So, does anyone know about how old Cayden and Iomedae were when they ascended? I strongly doubt it (and doubt even more that we have any sort of an 'age' for Norgberger, considering we know nothing about him).
It's not the most critical detail, but my wife is going to be playing an immortal character in an upcoming adventure and as a kind of 'prelude', I'm going to have them run into Iomedae during the Shining Crusade (a "before she was famous", kind of a thing).
([ooc]And in creating this thread, I became very curious about Cayden, who was likely a bit older when he ascended than Iomedae when she did, based on the 'adventuring for decades' thing).
Considering she ascended in 3832, and couldn't have been more than her mid-thirties (based only on the art and my poor age-guessing skills), she could even have been born anywhere to a few years before to several years after the Shining Crusade started (though clearly she was a full-fledged paladin before or at least by 3818, as she was a paladin of Arazni, who died that year).
Given that she's human, humans become 'adult' at 16, I'm going to go out on a limb and say she was born the year that the Crusade started... further, I'm going to guess that she lived somewhere threatened by Tar-Baphon since the day she was born. Literally she was born into the Crusade and lived there throughout. She was probably only 'freshly minted' as a paladin for the last two years when Arazni bit the big one. She could be adjusted as low as 16 years old, or easily a decade higher, but not really more than that.
One of the other interesting things about Iomedae, is that, although she was noted as performing many 'miracles' during the Crusade... she wasn't noted as being at any of the historically-noted major events (such as the summoning or later capture of Arazni or the destruction of Tar-Baphon). That alone is fascinating: she apparently did important things, but none of them are things that history, aside from her church, remembers.
And then, four years after the Crusade ends, she ascends to the newest goddess of Golarion.
That... is a very telling in what, exactly, would develop her sense of 'constant Crusaderism', and even her sense of humility while simultaneously being someone others can look up to.
My guess is that she basically kept her nose down and did her duty in all things, never failing in her dedication to Arazni (and Aroden). She was probably rewarded over time, slowly gaining in prestige and authority (and power), and successfully saved many lives. She probably gained one of 'those' reputations, "Everyone that goes out with her returns alive." type things in a war where that simply didn't happen... which, combined with her lasting piety in the face of despair, is not exactly enough to genuinely make her automatically in charge of the army, but enough to grant her practically limitless respect and absolute loyalty among the groups of soldiers she led.
What do you guys think?
That sounds about right considering what she's like as a goddess.
Personally, I'd place her as being in her early twenties before ascension.
Yay! A response! :D
Unfortunately, unless I'm misunderstanding you, it seems unlikely.
Arazni died in 3818. Iomedae ascended in 3832.
That's a minimum of 14 years, right there, so she'd've had to be an accomplished paladin at the age of 10 (she was noted as being both a hero of the Crusades and a paladin of Arazni) in order to be in her 'early twenties', I'm afraid (she could push it as late as 15 to be in her 'late twenties', though).
If she was born the year the Crusade started, she'd have been eighteen when Arazni (her patron until that point) died. Add fourteen years (the difference between Arazni's death and Iomedae's ascension) and Iomedae would have been thirty-two... so not too far off the twenties-range, and a few years shy of Middle Age (which is 35 for humans). Presuming she was exactly sixteen when Arazni died (the minimum adult age for humans, thus allowing her to justifiably be a "paladin of Arazni"), she could have ascended by the time she was thirty.
I would have preferred for her to be younger myself, based entirely on the art, but the numbers don't quite add up.
I'm interested in people being able to refute this, but from where I'm standing, that seems to be what it is.
I'd be very interested in any more thoughts on the matter however (or on any wild guesses with some evidence to get the ball rolling on Cayden).
Sounds reasonable. However, I also have no problem seeing a ten-year old becoming a paladin.
Alvane: that actually makes sense. I got carded when trying to go to PG-13 movies a few times in my early twenties. (o.O?)
I have no particular problem with a 10-year old becoming a paladin... but the problem is she would need to be an "accomplished" Paladin by that point. The difficulty is, given the nature of Aroden's church and - by proxy, I'd wager - Arazni's, not to mention the idea of a lawful good society, it seems very unlikely they'd be okay with the little girl (who is not mentally or physically mature, yet; not even having gone through puberty, I think) to go off into battle, much less to be "accomplished". I could still see her being valuable, but I have difficulty accepting that the Knights of Ozrem (the organization she was part of) would have permitted her to become accomplished.
Given that one of her church's big 'stchicks' is to look awesome to impress the youth (to get the to join when they grow up), I think that probably reflects something of her youth as well: she was probably super-impressed by the knights when she was a child and grew up wanting to be one. She might have gotten 'noticed' when she was younger*, but I'm having a hard time accepting that she'd be permitted to become 'accomplished' by ten. Still, I'm not dismissing it outright, but rather showing my hesitations about it.
* I could, however, see it being one of her "11 Miracles" (I don't think they've all been sepcified)... a child of a soldier born and raised and stuck in the midst of a crusade, might perform amazing feats while still being a child and still being treated as one, though maybe one with reverence. I could totally see her being a "Good Luck Charm" amongst the tented knights... a kind of favored daughter of the group running around. Whether she was an actual daughter of one of the knights, or she was an orphan (perhaps the last survivor of a destroyed village), I'm going to guess she was stuck, trapped within the Crusade, unable to justifiably leave.
One potential child-hood miracle that comes to mind and would have gotten her noticed is the idea that a young child, keeping quiet within a tent of leaders gathering about a strategy table and map pointing out the 'blindingly obvious' idea that they were all missing and suggesting a few extremely clever ideas that ultimately helped them take the field.
Given that one of her church's big 'stchicks' is to look awesome to impress the youth (to get the to join when they grow up), I think that probably reflects something of her youth as well: she was probably super-impressed by the knights when she was a child and grew up wanting to be one.
*snip*
I could totally see her being a "Good Luck Charm" amongst the tented knights... a kind of favored daughter of the group running around. Whether she was an actual daughter of one of the knights, or she was an orphan...
This reminds me of Caligula's early years, where he also got his nickname: His father brought him along to the Germanic frontier and he was something of a mascot to the legionaries with his child-sized uniform and armor.
As for my theory on why Iomedae looks so young, she *is* a goddess. While a bit vain, it is possible she decided to alter her appearance a bit.
The whole Caligula angle is kind of what I was going for (though likely nothing else too similar, based on my very limited understanding of the guy).
As for appearance... I could actually see that. It's likely she takes on the appearance not for her own satisfaction or vanity, but more because that's kind of how people thought of her. It's not that they control her, but rather she appears in a manner calculated to best let them know it's her (probably starting with all the old battle-hards who knew her as 'that clever lass' way back when). Besides, it also helps her display the awesome impressive look to inspire.
Still, in the picture of her just ascending after the Starstone she still looks like that, so that's where I was getting my own mental picture, and I had kind of presupposed that she more or less kept her own appearance.