Regarding the histories, does Lichdom corrupt the soul? Take Ladantine. Good, happy, benevolent Emperor, 'I love the Light! The Light shall be spread!' sort of thing. Then, after Kethuru got ahold of him, through the Astral Node, he becomes a horrendously evil little man, bent on gaining power, blah, blah. That I can understand, but does Lichdom just twist the soul of the person, done through tainted or untainted means? Lets say.. Lyren. If Lyren prepared her soul for Lichdom, through untainted means, would she become an incarnation of evil, soul twisted, or would she remain the same, just, uh, a lich?

Before the Taint got a hold of necromancy, Urlach basically brought corpses back from the dead to be mindless fighting machines.

When Kethuru hit Landantine, he was corrupted in more ways than just being undead.


I think the information from history, does not tell us enough, but theoreically, if one was able to become undead without the aide of necromancy, and hence taint, they would be the same, but not living. And whatever pschological affects being dead but alive has on a person, would apply.

Ladantine wasn't liched, he was ressurrected by Kethuru's will.

Ahhh. I thought because of Atropo's prediction 'You shall live and not live to see the fruits of your expedition' he was brought back to be a Lich. 'Splains it, then, heh, thankee.

Sorta always thought Ladantine wasn't exactly changed, just his inate tendencies were brought forward. If you look at it, the old empire was rather corrupt, the entire expedition was mainly an extention of that. The Ur'Guard were the brute force back then which kept the villages and other cities in line while the paladins were just the honor guard to protect the main city and look good. I need to read it again but it sounded like the expedition was in response to the empire using more power than it was producing. They were trying to explore beyond their place in response to the resource draw in hopes of finding more to exploit. Not only that but the expedition was an aggrandizement of the Emperor, it was to bring him greater glory, he reached out to link to the node without studying it or the plane they were on further, blinded by his own fame that would result by being the emperor that brought the Supra plane and the untapped energies of it to the Basin.

Honour guard? Captain Avarath said they were more like... what was the word... street police i think, while the ur'guard were the soldiers.

From what I remember of New Celest, the Paladins WERE the honor guards. They took care of relations inside the Old Celest etc, and the Ur'Guard kind of were just the ones to go out and beat the skulls in and out of anyone that opposed the Empire, to just keep things in line.

I talked with Alger, Erion. Honour guard where he's from is more than just formal dress, so there was a communication problem. Basically what I meant was that the Paladins were just sorta there to look pretty and not really do much there.

The Ur'guard were the shock troops of the Empire, and went to villages where there were dissent.

but back on topic, aye....i think that becoming a lich through the Taint does have those affects on a person....I don't see how a happy-go-lucky person who was killed...and then their body and soul exposed to twisted dark rituals could come back as the same sort of person....maybe a part of them is still there, but that part would mostly be fighting a loosing battle, no?

When the Emperor was tainted it was through Kethuru's direct touch. Although i'm sure the necromancy skill can have some of the same affects, they would likely be far less pronounced.

Just imagine the purely pyshcolgical affects that a person would experience, if suddenly they were no longer alive, and death ment nothing to them.

Studying the histories, I don't see a behavioral shift in Ladantine after he became undead.

I didn't see one either, it was one of the problems Dav had with the ideals of the Paladins, the Taint never betrayed anything, Ladantine still was the power hungry tyrant he was after as he was before.

I don't think lichdom really tainted ol' Ladantine... maybe physically "tainted" .. or altered his body. He was still that same power seeking guy as before.. only he became a bit more extreme after Kethuru's touch of power ... seeing how he's still alive and stuff.

*shrug* To me, Ladantine appeared as someone who liked his own power, BUT preferred helping to heal the Basin, and doing things for the greater good a great deal more.