Hi!
I have a question in regards to a side-effect sometimes seen with fel-usage. We see a few characters rapidly age as their control over the fel grows and some sources say this is something the fel just DOES to you.
But then…We have examples of many elves who use the fel and don’t age as such - Blood Elves, Felborne, etc. It seems to mostly be humans and orcs who age very quickly. Is this because elves get corrupted differently than humans and orcs do? Or is it simply that elves have such naturally long lives that the rapid aging takes much longer to become obvious?
Appreciate any insight you guys might have! Thanks!
Assuming that Blizz is being consistent with their own lore in this case then I’d say this is the reason. Plus old elves don’t even look aged.
Lor’themar looks pretty old, especially in his new model.
Elves are intrinsically magical. It’s possible that whatever biological deterioration affects others simply doesn’t hit them because they’re more deeply attuned to magic.
For comparison, note that almost no actual demons look “old” as we would understand it.
2 Likes
Aren’t demons immortal? I imagine aging itself doesn’t act on immortal beings, like the spell placed on Khadgar wouldn’t work on a pre-Archimonde nelf.
I think it’s mostly that lifespans are ridiculously long with elves as seen with Thalyssra or Lorash.
However I think it’s confusing how fel magic affected the High Elves, the rules for “going green” are really strange.
(Observation): Fel Magic is created through the ritual destruction of Life essence, so in a sense, it makes sense that someone who masters fel is going to age prematurely, as their own life essence would be affected by this process, I imagine.
(Speculative): As others have said, the most likely reason elves do not noticeably age prematurely from wielding fel magic would be that their lifespans are simply much longer by nature. It would take longer for them to visually age due to using fel magic, or so it would be logical to assume.
Which is a problem. There is no reason that an elf should look so haggard.
1 Like
well, consider all that he and his people have had to go through, all in the the course of just the past, what, 15-20 years?
2 Likes
Also as I recall the Fel magic being used to speed grow Orcs and in rarer cases Humans was used to PURPOSEFULLY speed up their ageing, so it isn’t necessarily an inherent effect.
Maybe he’s going through the divorced Dad phase and he’s had too many TV dinners and it’s starting to show.
1 Like
He looks more battle-worn and stressed, rather than old to me. Especially in the cinematics. Stress can mimic aging effects. But I don’t think he looks particularly old, just … mature
3 Likes
Probably that last one, Orc “old age” is roughly 90 and in Humans in game it’s around 80. For Blood elves, the elves with the shortest life spans, 3,000 is elderly and 4,000 is close to croaking.
I believe Lorash tossed out the previously thought lifespan of the Blood Elves.
3 Likes
I don’t disagree, but he’s still an elf. The aging just feels off to me.
Yeah, that happened at the same time we tossed out Golden for her ridiculousness.
1 Like
They are pretty much immortal yet get White hair eventually and the Kings seem to have their Soul fade(as Arthas sensed) causing death for some reason.
As to what could possibly be eating/wearing away at the Elven Kings’ Souls… No idea. The Sunstriders have always been an anomaly even as Night Elves.
Pretty much every depiction of Blood Elves shows them as wrickled and stressed.
1 Like
I remember it was on the Rise of the Horde book where it says orcish warlocks back on the first two wars used to age young orcs with fel.
I think basically, if you drain someone’s vital essence in a certain way you can basically age them. With orcs they are combat ready at 12 so basically the warlocks aged kids to 12 years old, gave them basic training, put an axe on their hand and said ‘‘Fetch!’’
Wich is…quite screwed up that you spend warcraft 1 and 2 killing children in adult bodies cause the Horde needed soldiers fast.
That’s what happens to orcs, with elves I suppose it could happen but you would need to age them the equivalent to 100 years since elves reach maturity later. But of course that’s theorethical cause no one tried that with elves in the canon lore as far as I know.
Lorash was an exception, not the rule, as far as I remember. I believe the book hints at that. Not to mention several other sources of lore that are not retconned.
Average blood elf lifespan would still be lower relative to his, just like some humans can live upto 120 years.
Blood elves are akin to immortal according to a Thousand Year war.
1 Like