Disclaimer: This is just something I did to help give general information on Liches across multiple fantasy settings and not meant to be the definitive edition of Liches or Undeath but rather my own interpretation. I hope whoever reads this enjoys and perhaps finds inspiration.
Some content below is owned by Bioware, Bethesda, and Wizards of The Coast and the Authors make no claim of ownership.
Also all images were taken from the internet and their are also some descriptions that are taken from the wiki's i make no claim of ownership of them
Written by Konahrik aka (Lord Nezerak) and Co-Authored by Lord Warke.
A well made tome found in the Imperial Archive's Hall of Dark Magic it's surface is a plain black cover with no Title. As you pick it up you sense the book is infused with Necrotic Energy causing you to feel uneasy, noticing it is sealed with a clasp made of silver. When you open it you find that its pages are made from what appears to be Rag Paper with silver gilded edges and the faint smell of Vanilla wafting from its pages. You see it was written with immaculate handwriting and in the margins and along the edges of the page you see a different handwriting in red ink.
A Compendium of Liches
Foreword
This Compendium was written for the purpose of detailing the various states of known Lichdom found throughout the Multiverse and attempts to provide accurate information on the various strengths and weaknesses of each type of Lich you may encounter, however i am aware that as times change so too will the reliability of the information contained within this text.. To future generations please update this text as new information becomes available or becomes outdated
~Signed and Authored by Lord Nezerak, Wizard and Lich
What is a Lich
"A Lich is an Undead Spellcaster who has willingly or unwillingly stored their Soul within an object called a Phylactery, so long as the phylactery exists a Lich can never truly be killed as when their bodies are destroyed their phylactery will build another for them to inhabit.
This process can take anywhere from hours to days if their phylactery is destroyed a Lich can just make another however it is an expensive endeavor requiring at least months of time and rare materials they can only be found in distant corners of the world.
Most liches are solitary and hate filled sociopaths spreading death and destruction wherever they go and have been known to murder entire villages on a whim because they were considered a nuisance or the lich needed alchemy ingredients or the power of their souls, although some Lich's hold to the same morals in undeath as they did in life.
While liches can be from any species they primarily seem to be from among short lived species especially Humans the reason for this is unknown though it has been theorized that a human's desire for power or their fear of Death is more acute than other species.
Phylactery
A Phylactery is an object or Vessel containing an interior space that has been specifically prepared using valuable materials such as silver or platinum with a surface area sufficient for Runes to be be inscribed on or in the Phylactery (others inscribe them on slips of parchment using valuable inks and place them in the Phylactery) by a Lich to house and contain their soul.
If a Lich's Phylactery is Destroyed some weaker Liches may die instantly while other stronger Liches will survive. Their Soul will be drawn back into their bodies, in any case the Lich is immediately aware of what has happened and is stunned by the sharp pain of their Phylactery's destruction.
However if a Lich survives the destruction of their phylactery they can reconstruct or use another object to house their soul. they will have to once again inscribe silver or platinum runes onto their phylactery and use a Variation of the Ritual of Endless Night to create a new phylactery; afterwards their soul will move into the phylactery.
Some Liches only use their phylacteries during their Transformation and later after the Ritual is done draw their Soul back into their Undead forms. (The reason why this is done is because it makes it less costly to maintain their Undead bodies while making them more powerful than a Lich who stores their Soul in a phylactery. However if they are destroyed they will die permanently)
What does a Lich look like?
A Lich's appearance can vary wildly depending on the race they were in life and how much effort they expend to maintain their body's appearance. Most do not care for their appearance and look ghoulish and appear to resemble a rotting corpse, Some remove their flesh entirely and look like skeletons; others dry out their skin or use special oils and look mummified.
But there are those who look indistinguishable from the living, however they must feed their Phylacteries often to maintain this, others use illusionary magic to get by.
When a Lich to be undertakes the ritual of Endless Night after consuming the Elixir of Defilation they will begin to look gaunt and pale and their veins will turn black as the poison slowly kills them, after they die their bodies will look Ghoulish due to the heavy exposure to Necrotic energy.
