Elven longevity crisis
After a certain point in their life, elves go through what is known in their society as "the bane of life everlasting", also called "curse of the Gift", "life crisis", "longevity crisis", and "crisis of wills". Or simply "crisis".The regenerative properties of their bodies keep them alive and looking young practically forever, but the moment will inevitably come when psychology and physiology come at an impasse.
Living in a world with mortal races where every day is full of events puts a strain on the mind of the elves, whose biology was never intended to handle such stress on a daily basis. Over the thousands of years spent in this world they have been adapting, but the process is slow. To this day, they still suffer from the longevity crisis.
When they reach a certain age, usually between one and three hundred years, elves go through a period of extreme depression and mental anguish. The duration can vary wildly between people, however most often it lasts about one year. Exactly when that will come is very personal and depends entirely on the individual's ability to cope with their longevity, but eventually the point will come when they outlast mortals they knew, when they get tired of getting up to greet the new day, and their will to continue living is tested by their bodies. This is the most critical time during an elf's lifespan and how they emerge from this mental metamorphosis will be a strong defining factor for their personality onward... if they emerge. Death is a very real and horrifying possibility. If the spirit is not strong enough and gives in to the weakness of body and mind, if the person doesn't insist on living through sheer force of will, they are likely to die. While fatal cases of the longevity crisis have been occurring less and less, they are still entirely possible.
During this trying time, the elf loses their desire to continue living. Facing each new day is a challenge, as their body withers and succumbs to the build up of toxins that the tired mind produces. The person becomes increasingly sluggish and has no desire to engage in activities. They need the force of will and presence of mind to get over this, however the mind is often clouded from constant exhaustion. Elves with different mentalities and approaches to life take to the crisis differently, some are in danger of giving up and dying while others are barely affected and shrug it off in months, while it can take a year or even entire decades for those who can't find a way to cope with immortality.
When the crisis ends, if the individual has survived it, they come out changed, with a new outlook on life and a stronger than ever mentality, in excellent psychological condition. As a result of their new world view, their personality can and in fact, will change. Sometimes barely noticeably on the outside, sometimes drastically.
It's customary for elves to constantly rest during this time, and they are relieve from their duties. The stronger among them continue to fill their role in society, and in elven culture their peers try to be understanding of the hardship they are going through. Elves in human societies are not always so lucky.
Symptoms
Extreme sluggishness, lack of will, depression, laziness.
Sequela
What few of the elven elders that have manged to live up to truly long lifetimes were not pleased to discover that the longevity crisis can reoccur at a later stage as well. After and individual's first thousand years, they are in danger of entering another crisis, and this gets worse the longer they resist it. The second crisis is significantly harder than the first one and only the strongest survive it. On the other hand, it is far less physically evident - at this stage of their life, any person has completely mastered their own body and are perfectly capable of hiding the obvious effects of the crisis.
If they succumb to it, they will slowly wither and wane as they progressively lose interest in keeping up the annoying repetitive actions needed to sustain themselves every day, expressed more through complete and utter apathy to events and people, themselves included. This leads to their often self-imposed removal from society, until eventually their eventual end. Surrendering to the second crisis, while much more certain to cause death, also takes significantly longer to happen, from decades to centuries.
Affected Groups
While all elves are subject to the crisis, it is noticed to occur significantly sooner to those that live with humans and other mortals, and interact more frequently with them, often happening as early as around their hundredth year. Fatal cases are also more frequent, especially if the individual was romantically involved with a mortal.
Conversely, elves that live more closed off from others and interact with the outside world less tend to have a much softer crisis that comes significantly later, sometimes well after their three hundredth year. Elven nobles in Sungrove and the dark elves that don't leave the Ashenvale are the least affected, with a crisis that goes over relatively quickly.
While certain species are always affected, the longevity crisis can occur to any individual that has had an unnaturally long life given their biology and is more severe the shorter their normal lifespan is.
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