From: Jason Ingram <jingram@usc.edu>
Subject: (whorl) Re: Re: Crocagators
Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 19:47:49 


Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:

[re: inhumi taken along with the Nieghbors]

>  They're not "hypothesized," dammit. The Neighbors _say_ so,
>  in RETURN. (Don't ask me for a page cite, though; my copies
>  of SHORT are out on loan and won't be back for a while.)

Fine; assume the Neighbors never lie and that the narrator is 100%
trustworthy.  That's a reasonable hypothesis, but nevertheless an
assumption.

The important aspect of that assumption (or "fact," whatever) lies in the
effects of the interaction of abilities that enables astral travel, or
bilocation.  Maybe the Neighbors can do some things by themselves, others
only with the inhumi.  Maybe thinking about the relation between Horn's
ability to bilocate in terms of his movement _into_ Silk, as it were, and
the presence of inhumi might shed some light on the pesky question of
astral travel.

I'm also curious about Quetzal's lineage, but that seems to be a minor
thread.

>  > He [Quetzal] might have been born on Green, however.
>
>  The word seems to be "must." It appears that the inhumi can
>  only breed on Green.

We don't really know much about the abilities of the Neighbors.  They
might be able to replicate inhumi breeding conditions.  They might
not.  Our access to the "truth" of these matters is so buffered that
guarded terms are more appropriate.  If "seems to be" and
"appear" work better, use those words instead of "might."

Again, the question here is-- if Quetzal was born on Green, by what means
did he make his way to the Loganstone.  If by ship, whose, and to what end
did they assist him?  If by other means, which? (inhumi flying through
space, randomly seeking out hosts?  inhumi flying through space pursuing
objects perceived with their incredibly superior perception?)  The answer
might prove interesting; I'm not sure.


>  > If several generations of inhumi had passed since the Neighbors
>  > left,
>
>  There are implications that it has been only a short time --
>  I believe I first got that impression on the island with the
>  not-very-ruined Neighbor-place in BLUE.

Agreed.  However, a short time could mean centuries, or decades, depending
on the technology involved and the degree of ruin.  Since we don't know
(or, more precisely, since I can't recall any statements on this
matter) the inhumi lifespan, this could involve generations.  Still
speculation, but pertinent for determining whether intelligence passes
to grandchildren.

Jason

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