Where can you find a Lich?
A Lich often haunts the abode it favored in life, such as a Wizards tower, academy of black magic, or an old or decaying ruin. Why, you might ask, would they dwell within a Ruin? This is typically because when they took up residence the building was perfectly fine but as time passed the structure began to decay due to lack of maintenance as many Liches would rather let the structure decay then maintain it themselves and renovations risk the Lich's discovery. Alternatively, some Liches construct secret tombs filled with powerful guardians and traps.
The typical signs that a Lich has taken up residence is all life within a thousand feet being dead this includes Plant Life and Insects while other local fauna will flee or move away including bears and wolves.
Undead will be drawn to a lich and wherever they reside and ghost will possess any unsanctified corpses nearby.
Abilities
A Lich is stronger physically than a standard mortal due to their undead state but tend to rely on their magical abilities and levitate a few inches to several feet in the air to swiftly maneuver through the battlefield though this does not mean they fly for the farther they move away from the ground the more energy required to suspend themselves.
Many liches possess the same traits and abilities as others of their kind these include but are not limited to:
Causing Unease, Fear, Panic or Terror with just their presence this is caused by the Necrotic energy suffusing their entire being which is the Antithesis to the living they can adjust how much Necrotic energy they are projecting to either cause unease to an overwhelming sense of impending Doom. Undead/Magical Constructs are immune to this and Undead are drawn in by it often causing conflict with other sapient autonomous undead.
The ability to discharge Necrotic energy causes whatever part of the body they were touching to Wither and Rot or Killing someone Instantly with just their touch. It all depends on the fortitude of the being and their own protections against such an attack. Undead/Magical Constructs cannot be harmed by this kind of attack and the Undead are actively healed and empowered by it feeding off the Necrotic energy.
A Lich can sense and see the outline of living beings nearby or in their line of sight up to 1000 feet and sense creatures within 100 feet; this is an activated ability and not a passive.
Older Liches as an innate ability are also completely immune to non-magical weapons and other means of attack up to a certain threshold. To my knowledge they are also immune to all current known Poisons and Diseases both mundane and magical they are also immune to mind effects such as mind reading, they are also highly resistant to many lesser spells. Weaker or Freshly Ascended Liches do not possess the immunity to non-magical weapons nor resistance to weaker spells.
Immortality: a Lich is Immortal and will not die of Old Age or the Complete and Utter Annihilation of their body so long as their Phylactery exists or they have the necessary Knowledge of Necromancy their Soul can Persevere until they manage to create or reinforce a body to contain their Soul without it breaking down.
Almost every kind of Lich you will encounter is a spellcaster of some kind. They are extremely dangerous; many Older Liches can bring ruin to a Kingdom or continent just by their spell-casting abilities alone.
One can never predict what magics a Lich is capable of however like most mages they will be varied and deadly.
It is not quite understood why most Liches are weaker in the ability to use blood magic some theorize this is due to Liches not possessing any connection to mortal life while others believe it to be that Liches have devoted so much of their time to researching matters relating to undeath that they never learned blood magic or just haven't done so yet.
(a Lich who maintains their human appearance will have a much stronger connection and ability to use blood magic than a skeletal Lich where as an Ethereal Lich would be completely cut off from blood magic)
Rejuvenation
Upon death the magical energy that once sustained it will fade so a Lich's body will disintegrate leaving behind a pile of Ashes with a few bones and any possessions they had at the time, a Lich can take anywhere from a few hours to days to have their body reconstructed it depends on factors such as:
1: The Age and Power of the Lich.
2: Their Knowledge of the Arcane and Experience using it.
3: How often they Feed Their Phylactery.
(how powerful a Lich is is directly proportional to how many Souls they will require to be reconstituted.)
When the body is finished it will have the appearance of the Lich as they were the day they died (When they were Alive) and Ascended to Lichdom or will look as they were before they were destroyed.. It all depends on the Personal preferences of the Lich.
