Been a struggle over the past six months finding a name for my race of people who live for a long time - they are basically immortal until they reproduce in a natural fashion. Then they become mortal and live a normal life span after that. I am considering Pre-mortal any other suggestions welcome ?
Name as they call themselves, or as they are known by others. though the two may very well be the same. The Folk The Kindred The Children (they consider their immortal life as a sort of adolescence) -Frank
It would probably be the same - at present they are split into five elemental races Sea - Hai-Ren Wind - Quan-Ren Earth - Miel-Ren Fire - Scot-Ren Fifth - Xian-Ren There are also the people that are part bird/part immortal/part human They are the people indigenous to the planet Litae - they interbred with the humans that came from Earth.
When I think of the five elements, I also think of the old idea of a celectial ether. So, "People Of The Ether". Describing that to common people through the ages may come out at "People Of The Mist", "Mist Folk" or some-such. I'm also thinking of old Norse kennings, and the above do not sound too poetic. "Mist Walkers"? "Mist Benders"? -Frank
lol those names have my mind going down completely wrong direction Hmm need to give it thought. Names in my book tend to be quite blunt you call a spade a spade but I don't really like immortal for them it doesn't work. Me Hearties might work they are descended from a rogue pirate type (he married Izanami)
For me, the extraordinary thing about them is not their immortality but that they choose to give that up for a little unprotected nookie (or, to pass on their genes). Do they have contraception?
yes they have contraception - may explain why I seem to have several gay couples lol - they tend to live for around 300-500 years before reproducing. They appear to get fed up with life after that. Some of my younger ones are living for shorter periods than their parents for some reason. They are reproducing between 130-150. If they have a bird form they can reproduce in bird form without starting to die. This is one of my favourite lines from my book my MC does not yet know about immortals (long story as to why) basically the Abbot has taken his wife away from my MC to perform a task immediatly after their wedding The Abbot approaches, he places his arm companionably around Uncle Tom, 'If it aids you in your current discomfiture, I was four hundred and twenty when I finally became a man.' Also being an immortal in my world isn't a piece of cake if you injure yourself, break a bone, get sick it takes three times as long as a mortal to recover. Serious breakages they go into like a cocoon to heal etc Can take 10-100 years. Took 140 for a man that was beheaded.
Perhaps a name for pre-mortal could come from the name of the planet..Litaens? Litians? I don't know, but I wold really like to read this!
that is cool I like Litaens no idea how to pronounce it though lol - there are some bits from it under Fantasy - Socrates and Nate's first day are two seven year old immortals, their Master is one and so is Nate's foster dad. (Socrates parents aren't his Mum had an affair). Sparrow through the Heart, and Origin are trying out ideas. Not sure what else there is lol bits under fantasy and novel. Litaens is going to be used in the mean time makes them sound all knowing etc
What about calling the males Romeos and females Juliets. Or the Eternal Chaste. Or infinite virgins. Or you could make up a new word altogether.
oh don't think they are necessarily chaste - they can use contraception. There are also bird incidents (my characters highest religious expression is to be able to turn into a bird), my character Nate is the result of one (part sparrow), my MCs half sister Ivory is another (part crow). My two MCs Socrates and Nate are certainly not chaste or virginal - been lovers since they were seventeen (now one hundred and fifty), however pregnancy isn't a problem between them. In my current book Socrates is proving quite a tart.
So your race doesn't become mortal until they successfully conceive offspring? Interesting. Also, it sounds like this group could be an entire social class to themselves.
The rules are it has to be natural and not in bird form - so no turkeys or basters allowed So far only two women have been infertile. They only began reproducing when a spaceship containing Christian Pilgrims from Earth arrived lol before that they were celibate. It is the dominant gene so is a bit like having brown hair and eyes in some cultures.
