Age in Night Elf Society

[Keilune]

Hi Everyone!

I apologize in advance if this has been discussed in previous posts. I am nearly late for work, so please indulge a hurried writing.

My character is played as a young elf whose development is similar to that of a human aged (16-20)... young adult hood. I wonder how this translates or IF it translates into NE. The main problem is time-frame. Human time line is so short compared to NE that it would be tempting to try to use percentages of a NE's life to equate to human development. ((ie assuming a lifespan of 1000 years- just an example, many NEs are t0k and older- then adolescence would occur maybe around 150-200). However this would make NE's the stupidest creations on the block since it would take them over a century to develop to the same level that humans arrive at in about two decades.

A better explanation would be that human and elven growth is similar for the first 20-30 years, with elves enjoying a mature youthfulness that lasts millenia instead of just a couple of decades.

However, the idea of lifespans in the thousands of years leads to some interesting problems when you look at population. Consider humans in RL. five billion or so in just about 10000 years- despite massive plagues and wars. Not as massive as in Azeroth, but still... if NE reproduction is similar to humans they would have overrun the planet by now and famine would be a greater concern than war.

So, does anyone know what the reproductive cycle is like for NE? Is it outlined in lore? Also, does anyone know how closely elven families mirror those of humans? What are the major differences in life style, social attitudes, etc? Having a better grasp on this will give me much more depth in my character and help avoid playing her like a human with pointy ears.

Luv ya's and thanks!

Kei

[Keilune]

I did some research on this topic. The most sensible thread I have seen yet is: forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=9416651923&postId=94156046552. It is the post from which I've drawn most of my information (many others said similar things, but this made the best logical use of the information).

Basically there are three literature references to age. In two novels (I think it was the novels) it mentions that adulthood is reached at 300 (one account) or 110 years. There is another literature reference of a night elf female having a sexual relationship at 16.

From this we have to assume that puberty begins around the same age as humans- who knows how long it lasts though? However when one starts to consider the concept of adulthood, then it really challenges the way we look at elven society.

One possibility that emerges is that adulthood, rather than mere self-sufficiency as in human terms, actually represents a greater mastery of the topics needed to fully participate in Elven society. I never imagine the elves as feeling they have fully mastered any topic- whether it be archery, cooking or lore, there is always more to learn. Yet, in any one discipline it probably would be expected to spend a few decades learning the available techniques (what to humans would be the equivalent to getting a phd) before proficiency as assumed.

I think this is it in a nutshell. When you have eternity as your lifespan (or even many thousands of years), you have the time to spend in learning. This would create much greater expectations for basic proficiency levels, and adulthood is just another proficiency.

How would this play out in rp? Well for me, its spending weeks learning how to string a bow, a few months learning how to make the replacement strings. Many years learning our history, our lore and our songs. I can imagine tedious lessons that to a teenager are like watching paint dry.

So it is into this social setting that I am placing my character personality (though she has left home much too early). Running with this idea do any of you have suggestions that would help me flush out elven society? I'm really after an immersion effect for my character so I can alter her and temper the central personality in terms of the society in which she was raised.

Thanks much!

[۞ KAT ۞ AKA Red Viper]

There are no real solid definitions to night elf age it seems. personally the more i hear about it the more i lean toward that night elves mature the same as humans until adulthood, at which time their aging process slows considerably giving them the ability to be so long lived into thousands of years.

Not being immortal anymore of course must have thrown a wrench in there somewhere so i'd guess where they still age slowly, finding elves that are thousands of years old will become less and less and less common as mortality catches up with them and they start to die off.

Over time the oldest a night elf may grow to be could only be in the hundreds. But this is just my take on it as i understand things.

[grimun]

My view on elves is like this...Yes they mature at the same rate as humans up until a certain age lets say like 30. But they are not let loose into the world until they learned everything they can which would take a lifetime or more. I.E. D&D elves do not start adventuring until age 115-120 yrs of age. Its not they are stupid or learn slowly it is Elves pride themselves as being perfect creatures, Kinda like Vulcans I guess. but hey just my thoughts

[۞ KAT ۞ AKA Red Viper]

Ahh great points Grim. /agree

[Astarii Silverwind]

Just touching on the same points, which I hope doesn't sound spammy, but I've always considered elves to age the same as humans until adulthood. I've never heard of an "old elf", old as in age of course, but not in body or mind. I have always thought of them as totally stopping the aging process around 30 years of age. They're immortal, this is the only reason that some elves are so old, not because they have a long life span. A long life span would be assuming that there is a natural end to that span.

Another reason that I think they age at least similarly is that in the War of the Ancients book, excellent series by the way, Vereesa is pregnant with Rhonans twins, Human/Elf twins. Richard Knaak, who is a very descriptive fellow, never mentioned anything about a strange pregnancy, nothing immensely long or short, just an average pregnancy.

I do agree with Grim'un on the age of adventuring and the reason behind it. A 30 year old elf would be viewed as an adult, capable of mating and living on their own, but in the same light that elves view the younger races, simply inexperienced.

[keilune]

I rather came to the same conclusions as you all have, that aging happens similarly to humans from a physical point of view, but its the social elements that differ dramatically. Basic proficiency in life and social skills for Kaldorei would, in my mind, be the equivalent of mastery of those same skills for humans.

Its a different perspective that I'm trying to keep with kei, though at her age she has not yet achieved the patience and perspective that living a century will give a person.

One element that is missing however, and others have speculated on this, is birth rate. There has to be something to slow the birthrate dramatically or Azeroth would literally be overrun with Kaldorei even despite the many wars. I would suggest that it might be a cultural tradition to have only one or two children every few millenia, or it might be that conception is difficult or regulated. It could be that Blizzard has not thought that question through and its one of those: "Don't ask questions, just listen to the story" things. A few sources have also mentioned that children are raised communally, which puts a whole other spin on the topic. I read that after doing my initial character history that focused heavily on her parents. However, i've been slowly and subtly moving her descriptions and rp to speak of the whole village as her family with her mother and father as guiding forces. Its a bit of a hybrid, but it allows me to stay consistent while still moving more in line with lore.

Thanks for all your input on this topic. Its been very helpful.

[۞ KAT ۞ AKA Red Viper]

The guild has actually adopted a System for getting pregnant in game that seems to throw in all elements of the unknown into it.

As for Night Elf pregnancies and the like, seems to me the Azeroth world is getting overrun with Nelfs anyway hehehe But seriously, i'd assume since the kids age so slow, a parent wouldn't really WANT more then one unless they were cursed blessed with twins or something. And as you said conception is difficult or regulated, also possible.

[Keilune]

Thanks for the link. I love having a system all in place and will be sure to use it.

I don't think Kei is in danger at this point, unless you can get preggers from kissing.