Ways to speed up the revival of a Lich
1: Corpses
A Lich can take Possession of any dead bodies near their Phylactery and use them as temporary puppets if the Lich is in a rush, however unless the corpse has been prepared to house the Soul of the Lich they will only last minutes or an hour at most as the corpse begins breaking down and falling apart or quite literally bursting into magical flames as the body fails to contain the Lich's Soul
If the body has been prepared however it can last indefinitely, over time the corpse will shift and change to that of Lich's own body
Regardless of the corpse's. Race, Age, Sex, or state of decay.
2: Sacrifices
If a Lich has Followers they can sacrifice creatures or humanoids to the Lich's Phylactery to speed up their Resurrection however if the Lich is not trusting of his followers with his phylactery they can instead participate in a Ritual where they will sacrifice creatures or humanoids within a magic circle which will act as a conduit to the Phylactery… Any Living, Undead, or soul inhabited Construct that walks into this magic circle will be killed in moments as their Soul is utterly consumed if they do not have the fortitude to resist; this also serves as a convenient method for the Lich to feed his phylactery.
The Lich can sever its connection to the conduit and the Ritual will begin to fail.
Most constructs do not have souls and would be unharmed.
Feeding
A Lich maintains their form and phylactery by consuming the souls of others beings a lich that neglects to consume Souls can devolve into a Demi Lich where their phylactery is not strong enough to support their form and parts of their body Decay and fall apart until little more than a skull remains
A lich will consume the Soul by casting a spell when a creature dies or by violently ripping it out while the creature is still alive; however, the latter method can take a while so it is unlikely the Lich will do so amidst combat.
Afterwards the soul will be consumed by the Lich to reinforce the Magics binding its soul to its phylactery
A lich can also store The Souls of its enemies inside of specially prepared containers in order to consume them at a later date
An inexperienced Lich when consuming the soul of another creature will consume everything, the energy that supports the Soul's existence along with whatever personality or memories that the person had and utterly destroy them.
For a more experienced Lich they will only consume the energy that supports the Soul's existence afterwards they may decide to carefully absorb the memories of the soul in order to gain whatever knowledge the creature had in life or a lich can decide to consume only most of the energy that supports the soul and release it.
Different Souls possess different levels of power; the soul of a king will be more Rich than the soul of a beggar just as how the soul of a priest will be more tantalizing than the soul of a serial killer.
"In my experience The Souls of the innocent such as the faithful of a good aligned God or who in general would be described as a good person are sweeter in taste and for the Souls of Infernals and Tyrants, are spicy while the Soul of a Nihilist will be bitter it all depends on what flavor you prefer the most"
-from an interview with Magnus Corvinus in the marketplace in Sigil The City of Doors.
Weaknesses
Liches are harmed by Fire, Acid, and Holy Magic and Magical Weaponry, they are also harmed by Silver coated Weaponry or Holy Water, Dimeritium or Silver bombs.
Be wary though they are resistant but not immune to frost, lightning and necromantic magics.
Necromancers, Paladins/Clerics, Wizards/Diviners would be a must for any group attempting to locate and slay a Lich.
Only a group of experienced people should ever attempt to slay a Lich as any army of common soldiers or even knights not aided by magic users would be slain and added to the Lich's own undead forces.
A Lich can not wield holy or divine magic, unless a Deity continues to give them such power, they may wield Divine or Holy weapons/armor if said items do not have any restrictions to undead using them however if a divine power does take issue with you using them they may personally decide to Smite your ass. nor will any standard healing magicks have any effect.
Liches that are incapable or uncaring of maintaining their decaying body will eventually reach a point that they require spells to hold their body together or lift objects for without the magical aid they would be unable to lift objects and their body parts would fall away.
Most Liches overcome their physical limitations via telekinesis and that the more decayed a Lich becomes the more they will be forced to rely on magical aid to support their undead body.
Strategies
Strategy 1: KILL THE LICH!
