A very, very, powerful old magic user finds a way to cure those who wish to give up their immortality and become mortals again. A special crystal they developed and make several of such crystals, which the immortality is placed within, leaving the person mortal once more. But how many are truly brave enough to give up their immortal lives, knowing that they will, from the point they are now at, live a normal life span and die of normal old age? Or that they could now die of injury and disease? How many will request their crystal back, and retake their immortality? -- The New Guy
It had taken Wraithvine a year, after all the research was done, to make them. The crystals of mortality. The research into the alchemy alone had taken centuries, here and there. In their way, they were magical masterpieces, but they were not for hir to use.
When you put your hand to a god's heart and make a vow, the gods have ways of enforcing that.
They were not hidden. Not precisely. The recipe was etched into clay tablets and baked so that they would last. One left with a reputable archive that would treasure it. One buried in the soft soil under hir lifechair, which still hovered exactly where it had been left. And one... given to the care of Marvin Antheson's family, there to guard.
There was a fourth, but that one was protected by the gods themselves. Whoever gained their mercy would doubtless deserve it.
Speaking of mercy, Wraithvine knew a few immortals. One man who once caught Death in a magic sack, and now Death would not come for him. One old lady who had taken too much of her healing potion and now would not ordinarily die. A dozen or so others who had made a mistake, and had paid for it in centuries, millennia, of pain.
One by one, Wraithvine would offer these to those people. With adventures along the way.
The old soldier willed his sack to Wraithvine, and took the crystal in eager, withered hands. Gripped it tightly, and crumbled to dust. The crystal went with him, since his was the kind of immortality that should never be gained.
The healer eyed it with suspicion, thanked Wraithvine, and put it on a very tall shelf with all the other dangerous substances. "I'll give it a century or two to think about it. Consider the pros and cons. You have one of those for yourself?"
"I'm not allowed," said Wraithvine. "I'm godsvowed."
"Well," she said. "That's one black mark against it. And them," a rude gesture skywards. "Come on by again and we'll talk about it."
"I have others to find. Others to visit."
"Better luck with them all."
It would take a long, long time. The vile and evil who had gained immortality by any means would only take one if they now tired of the life they earned. Those under a geas to mend the wickedness they had made lusted for them, but Wraithvine put them under a Rune of Truth and asked one question.
"What have you learned about what you've done?"
Those who cried in vanity would not see a crystal for millennia. Those who acknowledged their sins and considered their debts unpaid would gain one. Though they put it aside for when they were finally done.
Some, who had made a mistake, thought they had made a mistake anew when they started to age. For an immortal, having numbered days is a terrible fear.
Those... Wraithvine counseled. "Why did you set aside your immortality in the first place?"
"I wanted to make a life. To settle down and not have to fret about goodbyes. But there's not enough time for everything... I just need more time..."
"You've had centuries, and hated them. Remember those?"
"Too well," the immortal would say darkly. "But I have to build a tower to protect my journals and... I can't do it on my own."
"Thought of asking your friends?"
Two kind hands can do many things. If there's multiples of them, it all goes faster.
Some decide to keep those kind hands lasting longer. They do it in the full and certain knowledge that the crystal of mortality would not work on them twice. They would have to find another way to die.
As for the ones who set aside their immortality for good... two kind hands can take those crystals, very carefully, and keep them in reserve for someone who desperately needs to be immortal.
And who deserves to be so.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Anke]
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