Help|Races|Undead

Necromancers of great power can attempt to transform themselves into forms of undead, essentially attaining a form of immortality while bound by strong ties to the Negative Material Plane. As the wizard ages in this form, skin and muscle give way to bones and empty eye sockets, altering the once mortal creature into an unnatural and hideous thing. Once the necromancer has completed transformation (or "Becoming") they are no longer living beings and therefore are free of hunger, thirst, or the weaknesses of mortal "life". One form of the undead is the lich, rumored to be created from a mortal body by a remarkably potent Elixir, the contents of which are closely guarded. Several Rituals of Power are available to these lords of the undead; the most infamous being the Ritual of Abominations in which Liches can desecrate the remains of the dead and steal a small portion of their life energy (storing it in an enchanted phylactery). The Lich can call upon these fragments of life energy and temporarily harness the knowledge of the fallen in doing so. Mummies are a second form of sentient undead, and the transformation from a living being to a mummy is no better understood. Accounts of their powers vary, but they are said to be able to use Abstraction to steal the flesh of the living so that they may recapture the pleasures and pains that escape their lifeless bodies. Vampires are perhaps the least understood of the three major races of sentient undead, although all of the rumors agree that they must feast on the blood of the living to remain alive. Other accounts speak of their ability to transfix a mortal with their chilling gaze, or shapechange into creatures of the night such as bats and wolves.