[Open]

[spellcollect]

[ Frieren's mind opens up; as before, on the surface it's a calm, smooth pond. She's not quite used to this, so the connection (at first) is a touch tentative and then as she feels her way forward it opens more until she thinks she's finally ready. ]

I have a question for all of you. And you may consider it a simple matter of curiosity; I won't take offense at being ignored.

[ There's a pause, as if she's collecting her thoughts. ]

How many of you are long-lived species? Or long-lived by virtue of who you are? My kind are rare, even in my world, so I can't assume others will be particularly more common here, at the end of the universe.

[ It's an open question. ]

Comments

[redsoil]

I was neither born, nor will die.

[ He'll entertain her an answer. ]

What does that mean to you?

[spellcollect]

That it's a powerful claim.

[ Frieren registers interest; a bit of fascination. ]

But I don't know if it means anything to me. I was born and I will die, eventually. But that's very far in the future, as far as I know.

[dreamflowers]

Well, I can't speak for anyone else here, but my kind tends to live longer than humans do... when we're allowed to live at all.

[Ouch.]

I'm only half-Aeterna, but supposedly we have a lifespan of about a couple centuries or so, I think. And our ancestors were much longer-lived by thousands of years.

[spellcollect]

Your ancestors sound like my people; we live for quite a long time if we're not killed.

[ There's a flicker of attention there. ]

Being "allowed" to live sounds... troublesome.

🔒 private

[sterngaze]

I don't know how many of "my kind" there are, or how long I might live in the regular course of things. I never met another in my own world.

[Although the details he volunteers to this stranger are not a secret, he keeps his contact private, because he is not in the habit of discussing personal information where everyone can overhear.]

But I have lived longer than a human man ever would, without magical intervention.

private;

[spellcollect]

Are you not human, then?

[ Her attention turns on him; analytical and gently probing. It's not invasive; she's just curious. ]

A different race? Or enhanced by magic?

[wolfish]

Rarely, humans can live unnaturally long lives where I come from. The conditions are pretty specific though.

[ And more theory than hard fact. ]

[spellcollect]

Are there others besides humans? Magical enhancement of lifespan isn't known where I'm from. At least not beyond medical treatment or healing, of course. But even healing magic can't stop old age.

[eightfoldfiend]

[A rippling, oily presence reaches across the Communion.]

Your kind? What are you, then?

[spellcollect]

[ Hmm. Interesting. ]

An elf. What are you?

[baltimores]

[ Oh, this is an interesting one. Amos' presence is somewhat muted, void-like; but Frieren's is pleasant in turn, so he's placid in response. ]

What do you mean by long-lived? I guess humans can live a long time. There were anti-aging drugs where I was from.

[spellcollect]

[ Her attention shifts to Amos; it's a curious sort of attention. Distant, but observing. Not wanting to probe unnecessarily. ]

Beyond normal human lifespan. I suppose seventy, eighty, one hundred years at best.

[ There's a pause before she adds. ]

...I've lived much longer than that.

[cutlery]

[ Communing with Sebastian is strange because of the expanse of shadowy dark and the cool tenor that his feelings run at, but the question is met with a little curl of interested delight. ]

A wonderful question. It is one of the fascinating things about Kenos, is it not? The diversity of peoples is still a marvel to me, even now...

[ He means it! Every time he meets a new "species" of person, he's more than happy to talk with them at length. So, the answer to her question also comes easily. ]

But I am long-lived, certainly. My kind are not immortal, precisely, but very close to it. We do not suffer from things like disease or aging, so as long as we do not meet a violent end, we will continue. Tracking our longevity is a bit of a complicated thing, so I cannot give you a precise answer... But I have existed for several thousand years at this point, personally.

[spellcollect]

You seem to be one of the exceptions.

[ She's curious. What a strange feeling he exudes... ]

Are your people simply naturally long-lived? Or immortal, as you say, unless you're killed? And how does that affect your interactions with humans?

[bakedapple]

What do you mean by "long-lived"?

Hylians aren't considered long-lived, but I guess you'd say I'm long-lived at this point. Between my life at home and my time in Kenos, I'm way over 200 years old by now... which is more like how long a Zora lives, not a Hylian.

[spellcollect]

Longer than typical human lifespan.

[ Hm. Interesting. ]

That's about a fifth of my current age. So... comparatively long lived. But not as long as I was imagining.

[tresemme]

Me.

[ technically, they’re all long-lived now, but tony doesn’t actually count “sleeping” as “living.” soldier blue probably wouldn’t either. ]

Mu can control how they look on the outside if they feel older or younger, but our bodies are naturally slow to age. Actually… I don’t know anyone who died just because they were old.

[spellcollect]

That's a little familiar. We don't control our appearance in that manner, but we age very slowly, if at all. And we do eventually die of old age, it just... takes quite a while.

[holonethero]

[Strange, to hear another's mind without the deep connection of a Force Bond. But not so strange that Anakin will ignore it.

Anakin reaches out, curious.]

I'm merely human, though Jedi like myself do tend to live longer than most thanks to our connection to the Force. But there are species in my home galaxy that live for many, many centuries.

What would you consider your kind?

[spellcollect]

Elves. Although I don't know if that's familiar to you or even similar to anything you know of. Are non-humans common where you're from?

𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖊

[tattooism]

"Your kind"?

It's a bit rude to ask questions of the rest of us without first spilling your own guts, isn't it?

It makes it seem as if you might be collecting information for nefarious purpose...

private;

[spellcollect]

I apologize; that wasn't my intention.

[ How curious. ]

I am an elf; I have lived for a thousand years and unless I'm killed, I'll probably live for much longer.

Private

[fishfearme]

Myself.

[Considering his Nabatean heritage and Jeralt being older than donkey years, Byleth was fairly confident in assuming that his lifespan would be similar to or even longer than his father's. He didn't like to think about it too much, though...]

I'm not sure how long-lived, though. I'm something of a, ah, hybrid.

[spellcollect]

I see. This would have to do with your ability to transform?

[ She remembers their earlier encounter. ]

[diegeticmusic]

I haven't lived long myself, but I'm slowly inheriting the memories of the goddess of my line. So eventually, it will be like I have lived for thousands of years.

[Though, she's not counting the 114 years they all just spent asleep. She wonders if that is what the gap will feel like, when she eventually regains her memories of the surrounding time.]

I was wondering if maybe that's what determined who comes here and who dies with our worlds... but there's plenty of humans here, too, so I don't think that's it.

[spellcollect]

...that's an interesting situation to be in. I've never heard of something like that.

[ She's quietly fascinated. ]

I'm not sure longevity has anything to do with it. So far it's seemed... random.

here with my late tag-in...!

[sheezit]

[ That kinda feels like a trick questions, but-- ]

I dunno about species, but guess you could say I'm related to some guys who have been around for a pretty long while. Might not be a natural process, either. No idea what that says about me.

[ A beat. ]

Do you think you could figure it out from a glance?

[spellcollect]

I don't think so. I could look at your mana and that might tell me something, but I'd need to very thoroughly examine you to know more than that. And life or healing magic has never been one of my strong areas.

[ Sorry, Shez. ]