The Lich, also known as the Undead King is the greatest menace to Daren among all creatures of the Darkness. This terrifying creature is commonly described as “winged death.” Although the Undead King has no wings, it appears to fly, or at least float in the air like a leaf, never falling down. It does not seem to have a lower body besides an agglomeration of souls in despair that at some point seems to turn into the creature’s robes like an ever flowing cycle of the Darkness. Its upper body on the other hand is the face of a dead creature that refused death’s hug. A living dead, if there ever was one. Its pale, thick, and rubbery skin is stretched over its bones and the expression on the Lich’s face drives a man mad. Indeed, most of the adventurers that have seen the Undead King’s face are now mad or have killed themselves.
From what could be gathered from the eyewitnesses who have seen the Lich, the twisted terrible crown it wears, the clothes made from the Darkness’ miasma, all seem to the scholars to show that the creature used to be some sort of sorcerer, most probably a necromancer. The greatest concern of the scholars of the Setting Sun Church now is how powerful is that necromancer if he could raise all the undead hordes now roaming Daren.
The first reports of the Undead King are strangely from all across Daren, happening simultaneously, more like an omen. Shamans, seers, and people known to be sensible had dreamt with a shady creature, with cold fingers and Death, riding behind a dark horde that ravished everything in its path like a pitch wave. Among the madness of screams and pain, the dreamers woke up sweating and screaming “The Undead King” while shaking in fear. Even a few of the brightest scholars at the Setting Sun Church had the same dream, which the High Priest decided not to take in vain.
From then on, reports of people being afflicted by the same nightmare started to appear. However, this time they went from one place to another. Although the pattern could not be deciphered, it seems like the nightmare was traveling, like foreshadowing the Undead King’s movements. Whenever the nightmare was seen, the hordes of Darkness soon followed behind and it started to be seen as a bad omen.
Only recently, the creature has been seen in the world and although it may seem immaterial, the adventurers that witnessed it claim it to be real. However, its objectives and origin are still unclear, as the reports mention the horrifying Lich talking of the Darkness as it has a mind of its own. One thing they are sure though, the Darkness, according to the Undead King himself, exists only to devour everything.
From the little that could be obtained from the eyewitnesses, the very presence of the Undead King is a threat itself. Those that have seen it claim that their muscles and bones feel heavy and cold just by breathing the same air as the creature. Their minds go adrift and it is difficult to focus.
The Lich also seems to control the miasma of Darkness as if it was his own. It is almost like the creature itself creates the dark substance from the souls that desperately roam around him, screaming in madness. In fact, the few who have survived that encounter still fear they will become one of those souls in agony.
They claim to still hear, from that moment on, the voice of the Undead King twisting their minds and trying to corrupt their hearts from within. “He feels us. He knows us. He can find us wherever we are and one of these days he will swallow us into a world of madness and agony. I can hear him breathing on my shoulder!”
