Lifespans

[Insertclevername]

So, I'm wondering... How long do Mer live? Is it like traditional fantasy, where they're immortal, or do they just have an extended lifespan? I know snow elves live to be near-immortal (if not truly immortal.), but that's the only one I know about.

[The Rock God]

It varies. Orcs seem to have lifespans comparable to humans, Altmer and Dunmer seem to have pretty long lifespans, and we've seen a Dwemer and Snow Elf who apparently live quite a while.

[Unchangeling]

Originally posted by The Rock God:

It varies. Orcs seem to have lifespans comparable to humans, Altmer and Dunmer seem to have pretty long lifespans, and we've seen a Dwemer and Snow Elf who apparently live quite a while.

there are Dunmer wizards in House Telvanni who have been around for thousands of years (Divayth Fyr is supposedly around 4,000 years old); I'm not sure that really counts, though, since they're presumably using magic to extend their lifespans.

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

Elder Scrolls elves fit the long-lived variety set down by Tolkien and adopted by many settings from Forgotten Realms to Pillars.

[PixelTraveller]

Originally posted by Two Bears:

Elder Scrolls elves fit the long-lived variety set down by Tolkien and adopted by many settings from Forgotten Realms to Pillars.

There are a few things in TES which struck me as similar to Tolkien. Even the Dwemer and their affinity with music... although of course they're not exactly Thorin or Gimli...

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

Originally posted by CarbonCat:

Originally posted by Two Bears:

Elder Scrolls elves fit the long-lived variety set down by Tolkien and adopted by many settings from Forgotten Realms to Pillars.

There are a few things in TES which struck me as similar to Tolkien. Even the Dwemer and their affinity with music... although of course they're not exactly Thorin or Gimli...

There are many things. It is a fantasy setting, and most of them draw from the same well. Middle Earth, Faerûn and Tamriel are all basically the same thing. Tolkien didn't have the elf trinity; that was a later development, but it is all generally the same.

[SpeedFreak1972]

Well both snow elves in the dawnguard dlc were around while the dwemer were around.

[Brandybuck]

Drow == Emo Elves

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

Originally posted by Brandybuck:

Drow == Emo Elves

You're like Mikey, ya know?

[Dubba_D]

Mer usually live only about twice as long as human, although anyone can extend their lifespan via magic (I.e. Divyath Fyr, who is an >4000 year old dunmer) I believe the Orsimer live about 60 years due to a curse from Arkay (or Old Orkey, as the Nords call him). Khajiit and Argonians probably live the same as humans, although Khajiit descended from Aldmer, so they <i>might</i> live longer like Mer. Argonians, though, are perhaps fully dependant on the Hist as far as age goes.

Frankly, I'm glad ES elves have strived away from Tolkien elves since Morrowind (although Morrowind is starting to look like the exception rather than the foundation). Personally, I'm just as tired of cliche tolkien conventions used in nearly every fantasy setting as other ES fans are. Eh, but that's starting to sound like a rant, so I'll stop there, but leave the original text to speak my mind :)

Edit: The only reason what's-his-face snow elf has lived that long is because of Auri-El's blessings, and the other one is just a vampire.

[Insertclevername]

So, it wouldn't be too far-out for a Bosmer to live to be 400? Would they still be able to fight at that age, or would they be walking around on crutches going "Back in my day, we didn't go around shouting people off cliffs, we just shouted at them!"

[Dubba_D]

Originally posted by Insertfunnyname:

So, it wouldn't be too far-out for a Bosmer to live to be 400? Would they still be able to fight at that age, or would they be walking around on crutches going "Back in my day, we didn't go around shouting people off cliffs, we just shouted at them!"

A four-hundred year old Bosmer is actually very old in Merrish terms. They're most likely using magic of some kind to remain alive, and while they can also use magic to remain fit for combat, this may detriment a playstyle devoid of magic, as it may contradict the premise of the character.

[Insertclevername]

So how old would be middle-age for a bosmer?

[Zefram Cochrane]

Originally posted by The Rock God:

It varies. Orcs seem to have lifespans comparable to humans, Altmer and Dunmer seem to have pretty long lifespans, and we've seen a Dwemer and Snow Elf who apparently live quite a while.

Don't orcs refuse to live to old age though? At least whats old in human terms. Theres that guy in Winterhold college but he's the exception rather than the rule there always some Orc guy waiting by the side of the road for me to give him a "good death" and he doesn't look that old to me.

[Skyrimnut]

There's a quote in the in game literature that says Altmer can reach 1000 if they are practiced in magic. One of the Barenziah books, I think.

[gnewna]

Originally posted by Zefram Cochrane:

Originally posted by The Rock God:

It varies. Orcs seem to have lifespans comparable to humans, Altmer and Dunmer seem to have pretty long lifespans, and we've seen a Dwemer and Snow Elf who apparently live quite a while.

Don't orcs refuse to live to old age though? At least whats old in human terms. Theres that guy in Winterhold college but he's the exception rather than the rule there always some Orc guy waiting by the side of the road for me to give him a "good death" and he doesn't look that old to me.

There's usually an old woman or two in the strongholds, although it's hard to know if they're old at human-type ages (70+?) or elfish ones (anything from 200-500+, I think). Official Wiki suggests a thousand is possible for Mer (no mention of using magic to extend to that point) although "few live that long due to disease and violence" - of course, Altmer have a pretty good resistance to disease, being all super-awesome and shiz. It also says "At the time of the publication of the Pocket Guide to the Empire, Third Edition in 3E 432, many living Altmer still remembered Tiber Septim's conquest of Summerset, thus putting them at an age of over 400 years." I don't generally go by the official wiki if I can find something on the UESP, but this seems fairly well supported by in-game books and so on.

It also says Urag must be over 200, as he mentions that without him most of the books in the Arcaneum would have been destroyed in the Third Era - so in fact that probably makes him more like 300, given the Third Era ended 201 years before Skyrim, and he'd have to have been working there for a while before that to be able to make a claim like that (well, assuming he's being truthful, but he doesn't seem the sort for hollow boasts.) And Councillor Morvayn - who looks to be in early middle age to me - would have to be in his 150s or so, given he's been in his job since 4E 65, apparently. Their apparent age doesn't necessarily mean much compared to their chronological age - a race that lives to several hundred years is unlikely to age at the same rate as humans - but if they age at a similar rate (proportionally) to humans then I'd imagine Morvayn can comfortably expect to live at least another hundred or more years.

And of course, Altmer can live an extra hundred years if they walk correctly.