The Costs of Immortality

There are dozens of different paths to eternal life in this world... and thousands have spent their whole lives searching for one which is both easy, and comes with no drawbacks.

There's not even a standard way of 'how immortality works'. For most, when their body dies, they are dead, and therefor the trick is ensuring that their body doesn't die, usually by removing the pains of age and disease. That's your Elixirs of Youth, Philosopher's Stones, Waters of Life, and so forth. Rejuvenate the body so you may live another lifetime, ad infinitum.

But that's because humans and other mortal races are bound to our bodies--when our bodies die, our mind fades, and our souls pass on to the Underworld. That's not the way it works for most supernatural races.

See, most supernatural races are tied to an idea or concept, and that tie gives them immortality. A fey, for example, is tied to their story, and so long as their story goes on, it doesn't matter if their body is killed--their story will create a new character for them to inhabit. Similarly the jinn are a primal force, and that force, that vibrant spark of creation at their heart, will continue to recreate a body for the jinn so long as it is not destroyed. A spirit is tied to the idea of something, and so long as that thing doesn't die, the spirit will constantly reform. Of course, in all these cases, the reborn being might not be anything like the original, but the soul carries on from iteration to iteration.

Horrors are much like the other supernals, but they're even more flippant--they are living shadows, avatars of fear. Their bodies can die, and they'll form a new one within an hour. A day at most. You can't really kill the monster chasing after you--you can only slow it down. So long as the horror's soul is still tied to their shadow and their fear, killing their body does nothing. And destroying a supernal's soul is far trickier than ripping a mortal soul out of their body. Because of their lose ties to their bodies, a horror almost never loses a part of themselves when their body is destroyed and reformed.

Angels and demons--as well as other astral beings--are a lot like supernals. They can't bring back their bodies as quickly as horrors can, but their immortality preserves their mind and soul. So unless properly slain, that demon you pissed off will probably be back to exact vengeance on you in a couple decades.

Now, there are ways to cheat, to tie a mortal soul to a body after they die. This is known as undeath, and it's technically immortality... with the catch that you're tied to your body still. Sure, as a vampire or ghoul you can't die anymore, because you're already dead. But you can be destroyed. Now, some undead have developed ways to regenerate their bodies from near destruction--this is especially common among liches, but vampires and mummies sometimes use similar tricks. And ghosts tend to keep coming back so long as their fetters exist. And killing a revenant just makes them come back angrier than before--they're corpses animated by shear anger and a thirst for vengeance. They don't give a damn about you destroying their body--they're make it again. And again. And again. Until their vengeance is done, or they're properly put to rest.

Now, when you become an undead, you're giving up something of yourself to linger on past your time, so for a lot of people, it might be the easiest form of immortality, but it's definitely not the preferable one. Another option, then, is to become a supernal. You give up much less to become a horror, or a jinn, or a fey. However, it does cost you, and you will no longer be a human at the end of the transformation, but another being with alien hungers and instincts. Sure, you soul gets through, but it's usually traumatic, and leaves you a different person than you were before.

Or you could try to become an angel or demon... but angels only chose the most virtuous to join their ranks, and questing to become an angel is usually an immediate disqualifies. And demons? Well, transforming into a supernal is something that changes the soul, and is incredibly traumatic. Demons are a full corruption of the soul, letting the rot of evil consume it entirely. It's immortality, but an immortality of damnation, where only your worst aspects survive--your vices, your sins, your darkest thoughts and desires. So, while there are those who believe that becoming a demon is the ideal ticket to immortality, most reject it because the cost is far too high.

And were just getting started with immortality here. There are those who have uploaded their minds to computers, and achieved digital immortality. There are people who have been cursed with immortality, never to die, tasked to be guardians or to serve an eternal penance for their actions. There are those who experiment on their bodies, infusing themselves with strange chemicals and machines that will prolong their lives indefinitely. There are those who make pacts with dark entities from beyond the stars to gain eternal life at the cost of sanity. There are even the archmages--great wizards and sorceresses who became so skilled in spellcraft, that they literally bonded with the force of magic, and became immortal as a result. And there are those who just are immortal, by some fluke in reality--men and women who will never grow old and die because destiny, fate, or genetics say so.

Each of these forms of immortality has their own advantages, disadvantages, and costs. And none leave you the same person you were before the deathless gift was bestowed upon you. See, we humans aren't meant to be immortal, and so to leave death behind you, you have to also leave your humanity behind, in one way or another.

--Peter Hamilton, Professor of Supernal Magics at the Canadian Arcane Academy