From my perspective, I consider him to be early to mid 40s; his portrait gives the impression of someone world-weary rather than old specifically (no matter how much he likes to moan about being old when fatigued, which is almost never) it certainly manages to convey Keldorn's situation - an more mature man in what is essentially a young person's game, who's seen an awful lot of not-so-nice things in his time, and "buried many fallen comrades" wondering if he's ridden his luck too long and if he should give it all up - very well. From a meta perspective it's also worth considering that this wasn't the first incarnation of his portrait and the first one was far less grey.
@Rhaella's post raises the point about Radiant Heart membership but as BGII's representation of The Order in game isn't strictly canon I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a true indicator of his age, although it's most likely correct.
Another reason I think he's possibly around the 40-ish mark is that I don't believe, as @Eudaemonium does, that there's a big age difference between him and Maria, I think they are contemporaries, give or take a handful of years. As a Lord (in a far better financial position than Lrrd Cor) I don't think money would have factored in how long he waited to get married; from a canon perspective paladins aren't supposed to profit from their enterprises so he must be an 'old money' Lord. Also, as Keldorn is an honourable and noble man in every sense of the word I doubt he would tie an attractive young woman like Maria into a marriage knowing from experience his work would take him away from her more than he was at home, so think they married quite young, very much in love, certainly less wise and just not prepared for what his calling would mean for their relationship.
If we go by his ending he would be 55 by the time the game ends...
How'd you work that out? It just says years, which could be anything from a handful to a hundred, I think his epilogue indicates that he gets a bittersweet ending in that he does get a good amount of time to make his absences up to his family.
@BaldursCat - I'm on tablet so I can't find the quote ATM, but I'm pretty sure he mentions the 40 year thing in some of his joining/rejoining dialogue if you ask him about the Order.
I'm actually about to go take a test on geriatric syndromes and knee pain in about an hour and a half.
Considering Keldorn wears Full Plate and Packs Steel it is quite remarkable how sturdy he is for his age no matter what it is. His body should be broken down about now if he was carrying so much weight on his back. Most people would actually be immobile, which no one ever noticed because of the shorter lifespan people had back in the days where people wore armor and fought wars on horseback and with metal weaponry. If those knights had lived into their 50s regularly they would have had major problems, similar to the back problems you find in skeleton of British longbowmen.
Professor: "You! Hamster student! A patient comes in with pain on the medial aspect of his knee. She is an active 14 year old girl who was brought in after a tough tackle on the soccer field. There is a bulge right underneath the patellar tendon. What is the proper treatment."
"If you were to pick an age completely at random, he was probably a little older than that." - Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
I agree with the George Clooney suggestion. I have pretty much always associated him with George. As a completely separate note, The Aragorn that JRR Tolkien created was supposed to be in his 50s at least, not the young wipper-snapper that we saw in the Movies.
As a completely separate note, The Aragorn that JRR Tolkien created was supposed to be in his 50s at least, not the young wipper-snapper that we saw in the Movies.
Well technically, he was in his 80s, but that's not saying much considering Dunedain have a lifespan about twice as long as that of "normal" humans.
Considering Keldorn wears Full Plate and Packs Steel it is quite remarkable how sturdy he is for his age no matter what it is. His body should be broken down about now if he was carrying so much weight on his back. Most people would actually be immobile, which no one ever noticed because of the shorter lifespan people had back in the days where people wore armor and fought wars on horseback and with metal weaponry. If those knights had lived into their 50s regularly they would have had major problems, similar to the back problems you find in skeleton of British longbowmen.
So Keldorn is basically a badass
One of the other reasons I don't think he's quite as old as he appears, even though he's probably fairly clean living and fit as the proverbial butcher's hound - his ridiculously high CON stat suggests that - he's pretty much pushed his body to its limits and it's now at that point where it's telling hi to slow down, which is bound to make you feel old even if you aren't physically.
There is quite a lot of dialogue about his age in the mod...
