Actually, it is unclear when Sethra became "undead". It was only brought to the attention of the Empire "a few hundred years" before the events of "The Phoenix Guards". (Presumably during the Lavode scandal) But with the Empire's age of well over two hundred THOUSAND years, a few hundred years is nothing. While it is POSSIBLE she's been undead for most of this time, we really don't know for sure, since she was hiding it for a while before the fact was uncovered. I'd say the preponderence of text evidence points more towards Sethra's longevity being related to her association with Dzur Mountain more than any other single factor. Majikjon >> There is also Sethra Lavode, who is older than the Empire, but she is >> special in many ways, and I sincerely doubt that her long life is >> *solely* due to the benefits of the Orb. >> > >Technically speaking, Sethra has been dead for majority of the existence of >the Empire. Not that it's really seemed to inconvenience her all that >much... > >I guess we don't really know if Sethra's unlife if attributable to sorcery, >the grace of the Gods or both.