Rumors had spread all over Sshamath and within the walls of the school of necromancy very little details would soon be whispered in the halls.
A young and eager student would gather information solely by listening here and there being around the right people doing the dirty work. He had talked to the high necromancer if there was anything he could do to help, furthering his own ambitions if possible of course, but was neglected due to his "insignificance".
In anger he had come up with a plan, cleaning the halls, carrying corpses for the school he'd been able to eavesdrop on a few hushed conversations. Not much information was acquired.
What he was sure of was, that there had been an undead attack lead by a lich, crimson skulls and an incident with a killed beholder by a male who's name he was unable to obtain.
So he began with his research, it seemed pointless to focus on the skulls as they were a mystery, he had neither the influence nor the means to advance on. He focused on the basics, Liches were powerful undead beings, it wasn't hard to find information on them in a school dedicated to necromancy.
It was rather troublesome because there was such vast amount of information about them, in books, scrolls and even a few letters, there was general and sometimes more specific to be found.
After days of reading the simple facts over and over and over again he had found something he deemed interesting, ironically enough he thought it had a connection to the skulls...
"A lich is a gaunt and skeletal humanoid with withered flesh stretched tight across horribly visible bones. Its eyes have long ago been lost to decay, but bright pinpoints of crimson light burn on in the empty sockets."
[Very illustrate depiction of a lich (Higher Necromancy and its intricate arts of aberration DR 586)]
This made him think that the crimson skulls were more directly connected to the lich than one might actually think and in one of the letters he found a piece of information that would further consolidate his suspicion.
"The Lich’s Phylactery"
An integral part of becoming a lich is creating a magic phylactery in which the becoming lich stores its life force. As a rule, the only way to get rid of a lich for sure is to destroy its phylactery. Unless its phylactery is located and destroyed, a lich reappears within a few circles after its apparent death.
Each lich must create its own phylactery, which requires exceptionally adapt skills in crafting. The soon to be undead must be an extremely powerful caster and the cost of creating a phylactery are enormous due to the requirements for the precious material it has to be made from.
Reported forms of phylacteries are sealed metal boxes containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed.
Other forms of phylacteries can exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items.
Leading him to the assumption that the skulls being crimson, as the liches eyes were described in one of the countless books he had forced himself through, must have been his phylacteries. How did one say,
"Look through the eyes right into the very soul" ?
Considering the great danger originating from the skulls he pondered to share his thoughts with the high necromancer.
.
