Non-Human Growth

I know I made a thread a while ago, probably a few years ago, about what is the age scale for each Predator Race. Now, I have a question similar to that one. I've been wondering how an Elf grows. Do they grow at the same rate as a Human but then stops when it reaches a Human's young adulthood, or do they grow up at a much slower rate? By that, I mean physical changes.

Now, since Predators in Felarya seem to be subject to the same thing, how does a Predator's visible changes from growth go? Does it go at the same rate as a Human being, but stops when it reaches a certain age? Like 15 years old for example, or is it similar to a Human, except either it takes it more or fewer years to have go from the appearance of a five-year old to a ten-year old?

I am aware that the soil plays a certain factor in this, mainly stopping degeneration from very advanced age, but I don't think a Felaryan born baby will look like a baby all of its life, except taller. That would be a bit too silly IMO.

well partially the soil has to do with rapid regeneration, which doesn't really play a factor into physical/biological changes to the body.

I like to think of wolverine. He aged physically normally, but his mutant ability was regeneration, and he aged along the same lines as a normal person.

It may work, however, Elves are the biggest problem. Since they are the common "long-lived" fantasy race, is their growth slower than a Human? For example, is an Elf with the appearance of a 5-year old boy really 20 years old, or is he 5 years old like a Human?

The same can be said about Predators. How old was Crisis when Temi found her near dead? We know she's around 60 years old but looks like a 19-year old at the present, but did she gain that 19-year old appearance 19 years after she hatched and then stopped aging because of the soil, or did she gain it when she was nearing 60 years of age?

This is something I've wanted to know for a while. I assumed a century had to pass before they fully matured body-wise. and I mostly assumed this was true for most non-human races.

I think that sort of question is better left to Karbo

First off, about Preds growing up: yes, I would say they do grow up. Some of the preds seem to have been magically moved from other worlds, anyway, where they had to grow up beforehand.

Some boring technical stuff:

Spoiler:

Yeah.

Kain wrote:

First off, about Preds growing up: yes, I would say they do grow up.

Well that's obvious, I think what Sean is trying to ask is this.

"What impact does one year of earth time have on the age of X predator?"

AJ has it. For a Human being, after five years, the person will usually look quite different early in its life. However, when it comes to races like Elves, Centaurs and Sphinxes, does that five years bring about as big significant changes to their appearance, or does it take them around fifty years to reach a fully matured body.

Going back to Crisis, let's compare her to Vivian. Crisis obviously looks younger than Vivian, who has the appearance of a top-model somewhere in her twenties. We could argue Vivian's age, but she must be pretty old given her magic expertise. Did it take her about eighty or so years to look that way?

Let's ask the same question again, but this time, let's remove the Soil from the equation. In almost all other fantasy worlds, Elves are the longest-lived sapient race, sometimes even incapable of dying from old age. For these types of setting, how long does it take for an Elf to gain their fully-matured body? Is it at the same rate as a Human, such as they will look like a 15-year old Human 15 years after their birth, or is it at a different rate such as a 50-year old Elf will look like a 10-year old Human?

If we put the Soil back into the equation, yes, it does play a role into their growth. However, it doesn't explicitely say that all races grow up at the same rate. It only stops damage caused by advanced age. I know the age of adulthood vary widely from culture to culture, but when does a non-human sapient creature reach a fully mature body on average?

well there's environmental aging and biological aging. HOW aging works is still largely a mystery even for today, so since there's nothing for us to base our theories on makes this thread largely pointless as we'll never really get anywhere.

I guess you can start off by saying that we are the sum of our experiences. When you're six, not much has happened, but my middle age we've had enough experience to develop various habits than can effect our health. Note that stress also has been a factor in speeding up the aging process, which I doubt really has anything to do with a disease.

Scientists do maintain, however, that chronological age has little bearing on biological age. The number of candles on your birthday cake merely serves as a marker of time; it says little about your health.

Some diseases like cancer and heart problems speed up the aging process here on earth, but since we're on felarya, that gets taken out of the equation. (Those diseases play an important role because it effects tissue and cell damage).

Biologically we can determine that some cells continuously reproduce like the ones along your gastrointestinal tract, while others such as nerves and muscle cells cannot reproduce. These cells will die eventually and must be taken over by other cells. Eventually cell death out paces cell reproduction.

Keep in mind this is just the basic concept of aging that needs to be understood. So far past this everything is all theoretical.

So when it comes down to it, Crisis could have aged faster or slower due to stress from what she went through when she was younger. Also, her cells might reproduce faster and keep her aging slower. Though I don't think this tells us exactly why a person will appear to age quicker or not, as there are genetic defects when it comes to aging as well. To be honest I think all you can say is "she reaches maturity slower" or "she reaches maturity faster" as there really is no definite answer.

p.s. oldman I did my best, and came out with the answer being "maybe". I hope you're proud.

Bael, I main only biological aging. How can you not realize that when I kept mentioning things such as prevent damages from healing, the APPEARANCE of a 5 and 10-year old?

Quote :

Bael, I main only biological aging. How can you not realize that when I kept mentioning things such as prevent damages from healing, the APPEARANCE of a 5 and 10-year old?

I included biological aging in my response. I assume you mean "mean" and not "main". Also, I did a ctrl+f search for "biological" you never wrote that word before me .

I assumed you would know since it's pretty obvious I'm talking about changes in appearance. I've even asked if Crisis looks the way she is over her 60 years or if it was when she was 19 and then stopped aging? You even said that it was something that Karbo should answer. How can you fail that?

