Death

Death accompanies each mortal twice in life. At birth, she speaks to them, but since no one remembers what she says, it is not known why. When they die, she guides them to what lies beyond their mortal years.

Mortals fear Death. They fear the sunless lands to which she guides them. They feebly attempt to placate her. They do not love her. Once though, a long time ago, a dreamer celebrated her gift in a song, and came closer to a true description of Death than any mortal since:

Death is before me today:
Like the recovery of a sick man,
Like going forth into a garden after sickness

One day in every century, Death takes on mortal flesh, to better comprehend what the lives she takes must feel like, to taste the bitter tang of mortality: this is the price she must pay for being the divider of the living from all that has gone before and all that must come after.