From: "Alice K. Turner" 
Subject: Re: (urth) Thoughts on Undines, and other ramblings
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 21:31:25 -0400

From Jeff Wilon:

> Juturna =says= she serves Abaia. But the Undines are absolutely not into
> high-tech gadgets, since they slosh around naked all the time. I think
> Andrew began to think of all the various dark lords' minions as Undines,
> since Juturna is very prominently their servant.

From me:

> > Don't think Scylla did any such thing. Undines however *can* swim
through
> > the universe, and time, a la Brook Madrigot. Human spaceships must obey
the
> > laws of our universe, however. For some reason, this all makes sense to
me.

From him:

> Whoa there! =One= of them, Juturna, is shown to do something like this.
> This may or may not be her own ability like Severian and the Green Man,
> but it may be something granted by Abaia, like Master Ash's house is
> powered by Erebus or somebody.
>
> Or it may be a skill their minions acquire in order to follow the paths
> laid down by those same powerful beings. Juturna might only be able to
> point into the fourth dimension  while Severian is there. Idas certainly
> doesn't have the ability to flee in any but the usual way.

Juturna is our sole adult acquaintance with this group of the Other People
and I think she has to count for something representative in a novel..Her
talents seem thoroughly mythological to me, not "granted by Abaia," and
extremely feminine in a not entirely PC sense.. Idas is possibly only 10
years old, and in disguise--not a good contra-example.

-alga

-alga



--