Editing Magical Realm Cyoa/Sempiternitas (section)

====Life and Death====
As noted before, Sempiternitas' inhabitants are all immortal, but, although it is extremely rare, they can die. The primary causes of unintentional death seem to be from the natural world around them – there are no diseases to speak of, but although their technology is very advanced, they still face dangers when wandering in untamed areas from flora and fauna alike. Past that, I am told that there are a number of long-forgotten tombs, shrines, underground dwellings, and the like scattered throughout the land, most with very dangerous protections, and some few with sufficiently valuable artifacts so as to make these dungeons worth risking even eternal life to explore, at least for the gutsy. I suspect it might also be a way of doing something new and exciting in a world that is otherwise one with few significant risks.

What is most odd, however, is that the acts of other inhabitants cannot kill them. They can be injured severely, but they will eventually recover. I'm told that even if the would-be killer released a dangerous animal or fed them a potent poison, somehow the victim will survive. The only exception to this is if the killer wills their own death as well in the act – the saying goes, “only death pays for death.” I'm told that not even the most powerful mages, not even the Ancients can bypass this – all are equal in the price that must be paid to take a life.

I had trouble believing this, and most, understandably even if what they said were true, were not particularly inclined to demonstrate this fact as it is a very painful process to be brought to the brink of death, not to mention the recovery thereafter. However, I did eventually come upon a pair willing to show me this. One took a pistol, pointed it at the head of the other, and shot several times. By the end, the victim's head was little more than a gory mess. I have no doubt that had a rock fallen on this unfortunate man's head and caused the same damage, he would surely be dead. But, a week later, I visited the victim in the hospital, on his way to a full recovery, with the attacker by his side. Whether or not all such acts are equally incapable of killing, I am unsure, but regardless, it was an impressive display.

A rather less pleasant truth exists as a corollary to this, however, as creation of life too has a high price in Sempiternitas. Pregnancy can occur only with an act of will on the part of both mother and father – it cannot happen unintentionally – and this seems to be a good thing given the cost that I'm told would-be parents must pay. In order to create a life, one of the parents must surrender their immorality and all its attendant advantages, and will never be able to gain them again, through magic or technology. They will live the rest of the time they have until their body breaks down, as all mortal bodies do, and then they will die. So it is said by the people there, “only life pays for life.”

Yet, even in death, not all is necessarily lost. When a person dies in Sempiternitas, their soul is transported to the part of the Realm which serves as a sort of afterlife which I discussed earlier. The reports of exactly what this plane is like are very sketchy and inconsistent, owing to there being few to go there and recall the experience. The most frequent descriptions involve a sprawling maze-like city with massive cogs, engines, and odd metal arrangements throughout, as though the entire city formed a giant machine. Once the soul reaches this plane, it travels through the city with one of three possible results. The most common is for the soul to never return – whether it continues to travel through the city or is annihilated is a matter of some debate, but it seems that most who die never return. The second most common (perhaps second least uncommon is more appropriate – I'm told it happens in no more than 1 in 1000 cases) result is for the soul to be reborn in the form of a child, who is found abandoned in the wilderness (this may explain why some continue to live in such areas). Though the child has no memories of their past, the soul is the same, and so the consciousness of the reincarnated person remains, and their personality and traits will often reassert itself (sometimes leading to those who knew the reborn before their death to come to recognize them). The least common by far (I am told that it happens at most 1 in 1000000 deaths, but then the records of it happening are so few that this number is perhaps as much statistical noise as it as a hard figure) is for the soul to return in an adult body, with its memories of its past life intact (and some blurred memories of their time in the afterlife). The reincarnated adults are found just as the reincarnated children – alone in the wilderness. There is typically great celebration following such an event, as one might expect.