Locriuus - aka, the Lich King, is attempting to amass an army of undead under Skarn Castle

Long ago Locriuus was one of the final kings in the wars of the 500 kings, the only king in fact to have escaped, going to ground far below the burning ruin of his glorious castle with his trusted mage, by whose hand he became a lich, that he may stage an eventual comeback as king once again. The mage turned himself into a magic artifact, a crystal skull, with sentience and MP.

Shortly after the wars, Locriuus harvested the corpses of the fallen around his castle ruins. There were thousands of bodies, but his power was limited. He was able to turn a couple hundred of them, but they were weak, and eventually time took it's toll on this first harvest, the skeletons gradually returning to dust. Later, he was able to refine his power, but had to look farther abroad for much less plentiful corpses. He sought out local burial grounds, which gave him a slow steady stream for a long time. Eventually his growing madness prevented him from venturing above ground, thus cutting off his supply once again. Until he discovered a path through the City of Glass to the lichyard above Landsdowne.