The following contains spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 3, Episode 98.
Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer provided further clarity on Mighty Nein and Bells Hells NPC Ludinus Da’leth’s age. Here’s the approximate age of Ludinus Da’leth, the Cerberus Assembly leader and living Exandrian artifact, in Critical Role.
Ludinus Da’leth Has Been Alive for Roughly a Millennium
The Bells Hells adventures occur in the year 843 Post Divergence (PD), yet the party still manages to contend with the efforts of Ludinus Da’leth despite his firsthand knowledge of ancient Exandrian events, like the 585 PD fall of Molaesmyr. But Molaesmyr proved just the tip of the iceberg, as Ludinus implied as early as Campaign 3, Episode 45: “Ominous Lectures” that he was alive during the Calamity, a conflict whose end was marked by the year zero Divergence.
Mercer later confirmed on an episode of 4-Sided Dive that Ludinus “suffered a lot of trauma at the tail end of the Calamity”. Critical Role’s recent live episode further contextualized that trauma as formative when Ludinus revealed that he was a child during the Calamity and fall of Aeor. Typically, Dungeons & Dragons elves don’t reach “adulthood” until they’re around a century old, as a result of their prolific lifespans. This then implies that Ludinus was born sometime within the centuries-long Calamity, perhaps even during the dark age’s infancy.
Though the Calamity itself has a historically debatable timeline, Exandria Unlimited: Calamity Dungeon Master Brennan Lee Mulligan confirmed that this period lasted centuries during the mini-campaign closing remarks. This situates Ludinus Da’leth’s age range somewhere around roughly 900–1,000 years old, hinging on his reliability as a narrator. The head of the Cerberus Assembly has long served as an antagonist to the Bells Hells, subjecting some of his claims to speculation. While it’s fair to extrapolate that Ludinus truly was alive during the Calamity, his evangelical mission and profound sense of self-importance undoubtedly color his interpretation of historical events. The final moments of Campaign 3, Episode 98, indicated that Bells Hells will soon have to contend with Ludinus’ reliability as an eyewitness to Exandrian history.
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How Has Ludinus Lived So Long?
Though elves can live upwards of 700 years, Ludinus Da’leth’s age has long surpassed those expectations. In-universe theories on Ludinus’ relentless longevity have included an indulgence in necromancy. While this wasn’t a surprising conclusion, especially considering Ludinus was Cerberus Assembly colleagues with necromancer Delilah Briarwood, Mercer offered an alternate explanation. When the split Bells Hells party explored Molaesmyr, they discovered the source of Ludinus’ altered life expectancy in the Quintessence Array. This residuum-fueled arcane harness allowed Ludinus to siphon energy from arcane artifacts to extend both his life and power.
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