Druchii Lifespan and Ages

[Malochai]

Hey guys, this is one of/my first post on the forum, and I have a question about the lifespan of an average Druchii.

Basically, how long do they live, without the preserving magic of the Cauldrons, etc.
Obviously, it's centuries, because the Black Guard serve for a maximum of 200 years, and then are given lands and titles, but how long exactly?

And, beyond this, what age would a young Druchii noble be considered on the cusp of adulthood and be ready to go on their Hakseer?

Any help would be appreciated!

Malochai

[T.D.]

Off the top of my head I remember Shadowblade was young (i.e. teenage human) at 150 years old.

Malekith and Morathi are basically immortal -> through power (Dark Magic)

Other "top of the tree" Dark Elves are immortal but age (i.e. Hag Queens) -> through power (sacrifice/favour of the gods/magic)

For the average Dark Elf I'd say 1-2000 years - but that is just a guess, unsupported by readings of current fluff/novels.

I'd imagine all Elves would mature relatively quickly, but then stay "young" for a very long time.

[Syjahel]

Taking a cue from Drainial (our Group 28 GM) I'd say that the lifespan is around about 2,000 years. I used to say 1,000 but if you look at the lists of the Asur Phoenix Kings, some of them reigned for longer than a thousand years overall. So 2,000 seems like a logical baseline.

Provided, of course, that nobody stabs them first

[Dalamar]

There are a couple phoenix kings that died of old age right? Just take that number, add a couple centuries before they became kings and voila.

[Malochai]

Thanks for the responses, guys, it's really helpful

[Voodoomaster]

Off the top of my head I remember Shadowblade was young (i.e. teenage human) at 150 years old.

Malekith and Morathi are basically immortal -> through power (Dark Magic)

Other "top of the tree" Dark Elves are immortal but age (i.e. Hag Queens) -> through power (sacrifice/favour of the gods/magic)

For the average Dark Elf I'd say 1-2000 years - but that is just a guess, unsupported by readings of current fluff/novels.

I'd imagine all Elves would mature relatively quickly, but then stay "young" for a very long time.

This is pretty accurate.
Elves as standard live for circa 2000 years with their first 50 years being their childhood (although they would age from an infant to a child 0-10 eg in about 15-20 years) after that they would learn and play as human children. their teens would spread between 50-200 years with them being considered a full adult (18-20 human years) at about 200 and therefore ready for active service in the case of the high elves (levy system)
their prime years would be between 200 and 1000 years (20-35 human) and in the wane of their prime around 1000-1500 (35-50 human)
The aging process speeds up progressively the longer an elf lives, 1500-2000+ is going from (50-75+ human)

This is due the nature of an elven soul being half within and half without the aether the longer an elven soul is on the mortal realm the more aether is required to keep it there causing the aging process to speed up throughout time until at the end of an elven life they are aging for each year they are alive.
The nature of the Aether however, allows mages and sorcerers to live alot longer due to their ability to tap into the aether potentially gaining them on paper an almost immortal life although in the case of Wood and High Elves this would grant them only another 1000 odd years or so as they know that all things must end.
Dark Elves on the other hand would not have this outlook and would keep going until all other avenues have failed.

Morathi has more "blessings" than others
Hellebrone has Khaine and the Cauldron, but there is limits to that
Malekith has magic and the Black Fruit
Furion also the Black Fruit

Those are whom would be the immortals who have been around since the beginning.

[Gerner]

If you wish to look on a more low-fantasy source, the WFRP 1st edition represents elves starting age from around 40 up until 220. The elves begin to loosing their ability around the 190 years, because of "old" age.
In the Apocrypha Now (still WFRP 1st) it mentions "A 'young' Elf, starting out to see there world om the Elven equivalent of his teens, average 65 years of age." It latter mentions "Imagine the effect of a 200-year lifespan on the art-forms that a race would develop." Another quote "activities which seem trivial, but 200 years of life grants a different perspective."

From this I would say that elven youth are in the middle of his sixties. They will on average live two-hundred years if you disregard magic.
This should be the lifespan for the average Elf. Individual special person like Morathi, Hellbron and Malekith are of course an exception to the case because of their magical abilities and secret rituals.

[T.D.]

What is this Black Fruit and where can I get some?

[Drainial]

It is either the fruit of a tree found somewhere in Ulthuan prior to the Sundering (but after the war had begun), the exact location is unknown as I recall. Or it is a euphemism for dark magic of a particularly powerful sort, perfectly plausible given that necromancy is an off shoot of dark magic.

[T.D.]

@ Drainial

Thanks for the info. It has given me ideas for a good mission for my fluff characters to go on

@ Voodoo

Cheers for the data. May I ask your sources?

[Voodoomaster]

@ Voodoo

Cheers for the data. May I ask your sources?

a Real mixture, from the old RFP rule books, white dwarf articles, old army books, old rule books and hanging around the loremaster of all elven knowledge Eldacar.
i keep things rather than throw them out, for example before the great sacrifice of the high elf army in har ganeth which caused the madness Har Ganeth was ruled by Rurel Khan the Butcher, he had an illegitimate son with one of the Hag Queens, Vandress
the Son was called Tullaris Dreadbringer.

[T.D.]

Thanks! Its nice to have the summary of that eclectic knowledge written down here on the forum.

Good grist for us fluff-millers

[HaFen]

With all these destroyed (killed, captured, executed) dark elves lost on Ulthuan campaings, the Naggaroth would run out of any single living elf after few. How could a dark elf to live 1 000 years?

[Amboadine]

With all these destroyed (killed, captured, executed) dark elves lost on Ulthuan campaings, the Naggaroth would run out of any single living elf after few. How could a dark elf to live 1 000 years?

Simple. Run away to live another day

[Saintofm]

Does anyone remember how old Malus is in his books? That might be a good beromiter as well.