Interesting topic!

I'm having troublw leaning to the two sides... 100-500 OR 1000+..... 1000+ seems unrealistic, unless necromancy is used. 100-500 seems ok, considering mer have a more natural magicka pool inside their bodies. I'll go with 100-500. It's realistic for a magic being to be able to live longer. Of course, that would be if there were real life magic, it would be realistic. The magicka enhances your body's health. Since this is what happens I'd say that you may be able to live longer, with more health. Also they are not human, which means they may have a different average lifespan.

Why? Trees can live that long. There's some fungi that have lived for over 2,600 years. Just because Earth human's bodies degrade within 100 years doesn't mean other species suffer the same limitations. Once you get into a fictional/fantasy setting, you can't take any rules for granted. You can lean on magic as an excuse for extended longevity, but you can also explain it with a mix of science and biology. For instance, there is a real-life precedent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal_jellyfish#Biological_immortality.

Hmm... The Corgi has a point. Of course, I still think that 100-500 is where I lean to, for an average lifespan. And that average lifespan is for those who don't happen to just use necromancy. I think that those who use necromancy can live forever, if the ritual is done over and over and over. That and they don't get killed... Still, that's my opinion... For those who have a noble's life, 300-700 seems like the average to me.

Why necromancy? Why not some sort of rejuvenation process that uses Alteration or Restoration?

Ok, not necromancy! It still means that a spell can make you live longer, if not forever!

Well, no, of course not forever. Relative to a mayfly, humans live "forever." So, the potential lifespan would be great, but death due to disease, murder, homicide, and other complications (starvation, trauma, etc) isn't out of the question.

There we go! Now unless someone happened to survive all of this forever, it's not possible. They would die from something eventually.

As I recall a Dunmer at Raven Rock was apparently pretty old. So much that he wanted to die in a fight rather than waste away.

Fine calculations all - but one fatal flaw in the OP that should be faced. The whole of Tamriel is bathed is magica - so there is not 'without magic' because magica is an intrinsic part of Tamriellian existance.

True certain individuals are demonstrably able to harness it openly and others do not appear to do so - but who is to say that those non-magica-users do not use it unconsciously? That may well be part of what sustains the Gods for example.

i'm glad to see that you got around to mentioning Divayth Fyr - he exists and is mer

re necromancy - we are still learning what that is about. What we mostly read about is the 'icky' side of it. But folks believe that is only one side of it and there are Necromantic studies and practices that are not connected with raising skellys and jelly-blobs so perhaps Restoration is in part Necromantic?

I hadn't forgotten that, of course. I realize it's everywhere - kinda like the force. I think it's the ability to harness it which counts as having it "inside you", though. It sort of floats around the atmosphere, flowing through everyone, but those who master its use build up a large resevoir inside themselves, which is at their disposal. It probably has a sort of restorative effect, constantly rejuvenating the person's body and mind.




I believe the Necromancy the Telvanni practiced isn't exactly akin to that of Mannimarco and his lackeys. I do believe the term could be extended to cover almost any power over life and death. The Telvanni Lords are a bit creepy and isolationist, though, and do keep many slaves. I imagine dark rituals behind closed doors in which a young, healthy Khajiit slave is drained of his life force. Deep wrinkles appear in his skin while they simultaneously disappear from the Telvanni. I think that would be a sadistic but interesting aspect of their Necromancy if it were true. I got the idea from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPaKNafdJ18.

Well, I think High Elves live to be 10x more than Humans, having the same amount of kids. Here is why:

From the PGE:

"High elves consider themselves to be the only perfect race. Over hundreds of generations they have bred themselves into a racially pure line, and are now almost identical to one another in appearance. The theory that the High Elves do not reproduce as quickly or as often as humans is false. Rather, and to my horror, they kill nine out of ten babies born to them in their obsession for purity."

So as you see, they have the same populace as the Imperials on a fair estimate, but they live longer and kill most of their young.

That was written by a fanatically anti-dominion Imperial colovian scribe in a fanatically anti-dominion propaganda paper.

I don't see the part in that about them living to be 1,000 years....

And besides, you're using that as a source? It's got racism written all over it. The first Pocket Guide was extremely biased on the side of the Imperials. The side notes are more accurate than what's actually written in the text.

Well, technically wasn't all of this just written by the employees of Bethesda?

I agree that was a horrible source to use. Besides if High Elves lived to be over 1000 on average you'd think someone would have mentioned it by now. I see them living to about 300. Non evidence for that number, well none that I feel like looking for, but anyway it feels right.

That's besides the point! lol

I know; just making a joke.

If they reproduce as often as humans but only keep 1/10 of their offspring then, to have the same population size as the humans, they would need to live 10x longer and produce 10x more babies.\
But yeah, its not a very good source.