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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