Ager Hammersplint Dies

Life, Death

After one hundred and twenty three years, Ager goes onto the next big adventure. A life of exploration and grand undertakings, Ager left his mark on the world.   He died peacefully in his bed, surrounded by friends and family.   Pamki and the town declare the day to be a feastival day.

Despite how his life had gone up until the day of his death, Ager died peacefully in bed surrounded by family and friends.   "It's the strangest thing," he said as he lay on his deathbed, "that despite all there is in the world for us to discover, humans are still burdened by death. Some say it is a curse, and it often is. Taking children before their parents, taking loved ones too soon, or leaders before their time. But I say to you the one thing I know to be true is that death can be a blessing. To the sick and diseased, it is a release. To the insane and the lost, it brings clarity."   "What of all the numenera that must exist that could grant immortality, or vastly lengthen our lives?" asked Pamki.   "Surely they must exist for a reason, for us to use and benefit from?"   Wracked by coughs, Ager was unable to respond for a moment. He could see the tears in her eyes, and so much more. The grief at losing her father, and anger that she had spent so little of her life with him. She wasn't asking for him, she was asking for her -- hoping he had some way to give them more time together, father and daughter.   "Despite all my travels," he replied, "the one thing I have never searched out was a way to extend my own life. I admit I've lived longer than most, but I think a lifetime of meddling with numenera explains the extra time I've been granted. But I've seen too many monsters and devils made from what were once people chasing immortality to want it for myself."   "So don't weep for me once I'm gone. Hell, don't do it now. I know you will anyways, we're human and we're meant to feel things. Looking back now, I think that's what we lose when we chase unending life. Emotions. There are so many ways we can lose our humanity, believe me, I've seen and fought against most of them. But the worst is when something removes our emotions, but leaves all else intact."   "I know it hurts now, my prarie flower, but hold onto that. It lets you know you are still human. And after a time, you will set that grief down and in its place you'll find something better. The melancholic joy of your memories and recolections. If there is one thing I regret, daughter, it is not telling you more of the stories of those I have known and lost in my life. You know some of them, but not all. Read my journals, and through them meet my old friends, and my old enemies."   "That is something I am sorry for, though. That we didn't spend as much time together as we could have. At times I wish my compulsion were anything else, something that would have kept me close to home. But that drive to walk the earth led me to your mother, and so my joy at meeting her and seeing the world is balanced by my grief at my absence from your life."   Wiping away a tear, Pamki smiled at her father. "You always brought back something though. A trinket or a story of something amazing. And these past few years here, in this new land; it's more of an adventure than I ever thought I'd get to experience. But I never expected the fear, father, the terror of the unknown that is our constant companion."   Ager laughed, and for a moment seemed 100 years younger.   "Hah! I think this will be my last lesson to you, daughter. Fear and terror have been my constant companions since I was a child. That is the lot of everyone who lives in this world, I think. Some run from it, hiding behind walls or numenera. Others succumb to it, trying to gather power and knowledge to fight against it. Looking back at my life, I'm glad that nine times out of ten my decisions were made to flaunt that fear. To thumb my nose at the terrors in the dark."   "Death comes for us all, Pamki. No matter who or what you are, eventually you will cease to exist. At least, so long as you are human, I guess. But after a life like mine, you see death as less of a terror. Ask any adventurer who lives as long as I have and they'll probably tell you something along these lines: these days I view Death as a friend who will show up on my doorstep one day. And while that will be a sad day for I will have to leave you behind, it will also be a joyous one."   "How could you dying be a day for joy?" Pamki asked in a tone that betrayed her confusion.   "You are not an evil tyrant whose death frees us from bondage. You're not some monster at our gates. You're Ager Hammersplint. My father. The man who brought us all here and built this town."   "Yes," acknowledged Ager, "but still, just a man. And Death is just another friend, come to lead me on the next great adventure. Nobody knows what happens to us when we die, Pamki. In the long history of our world, it seems that nobody has figured it out. Don't believe anyone who has, either. But that's why now I don't see my death as something to fear."   "I hope that what comes next is like being born anew. Exploring whatever comes next as a young man again, with the strength and will to go out into lands beyond death and discover all their secrets."   After his death, Ager was burried in the small but growing cemetery in Ararholm. Pamki suggested declaring the day a feast day, and the town agreed. Over the last few years, it has evolved into the Day of Rememberance.