Role

Chapter 5

This strange tome continues, mismatched pages upon pages of philosophical
ramblings on the failures of morality and the nature of death. At times the
writings become incoherent or illegible, interwoven with anatomical sketches,
ingredients for mysterious elixirs, cryptic maps. The final page of the first
section is black neatly written in white text, adorned with the unmistakable
image of a Lich.
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This shall be my final entry before our great experiment commences.
Henceforth, I urge you to continue documenting this journey, for one day this
tome shall be exalted beside none other than the Sacraa, rising above all
else written in the image of Truth. Those seeking to ascend beyond all
constraints of body and mind will come from distant lands to worship in this
vision.

Know that the lone dream-like memory that haunts your mind is real and I've
left that as a reminder. Understand this Kwoalewei: you were once a truly
gifted student of necromancy. Yet you were betrayed by the servants of Lloth.
You climbed too high, too quickly. Your attempt at Becoming a Lich produced
merely a toxic elixir that left you weakened, increasingly blind, and nearly
dead. Remember that pain, and how you have overcome it. Remember they will
try to stop you--yet you cannot be stopped.

I found a way that had not been discovered, yes. We must always find the way
that others overlook-- and there is always such a way! What sets us apart is
a simple idea. That one can be in a perpetual state of rebirth, eternally
overcoming all constraints of the past. In this way, we pursue a different
path toward the same end vision of the Lich, unbounded by the limitations of
the common man. So begins your second chance, your second Becoming.

In time you will become something like a Lich. Perhaps something even
greater-- I cannot predict. Purer even than any necromancer, it shall not be
through the manipulation of death or in the image of the undead, but rather
through the profundity of life itself, through the Truth of your philosophy
and the dissolution of the entirety of all constraints of your Will. All else
is meaningless.

You will discover you have certain gifts that set you apart, such as the
poisons that would taint the body and soul of common men you can simply purge
at will. Magnify that power, Kwoalewei. When others grow old and weak, you
must grow fresh and strong. As the world decays, you must grow forth and
flourish.

And so it is, with a lone wand crafted from the rib of a fallen elven
paladin, cured in the depths of the Inferno since time immemorial and tipped
with the tooth of the ancient Orc king, I whisper the forgotten words of the
Ancients...

So I will it. And so it shall be.