Immortality through dark magic

[muhaha8]

So, I was thinking of something earlier today regarding Aulten's wish to become immortal. In research I set out to doing, I reminded myself of a scenario used in other RPG situations, as well as in the Harry Potter universe: horcruxes. For any of you who somehow don't know what that is (which seems impossible to me, but hey), it's a magical object in which part of the subject's soul is stored in order to promote immortality. One's body could be destroyed, but if said artifact remains, the body can be recreated. Not the same as a lich, though, because a lich becomes undead and is a necromancer of great power, while horcrux-style objects can be made by any mage, really. The point of this post is this: is this form of immortality possible? Or will Aulten be forced to keep searching for new ways to acheive endless life?

Questions, comments and criticizm are all welcome!

[Aphetoros]

Hmmm...

I wouldn't think so, actually.

It could store your soul, but the object would have to be broken over the corpse.

[RoffleWaffle]

Part? Wouldn't that mean that, if brought back to life, you would be missing something? And I think you would be risking a LOT. I mean, taking out part of your SOUL and putting it into a box. I think there would be a few drawbacks, if not many.

[muhaha8]

From what I've read, it works similarly to a lich's phylactery the only real exceptions are that it doesn't make one undead, but simply pulls away a -piece- of the soul to a magical object. In theory, if a mage had sufficient power, he could tear part of his own soul away to another object. The only way to really kill him is to destroy the object, and that piece of his soul along with it, freeing any mortal bindings to this world. I can't find much on the revival of one using this idea, so one could only infer the process, really.

This idea could, come to think of it, take a lot of flak due to its similarities with the creation of a lich, but I don't see much else in the manner of creating immortality.


Roffle- yeah. It will weaken him. One who attempts something like this sacrifices some of his own being to acheive immortality. There are in fact great risks involved, but for a less-than-sane, fel-addicted man, "Why the hell not?" is his thinking.

[Roxas65]

Here's the thing. A person in the Warcraft universe isn't two being. He actually consists of two parts; his body and his soul. These two make up the person that he is. So, if you take part of it, your powers would weaken quite substantially unless this object was close to the person himself, but then, what's the point?

[LostStranger]

Eternal life is a popular goal for and reason to become a practitioner of the dark arts.

Necromancers generally desire to cheat death by eventually transforming themselves into one of the very horrors they create.

Warlocks may support themselves by stealing the life essence of others, others may make the full transformation into an actual demon.

Such a change for a species may take anywhere between years at the quickest, generations at the latest.

I assume similar conventions exist for a singular creature, as well.

Generally, an extreme amount of Fel would be necessary. Probably through daily gorging oneself on the blood of demons or constant exposure to hellish radiation.

Felsworn characters are examples of those on the way to becoming one of the immortal abominations of the Nether.

[Aphetoros]

How dare you call me a horror that I create! D:<

[Bovel]

What you speak of IS becoming a lich, necromancy or not. You can probably stay alive for some time but in the end you will end up undead, check out Meryl Winterstorm.

[Binkleheimer]

BTW, what you are also thinking of is called a phylactery.
The Horcrux from Harry Potter seems like a far weaker version.

[muhaha8]

It's not exactly a Lich, Bovel, similarities aside. Typically, (and this comes from the D20), a Lich must go through a series of complex and utterly evil rituals called the Ritual of Endless Night. It involves a series of atrociously evil acts to create a potion to be drunk on a full moon. Since the only real explanation on making a Lich in the WoW setting is Kel'Thuzad, who was thrown into the Sunwell, which automatically makes it a special case, we really have to go by the D20 on this one.

Binkle, names of said recepticle aside, it would, again, in theory, be the quickest way to two ends. The first is immortality as long as the horcrux, phylactery, whatever we call it, remains in-tact, and a relatively low weakening of powers as long as it is nearby Aulten. In fact, it's possible that due to its magical properties, the item may increase his power when it's nearby. But that's another debate for another day. The other end result is simple: death.

[Beltharean]

There seems to be five 'apparent' ways of becoming immortal through magic.

• Live near or on the shores of the Well of Eternity or Sunwell.
  
• Become a favored servant of Ysera.
  
• Become undead.
  
• Use a Soul Stone (Which don't have a duration in the RPG, they do in fact last forever).
  
• If I do recall correctly, the Highborne Mages in the Dire Maul have achieved immortality through the arcane.

Do remember however, that any necromancer will automatically be able to become immortal for after prolonged use of necromancy they become undead while at the same time being able to repair themselves.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Also, in the comic with Med'an, there's a Mage that's kept himself alive by his own Arcane, although I doubt anyone would be powerful enough to actually do this.

[Bovel]

Well... this is not D20 and not Harry Potter. The basic idea is the same and does not require necromancy, just magic.
The wolf may not be a dog, but both are still canine.

[muhaha8]

The Well of Eternity and Sunwell are really out of the question, as is Ysera. Becoming undead is a Necromancer's means to the end, which Aulten is not. The problem with soul stones is that yeah, it stores your soul, but revives you using that. My idea makes one or more small "soul stone"-like objects that literally stop you from aging. You age using a soul stone, regardless. Soul shards are the same issue, except the souls required to feed becomes an issue, and, later in life one would require an ever-increasing amount of souls. Arcane would work, but it would require an impossible amount of energy, and there's always a damn good (much greater than 50%) chance that you screw up and become a Lich, which is not the goal here.

The extension of immortality gained by a Necromancer can also be judged, as many later attempt to become liches, becoming truly immortal and indestructible as compared to a simple undead, who must only be killed to be gone for good.


And no, Bovel, this idea isn't D20. I was saying that the only real useable reference to creating a lich exists in the D20.

[Aphetoros]

Where was the reference to creating a Lich? I never seen it

And I think that when using a soul stone, you age but you don't...die? I'm not quite sure how that works, really. It'd suck for the person if that was the case.