Have a group of Mages, Priests, Knights and Archers (fitted with magic armor and weapons) lock down the area around the Lich to cut off Teleportation/Dimensional travel. Have the Mages focus on countering most of the spells the Lich tries sending their way and have the Knight/Archers focus on hooking the lich with grappling bolts (bolts with chains/rope tied to them) thus hampering the Lich's movement and preventing them from flying away, while the Priest work on killing it's undead servants after they are dealt with, have them rain down holy magics on the Lich. As soon as the Lich dies get away from its body incase it has any nasty surprises waiting for whoever slew it, have the Mages dispel any magic on the Lich's Ashes and look for any items that may have survived and Destroy them,
afterwards begin trying to Divine the location of it's Phylactery if this fails look for locations a Lich might favor as a Lair or go to places where there has been an increase in undead activity and search for any Ornate items that may be there and have Mages cast dispel magic on them and see if any masking spells fail.
Strategy 2: Talk/Negotiation.
Not all Liches are cackling old men who have gone off the deep end and shit the bed.
Find out if the Lich is willing to talk if they are just living off in their tower in the middle nowhere not harming anyone that is typically a good sign. However if you do send a Messenger be sure to give them an escort of trustworthy knights with magic weapons as undead are drawn to a Lich and will likely be shambling around outside and will probably attack them if there are too many retreat, after reaching the Lich's doorstep allow me to stress this KNOCK! Do not open the door and let yourself in; this is how you invite a fate worse than Death unto yourself and your companions!
If the Lich opens the door.
1: be polite
2: do not comment on their state of decay
3: treat them with respect
they did not Achieve Immortality to put up with your shit and will respond accordingly, State your intentions and give them the Message if after reading the message they tell you they aren't interested smile nod and bid them farewell and leave. it is preferable to deal with the displeasure of your lord than an angry Lich.
If they agree to enter negotiations Great! Hopefully it will become someone else's problem.
Strategy 3: Leave. Them. Alone.
If a Lich is living on a spot of land consider it theirs and act like they are the Sovereign ruler of that area if they don't wish to talk or kill the messenger leave them alone and pray they die or move out in a century or two.
Strategy 4: Adventurers
Have your spies lure Adventurers with rumors of treasure inside the Lich's Residence make sure it can't be traced back to you or have a fall guy ready and hope they kill the Lich and remove the problem however be ready in case the Lich lives and listen for news of the Adventurers "Tragic Deaths"
Strategy 5: containing a Lich
If you do not wish to kill a Lich follow strategy one except instead of killing the Lich you sever it's limbs and cover its body in cement or molten metal and place magic suppressing rings, collars, shackles, on them afterwards do with them as you please.
Society
Although many Liches prefer solitude and isolation and will live private lives in their Wizard's Tower or Home some will still maintain their social interactions as they did when they were living while maintaining a mask of life many take up positions as Court Mages or other knowledgeable professions and continue to contribute and be a part of society, on more Cosmopolitan planes and worlds some Liches will even live openly with the populous having full knowledge of their state of Undeath.
Liches generally prefer to live alone in the wilderness and will spend decades or even centuries researching magic and other topics of interest disregarding the outside world and their fellow scholars however much to the liches' annoyance when they do return to civilization they will discover that many of their discoveries and revolutionizing techniques have already been discovered years ago and become common.
Reversing The Transformation
Some Liches desire to undue the Ritual of Endless Night and will spend potentially decades looking for a way to restore themselves to mortal life. Ironically enough it is easier to bring a Lich back to mortal Life after they have died and had their Phylactery destroyed then it is to suddenly change them from being an Undead to Living once more.
The most effectively method this author knows to reverse the process of Lichdom is to first gather the ingredients as follows,
Ashes of a Phoenix
Blood of a Unicorn
Ground up Mistletoe
Three petals from a daffodil
The egg of a serpent
The ingredients will only be effective when mixed in a Cauldron under the light of the Blood Moon.
