Age confusion

[Green Gwendolyn]

Hello,
I am a bit confused on a silly topic: what would be the teenage age for a high elf? I mean, elves age extremely slowly, but would that mean that eighteen year old elves would still be babies? Or what? When would a teenage elf be a teenage elf. My character is an elf and a teenager as well, so that's why I'm asking.
Thank you!

[Fox Owen Xavier]

My guess (Don't quote me on this) is elves probably grow at a similar rate their early years up to teenage or maybe until adult. After that, their aging process starts to slow down a lot. However, I might be completely wrong. I'm sure some others like Christoph on this site can give a much better answer...

[Green Gwendolyn]

Thanks, Fox! :)

[Luned]

I think it's assumed that adolescence might last a bit longer for elves compared to humans, at least as a cultural thing if not physical, but everyone interprets it differently. I imagine that elves under 40 or 50 are generally considered quite young, if not necessarily an equivalent to our teenaged. Althanas offers lots of room for creative license, so feel free to leave it ambiguous and work things out as best suits your goals with your character!

[Green Gwendolyn]

Thank you! :)

[Lye]

This may be a little old, but I think I wrote my elf as a reverse dog years. 7 years per one human year. He is 32 and thus, 227 calendar years old (a little past an even 32*7=224 but that's like being 32 years and 5 months old).

That being said, I would imagine that the youth years progress slightly more rapid. I can't imagine an elven mother toting around a breast-feeding infant for 7+ years. That being said, I would imagine the growth rate of an average human from 1-5 years would span over 10 years for elves. After that point, the 6-16 (16 being the age of physical maturity) should span a multiple of 5 years per human year. So an elven male and female could reproduce at around 60 years old (younger even, but that would be socially frowned upon just like in human society). Afterwards, they slow down to aging at a rate between 7-8 years per human year until they expire. Some elven elders have lived 1K plus years, but is is more common for an elf to expire around 600-800 years old.

You can dilute the above if your character is not a pure breed (as mine is written to be).

That is my train of thought. Hopefully you will find it useful.

[Fox Owen Xavier]

Had a little chat with Christoph (Althanas's loremaster). Here's what he said on this issue:

(13:43:39) Christoph: As for Raiaran elves, they live longer than Dark Elves, with maybe 800 years being considered rather ancient, with 1,000 years being about as old as any elf is recorded to have lived.
(13:44:07) Allennia: Sounds right. I've got Cydnar as venerable for the Hummel and they're half high and dark.
(13:44:13) Christoph: But their physical maturation isn't proportional.
(13:44:25) Allennia: They would reach physical maturity not much later than a human, Fox.
(13:44:46) Christoph: Granted, they might not be considered "adult" socially until 100 years or so, but they're probably more or less adult in appearance by age 30.
(13:44:52) Allennia: ^
(13:45:22) Allennia: *venerable and near 1000 I meant.
(13:45:57) Fox_Owen_Xavier: So for appearance wise, they grow at roughly 75% of the speed of a normal human until becoming full grown? Then they kind of age very very very slowly?
(13:46:47) Christoph: Closer to 60% the rate.
(13:46:53) Christoph: But yes
(13:46:57) Allennia: Sounds reasonable.
(13:47:28) Christoph: Dark Elves mature faster, reaching that same state by 25 or so.
(13:47:49) Christoph: And they also have lifespans around 300-500 years, so quite a bit shorter.
(13:48:22) Christoph: Yeah, it's a side-effect of no longer being exposed to Raiaeran magic, and also the region they live in.
(13:48:35) Christoph: And/or various other theories that their scholars and alchemists debate over.

[Ashla]

You can dilute the above if your character is not a pure breed (as mine is written to be).

Actually, this is my first full blooded elf. Ashla is a half-breed, I plan on her aging physically like an elf but having a lifespan similar to a human's.

Fox, thanks for the chat information, it helps a lot!

[Lye]

Damn, Christoph and I were pretty close considering we've never actually conversed about this.

[Sagequeen]

I'm.... aaahhhhh... not sure what to say. Except that I am jailbait. I guess.

:D