If you sought to live you had naught but run and hide yourself away. But then, tell me, child of man... what does it mean to live in truth? To wage war against the passing days? To pray to the unseen for a few breaths more? To raise grand cities from stone, and spawn new life in turn? Mankind has done this, yes, and more. But is the tapestry you weave truly of your own design?
Their kind is easy to fathom, they go on living from simple fear of death. But not mankind. Some welcome the end with arms outstretched, while others come to face death incarnate, arms in hand. I ask again, what is your purpose here?
One path to your survival, lies in my defeat. Still my heart, and you stay the coming end. Another path before you... is to offer up that which you hold most dear. Abandon all delusions of control.
For the price of a single life, I shall leave this land in peace. As my "vanquisher", the duchy would bow to you. Wealth and power are sweet anodyne for heartache. You'll not gainsay my terms are more than generous. If it matters aught, the man who rules this land now won that honor through just such a bargain.
The decision is yours. Now... choose!