The brew should stir for six hours after which the Lich will cast their Phylactery into the cauldron at which point it should dissolve into the liquid.
The Lich should then draw The Brew into a flask and drink it upon which the Lich will suddenly feel a burning pain spread across their body. This process should take about one minute afterwards the Lich will be Hale, healthy and restored to Life.
However please be aware that other methods do exist and that this is but one known to the Author and that trying to undue undeath always has the potential to end in failure even final death.
Trivia ~
The Ashes of a Lich can be used in many rituals or for the creation of certain potions and poisons.
The remains of their phylacteries can be used to craft powerful enchanted items of a... Shall we say Darker inclination…
A Lich must feed Souls to their Phylactery to maintain its power /Unlife and to prevent themselves from becoming a Demi Lich, how often a Lich must feed their Phylactery varies per Lich.
A more active Lich such as one that tries to maintain their Mortal appearance or who dies at least once a week or once a month will need to feed their Phylactery often.
A Lich who is less active and doesn't try to maintain their living appearance or dies very rarely can go years without feeding their phylactery.
Contrary to peasant belief a Lich will not receive sustenance from eating a soul cake. (Although they may be greatly amused and appreciate the gesture)
An Older Lich can forgo the need to Consume Souls and purely sustain themselves off of magical energy at the cost of being rejuvenated by their Phylacteries at a slower rate.
Lich variants
There are other variants of Lichdom such as the Arch Lich, Demi Lich, Baelnorn and Draco Liches
The Arch Lich
An Arch Lich is a variation of a Lich that shares many of the same traits as a standard Lich but does not require souls to maintain their phylactery if they have one at all as some Arch Liches discard their phylactery and use it as a temporary Vessel for their Soul before having their Soul rejoin with their body after the Ritual is complete it serves no further purpose, the thing that separates an arch Lich from a regular Lich is that they are resistant to being turned by clerics and are resistant to Holy Magics also in place of sacrificing a humanoid during the Ritual of Endless Night they will instead sacrifice a powerful magical artifact
The Baelnorn
A baelnorn is an Elven Lich transformed by an Elven deity
Specifically with a purpose or goal in mind such as guarding a temple or keeping a valuable Secret or specific Lore alive therefore they only exist in current or former Elven territory and are incredibly rare. They have many of the same strengths of regular Liches such as their Undead vitality and chilling aura however unlike regular Liches they cannot be Turned by a Cleric/Priest, they are able walk on Hallowed ground without being affected like other undead and will only very Rarely venture outside of the areas they guard over typically at the behest of the Elven Pantheon.
They will typically be kept company by one or more Elves to help them deal with the isolation so that way they don't go insane.
However these powers and abilities are subject to the Elven Pantheon if a Baelnorn was to go against them they could find themselves without any of their powers other than their undeath but as time would go on they would find themselves falling apart as the decades pass until they die as the magic used to create them fails.. unless they sacrifice the soul of a sapient humanoid every six months.
The DracoLich
A Dracolich is a Dragon that undergoes a variation of the Ritual of Endless Night, unlike regular Liches who upon death will have their body reconstructed afterwards a Dracolich will instead possess the living or dead body of a lesser reptile such as a lizard, snake or dinosaur in the area near their Phylactery and must seek out and completely consume their old body upon which they will transform back into their full draconic selves.
Demi Lich
A Demi Lich is a lich who forgets, is unable to or is unaware of the need to feed their phylactery and so they deteriorate until they are little more than a Skull, Hand, Pelvis or Spine
Demi liches are typically driven insane and will do everything within their power to kill you.
Some Liches however will actively starve their phylactery in order to become a Demi Lich afterwards they will astral project their soul to other realms while their body remains on the material plane with no soul to guide it however this does not stop a Demi Lich from killing you as the Necrotic energy that suffuses the undead animates the body and will cause it to kill anything living within its presence like a deranged animal.
