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 In
their desire to defy death, the kings of Nehekhara founded
the Mortuary Cult and appointed the priesthood, of which the
Liche Priests are all that remain. The priests were commanded
to study the arts of mummification and communion with the
gods. Steadily, over many centuries, the priests learned how
to preserve a corpse from decay until the art of mummification
had become very elaborate. They also devised a vast lore of
incantations and rituals intended to enable the dead king,
as well as his entire court and army, to be awakened from
death. The first generations of priests, whose skills and
knowledge were rudimentary, died after prolonging their own
lives far beyond their natural span. They passed on their
knowledge to the next generation of priests who exceeded them
in wisdom and expertise. In this way, their knowledge accumulated
until the fifth generation of priests who did not die, though
their bodies slowly withered away until they were little more
than living corpses. Thus the entire priesthood became the
Liche Priests, able to officiate the Mortuary Cult of heir
king in perpetuity, and they held great power in the land.
Indeed, they were the only subjects of the king who could
not be executed, since he depended on their knowledge and
loyalty in order to live beyond his own death. In this way
the priesthood became a formidable power behind the throne.
 Each
necropolis, with the pyramid of the Tomb King at its core,
has a temple dedicated to the king’s Mortuary Cult. Here
resides the Liche High Priests served by many lesser priests.
Only the High Priests have been initiated into the deepest
secrets of the cult. The priests have many duties to perform
in the necropolis apart from the Ritual of Awakening, including
such tasks as renewing the seals upon the portals of the tomb
vaults, remaking inscriptions which have become eroded by
wind blown sand, determining the moment of awakening and consulting
the spirit of the Tomb King by means of oracles. They continue
to perform these duties for centuries because they cannot
die a natural death. Little more than long decayed corpses,
their dry, wizened skin, resembling that of a mummy, is stretched
like old parchment over their brittle skeleton.
A Liche High Priest may be included in your Tomb Kings army
as a Lord choice. A Liche Priest may be included in your Tomb
Kings army as a Hero choice.
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