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 Half-Elven lifespan

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ElfBane Posted - 04 Feb 2020 : 23:00:09
My memory of a HE's lifespan is that it's ~180 yrs. I don't remember what version of the Realms I was reading when I learned that, but it seems to be consistent throughout the versions iterations.

What I want to know is what is canon with my question. My question is as follows;
If HEs married only other HEs, would the ~180 lifespan remain the average? Or does the human element insist that the lifespan decrease to where it's the human average, or perhaps slightly above?

Thanks for any enlightenment!
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TBeholder Posted - 13 Feb 2020 : 21:29:14
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik

Half-elves have at least 50% elven blood. Human parent plus elf parent, half-elf parent plus elf parent, half-elf parent plus half-elf parent.
Human blood is "dominant" vs elven blood.
Less than 50% elf blood results in a human.

A simpler approach is that there's no "at least 50%", only 3 states (human, half-elf, elf) and symmetric 3x3 "multiplication table".
quote:
Although unusual blends and exceptions have existed in every rules edition.

There are "traces" in canon, yes. I can remember Belinda Moonglow (moon elf, human heritage), Ashemmi (moon elf, sun elf heritage). Though can't remember - was anything odd about Nihmedu?
Though this only affects the phenotypes, and never seemed to count for determining the basic result. Thankfully.
Ayrik Posted - 05 Feb 2020 : 06:52:43
Half-elves have at least 50% elven blood. Human parent plus elf parent, half-elf parent plus elf parent, half-elf parent plus half-elf parent.

Human blood is "dominant" vs elven blood.
Less than 50% elf blood results in a human. A human with maybe some elven traits (like slightly pointy ears, slender build, keen eyesight, pretty hair, etc) still treated as a human for all game stats and abilities.
More than 50% elf blood results in a half-elf. Even a single human ancestor mixed into a long lineage of pure elven ancestors will still produce half-elves, the bloodline can never again sire true elves although it might always be diluted (in as little as one generation) into "true" humans.

Lifespans for elves and for half-elves vary by rules edition. And (in most rules editions) can also vary by elf or half-elf subrace (some rules editions have one kind of generic half-elves, others have comprehensive tables detailing every possible combination). Half-elven lifespan is usually several centuries, long enough to outlive a few generations of humans yet not (or maybe just barely) long enough to properly bond with elves.

Half-elves with mixed elven heritage (sun elf plus moon elf or wood elf plus drow, for example) typically have a 50/50 chance of expressing as the elven or half-elven subrace of either parent. Although unusual blends and exceptions have existed in every rules edition. And certain half-elven populations in the Realms have apparently begun to breed into their own identifiable (half)elven subrace variant/ethnicity, just as human populations tend to do when isolated from other populations across enough generations.
TheIriaeban Posted - 05 Feb 2020 : 01:59:35
Page 58 of the Races of Faerun states that two half-elves will have half-elven children
Dalor Darden Posted - 05 Feb 2020 : 00:50:11
Half-elves produce another half-elf when their mate is a half-elf...there is no slide toward humanity.

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