Ethereal/Nether Lich
An Ethereal Lich is Lich who has either decided to project their soul or has had their body and phylactery destroyed.
if it is the latter then they were typically powerful Liches when they had a physical body as most Liches Souls simply move on when they die.
If they have no Phylactery and their body has been destroyed with no Anchor tying them to the material world every waking moment is a constant battle to stay much less remain coherent long enough to possess another living or dead creature, the only reason they are able to remain in the first place is due to their extensive knowledge of Necromancy and Souls that allow them to persevere through sheer Will.
They are more deadly than your average Ghost or Wraith as they are not bound to a single location or affected by sunlight.
An Ethereal Lich without a body or Phylactery must consume a Soul every Thirty Days or Die if they had consumed a Soul within that time frame and die they reform in a few hours.
To consume a Soul they must possess a creature and siphon their soul completely killing the creature this can take days or hours the victim will become deathly pale and their veins will turn black over time.
However if they decide to possess a living being they will need to be careful if they wish to preserve the beings life and not kill them due to housing the Lich's Soul,
The Lich will need to take breaks possessing the creature.
They can also turn "Invisible" by stepping more into the Ethereal plane. When they do this only magical spells or Magic items that exist on both the Ethereal and Material plane can harm them; a creature that can see into the Ethereal plane will still be able to see the Lich.
They can also freely pass through objects and physical barriers unhindered however cannot step through barriers/wards that stop creatures on the Ethereal Plane.
If the Lich were to pass through a person the being in question would feel as if all the heat in the room had suddenly disappeared followed by a sense of dread, longing, hopelessness, depression or merely a chilling sensation.. Depending on the mood of the Lich.
Dragon Priest
Dragon Priests found in the lands of Skyrim worshiped the Dragons as Gods, specifically the great and powerful Alduin the destroyer of the world and were granted great power to rule over the masses in their name and ensure the people continued to worship them. In return for the priests loyal service they were given a very unique form of Lichdom where instead of the traditional method of placing their Soul into a reciprocal they instead sustained themselves off of the soul energy of their followers who would join the priests in Undeath as Wights or Draugr and care for the temples and priests burrows as the Priests slept awaiting the Dragons return after Alduin's defeat at the hands of three Nord heros
Dragon Priests differ greatly from priest to priest but all of them possess great magical power regardless of whether they were mages in life for example there was a Dragon Priest named Otar who was a Warrior in life and had little care for magical pursuits however in death he has enough magical power to challenge an Archmage while still possessing all his skill in more martial pursuits making for a deadly opponent especially with his undead vitality.
All known Dragon Priests were killed by the fabled Nord Hero the Last Dragonborn shortly after Alduin's return.
Notable Liches
Vecna
Vecna was formally a human Lich from the world of Oerth although much of his past is unknown here are the parts known to the Author.
Vecna is considered to be the most powerful and Evil lich in the history of Oerth. He rose to godhood, becoming the god of secrets. He is known as the Master of All that is Secret and Hidden, the Arch-Lich, the Chained God, the Maimed God, Master of the Spider Throne, the Whispered One, the Dying King, the Lord of the Rotted Tower, and the Undying King. His weapon of choice is a dagger. Vecna seeks to supplant the other gods, and rule over the universe. For this, he is feared or hated by the other gods. So feared is Vecna that worship of him is punishable by death on Oerth.
Vecna and his mother, Mazzel, were born to the untouchable caste in the Flan city of Fleeth. She trained him as a wizard in the arcane arts for many years before the city burned her as a witch, and Vecna escaped. He then studied under the direct tutelage of Mok'slyk, the Serpent, said to be the personification of magic itself, whom his mother had served as a priestess.
One thousand years later, Vecna had risen to become the most powerful wizard in the land and had already achieved lichdom having carved an empire for himself in the Sheldomar Valley. During this time, he wrote Ordinary Necromancy and Authored The Book of Vile Darkness. He marched on Fleeth with an army of undead and spell casters. He was nearly destroyed by clerics channeling the power of Pholtus, god of light, when they blasted him with a beam of light on his left side. He was saved by one of his generals, the half-fiend Acererak. Acererak would later become a mighty lich himself.
