The Echo and the Ascians

[Vulcwen]

Actually, the Amaurotians (and all Ancients) were not immortal, the shades of the phantom Amaurot and Hades's story on the Lodestone that was part of the 'Tales From the Shadows' make that explicitly clear, that the Ancients had a finite life span, and that they procreated and gave birth, grew as children into adults and eventually died at the end of their lives, their souls returning to the planet (which they called the 'Underworld') just like the current races.

What was different though is they had far, far greater personal wellsprings of aether, which is what powered their creation magic to a level far exceeding the greatest magic capable in the present day, and that even a newborn baby was capable of wielding such power inately, a scary thought.

They only became immortal beings of pure aether after Zodiark was summoned and 'rewrote the laws of nature', which a handful of Ancients became the Ascians. But back before the Terminus and the Sundering, they most definetely were mortal beings, who were born, lived and died like we do. Their lifespans were probably far greater, but still were finite.

We don't exactly know what the nature of things was for the Ancients. All we know is that there was a cycle of life before the Final Days. For now I'm suspecting (speculation warning: ) they did have finite lifespans for their physical bodies, but their souls were immortal, mind and memories included (maybe rediscovered when a new body grows up, like anamnesis, maybe just intact in general). Death would be an extended rest for them until their soul would eventually be reincarnate. This means in the view of society, people would be essentially immortal. It'd also explain why they'd be so willing to give their lives for a cause, only to be surprised by the fact that no, they'd not reincarnate with memories intact anymore. Only the horror of the Final Days itself would be so strong, the memory of which persisted through the sundering, thus allowing one to reclaim part of what they once could, with the Echo.