"A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire." - Éowyn, after being asked what she does fear if not death.
His entire body hurt as he slumped down on the deck. Screams so many creatures, so much blood, he killed them all, billions burned in his path. He screamed, tearing on his new skin, as the trauma of countless deaths gets pushed inside his memory. The heat froze his skin, crushed, electric shock, interrogation, the mind destroying rage. A memory of a woman in fear. He didn’t remember her end. The pleads of those mangled bodies begging for mercy, he killed them. There was no other way of helping but they were outraged, attacking him, tearing him apart, drowning him in the sea of death he created. There was that woman again, she looked a lot younger. She looked at him and took his hand, embarrassed him. He felt her heart beat, a cry of relief. He had protected her. The thought shattered threw all his pain, memories of centuries until it filled his entire mind. PROTECT For the first time he allowed sensory input threw his new body. At an observation window stood a girl. Her expression horrified. The woman of his memory’s? She would have died centuries ago. The nerve pain that came from the new body was still intense and he tried not to show it as he walked towards the window. Judging by her expression he didn’t manage to hide it. The ships ai send a report of what happened during his absence into his mind.
Good video essay! I've been wanting to revisit Thousand Years of Dreams for a while now. It is a haunting set of stories about an immortal being outliving all others. Your video has just bumped this up in priority for me.
Great video! There was a story I read, i don't remember it's name, but the character ended up immobile and unable to speak, trapped in some item or dimension. I can't quite remember, but he could see everything that happened to people he loved but he was helpless to change things or assist them. Eternally screaming into the void.... To me that was definitely a fate worse than death. I wish i could recall the story, but perhaps I forgot because it impacted me so much.
I can think of some instances of this, with Tolkien's Hurin being the most notable victim: "Húrin was placed high on the peaks of Thangorodrim in Morgoth's own domain, presumably chained, in a seat where, through the power of Morgoth, he could see from afar all the evils would befall his son, Túrin. However, that pales in comparison to the fate (see below) of the horrible scum Alaric in the novel Van Horstmann, as Hurin actually gets released after a *long* time and later kills himself. Alaric's fate: "But van Horstmann ignored Alric and continued: he revealed to Alric that he was now trapped in a space beyond reality. Time does not flow in that room, and Alric would no longer age, no longer feel hunger or thirst, but would spend an eternity slowly going mad inside the sanctum. Van Horstmann added a second caveat: He had had the Daemon Morkulae brew a particular strain of God's Rot just to infect Albreda; the strain would both rot her insides and extend her natural lifespan, maximising the torment. Van Horstmann had also gouged out three eyes from various wizards and had them magically linked to the panels of the sanctum. One was placed on a bookshelf overlooking Albreda's bed, one was placed on the tallest tower of Altdorf that overlooked the entire city, and one was placed directly overlooking the large musical organ. Alric would watch his wife suffer, watch Altdorf waxing and waning, being burned and rebuilt, and his musical organ slowly tarnish and rust without him managing it: Master Chanter Alric would watch everything he had ever strived for, everything he loved, wither for all of eternity."
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"A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire." - Éowyn, after being asked what she does fear if not death.
His entire body hurt as he slumped down on the deck. Screams so many creatures, so much blood, he killed them all, billions burned in his path. He screamed, tearing on his new skin, as the trauma of countless deaths gets pushed inside his memory. The heat froze his skin, crushed, electric shock, interrogation, the mind destroying rage. A memory of a woman in fear. He didn’t remember her end. The pleads of those mangled bodies begging for mercy, he killed them. There was no other way of helping but they were outraged, attacking him, tearing him apart, drowning him in the sea of death he created.
There was that woman again, she looked a lot younger. She looked at him and took his hand, embarrassed him. He felt her heart beat, a cry of relief. He had protected her.
The thought shattered threw all his pain, memories of centuries until it filled his entire mind.
PROTECT
For the first time he allowed sensory input threw his new body. At an observation window stood a girl. Her expression horrified. The woman of his memory’s? She would have died centuries ago. The nerve pain that came from the new body was still intense and he tried not to show it as he walked towards the window. Judging by her expression he didn’t manage to hide it. The ships ai send a report of what happened during his absence into his mind.
Thank you
Good video essay!
I've been wanting to revisit Thousand Years of Dreams for a while now. It is a haunting set of stories about an immortal being outliving all others. Your video has just bumped this up in priority for me.
Thank you for the feedback, I'm glad that it was helpful to you :)
Great video!
There was a story I read, i don't remember it's name, but the character ended up immobile and unable to speak, trapped in some item or dimension. I can't quite remember, but he could see everything that happened to people he loved but he was helpless to change things or assist them. Eternally screaming into the void....
To me that was definitely a fate worse than death. I wish i could recall the story, but perhaps I forgot because it impacted me so much.
Perhaps Jurian from Acotar? His eye was trapped inside a ring worn by his worst enemy foor +400 years, but fully concious, seeing everything she does.
I'm glad to hear that you found the video useful :) Your story example definitely sounds like something I'd prefer to avoid as well, yeah.
I can think of some instances of this, with Tolkien's Hurin being the most notable victim: "Húrin was placed high on the peaks of Thangorodrim in Morgoth's own domain, presumably chained, in a seat where, through the power of Morgoth, he could see from afar all the evils would befall his son, Túrin.
However, that pales in comparison to the fate (see below) of the horrible scum Alaric in the novel Van Horstmann, as Hurin actually gets released after a *long* time and later kills himself.
Alaric's fate:
"But van Horstmann ignored Alric and continued: he revealed to Alric that he was now trapped in a space beyond reality. Time does not flow in that room, and Alric would no longer age, no longer feel hunger or thirst, but would spend an eternity slowly going mad inside the sanctum. Van Horstmann added a second caveat: He had had the Daemon Morkulae brew a particular strain of God's Rot just to infect Albreda; the strain would both rot her insides and extend her natural lifespan, maximising the torment. Van Horstmann had also gouged out three eyes from various wizards and had them magically linked to the panels of the sanctum.
One was placed on a bookshelf overlooking Albreda's bed, one was placed on the tallest tower of Altdorf that overlooked the entire city, and one was placed directly overlooking the large musical organ. Alric would watch his wife suffer, watch Altdorf waxing and waning, being burned and rebuilt, and his musical organ slowly tarnish and rust without him managing it: Master Chanter Alric would watch everything he had ever strived for, everything he loved, wither for all of eternity."