During Vecna's ascension to godhood He was betrayed by his lieutenant Kas costing him his eye and hand which became powerful artifacts after his Ascension.
Acererak
Acererak is a Lich who was originally a Cambion and, like Vecna, is feared over multiple worlds. For his cruelty and disregard for the Living Although having the power and opportunities to ascend to godhood, Acererak had no interest in being worshiped, despite having his share of followers whose suffering he enjoyed watching.
Much of Acererak's past history was forgotten. It was believed that he was originally from Oerth. Acererak the Devourer is described as a cambion, the result of an ancient conjurer summoning a demon, a balor named Tarnhem, far beyond his ability to control. Tarnhem devoured the conjurer and killed the other conjures that participated except Acererak's human mother who is instead.. taken by force.
Acererak's mother survives her son's birth, but she is killed by a torch-wielding mob ten years later. The boy is rescued by none other than Vecna, the Whispered One, who kills the advisors urging him to kill the child; instead, he takes on the half-demon as an apprentice. Even then, ten-year-old Acererak loathes life, looking forward to becoming undead like his master. During Vecna's siege of Fleeth, the Lich is severely wounded and rescued by Acererak. Vecna subsequently promotes the cambion.
As he worked to achieve lichdom Acererak constructed a number of dungeons and tombs in order to draw out, defeat, and claim for his phylactery the souls of adventurers that sought to kill him. One particular dungeon hidden within a hillside, known as the Tomb of Horrors, would go on to claim the lives of thousands of adventurers.
Another was when he constructed a device called the Soul Monger while it was active it would consume the Souls of all those who died on the continent it was on preventing almost all forms of resurrection
Mannimarco
The King of Worms was once a mortal and powerful mage of the famous Psijic Order on the world of Nirm who after being banished from their Order for his study into the Dark Arts formed the Order of the Black Worm after many years of work he became the First True Lich on Nirn and later ascended to Demi-god Status becoming the patron god of Liches and Necromancy assuming the title of King of Worm. bestowed upon him by his followers. Before he became a demi-god he became partners with the god Molag Bal opening a portal to ColdHarbor allowing Molag Bal to enter and begin his conquest.
Sometime later during Mannimarco's Ascension he was assaulted by Vanus Galerion and his army in an attempt to stop his ascension to godhood however during the battle Mannimarco killed Galerion and retreated with his Followers.
What comes next is not exactly clear but at the time there was a "Dragon Break" and seven timelines all existed causing mass confusion. At some point the Dragon break was fixed however all seven timelines became True.
In one Mannimarco succeeded in his ascension to godhood.
In another he failed but was still a powerful Lich.
This caused there to be Two Mannimarcoes afterwards at least until Mannimarco the Lich was slain by the Archmage of the Mages Guild. While Mannimarco the god continues to watch over the necromancers of Nirn.
The Bunny Lich
There was once a lonely Lich who decided to acquire a pet to share his days with and in the beginning everything was fine the Lich was happy with his beloved pet but as the years past the pet grew old while the lich remained eternal "I know what to do" said the Lich "I'll make him just like me! And we will never be parted!" So the lich took his pet down to his laboratory and performed a vile ritual to ensure his dearest pet would never die thus creating the first Lich bunny who no longer received carrots for dinner but Souls! That bunny was never quite the same after that and nobody knows what happened to his master but to this day there are sightings of the lich bunny roaming the woods in its quest to sate its eternal hunger.
Koschei
Koschei The Deathless is a Lich from Earth who is famous for having his Soul "hidden a needle that is hidden inside an egg, the egg is in the duck, the duck is in the hare, the hare is in the chest, the chest is buried or chained up on a far island." He has since been Slain.
