From: raster@highfiber.com (Charles Dye)
Subject: (urth) "The Autarch's Face"
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 13:42:46 

So saith m.driussi@genie.com (mantis) :

>This detail sparks other associations: for the current inquiry we
>will assume that the coins have Valeria's face.  However, the
>mysterious coin of TBOTNS, which had a womanly face on it from a
>model never really identified, a coin given by Vodalus to Severian,
>turned out to be a fake coin.  Who was the model?  (People seem to
>assume that it is the old Autarch, unmanned and androgynous.
>Personally I think it is more likely to be Tzadkiel.)

Another mystery:  How can Vodalus not recognize the Autarch whom
he hates and wants to destroy?  Especially if his profile is in
circulation on the coinage?  The old Autarch (oh, call him
"Appian," I like the Claudian connection) is supposed to have
acted as one of Vodalus's servants.  Sounds like a recipe for
assassination to me!

Putting someone else on the coins helps, but not much.  Surely
the court would notice, and Vodalus is not some farmer from
Podunk.  He'd hear rumors, right?  Thea was *at* the court!
"The face on the chrisos doesn't look much like the Autarch.
He's chubbier, and he has thinner hair and no wings ...."

raster@highfiber.com


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