The PC tells him she doesn't consider him to be old and he replies "tell that to my knees!"
Thanks BaldurCat I didn't do great but I did well enough to pass the class (it was the easiest course this semester). I'm happy its done. I got tougher tests tomorrow and Friday so I gotta study hard (no more forums until after)
I'm actually about to go take a test on geriatric syndromes and knee pain in about an hour and a half.
Considering Keldorn wears Full Plate and Packs Steel it is quite remarkable how sturdy he is for his age no matter what it is. His body should be broken down about now if he was carrying so much weight on his back. Most people would actually be immobile, which no one ever noticed because of the shorter lifespan people had back in the days where people wore armor and fought wars on horseback and with metal weaponry. If those knights had lived into their 50s regularly they would have had major problems, similar to the back problems you find in skeleton of British longbowmen.
People regularly got that old and older. The high number of child deaths are screwing with the statistics on age. And to be fair, medieval people did not wear their armour all day long. Really, medieval nobility was surprisingly healthy. They lead active lifes with plenty of food. Many nobles reached their 60s or even 70s and sometimes 80s. Monasteries are a good example. Monks had long lives, we know that from their gravestones.
@Topic Aren't people of level 9 at the very end of human ability in DnD? Anything more and it gets into superhuman abilities. So, I do not think it impossible for Keldorn to be in his early fifties. He has healing powers for himself and Torm grants him certain other benefits.
There's a major trend in modern popular culture to severely underestimate the age that characters would have to be, given their profession, rank, and level of authority. Anyone seen the first episode of the first season of The X-Files? It specifically states that this is Scully's first assignment out of Quantico - yet she is somehow also qualified as a medical doctor, not just an intern. She's also played by an actress who was in her early 20s at the time, so none of it fits with any of the rest of it. Contrast this with a show like Mission: Impossible (the original one, with Martin Landau), where all the characters were very clearly in their forties, which helped explain their level of experience, knowledge, and indeed badassery.
I never thought of Baldur's Gate as being part of that modern trend. Then, when I was playing the Enhanced Edition, it suddenly struck me that it's fundamentally about a 20-year-old who walks out his/her front door and within two years is using epic-level abilities that even Drizzt's companions don't have (I think). That makes it not even like The Hobbit; more like Harry Potter (albeit with slightly more effort required on the part of the protagonist).
So this is a long way of saying that I always assumed Keldorn had to be around 50, but it wouldn't surprise me if I now found out that they thought he was closer to 30. Because "old people are gross" or "old people can't be badass" (tell that to Rollin Hand ).
XD Well to be fair said twenty year old has a bit of an advantage over the average one. Granted that age only makes sense if you are playing a human, I don't know about most of the races but elves age slower and halforcs age faster.
He has a teenage daughter so i reckon he is probably about 50
My dad had a teenage daughter once, he turned 50 the year she stopped being a teenager.
As a point of reference I mentioned the first concepts for portraits and profiles, you can find Keldorn's here. Note the age he's given. I think his, concept changed a little between this stage and the final game release, I wonder by how much?
Re: George Clooney, he's only 52 now and has had that distinguished look for ages... But generally I agree with the comparison.
As a completely separate note, The Aragorn that JRR Tolkien created was supposed to be in his 50s at least, not the young wipper-snapper that we saw in the Movies.
Nitpick: Aragorn was 87 at the time of the LotR. As a Dunedan (Numenorean) of royal blood, however, he looked much younger (40-ish at the oldest). He lived to be 210.
Judging from his personality, world view and portrait, it's save to say that Keldorn is roughly in his middle fifties. And I always had the impression that Keldorn is about the same age as George Clooney.
Am I the only one who immediately thought about the scene from Ocean's Twelve where Danny Ocean (Clooney) asks everyone how old they think he is?
40-50 years, probably. His hair are partly white and black. He is a made man, with a decadent mansion. Late forties, i presume. After fifties, especially middle, he wouldn't be any good wielding swords and carrying plate, now, would he...?
