Jon_Lincicum at stream.com wrote: >>I don't think fertility is an urgent need here. She might have long >>term plans of returning to mortality. But she probably has lots of >>long term plans of a grander nature. > >One other point to consider--even if Sethra were still alive, she would be >well past the age of Dragaeran menopause. > >By a factor of at least 10,000 I would say. > > > She probably avoided it - but I wonder how long the bad times last with normal Dragaerans. But thinking about it - how does aging work? Do old Dragaerans stay vigorous until they have a quick decline? Menopause should be early enough so that you stick around long enough to rear your children. But can a post-menopausal Dzur fight effectively? I suspect yes. Most elven myths have them virtually immortal. Old age might be like cancer - killing them relatively rapidly.