Longevity: Could anyone live from current timeline to Skyrim?

Vecro

Title.

I'm considering a race change to Dark Elf or Imperial. Dark Elf may be the go if I can get it confirmed that they could live all the way to Skyrim's timeline or even the upcoming ES game. Bonus points if anyone could confirm if Imperial could too, though I'm sure its unlikely, haha.

Elo106

Divayth Fyr for sure and maybe other telvanni who survived the slaughter

Ilsabet

It's arguable that the Vestige in particular could be considered functionally immortal, since their body is made of chaotic creatia and can't be permanently killed by conventional means. Regular mortal races might be pushing it except in cases that involve extreme magical manipulation (like Fyr), but if you wanted to RP that your Vestige survives well beyond their race's normal lifespan, I think you'd have grounds to justify it.

VaranisArano

We don't see any non-Daedric Prince characters in both ESO and Skyrim. However, the answer is yes, and you don't have to be a Dunmer IF you join the Psijic Order as part of your roleplay.

Ulliceta gra-Kogg is an Orc and a member of the Psijic Order in ESO. When you ask her how long she's been in Artaeum, she says:

"Something like three hundred and fifty years. Give or take a decade. I know what you're thinking. She looks spritely for her age, right? Long life comes with the robes. The Psijics don't think you can learn much of anything in a normal Orc lifetime."

She later appears at the end of the 3rd Era in TESIV Oblivion where she's been expelled from the Order for her interest in Necromancy, and has sided with the Necromancer faction in the Cyrodiil Mages Guild. She dies fighting the Hero of Kvatch.

So between her 350 years in Artaeum + the time between ESO and Oblivion, yeah, anyone could live from ESO to Skyrim by using Psijic methods.


Of course, there are other methods. Telvanni Magister Dratha makes a bargain with a daedra for long life that keeps her around until at least the end of 3rd Era (we don't know her fate as of Skyrim). Paladin Gelebor and his brother Vrythur have been around since before the disappearance of the Dwemer. Lord Harkon and family are probably around since either the 1st or 2nd Era depending on how you interpret Serana's sometimes contradictory dialogue.

There's even some precedent for a Vestige-like person coming back centuries after their death: Umaril the Unfeathered tied himself to Meridia's realm through the Waters of Oblivion (the same Chaos Creatia the soul-shriven are made from), and thus returns in TES IV Oblivion during the Knights of the Nine with only the Lord Crusader able to truly slay him with the Blessing of the Nine Divines.


So I'd say go for it. There's nothing in the lore that says you can't, and there's a good many possibilities for how to do it.

Adremal

Orgnum, Miraak and Lamae Bal are missing from the aforementioned. Whether residing in Oblivion or various forms of undeath (liches are mortals turned immortal, too) count as cheating is rather moot if the point is to cheat death (willingly or not), and if we count Divayth Fyr in, well he's also most definitely a "cheater", albeit not an undead one.
Which reminds me of another one, Haskill is a moral-turned-Vestige.
P.s. no idea why I double posted, I meant to edit a typo.

Dagoth_Rac

Maybe M'aiq will tell you the secret. He knows many things, but only tells some.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

You could always go vampire.

wenchmore420b14_ESO

Just to note, that most, not all, of the above examples are vampires.
Divayth Fyr is just a really good mage, and Gelebor is a paladin of Auri El.
One other who has lived thousands of years, the last dwemer, Yagrum Bagarn.

Bottom line? Yes there are some who can live the 900 years between ESO and TES5.
Just my 2 drakes.
Huzzah!

M_Volsung

Now I'm picturing my Nord ESO main crashing into TESV's Mistveil Keep and bellowing at them wanting to know what in oblivion they did to her house...

Reverb

Neloth

WraithCaller88

If I recall correctly, elves in Elder Scrolls only live a few centuries... typically 300-400 years or so, and do grow old & die of old age. We meet quite a few elderly elves from great mages like Vanus Galerion to humble fishermen. Of all the elves, altmer live the longest thanks to Phynaster, if you believe the myths.

So far as surviving into the 4th era, its absolutely possible through a variety of magics:

• Divinity, whether by ascending to godhood like Tiber Septim or stealing divine power like the Tribunal.
• Lichdom, obviously. Whether the Maanimarco we meet in Oblivion is the same as the one in ESO, a pretender, or the mortal incarnation of his god-form as the Necromancer's Moon is a whole other can of worms (see what I did there?). But we're still bumping into ayleid liches in the 3rd era, so...
• Vampirism, see above. According to Serana and Harkon, they've been around since before the FIRST empire...
• Mysticism magic - since the Psijics are masters of Mysticism, we can infer that it's probably the source of their longevity (though its also possible time may flow differently in Artaeum...)
• Daedric magic - Mistress Dratha makes a bargain with a dremora for immortality, though the dremora implies that he'll eventually claim her soul for Coldharbour.

