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Is there a History of how the Phylactery and Liches came to be?
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<blockquote data-quote="RSKennan" data-source="post: 5828824" data-attributes="member: 8256"><p>Outside of game lore, I was going to post that "separable souls" are a recurring theme in many cultures as a limited form of invulnerability for monsters. One creature might keep its heart in an egg and bury it underground. Another might keep its head in hole in a tree. Unless you destroy the body part or object that contains the creature's soul, that creature is typically invulnerable. </p><p></p><p>That might be where Gardner was coming from with the idea.</p><p></p><p>As for in-game lore, you could find one of these myths, then reskin it for your setting. Perhaps the first lich was a dark Odinesque diety. </p><p></p><p>When the god Ekos was new, the titans ruled the land. Chief among them was Harloc, the titan of Venom. One touch of his blood or skin would kill even a god. Luckily, it was said, he had a weakness. Ever paranoid, he had hidden his heart so that none could slay him without piercing it. </p><p></p><p>After many ages, Ekos found it, beating within a river of lava, deep within the Earth. One chop of his axe, and the age of the gods began. </p><p></p><p>As he grew older, and younger gods threatened his sovereignty, and their created races fed them worship energies. He knew that one day he might fall. </p><p></p><p>He found an old giantess, a half breed Titan who he had let live, and asked her where the Titan had been when he died, for he had not been there. She told him, and he paled to hear it. The secret she said, was writ on his flesh, in the ink of his own poisoned bile. She helped Ekos prepare for the journey.</p><p>She impaled him on hooks and attached the hooks to ropes. A thousand striges came and bore him up to the secret land high in the mountains of Elskunnar in order to read the secrets of Magic from the tattooed skin of dead titan of Venom. Even though the titan was dead, Ekos knew, one touch meant death.</p><p>As he hung suspended and weak for days, he read the tattoos. Here he learned the secrets as his lifeblood ran out. His hand faltered, and he grazed the flesh of the titan with his right hand. Death crept up his arm. </p><p></p><p>As he neared death he came to the part he had searched for. The secret of the Separable soul. He worked the spell, then bit off his own arm and dropped it into the mouth of the venomous dead titan. He became the first lich. Ekos the Caustic rules the shadows to this day, answering the prayers of every assassin, necromancer, and grave robber who dares call his attention.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RSKennan, post: 5828824, member: 8256"] Outside of game lore, I was going to post that "separable souls" are a recurring theme in many cultures as a limited form of invulnerability for monsters. One creature might keep its heart in an egg and bury it underground. Another might keep its head in hole in a tree. Unless you destroy the body part or object that contains the creature's soul, that creature is typically invulnerable. That might be where Gardner was coming from with the idea. As for in-game lore, you could find one of these myths, then reskin it for your setting. Perhaps the first lich was a dark Odinesque diety. When the god Ekos was new, the titans ruled the land. Chief among them was Harloc, the titan of Venom. One touch of his blood or skin would kill even a god. Luckily, it was said, he had a weakness. Ever paranoid, he had hidden his heart so that none could slay him without piercing it. After many ages, Ekos found it, beating within a river of lava, deep within the Earth. One chop of his axe, and the age of the gods began. As he grew older, and younger gods threatened his sovereignty, and their created races fed them worship energies. He knew that one day he might fall. He found an old giantess, a half breed Titan who he had let live, and asked her where the Titan had been when he died, for he had not been there. She told him, and he paled to hear it. The secret she said, was writ on his flesh, in the ink of his own poisoned bile. She helped Ekos prepare for the journey. She impaled him on hooks and attached the hooks to ropes. A thousand striges came and bore him up to the secret land high in the mountains of Elskunnar in order to read the secrets of Magic from the tattooed skin of dead titan of Venom. Even though the titan was dead, Ekos knew, one touch meant death. As he hung suspended and weak for days, he read the tattoos. Here he learned the secrets as his lifeblood ran out. His hand faltered, and he grazed the flesh of the titan with his right hand. Death crept up his arm. As he neared death he came to the part he had searched for. The secret of the Separable soul. He worked the spell, then bit off his own arm and dropped it into the mouth of the venomous dead titan. He became the first lich. Ekos the Caustic rules the shadows to this day, answering the prayers of every assassin, necromancer, and grave robber who dares call his attention. [/QUOTE]
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Is there a History of how the Phylactery and Liches came to be?
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