So I recently discovered that Dunmer, Bosmer and Altmer are said to live for hundreds of years.

All the way from Arena to Oblivion I've played the same character, a Dunmer male. However, Arena and Oblivion are only 50 or so years apart, so if I was a young Dunmer in Arena, then it is possible that I would still be alive in the time of Skyrim. I'll be pretty whithered and grey, but I was planning on playing as an old Dunmer hermit anyway.

So to all you out there who played as elves in previous games, would you want to reprise that character as an elderly version, having to relearn all those skills you've since forgotten in order to fight one last battle?

EDIT: After some interesting points, I added another question.

They will not live long lives as long as Drak gro-Gash is able to lift his battle axe!

Hahahaha good point but I hate to tell you average life-span for Orcs is about 60 years.

i said no on the first pole....... secound pole doesnt apply so...... fix it

Ha good point!

:wink_smile: Ely has been around since the assasination of the emperor, he's imperial.

when he killed mankar camaron he was "blessed"/ "cursed" with long life after spending so much time in
his "paradise". at least that's the way i'm going to get around it. we can do whatever we wish. :wink_smile:

That's true, you can make up whatever you like really, it's a fantasy game. But here us elves have a concrete lore-based reason why we might be the same person in Skyrim.

I've got a dunmer in OB right now who I've branded a Fyr, one of the old wizards creations.

Lord Neverar (Morrowind for those who haven't played) doesn't age nor get diseased, and with the divine disease, can use soul sorcery to change forms into another race. Though the technique hasn't been mastered yet, as the skills seem to reset.

My main character is Dunmer but is different from my Nerevarine character. Im claiming that my Champion of Cyrodiil attempted a quest but ended up in a dimensional pocket where time doesnt exist. Now shes returned but 200ish years later, Nirn-time.

That'll do it



I know that's so annoying right? Azura needs to patch that ASAP, hehe.



Good one.

I have never used the "same" character throughout the games, but I think I will start doing that. My first character for Skyrim is a male Dunmer nightblade named Meven Selas. He's a really awesome character. I am definitely going to use him for TES VI: Elsweyr. :thumbsup:

you must not have explored morrowind too well... there is a dunmer named divayth fyr who is ATLEAST 4,000 YEARS OLD ...and he is still plenty powerful, and he wears full daedric armor, so i doubt he's all that old and withered.

you could easily make a mer character who is ancient and still be strong...

hell, in bloodmoon, there is a nord who is over 500 years old... people keep saying he's cursed, which i dont recall seeing anywhere, but whatever... if that is the case, you could make a human character, or an argonian/khajiit and have them be cursed, as well... making them as old as you want.

point is... you can make them as old as you want if you roleplay, so why assume a dunmer is going to be a withered, weak little walking corpse at 200+ years old?

I started TES games with morrowind. Like someone pointed it out, the Nérévarine does not age so one of my character will be the Nérévarine (And has a really good reason for restarting level one ^^). However, this character won't be the dragonborn. I don't like fulfilling several prophecies with one character.

My nord was turned into a lich....after 200 years he was blessed by the divines and is now human again.

I know all about Dyvath Fyr and the Nord in Solstheim, but they are the exception, not the rule.

I personally think my character is special enough with all his accomplishments without having to use some sort of made up excuse. And how would you explain him starting at level 1 again if this were the case? My character has had enough of war and conflict since the Oblivion crisis and has tried to live in peace, albeit not always successfully. Therefore his skills have waned over the years and his body has become weak with age.

Most Dunmer with royal blood don't live much past 500 and my character is only half-royal.

You can play a god character if you like, but that's no fun to me, my guy is more lucky than anything. I don't like to roleplay as something I'm not. If I'm a level one character, there's gotta be a reason.

Based on this however, I've added a third question for non-Mers who wish to find a way to live long enough for their foray into Skyrim.

My main character is a dunmer, yes, but I just can't relate to an elderly character (since I am still young myself)... Besides I like seeing the "adventure" as a process of growth for my character, and whether we like it or not, people develop more mentally, while they are young.

Powerful mages, vampires and daedric princes would also be capable of living the 200 years between the two games, would they not?

I don't intend to play the same character, (just the same bloodlines) but for those who are not mer, but wish to carry on the same character,...

My Dunmer mage is simply a Telvanni wizard who fled Morrowind when it went sky-high. Now he's travelling the world, searching for magical artifacts. He was framed for a crime and is now awaiting execution

My two Lycanthropic characters willingly traveled to Hircine's realm. And if you played Shivering Isles, some characters have been around for over a millenia. Daedric Realm, means Daedric laws. So, my two Lycanthropic characters decided to go to Hircine's realm for a hunting tournament of sorts. Two centuries later, they return to Tamriel. Now, it may seem far fetched, but I am finding a manner to keep them the same age they are. The frozen werewolves in "Bloodmoon" gives me some ideas.

Now, my vampire characters are different. Six centuries old makes them powerful, but I don't like op characters so I had to write a way in how they became weak. I suppose they failed a pact with Clavicus Vile and their centuries of learned skills were taken away. And their masqurade was made known by Imperial politicians, so they had to flee and slumber for two centuries until they can come out once more to begin manipualting society and start their quest for political power.

I played the same named and race characters in Morrowind and Oblivion, but due to lore reasons treat them as separate - the Nerevarine can't really be the Champion of Cyrodiil, as the Champion of Cyrodiil is quite capable of contracting any number of diseases.

However, it might be feasible that the CoC and Dovahkiin are one and the same, although it means that pretty much all of Oblivion is pointless as a Dragonborn could have relit the Dragonfires any time he wanted instead of being Martin's errand boy. Maybe just a Septim Dragonborn could do it...

If not, I'll RP that my Dovahkiin is my CoC's son. In my mind my Nerevarine and CoC are long-lost cousins explaining the same name, race and outlook on things.

Anyway, an Altmer or Dunmer mage could quite easily be over 200 years old. IIRC Fyr's "daughters" mention that the only beings older than him could be High Elf mages in Summerset, and he's 4000 years old. Recently-cured Vampirism or Restoration skill would explain longevity of any other race.

Thanks.