Archmage_Bael wrote:

p.s. oldman I did my best, and came out with the answer being "maybe". I hope you're proud.

Very proud!

*Cracks knuckles*

Alright folks, I figure I'd weigh in on my views on this.

First of all, just a refresh on the healing factor. It is some kind of force, likely magical, that radiates up from the soil of Felarya, spreading through the ground, the trees, the oceans, the sky, and any being in contact with them. It super-enhances a living being's natural healing processes and immune system. Viruses, bacteria, fungi and so on can exist in Felarya (likely brought in from other worlds all the time), but the immune systems of living beings are so powerful that they are all nuetralized before they reproduce enough to begin to cause sickness. Sickness CAN happen though. Poisons and venoms are perfectly capable of killing, since the more powerful ones can damage the body's systems quicker than the healing factor can repair. Parasites also work, for much of the same reason. Magical curses work as well.

Wounds and injuries heal much quicker, because the body's natural processes are enhanced. This is by no means instant, just enhanced. A broken limb may heal in a couple weeks, instead of a couple months for example. You are still perfectly capable of getting killed, since healing is still a relatively slow process. Diseases like cancer, and other progressive illnesses would start to heal up when you come to Felarya (a possible business venture perhaps? Selling a trip to Negav to the terminally ill to heal them?), but I doubt genetic abnormalities, like being blind from birth, or missing a limb at birth, would be fixed. That is hard-coded into someone's body. It isn't an injury that can just be healed. Its the "natural" state of their body.

Now onto the topic of aging.

The human body reaches its "prime" at about the age of 26-28 years old. This is the point where you're at the top of the hill so to speak. After this age, the body begins its slow deterioration into old age. Someone born in Felarya ages and grows normally, until they reach this "prime" point. The point where any more aging would start to degrade the body. This is where the healing factor kicks in, preventing any further aging for the individual. People who appear older than 28 or so either come from off-world, or are hiding their true appearance through other means.

Now, for the most part, larger creatures age at a slower rate and live longer. I think this applies to a predator. It is just one of the many factors in place to ensure that their population does not run rampant and upset the balance. Nearly all predators, when they are born, are roughly human-sized. The only real exceptions to this are giant Elves, Fairies, Centaurs and other live-birth hybrids. Dridders, Harpies, Mermaids, and most Nagas all lay eggs of some sort. The world of Felarya is an exceptionally dangerous place for the young, and as such, it is safe to assume that, even with parents around, the mortality rate among young predators is fairly high. Good parenting does help with this though.

These young predators feed on small game. Small fish, mice, rats, squirrels, bugs, fruit, and sometimes tinies like Neera and Tonthumb races. These predator children either have parents to protect them, or they learn to be elusive. Small size can be a great survival tool if you know how to use it.

Gradually, they would enter what I like to call the "tween" phase. The predator is between being a child, and being an adult. It is too large to survive on small game anymore, but too small to eat humans and larger games. I imagine this is the most trying time for a young pred. They will need to get creative with their diet. Lots of fruits and a mix of small and medium sized game. Some, like Nagas, COULD potentially eat humans, but it is risky. Of course, giant Elves, Fairies, Centaurs and so on will have a less drastic tween phase than the egg-born creatures.

Finally, they will reach maturity, and age until they reach their prime, where, like with humans, aging stops.

I believe that predators would age slower than humans. Becoming an adult is a test of attrition and creativity...and once they're full-grown, only the largest and meanest creatures in their region post a serious threat. If we assume a human reaches maturity at the age of 18 or so, I think its only reasonable to have predators reach maturity at about 36-40 years old, with their prime reached at about 50-60. Crisis, for example, would only have been an adult for 20 years or so, and would have only recently reached her prime, where her aging stops.

This is all just theory, but generally, large animals take longer to mature and are less numerous. They have a high mortality rate when young, that decreases the older they get. Humans, and human-sized creatures, fill in the role of the "prey" race in Felarya, and seem to largely follow similar rules. They have shorter lifespans (not that it matters with immortality), take less time to reach maturity, and are much more numerous than the predators.

oh! I was wondering how that worked out. That sounds much very reasonable Cliff.

And here I thought kids on Felarya never aged. Growth that stops once you hit your prime seems much like a far better explanation.

I agree, great take on the question here ^_^
It's more or less how I see things as well

I agree, that was an excellent description of why aging for predators would be slower and such. I always assumed that people stop aging at their prime in felarya, the scientific explanations of what makes them age and mature slower naturally is far more complex. I'm content with what rcs said

Something else, what is the thing with hair growth? Crisis lived quite a long time, and yet her hair stops at about her waist or hips. Vivian is obviously older and her hair is pretty much the same length. In fact, in the picture that showed Crisis with her Fairy "family", her hair was pretty much the same length as the present time.

maybe they just cut their hair?

Sean Okotami wrote:

Something else, what is the thing with hair growth? Crisis lived quite a long time, and yet her hair stops at about her waist or hips. Vivian is obviously older and her hair is pretty much the same length. In fact, in the picture that showed Crisis with her Fairy "family", her hair was pretty much the same length as the present time.

No doubt there are some great hairstylists in the jungle.

For a more serious answer: The might probably cut it themselves with the right tools. A sharpened rock, a severed claw, etc.

observer88 wrote:

a severed claw

Now we know what keeps the tonorion population down, predators looking for blades to cut their hair with.