The Legend of Duke Dagsdy

As told to the Thanes of Order by the Tala’aga.
One horrid day, in the midst of a Wrath of Pekudea, a man was swept upon the shores of the island where I was staying. I found him on the shore and offered him a cup of water. After he drank it, he said that cup likely saved his life and was all he had left to hold onto. He returned that cup to me with this story.
“There was a boy. He was a nervous, shy boy and somewhat mistrusted in his village. But, as he grew, he showed some natural ability to affect the weave around him.
As so often happens, in the first flush of his youth, he fell enamoured with a beautiful girl on his island of Panili. At first, she didn’t notice him, but he offered praise, and gifts, and magics, and acts of love. Eventually, she learned his heart and she too, fell in love with him.
Would that I could say that they lived happily ever after and if they had, then I might not be in the trouble I am in. But woe, they did not. But a few weeks after the marriage, she succumbed to the Screaming. This was rare but not unknown for us in the islands.
The boy fell into despair and it is said his woe and rage destroyed his house around him. Scared, the villagers drove him from the village, but he refused to leave his departed love.
They say he first sailed to another island and found her a place to rest. Then, he spent 10 long years, sailing the seas, speaking to God, Kings, Fools and Wise Men to find a way to bring his love back to him. He learned many things and stole more knowledge.
When he felt he know enough, he returned to his island and cast the dark magics to resurrect his love. After a punishing wait, she rose and he embraced her. But though she moved, she remained cold and the smell of death had not waned.
He tried to live with her after that, but as time passed, she became less and less like the woman he remembered and more feral and stranger. There are stories told, some humorous, others tragic, of the exploits they went through to try to integrate into society.
Eventually, it all proved in vain and the boy, now a man, realised he had no choice but to end her. They say that when he did, a part of his soul went with her.
He had seen the horror of death and decided for himself that he should never pass into that realm. Again, he delved deep into the magic, making and breaking pacts to get what he needed.
I know not if he succeeded, but when I met this boy, he now called himself Duke Dagsdy, saying that was the day he should have died 250 years hence. He told me his tale, and I told him mine, that I, too, had lost one I greatly loved.
“Love,” he told me, “Is the greatest thing you will ever know”
He said that he offered to help people who had lost love. But that such help was not without cost, to him and to the Universe. His price depends on who you wish to bring back, how long they have been dead, and how much value they are to you and the world.
I said I would give everything to see my lost love one more time. That is what he took. That is how I land here. But I did see her. She did return and now walks these islands. Alas, I think I shall never now walk with her again.
At this point, the man, whose name I never found out, fell into a faint from which he never recovered.
It is said Duke Dagsdy still lives somewhere in these islands and will help any that can pay his price – why we do not know. Perhaps to fill an emptiness inside him.