"...and with the last drop of ink, my tale ends here." — Lorekeeper Aeron
The universal truth the whole world agrees upon is "Everything ends." and Icon worshipping religion is not the only one that has stolen this concept and made it into a central piece of their rituals. You can find this sentence to be chanted over and over and over again, as a prayer of hope to help you through the tough times in your life. (Or through a really boring sermon.)
The fact that everything is mortal and needs to die one way or another, is seen to be the one truth everyone, every single species that has ever been ask any sort of a question about the nature of existence itself, accepts. And it all started with the Old Gods.
As the myth goes, the Old Gods were found not to be gods in the end, at all. They have died, their bodies decayed and disappeared from the surface, their ashes scattered in the wind. While they may have been all high and mighty, having travelled to the earth throught the starts on their strange magical ships, possesing powers like no one before them. They may have enslaved humankind, marking thousands of years of civilisation and reshaping them to their image. But in the end people have rebelled and put an end to their reign. Gods were defeated, once and for all.
The truth prevailed. Everything ends.
Interestingly enough, death and "the end" are different concepts in many cultures. While most of things tend to end their existence and die at the same time - ghosts, spirits, and echoes of sentient creatures can make a powerful imprint on their surroundings and therefore can exist beyond the grave. They too will disappear over time.
You can find different symbols and sculptures on gravestones that are supposed to help the spirits find their final rest and prevent the newly departed from transforming into these ectoplasmic beings having to wonder the world for a couple of centuries more than necessary.
Some mages however do tend to take advantage of having an incorporeal form, even for a little bit, as many of them are obsessed with their individual researches into the supernatural and it is so hard to stop, even if your heart itself gave up hours ago.
