Lich

Lichdom is a very strange thing, it is an attempt at immortality that is in theory a grand success, at a great price.

The Ritual
The ritual to even get an attempt at lichdom is one that even the most powerful of beings might have some trouble with.

First, although it isn't required, a focus point is often very useful for the ritual. A simple circle that should be clear to the necromancer most often works for that. It isn't needed, but highly suggested unless the user can in some other way contain the ritual.

To start there is a set of requirements for attempting lichdom. But the most important is a chosen item, this can be a creature, actual item, a soul, almost anything. And it will be what the necromancer will use to gain lichdom.

The ritual starts once the user speaks a certain incantation in the language of the dead. And focusses enough power on these words until the very words become filled with energy. Once you can feel this the ritual would have started. Once the ritual has started there is no way for the user to stop it. Outsiders can disrupt it but that almost always has terrible results for the user and most often also all others involved, including the one who would disrupt it.

Right as the ritual starts, before anything happens you would feel a sudden change, a sudden feeling that you can anything, accomplish any goal, that you are immortal. This has fooled many into thinking the ritual is over, when it is in fact only just beginning.

Right after the ritual starts and that feeling ends it starts draining energy from the user, not giving a single moment to think about what just happened, first their energy is drained, until all of that is drained, second is their life force. Once that is greatly lowered and the ritual is still not satisfied it will start tearing at and devouring the husk until this has been reduced to nothing but a skeleton or the ritual would be sated. If the husk has been reduced to this and the ritual is still not done it will start eating away at the soul. The user will find that while the ritual is busy they cannot die, and the entire process causes great pain, causing most people to greatly regret even starting the ritual, but they cannot stop it.

As the ritual starts tearing through your life force it starts showing you many ways in which you could die, and you would feel that, and your suffering only increases once it starts tearing at your body, on top of the pain and physical stress your mind is also assaulted, the ritual is tearing at it as if it was trying to devour you. This effect is barely noticeable when working on your energy, but once it gets to your body it is quite bad, and once your soul is being eaten the results are terrible.

Should your entire being not have enough to sate the ritual you would be devoured entirely into nothingness. Leaving nothing of yourself behind except for a skeleton. For this reason alone the ritual requires a mage of great power, and the knowledge of the ritual is often kept hidden from students. Although there is a fact that almost always goes unmentioned. Which is that the user can sacrifice others instead of just him/her/it-self for the ritual. Although these others are apparently considered worth a lot less than the one attempting the ritual, as it is even know for entire villages to be sacrificed and still not pay fully for the price of lichdom.

Although any sacrifice does lessen how much the necromancer would have to suffer, and how much it would need to drain from the necromancer. But important it is to note that the ritual requires different amounts for different people. For some people the ritual devours almost all, while others are left relatively fine. But almost always at least the first two sources are entirely drained. And the husk is known to very often be taken close to entirely. But for the ritual to go much further than the husk is more rare. Through this whole process the user has to still somehow focus part of it's being on the item of choice.

As the connection of lichdom is made at the beginning of the ritual, but the rest is to make sure it lasts. Should the ritual somehow fail then there are many things that could happen, some examples will be listed somewhere. It must also be noted that it is possible for a necromancer to only have to lose energy and life, or sometimes even only energy. This is only when a creature of immense power attempts the ritual.

Effects of the Ritual

 * The newly made lich will find itself very much able to die, but whenever it would die it would start to reform at the location of their chosen item. But this process can take weeks if not months. And on rare occasions even multiple years. And is rather unpleasant.
 * As long as the item still exists, assuming the user died during the ritual or was already undead before it, the ritual will keep the user apart, and although they are undead, they will be considered as having a perfect connection on power and magical abilities. The ritual having granted them the magical abilities they would have had as a living creature.
 * The chosen item itself has a few special traits. Including that the lich is constantly able to track the item and knows where exactly it is compared to the lich's location.
 * Often the lich is able to sense or even see what is around the item.
 * The item breaks at the moment the Lich 'revives' itself, forcing the Lich to create a new item does it want to be revived again
 * There is currently nothing in existence that can break the lichdom bond unless the actual item is broken.