: I'd like to propose some definitions for your collective
: consideration.
: 1. Immortal: completely unable to die. Can be beheaded,
: burned at the stake, ground into the dust, etc., but
: will always have the ability to return.
: 2. Ageless: Not able to die through Natural Causes most
: notable of which: old age. However, can be killed by
: violence & physical destruction not caused by
: natural causes.
: 3. Deathless: see Ageless. Totally interchangable with
: Ageless. (the Heron Guards are referred to as
: "deathless" but we are certainly aware that
: they can be killed by violence). Also, Myrmidons are
: Deathless because although they suffer from natural
: decay, they cannot die from it. They must die from
: violence.
: 4. Mortal: (A) susceptible to death by any means. In this
: sense, the Ageless and Deathless are Mortal because
: they are suceptible to death, albeit in fewer ways.
: (B) anyone who is not Immortal nor Ageless.
: 5. Eternal life: a state in which one is no longer able
: to die from old age. This is the state of
: Agelessness/Deathlessness. The Heron Guards,
: Myrmidons, the Watcher, Myrdred, and most notable
: magic users have eternal life. This does not however
: imply Eternal Youth (see below), nor does it ever
: imply insusceptibility to death via violence.
: Therefore anyone with eternal life can die by means
: other than old age. So it isn't truly 'eternal' if you
: fall on a spike, but it's as close as we can hope to
: get to Eternity.
: 6. Eternal youth: a state in which a person retains his
: or her appearance, either for the entire endurance of
: life or in which the appearance of old age is
: extremely retarded throughout that endurance. NOTE:
: although the myrmidons were given eternal life, they
: were tricked by Balor and *not* given eternal youth,
: which is what they actually sought. People like the
: Heron Guard *do* have eternal youth in addition to
: eternal life. Hence their constant middle-aged
: appearance. Soulblighter had this, also. Because the
: Myrms didn't have eternal youth, they did not retain
: their looks and thus the body decayed. But the eternal
: life, which they *did* have, prevented the aging of
: the body to cause death.
: Please consider these carefully and let me know what you
: think.
: -Welly
Some examples from Myth and other Fantasy for his terms (which I agree with)
1)Immortal: The Leveller
2)and 3) The Elves in Lord of the Rings
4)b Ordinary Humans (of any type of fantasy)
Sounds like Welly has come up with a good set of terms, now all we need to do is start using them.
Seraph