And there's likely other forms of magic as well... Almost all the Telvanni masters we meet in ESO survive into the 3rd era at least, and based on what Neloth tells us, likely some make it into the 4th era as well (the whole 'Argonians wiping out House Telvanni' seems to be either a retcon or a case of unreliable narrator).

So the tl;dr is, it doesn't matter what your race is, as long as you have suitable magic to extend your lifespan. If you're a powerful mage, you could probably just handwave an explanation, but if you don't do magic (and high-level magic at that), you'd probably need a powerful magic artifact at least. Or you could just be a vampire, as long as you aren't bothered by undeath.

Mycelius

Serana and Valerica
At this point in time, Serana is entombed in Dimhallow Crypt while her mother is in the Soul Cairn.

moleculardrugs

I think once the Heart of Lorkhan was destroyed, Vivec would then begin aging. Since elves live so long, Vivec would probably still be alive in Skyrim's timeline, since he's also needed in the 5th Era due to the return of Numidium. But I don't know if the 5th era stuff is set in stone or if it's just a hypothetical or possible reality for TES in the future.

Elsonso

Mycelius wrote: »

Serana and Valerica
At this point in time, Serana is entombed in Dimhallow Crypt while her mother is in the Soul Cairn.

There is also one Dwemer, Yagrum Bagarn, that is around during the time of ESO and up through at least Morrowind. It is not clear whether he survived both Corpus and Red Mountain to make it all the way to the time of Skyrim. That would be an impressive longevity record, either way.

VaranisArano

moleculardrugs wrote: »

I think once the Heart of Lorkhan was destroyed, Vivec would then begin aging. Since elves live so long, Vivec would probably still be alive in Skyrim's timeline, since he's also needed in the 5th Era due to the return of Numidium. But I don't know if the 5th era stuff is set in stone or if it's just a hypothetical or possible reality for TES in the future.

The 5th era stuff is all Michael Kirkbride fanlore that may or may not influence the direction that Bethesda takes the series.

C0da got a major nod in ESO with the 37th Sermon of Vivec, so some people think that canonized the whole thing. I don't agree, but I suppose we won't know until Bethesda moves into that era...which could be TES VI or TES XIX, shortly followed by the release of Skyrim: Bicentennial Edition.

WraithCaller88

Elsonso wrote: »

Mycelius wrote: »

Serana and Valerica
At this point in time, Serana is entombed in Dimhallow Crypt while her mother is in the Soul Cairn.

There is also one Dwemer, Yagrum Bagarn, that is around during the time of ESO and up through at least Morrowind. It is not clear whether he survived both Corpus and Red Mountain to make it all the way to the time of Skyrim. That would be an impressive longevity record, either way.

I'm pretty sure that Yagrum's longevity is the result of Corpus, since Corpus makes the Nerevarine immortal as well. And I'd guess that if Divayth Fyr survived (which he probably did, tbh), so did Yagrum.

BlueRaven

Mannimarco? Could he still be alive? Somehow?

Elsonso

BlueRaven wrote: »

Mannimarco? Could he still be alive? Somehow?

He lives as a Lich

BlueRaven

Elsonso wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

Mannimarco? Could he still be alive? Somehow?

He lives as a Lich

Right, I was just not sure if he was confirmed destroyed or not. But if still "alive" (active?) does that count?

VaranisArano

BlueRaven wrote: »

Mannimarco? Could he still be alive? Somehow?

The Necromancer's Moon is still around, so in at least one sense, yeah. I'm pretty sur

BlueRaven wrote: »

Mannimarco? Could he still be alive? Somehow?

The Necromancers Moon is still around, so at least in some form, yes. I'm pretty sure we killed his Lich form in Oblivion.

WraithCaller88

VaranisArano wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

Mannimarco? Could he still be alive? Somehow?

The Necromancer's Moon is still around, so in at least one sense, yeah. I'm pretty sur

BlueRaven wrote: »

Mannimarco? Could he still be alive? Somehow?

The Necromancers Moon is still around, so at least in some form, yes. I'm pretty sure we killed his Lich form in Oblivion.

I don't think that we've ever gotten in-lore confirmation of Oblivion Mannimarco vs. Necromancer's Moon... according to the UESP, they're two different versions of him from alternate timelines from Daggerfall because of the Dragon Break.

