ALDRIC THE WANDERER
The Price Of Immortality

A long, long time ago, there lived a man named Aldric the Eternal Wanderer.  He was gifted with immortality by the gods.  He  made friends and lovers, growing wise and strong without his body failing as it did to other mortals.  At first, this gift was a blessing that brought his life purpose and stability.  He could achieve so much with this time, strength, and knowledge.

As the ages wore on, he grew depressed as he faced endless change and loss.  All connections had little meaning because all were fleeting.  Everyone died, and he always lived on.  Yet he knew had always had a choice.  A simple out.  The gods had told him if he could find the Pool of Lysara, when he bathed in its waters his blessing would wash away.

One day after his third wife died, he went to the goddess of love and asked, “Can you spark life back in my lover?  I cannot bear to face another lifetime without her.  Surely you understand that love must transcend death”  The god replied, “To love is to know pain, and to be immortal is to know that pain forever.  Seek out the pool, and perhaps someday your souls will dance together.”

Aldric thought this answer insufficient, and he carried on for centuries more.  He came to befriend elves, who were known to live for hundreds of years.  He hoped this extra time would lessen the pain.  Surely a thousand year will feel long enough.  But after three millenia, he saw all his friends and adopted family pass.  Men he fought beside in wars, great kings and mages, all reduced to memory. 

He went to the god of time, and said, “Can you take me back to the time I first met my friends?  Let me live those years again together with them.”  The god replied, “That is a gift beyond your promise.  To be immortal is to know loss and pain.  Keep them in memory, or find the pool and end your life, so that you might join a few of them that made it to the realms of the Gods.”

Aldric was angry, but hopeless.  The Gods granted him this boon, but wouldn’t help him further.  He carried on, because what else would he do?  He decided to try and let go of attachments.  He wandered from town to town in disguise, leaving after his age not changing would draw attention.  He studied philosophy and sought inner peace.  He found loneliness instead.  He wanted to find a way to be with people yet not feel pain.  

At last he went to the God of Death.  He asked that god, “You ferry countless souls to their ends each day.  Can you grant me the wisdom to face this endless loss?”  The God replied “You’ve already been told this truth twice:  to be immortal is to know suffering.  Immortality means you are alone, with only gods as company.  If you cannot pay that price, then seek out the pool.”

Aldric broke down, reaching a new level of despair. He knew he would never be as happy as he was in his mortal life carrying this curse.  He spent the next centuries searching for the Pool of Lysara.  It is said that when he sat in its waters, he felt peace for the first time in millenia.  Men are not meant to live forever.