Jdailey1991
Sage
A typical elvish couple is not monogamous, but rather tesseramory, coupling one couple with another couple. With the exceptions of the werewolves and certain populations of satyrs, bisexuality is so common among xenosimians that we're not sure if there are any hetero- or homosexual individuals. In the case of the elves, having a family of two males and two females would work in easing them from "choosing sides".
In modern fantasy, the elves have been associated with eternal youth. Indeed, the real elves do live longer than humans, but not by infinity. Whereas the average human lifespan is 79 years, the average elvish lifespan is 150. Typical female pregnancy varies between 200 and 241 days, and twins are the usual compartment. This actually puts a real strain on development and may actually explain why elves live so long. Having milk that is 3% fat, 14% sugar and 15% protein might sound helpful, but it really isn't. The infant's brain is only 21% the size of the adult's (which is beneath the human baby's 28%, itself beneath the dwarvish baby's 35%.) In the first ten days of birth, the babies won't open their eyes. They'll be blind and deaf until they are four months old, but they won't be able to stand until their second birthday. Really, here is how long each stage of elvish development lasts:
So with that backstory in mind, what could prompt an elvish society to disregard tesseramory and embrace monogamy instead?
In modern fantasy, the elves have been associated with eternal youth. Indeed, the real elves do live longer than humans, but not by infinity. Whereas the average human lifespan is 79 years, the average elvish lifespan is 150. Typical female pregnancy varies between 200 and 241 days, and twins are the usual compartment. This actually puts a real strain on development and may actually explain why elves live so long. Having milk that is 3% fat, 14% sugar and 15% protein might sound helpful, but it really isn't. The infant's brain is only 21% the size of the adult's (which is beneath the human baby's 28%, itself beneath the dwarvish baby's 35%.) In the first ten days of birth, the babies won't open their eyes. They'll be blind and deaf until they are four months old, but they won't be able to stand until their second birthday. Really, here is how long each stage of elvish development lasts:
- 0-4: Infancy
- 5-7: Toddler
- 8-16: Child
- 17-25: Puberty
- 26-34: Adolescent
- 35-88: Adult
- 89-144: Middle age
- 145-150: Old age
So with that backstory in mind, what could prompt an elvish society to disregard tesseramory and embrace monogamy instead?