Another addition to this ongoing project of mine. This one was fairly easier to write, as my obsessive self already had quite a few old notes scattered around...
For this part, before we begin, we need to take into account...
Gestation Period of Half-Dûnyain ChildrenWe know that women carrying half-Dûnyain children have longer pregnancies than those whose unborn children are just regular humans. Well, at least this was the case
for Esmenet, as Mimara let us know:
Her mother had carried all her brothers and sisters far beyond the usual term.
This has to be taken into account when considering age gaps between the siblings. How long is "far beyond the usual term", though? I believe it can't be something like 10 months, since a gestation period of that length
can happen in humans (though it's rare), and the gestation period of half-Dûnyain children sounds more...extreme.
I will then make the assumption Esmenet had pregnancies that lasted around one year each (as more than that would probably be too much of a strain to a human mother).
Part II - The AnasûrimborlingsMimara will not be discussed here, as we have her birth year (4095) given out in the TTT glossary. Neither will Moënghus the Younger, as we also know exactly when he was born: early winter of 4111 (TWP, chapter 20).
As I haven't given much thought to the cases of Moënghus the Elder, Koringhus, and the Boy, they will be discussed in a later part of these series.
MaithanetClearly, he had to be born only after Moënghus the Elder left the Utemot in 4079. From what was discussed in Part I of this thread, Moënghus arrived in the spring and several months elapsed between his arrival and Skiötha's death, so he likely left in the summer of 4079 at the earliest. Even if he conceived Maithanet with some unnamed woman shortly after leaving the Utemot (which would be unlikely; it would be more plausible that at least
some months passed between the two events), considering the gestation period for half-Dûnyain children discussed above, Maithanet would have been born in mid-to-late 4080 at the absolute earliest.
While it's hard to estimate a lower limit for his age, we do know he still looks somewhat youthful - we have this passage from TDTCB (chapter taking place in spring of 4110):
Achamian found himself looking into the serene and surprisingly youthful face of Maithanet.
However, in TTT (spring of 4112), Nautzera has the following impression of Maithanet:
Though his face seemed middle-aged, his blue eyes were surprisingly young.
Now, we know Maithanet
cannot possibly be actually middle-aged at this point. He would be 31 at the oldest (not 32, as his birthday likely falls later in the year, as theorised above). He probably just looks quite a bit older than his actual age (the beard helping on that matter).
I would then estimate that Maithanet would be no younger than 25 when Achamian first saw him in the spring of 4110 (accounting for his youthful but not
too youthful appearance, his rise to power, training received from Moënghus, etc.), therefore concluding he was born between
4080 and
4085.
KayûtasAs we know, Esmenet was already pregnant by the time of Achamian's return in TWP:
"Akka," she whispered. "I carry his child."
This took place in late winter, shortly after the turn of the year from 4111 to 4112.
The earliest possible time for Kayûtas to have been conceived was during the crossing of the Carathay Desert, as we learn earlier in TWP:
She’d known this, ever since the earliest days of the desert, she’d known this. It was why she’d cast her whore’s shell, the contraceptive charm the witches sell, across the sands.
The crossing of the Carathay started in the early autumn of 4111 (TWP, chapter 18).
Taking into account the twelve-month gestation period estimated above, that would mean Kayûtas would have been born in the autumn of 4112 at the earliest (I'm not going with early autumn, as it makes sense Esmenet was not able to conceive
immediately after discarding the whore's shell). Given that Esmenet already knew she was pregnant by late winter, though, Kayûtas can't have been conceived after mid-winter or so. This gives us a birth date of somewhere from autumn to mid-winter of
4112.
TheliopaFrom TJE, we know that Theliopa was born in Nenciphon, at some point during the Unification Wars:
Theliopa had come second, born in Nenciphon while Kellhus waged the first of many wars against the drugged princes of Nilnamesh.
Going from Kayûtas' estimated birth date, we know that Thelli had to be born at least one year after Kayûtas at the earliest, so around autumn to mid-winter of 4113.
In the TUC glossary, though, we get some more information that clarifies this:
The successive defeats suffered at Mengedda, Anwurat, Caraskand, and Shimeh had so severely depleted the ranks of the Kianene nobility as to assure that Kellhus would install his Empress in the White-Sun Palace in Nenciphon in the winter of 4113.
Which seems like a very plausible birth date for Theliopa, given what we already knew from TJE. It can thus be assumed that Thelli was born in the winter of
4113 (presumably quite late in the year, to account for some time passing between Kayûtas' birth and her conception ).
