Lich

Liches were an almost universally evil form of undead spellcaster of great power, usually wizards, but they could also be sorcerers or clerics. They were feared by mortal beings for their malign magic, their intelligence and their willingness to embrace undeath for a chance to live forever (or rather, exist forever).

Physical Description
Liches were generally gaunt and skeletal with withered flesh stretched tight across horribly visible bones, but could vary greatly in appearance depending on their age. Some appeared as skeletons dressed in regal finery, yet others might appear to be nothing more than lepers. Bright pinpoints of crimson light burned in the empty sockets of those whose eyes had been destroyed or otherwise lost or were so old they had simply rotted away. They were often clad in dark, tattered robes. When moving, they seemed to glide as if floating on water.

Liches often did not have lips or the necessary organs to produce natural speech, but they had the ability to project speech from their mouths magically, moving the jaw (if present) to aid the illusion.

Activities
Because liches had eternal longevity, they often used this time to form schemes that took decades to develop, sometimes preferring to outlive a foe instead of confronting it, and as such most liches lived in secluded areas where they were content with furthering whatever research or plots they had in motion.

A Liches Phylactery
The process of achieving lichdom required that the spellcaster construct a powerful magical artifact, a phylactery, in which the lich stored its life essence. As long as this phylactery was unharmed, the lich was immortal and would attempt to reassemble if it was ever vanquished (this happened within 10 days after its apparent destruction). It did not, however, grant any of the normal benefits of a phylactery until it was fully completed. For these reasons, liches took great care in protecting their phylactery from harm, employing decoys, traps, and other defences.

The most common physical form for a phylactery was a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases had been transcribed. Other forms of phylacteries existed, often small or tiny trinkets such as rings, amulets, or similar items. It could also take other shapes if the lich expended more gold and experience to make such alterations.[3]

When the phylactery was created, the wizard transferred a bit of life force into the creation. While crafting the phylactery taxed the physical strength of the caster, the materials and components could easily exceed 120,000 gp. Overall, creating a phylactery was very daunting task for anyone of arcane power

Types of Liches

 * Alhoon
 * Archlich
 * Banelich
 * Baelnorn
 * Demilich
 * Dracolich