Talents, including those required for liches, are exceedingly rare.
Initially it was estimated that 1 in 20 (5%) or less of bodies (It's life based) will possess a hidden talent.
Of that 1 in 20, there may be 40 talents or more with some being more common or powerful than others. The system may effectively roll a D200 and choose from a table.
Your chance of a specific talent on average (including magic) then drops to 1 in 800.
These talents may not manifest or be discovered without the right trigger, meaning perhaps on average 25% of people discover them, with the more commonplace being easier to discover.
You're now down to a 1 in 3200 chance of the talent you're after. On average if you play an alt, you'll play 2 lives per year, so you're looking at playing 1600 years for an even chance.
The bottom line? Talents are great things to have but don't base your gameplay and plans around having one in particular as you may well be disappointed.
In continent terms, we expect a maximum of 100k players. If the average county grows to 400 residents, you might have to search through 8 Counties to find someone with a certain talent. It can be done, but it's no small space, and thats just the more common ones.
In fairness, this feels like a nice number, reflecting rarity and difficulty to locate such gifts without being commonplace.