I've had some version of it a number of times....sometimes a family curse, sometimes injury, maybe other variations that I've forgotten. It can strike them quite a bit younger. Sharing the poem does not alway have any effect, and never before had I seen it have such an effect. But poetry is the average of leadership and custom, which I think she had both of at renowned, which might have helped, and I just got lucky too, I think.
> BTW, what is the average age that nobles die?
Anytime at or after 65 generally (maybe sometimes at 64?). Sometimes they'll live on into their 70s, but I don't think I've ever seen one reach 75 (two exceptions to that rule....)
> I also recall reading somewhere that if you're tribal
> king/queen and you're in the endgame sequence, they
> won't die at all. Is this true? and what is classified
> as the endgame?
This is one of the exceptions. They won't die of old age anyway, they can still be killed of course. I'm not quite sure when the endgame sequence starts, but for sure by the time you start building a city it is in play, and probably after the grazer emissaries come announcing the feathered horse queen.
Personally I don't like the esthetics of it...what sort of dynasty is an 80 year old King of Dragon Pass going to start? (even moreso in the case of an 80 year old Queen of Dragon Pass....). So once I've formed a tribe and done my first few quests, I usually choose a promising young noble and start grooming him or her for the throne.
The other exception is that nobles only die at the start of Sea Season. If they aren't at the clan then, they won't die. Now, you don't want a ring member away during sacred time, and you don't want to have to shuffle someone on and off the ring twice a year, but sometimes non-ring members can still be useful. The two times I've abused this for a while were
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were sending someone with heroic magic to Kero Finn at the end of each Storm Season, and sending an Uroxi with heroic combat (and much other good skills) to Snake Pipe Hollow at the end of each storm season. (Neither was on the ring) The same would work sending someone with heroic bargaining to Tarsh each year. Basically in each of those cases, with the heroic ability, you get good results every time. From Kero Finn there is much possible goodness (shrine to herself, treasures, magic boost, exploration help, raid help). Snake Pipe Hollow gives you the satisfaction of thinning the chaos hordes, and also yields goods and treasures. Tarsh gives you good relations, possibly goods, and possibly treasures.
The two times I've abused this, eventually I needed to take some other action at the end of Storm Season, and they promptly died of old age at the end of sacred time.
You could view it as a game artifact, but given their heroic abilities I like to think of that by honoring their gods with their abilities they were able to defy old age for a while :) (I'm good at deluding myself that way)
--Bryan
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