Quick question to consider. What about miscarriages/abortion/still birth? Certainly not pleasant thoughts, but do they negate the immortality? At what point after conception does the immortal become mortal. If it's at the moment of conception, there remains the possibility of a very early term miscarriage that the lovers do not even realize occurred. Thus, despite never noticing the pregnancy, they begin to age. If later, how much later? If all one's children were killed, would that restore the immortality? Just some thoughts. Very (very) interesting idea. I especially like that they are WORSE at healing as immortals. -Frank
some examples i would give for names are The naturals The immortals The people of nature i hope i helped
A couple thoughts on my above post. Perhaps they are naturally sterile when they are immortal, and chose to give up that immortality in order to become fertile. Doesn't mean they WILL reproduce, but just that they now may. If not, as a guy, I would think I would invest in a vasectomy. Can often be reversed, and is one of the most effective forms of birth control. -Frank
What if you treat this more like a modern societal issue and have immortality be something you don't really discuss? Like it's politically incorrect to discuss it or something? Kind of like people of different race or ethnicity or religion. Something that people are very aware of but don't address much. In which case the immortals would have slang terms associated with them--or, if they are the majority race, slang terms for people who aren't immortal. I know it's probably not very applicable for your story, just a thought.
Sorry should have explained it is the birth of the child - of course not every immortal father is going to know he became mortal. I think there is some divine knowledge and intervention involved at this point My main character was 30 before he found out he was immortal, by which time he slept through habit (his parents that brought him put him to bed and told him to sleep), his twin sister by this time had, had three children so was mortal. It isn't really much of an issue, not everyone knows they are immortal unless they hurt themselves badly or break a bone. Those that do know the Island society (Hai-Ren) tended to live in the Order of the Sea (Hai-ji) monastery and were segregated for a short time most of the time they just go about their business. They tend to be fatter if they don't eat the special diet and perform the meditation that burns the calories because of the slower metabolism. That is all I know - new information comes out with every book lol my first all I really knew was they lived a long time, and started to die when they had a child.
Wow - I'm loving them more and more. Hey - I'm immortal? Cool! What's that? You mean I will also be relatively celibate, sickly and frumpish? -Frank
LOL Writing fantasy is so much fun, basically I did 0 world building but the tale and legends become more and more elaborate everytime I write a story in order to make it fit . It came from watching other immortal characters doesn't make sense their metabolism is faster than a mortals or they can heal quicker They can be healthy, fit, strong and have lots of sex but usually requires horrible food (what my MCs tend to call poo juice, rice and seaweed), lots of exercise and well a partner of the same sex But it has its downsides it isn't a free meal ticket on any level. They tend to be tall - the earth people are huge, they are my version of trolls and ogres (long black curly hair and black eyes), the fire people are tall but have pale blue skin, amber eyes and funny ears they are my elves, the sea people have bright red hair and either sea green or sea blue eyes tend to be tall but rotund they are my ewoks crossed with yoda, wind people are tall and skinny with either black or cream hair and blue eyes, my sort of priestly people very calm fairy like in someways. Fifth elemental are closer to human but very rare. Then I have humans descended from the Earth people. And a race of people that are a cross between either a human or a litaen/Elemental whilst in bird form and a bird. I think there may also be a race crossed with bats. Like one of MCs does the dawn chorus, chatters a lot, requires a secure nest whereas his sister is a little flighty and disappears in the winter etc
Why don't you use the -Ren as is shown in their individual names? I first thought "Breth-Rens", but Litae-Rens (Litaerens) is less frivolous I gather.
The People. no need to over analyze this right? or something that makes people stop and go WTF?! example: The Apache (maybe spell it different as not to offend anyone. the Apatchys) something spelled backward: Colony=ynoloc but then no one knows how to say it... The Liars (figure out a way to connect) try another language...something random like polish or finnish, look up "all powerful" or something... just some suggestions... they might not work AT ALL but hey, it might help
Thanks I am like the Litarens. They are not really all powerful - just immortal. They can be more powerful but just because they have practiced things longer. They don't have any special ability otherwise that a human couldn't obtain and do as well if given the same time frame to do it in.