But in Morrowind, we actually meet an avatar of ol' Talos himself, so maybe Mannimarco can create avatars as well?

moleculardrugs

VaranisArano wrote: »

moleculardrugs wrote: »

I think once the Heart of Lorkhan was destroyed, Vivec would then begin aging. Since elves live so long, Vivec would probably still be alive in Skyrim's timeline, since he's also needed in the 5th Era due to the return of Numidium. But I don't know if the 5th era stuff is set in stone or if it's just a hypothetical or possible reality for TES in the future.

The 5th era stuff is all Michael Kirkbride fanlore that may or may not influence the direction that Bethesda takes the series.

C0da got a major nod in ESO with the 37th Sermon of Vivec, so some people think that canonized the whole thing. I don't agree, but I suppose we won't know until Bethesda moves into that era...which could be TES VI or TES XIX, shortly followed by the release of Skyrim: Bicentennial Edition.

With all the cool lore they've added with the previous TES games and the new ESO zones (Fargrave, Deadlands), I honestly don't see Numidium being that powerful. It just seems like even the bad daedric princes wouldn't want to see Nirn destroyed because (unless it was by their doing) because that would give them no one to mess with.

Mycelius

Velehk Sain

The mention of the Abecean Sea with the upcoming chapter reminded me of the Pirate King of the Abecean Sea.
We may meet this Dremora at Dark Anchor events, and the LDB gets to re-summon him in 4th era Winterhold. So I suppose he qualifies the 'from current timeline to Skyrim' (TES V) query, if we look beyond man/mer/beastfolk entities.

SianTamzin

Morrowind had a Dark Elf Telvanni that's over 4000 years old, so just make up stuff with magic and sure why not?

NotaDaedraWorshipper

Mycelius wrote: »

Velehk Sain

The mention of the Abecean Sea with the upcoming chapter reminded me of the Pirate King of the Abecean Sea.
We may meet this Dremora at Dark Anchor events, and the LDB gets to re-summon him in 4th era Winterhold. So I suppose he qualifies the 'from current timeline to Skyrim' (TES V) query, if we look beyond man/mer/beastfolk entities.

Velehk is a daedra. They don't age.

Malyore

You could also just skip ahead in time without having to live through all 1000 years. Blackreach has a time machine, and blackreach IS in Skyrim, so it'd drop you off right in the game you want to be in.

TX12001rwb17_ESO

The Vestige is an "immortal" mortal anyway, your only mortal in the sense your not Daedric or Aedric but it does not mean you are vulnerable to permanent death, the ability to recreate your physical form after being destroyed is not a game mechanic.

Elsonso

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

The Vestige is an "immortal" mortal anyway, your only mortal in the sense your not Daedric or Aedric but it does not mean you are vulnerable to permanent death, the ability to recreate your physical form after being destroyed is not a game mechanic.

My thinking is that there is room for an Elder Scrolls "prequel' to Arena where a hero arises and banishes the Vestige, who is an evil world-ending creature worthy of an Elder Scrolls tale. As with many creatures, drunk with their own power, they become a problem. A fitting place for This would come before the rise of Tiber Septim, as any immortal, almost god-like, Vestage around at that time would be a problem for the future emperor.

Gadamlub14_ESO

BlueRaven wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

Mannimarco? Could he still be alive? Somehow?

He lives as a Lich

Right, I was just not sure if he was confirmed destroyed or not. But if still "alive" (active?) does that count?

Oh boy. something to make me log in after all this time.

While as many have said, we do not know for sure if the King of worms in Oblivion is the real mannimarco in some fragment, or a pretender he does in fact appear once more in lore sometime between ESO and Arena.

There was a major battle between the worm cult and the mages guild in which Vanus the founder of the mages guild fought with mannimarco and they supposedly destroyed each other. So no matter your choices in the MQ of ESO, Mannimarco eventually escapes Coldharbor.

Malyore

Gadamlub14_ESO wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

BlueRaven wrote: »

Mannimarco? Could he still be alive? Somehow?

He lives as a Lich

Right, I was just not sure if he was confirmed destroyed or not. But if still "alive" (active?) does that count?

While as many have said, we do not know for sure if the King of worms in Oblivion is the real mannimarco in some fragment, or a pretender he does in fact appear once more in lore sometime between ESO and Arena.

I know this is unrelated to the original question but he also appears in Daggerfall, and by lore of the warp of the west he managed to use the numidium to become godlike to some degree. Unless the other warps, like the emperors, then nullified that? It could also just be each manimarco we see is someone who has mantled themself to his status, even if prior manimarcos had been killed.

Browiseth

vampires most certainly can, so there's at least one guaranteed avenue to make your headcanon work

besides that, it is known that telvanni mages were/are able to extend their normal lifespan using magic, though i'm not sure how long for