SerwaEsmenet apparently got pregnant again soon after giving birth to Thelli, with Serwa being born in Carythusal:
Of course, she found herself almost immediately pregnant, as though her womb had been a hidden concession in the deal she had struck with her husband. Her third child by Kellhus, Serwa, was born in Carythusal with the smell of the Zaudunyani conquest still on the wind--soot and death.
Seeing as Thelli was born around the winter of 4113, this would mean Serwa would have been born in the winter of 4114 at the earliest. However, seeing as Esmenet would have needed
some time to recover from Thelli's birth, and as assumed above, said birth took place quite late in 4113, I believe it more likely for Serwa to have been born in early 4115 (this is my opinion, though; others may think differently).
I'm not placing her birth year any later than 4115 mainly because of Inrilatas' age (see below), and because of Sorweel's thoughts on the matter:
It was a girlish gesture, one that again reminded the Sakarpi King that for all her worldliness and self-possession, she was scarcely older than he.
With Sorweel being around 16 years old, and thus born around 4116, the
4115 birth date makes perfect sense.
The "nameless one"There was also an unnamed, deformed child, born between Serwa and Inrilatas, who was killed shortly after birth:
Then came the nameless one with eight arms and no eyes, the first to be delivered on the Andiamine Heights. The labour had been hard, life-threatening even. Afterwards would she learn that the physician-priests had drowned it, according to Nansur custom, in unwatered wine.
Given Serwa's estimated birth year of 4115, this child would then have been born in 4116 at the earliest. However, as discussed below, the information from the books does not allow for a large age gap between Serwa and the "nameless one", or between the latter and Inrilatas, so early-to-mid
4116 seems like a fair estimation for this child's year of birth (and death).
InrilatasFor this calculation, we cannot forget to take the "nameless one" into account. Therefore, Inrilatas' birth had to take place around two years after Serwa's at the earliest, that is, around early-to-mid 4117.
Inrilatas is frequently described as an "adolescent", meaning he was at least 13 during the events of TAE (and so would have been born in 4119 or before). However, Kelmomas' descriptions of him point to him being older:
His growth had come, gilding his naked form in a golden haze of hair. And years of warring against his iron restraints had strapped his frame in luxurious muscle.
He possessed a man's wrists now: the hands of a thick-fingered warrior.
Then, in TUC, upon seeing Sorweel, Kelmomas has this comparison to make:
The man was of an age with Inrilatas, even though he looked older for the onerous toll exacted by the trail.
As mentioned before, Sorweel was born around 4116. With this in mind and considering Inrilatas' appearance, I think it is indeed a fair assumption to have Inrilatas' birth taking place sometime in
4117.
Kelmomas and SamarmasEarly in TJE, we have this sentence:
The seven-year-old could scarce imagine anyone more beautiful.
The prologue takes place in late autumn of 4131. Going by this piece of information, the twins either turned 7 earlier in 4131, which would give them a birth year of 4124, or would still turn 8 later that year, which would mean they were born in 4123.
The first time Kelmomas is actually referred to as being 8 years old is in the "What Has Come Before" section of TGO:
Maithanet, genuinely surprised, turns to the eight-year-old, demanding to know what he has done.
This is, of course, referring to the confrontation between Maithanet and Inrilatas, which took place in chapter 8 of TWLW (late spring of 4132). So Kelmomas turned 8 at some point during the late autumn of 4131 and the late spring of 4132. As we can't discard the possibility of his birthday having taken place late in 4131, we can only conclude that Kelmomas and Samarmas were born sometime between late
4123 and early
4124.
Considering all of the above estimations, during the main events of TAE (not counting the prologue, so during 4132), we would have (approximately):
-Maithanet being between 47 and 52;
-Kayûtas being 19 (as he'd only turn 20 later in the year and the series ended in early autumn 4132);
-Thelli being 18 (again, would have turned 19 late in the year);
-Serwa being 17;
-Inrilatas being 15;
-Kelmomas and Samarmas, of course, being 8 (but with their 8th birthday possibly having taken place at some point).
It seems to make sense to me, anyone disagree or have anything they want to add to that?
As for Part III, that will cover, as mentioned, the birth dates of Moënghus the Elder, Koringhus and the Boy. I think I'll include Proyas in there too, and possibly Sorweel (to try to pinpoint when his birthday falls during the year). Stay tuned.