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ELFAGE
TIME is variable, as I understand it in the context of these stories and those in the Blackthorn Chronicles. Time may or may not pass on The Road. Time within the Green Silences is most certainly variable but tends to pass more slowly than time on mortal planes at least as far as aging is concerned. When the Green Silences is on the move, ie, when the Forest of Green Silences is on The Road, time may or may not pass at all or at varying rates, just as distances may be covered without regard to the physical laws we ordinarily work under in the mortal plane. I'm thinking there may be a factor of experience or events driving the passage of time, but I'm not sure. This would be akin to working on a 'task schedule' rather than a 'time schedule'. One might bend time by accomplishing a series of tasks or living a series of events, rather than gauging time with the dripping of a clock or cycles of the Sun. In that context, since elves tend to take life in stride and live more 'in the moment', it would be easy to see how the passage of time is variable, or at least quite slow... being an almost perpetual Now. Also relative to the lifespan of elves and particularly the Sithryn, is their physical nature. They are not of the same species or even the same plane of origin as human mortals and so their lives proceed physically at a much different rate than ordinary ilk. This is akin to the life expectancy of large mammals vs small mammals vs insects. Although there is a size element involved in the difference between elves and humans, there are also some structural differences which may influence the variance in longevity. For instance, elves and particularly the Sithryn, have longer and finer bone structure. While that accounts for their height, it may also account for their lightness of being which in turn allows them to live longer and look more youthful for a greater number of years than humans. For further contrast, one might consider the density of orcs (both literally and figuratively ;) as an explanation for their fairly short lifespans. (Well, that, and their violent nature.) Consider what might happen to the human lifespan if we really did go to live on the Moon, Mars, or Jupiter. The physical dynamics of these planets varies greatly from our own. Although we'd have to make adjustments for oxygen, how would the other inherent systems of these worlds affect the aging of our bodies? Surely there would be major differences from the effects of Earth's gravitational and electromagnetic fields. Such shifts may be presumed for elves from plane to plane. Disclaimer! - This is a guesstimate/guideline/ballpark for Sithryn age/development compared to human age/development. I needed it to place storyline events for Jera. This is not gospel. Don't get excited. :) For elves other than Sithryn, the half elf column may be more applicable to full-blood and the 1qtr column for half... and that's because... Per the Chronicles of Thorn in The Seeking XVII (Blackthorn Chronicles): "For as much as men paled beside the uncanny grace of elves, so would the elves Aelfric's men knew fade in comparison with these riders [the Sithryn]." So, on a scale from humans to the Sithryn, other elves fall in between, thus full elf might be more like half Sithryn. Incidentally, per the Book of Green Silences in The Seeking VI: "In the days of the beginning, before the Children of the Flame [humans] were born, there were the Sithryn, and there were their gods, whom they called Norns. These were not the Norns of the Vikings, but rather fair and tall, and as far above the Sithryn as the Sithryn are above the humans." In the following chart, ages are based on a proportional bell curve. Early development is relatively close to human development (mostly for reasons of literary license ;) The greatest departure from the human standard occurs through adulthood then the rate begins to close again toward the end of the lifespan. The "human equivalent" column refers to the appearance or relative developmental age compared to the actual number of years the elf has lived. This comparison applies more to lesser elves and mixed-Sithryn than to full. For mathematical reasons, ages have been delineated, but it is entirely possible for 20-anything to be more vaguely 20-something and so on. It is also possible for full Sithryn elves to reach a prime age and generally maintain that appearance until they 'fade' or 'diminish' quickly toward 'death' or choose to go to the West. ALSO, no allowances have been made for a hard life vs an easy one, nor for the life expectancy of the race mixed in, other than a baseline human lifespan of 111 years considered to be 'ancient'. Examples from this chart: ~ If a full-blood character appears to be a 2 yr old toddler by human standards, then he/she has probably lived about 4 years under a mortal sun... or put another way... if a full-blood character is 4 yrs old, one might expect him/her to behave much like a toddler. ~ 340 or so yrs of age for a full-blood would be comparable to 30-something by human standards, whereas a half-blood may appear about the same age after 170 or so years. ~ A full-blood may seem 30-something for over 200 yrs (age 240-459) or even til the end, whereas a half-blood would seem 30-something for about 100 yrs (age 120-230) or so. |
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