Comments
From my perspective, I consider him to be early to mid 40s; his portrait gives the impression of someone world-weary rather than old specifically (no matter how much he likes to moan about being old when fatigued, which is almost never) it certainly manages to convey Keldorn's situation - an more mature man in what is essentially a young person's game, who's seen an awful lot of not-so-nice things in his time, and "buried many fallen comrades" wondering if he's ridden his luck too long and if he should give it all up - very well. From a meta perspective it's also worth considering that this wasn't the first incarnation of his portrait and the first one was far less grey.
@Rhaella's post raises the point about Radiant Heart membership but as BGII's representation of The Order in game isn't strictly canon I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a true indicator of his age, although it's most likely correct.
Another reason I think he's possibly around the 40-ish mark is that I don't believe, as @Eudaemonium does, that there's a big age difference between him and Maria, I think they are contemporaries, give or take a handful of years. As a Lord (in a far better financial position than Lrrd Cor) I don't think money would have factored in how long he waited to get married; from a canon perspective paladins aren't supposed to profit from their enterprises so he must be an 'old money' Lord. Also, as Keldorn is an honourable and noble man in every sense of the word I doubt he would tie an attractive young woman like Maria into a marriage knowing from experience his work would take him away from her more than he was at home, so think they married quite young, very much in love, certainly less wise and just not prepared for what his calling would mean for their relationship.
Just my take on things.
EDIT: Damn you! @Bengoshi, Daaamn you!
Not only did you make me edit, but you made me edit for that.
Considering Keldorn wears Full Plate and Packs Steel it is quite remarkable how sturdy he is for his age no matter what it is. His body should be broken down about now if he was carrying so much weight on his back. Most people would actually be immobile, which no one ever noticed because of the shorter lifespan people had back in the days where people wore armor and fought wars on horseback and with metal weaponry. If those knights had lived into their 50s regularly they would have had major problems, similar to the back problems you find in skeleton of British longbowmen.
So Keldorn is basically a badass
I wish they taught me magic in med school. I'd do a lot better, but today was easy thank god.
Me: "Cure light wounds and rest in an inn"
Translation: I have no clue
I agree with the George Clooney suggestion. I have pretty much always associated him with George. As a completely separate note, The Aragorn that JRR Tolkien created was supposed to be in his 50s at least, not the young wipper-snapper that we saw in the Movies.
There is quite a lot of dialogue about his age in the mod...
@Topic
Aren't people of level 9 at the very end of human ability in DnD? Anything more and it gets into superhuman abilities.
So, I do not think it impossible for Keldorn to be in his early fifties. He has healing powers for himself and Torm grants him certain other benefits.
Edit:
Whoops.
Torm!
The clue is in his dialogue about family, order, and ofc his ending slide.
But yeah, probably within a couple of years either side of 50.
I never thought of Baldur's Gate as being part of that modern trend. Then, when I was playing the Enhanced Edition, it suddenly struck me that it's fundamentally about a 20-year-old who walks out his/her front door and within two years is using epic-level abilities that even Drizzt's companions don't have (I think). That makes it not even like The Hobbit; more like Harry Potter (albeit with slightly more effort required on the part of the protagonist).
So this is a long way of saying that I always assumed Keldorn had to be around 50, but it wouldn't surprise me if I now found out that they thought he was closer to 30. Because "old people are gross" or "old people can't be badass" (tell that to Rollin Hand
As a point of reference I mentioned the first concepts for portraits and profiles, you can find Keldorn's here. Note the age he's given. I think his, concept changed a little between this stage and the final game release, I wonder by how much?
Re: George Clooney, he's only 52 now and has had that distinguished look for ages... But generally I agree with the comparison.
Aragorn was 87 at the time of the LotR. As a Dunedan (Numenorean) of royal blood, however, he looked much younger (40-ish at the oldest). He lived to be 210.