll shatter their bones.
- ▶️ r You freeze them and I'll burn them down.
- ▶️ ▶️ r Ya know, for a mage that's cheated death you're... personable?
- ▶️ ▶️ r You don't really warm up to people much, do you Lich?
- ▶️ r Had you chosen to live, Lich, what a Magus you could have been.
- ▶️ r You have a chill on you Lich.
- ▶️ r Dead are cold, Lich.
- ▶️ u Dead are cold, Lich.
Enemies killing Lich
- ▶️ Lich, your ice is weak.
- ▶️ Sorcery fails thee.
- ▶️ Your permafrost wasn't so permanent after all.
- ▶️ Such an old grouch.
- ▶️ You'd think all that ice would make him nice.
- ▶️ Sorry, Lich, you're doing it wrong.
- ▶️ You think you can snow me?
- ▶️ Lich, your dedication to death endears you to me.
- ▶️ Cold day in hells.
- ▶️ Cold made you hard, but ice made you brittle.
- ▶️ ▶️ I'm the Juggernaut, Lich!
- ▶️ ▶️ Never trust a wizard.
- ▶️ ▶️ Never trust the dead.
- ▶️ Lich, stealing your life gave me an ice headache!
- ▶️ Should have thrown you on the pyre sooner.
- ▶️ And they call me cold hearted…
- ▶️ Didn't you know snakes are cold-blooded?
- ▶️ ▶️ r You're an abomination!
- ▶️ Bye, Lich! He gave me the creeps.
- ▶️ The cold has numbed you to wonder, Lich.
- ▶️ Death's cold embrace.
- ▶️ Even you should come in from the cold once in a while.
- ▶️ ▶️ Thaw in the earth, Lich.
- ▶️ I fear not the cold, Lich. It makes me warm and drowsy.
- ▶️ The cold cannot hide you from me, Lich.
- ▶️ I've got your number, Lich.
- ▶️ Now I'm the numb-er one!
Enemies dying to Lich
Others
- ▶️ r Let fear not force you all to huddle close, or ice will wrap you hard up in its chains.
- ▶️ ▶️ Swords and sorcery!
External Links[]
- ↑ Dead Winter Grasp description.
- ↑ Dead Winter Sash description.
- ↑ Dead Winter Soul description.
- ↑ Bindings of Eldritch Ice description.
- ↑ Bindings of Eldritch Ice description.
- ↑ Bracers of Eldritch Ice description.
- ↑ Forbidden Knowledge description.
- ↑ Perversions of the Bloodwhorl description.
- ↑ Artifact: Lich lore