Vlaakith VII
Vlaakith the 7th was the Lich Queen of the Githyanki Empire, an interdimensional empire in the Astral Sea, Vlaakith CLVII, died after ascending the throne without giving birth to an heir, but returned as a Lich, Vlaakith has ruled the githyanki for over a thousand years. Her home, the Castle Susurrus, is in the githyanki capital city, Tu'narath, which is built on the god-isle of a deceased power known only as "The One in the Void"
Vlaakith was the name of several rulers of the githyanki race after the disappearance of Gith, the rebel leader that united them against the illithids. The original holder, Vlaakith I helped seal the pact between the red dragons and the githyanki. All subsequent queens of the githyanki were named after her.
Vlaakith CLVII stood out among the Vlaakiths for becoming a Lich. Her undying reign and her success at getting rid of those who could challenge her were why she managed to retain her throne for longer than any other Vlaakith.
After centuries of undeath, she grew mad. She came up with an idea to become a deity and started to install a priest caste in githyanki society. She also sent loyal lieutenants to quell any unrest that might arise. These were done to gradually prepare for her ascension and encourage the githyanki to worship her as a deity. An inquisitor caste to hunt down people whom she wanted gone also existed. However, many githyanki viewed her as a mad tyrant who would cause their people's destruction or enslavement at her hands even before she reached her goal.
Cynthia the Mad
Was a redheaded dwarf woman from the underground city of Rockport living a simple life as a student of the magical academy until one day their kingdom was invaded and her city was infiltrated quickly falling and pillaged she was captured and raped before her captors murdered her however her captors did not know that as a school project she created a device to house a small portion of her soul which reanimated her body before proceeding to storm through the city killing the enemy. The experience scarred her mental state but it was the years after of living in constant pain due to the magicks keeping her "Alive" that drove her to madness now she speaks to people only she can see and hear and performs experiments that often literally blow up in her face. Her people tolerate her eccentricity due to her oath of fealty to the king. Due to her condition of lichdom her body has degraded over the years. She is embarrassed about her appearance and spends considerable time and money on illusion magics to mask her appearance in all aspects. It is said you could touch her and believe it to be real flesh though should the illusion ever be dispelled her true visage would be revealed. Her illusion is maintained and enhanced by a necklace with a magic infused Vivianite stone which she wears at all times.
– Chronicled by the scholar Lord Warke during his travels through the multiverse.
The Elder One
Once the Tevinter High Priest to the Dragon God Dumat he is now a member of the blood cursed creatures called the Darkspawn though unlike his brethren he maintains his sapience. When he was cursed his form changed, his body horribly twisted and height increased to 9ft. His fingers changed into claws. He has since learned how to control his fellow darkspawn. He has grafted a magical element known as Red Lyrium onto his body increasing his already formidable magical abilities. An oddity among mages The Elder One does not require any object such as a staff to focus his magic abilities. Unlike other forms of Lichdom found throughout the multiverse he is still alive and uses blood magic so what makes him a lich you wonder well it is due to his ability to shift his soul anytime his current body is destroyed into any creature bearing the same blood curse as himself and morph their body into his own form and is even able to split his soul and placed it within a High Dragon. He now resides in his world's magical plane ruling from his own demi plane as the Patron deity of the Tevinter Imperium.
Magnus Corvinus
Magnus Corvinus is a formally human Lich who specializes in Wards and defensive spells he can be found in Sigil the City of Doors at his shop Walls and Wards where he takes contracts to ward homes and the lands they sit on.
Lord Nezerak
Lord Nezerak is a formally human Lich who travels the multiverse in search of New Worlds and civilizations to go where no mage has gone before!
He enjoys traveling and cataloging all the places he's visited and when not traveling resides in a
Demiplane of his creation called Nightshade's Hollow. Where he enjoys the position of respected Elder. However the people understand that he is often tired from his travels and wishes to be left alone to catalog his discoveries.
although the residents tend to leave gifts on his doorstep to show their gratitude.
Signed by Lord Nezerak, Wizard and Lich
Below the author's signature can be seen in an ornate and flowing script in what appears to be red ink is a simple message "You are welcome."
– L.W.