(urth) Severian's family tree

[Jeff Wilson]

b sharp wrote:

> True but I consider many cacogens to be capable of shape shifting.  
> Tzadkiel's example makes me think that shapeshifting may not be a matter of 
> an individual rearranging his face and body into different shapes.  We never 
> see the various incarnations of Zak actually transform from one shape/size 
> to another.  We do see a portion of giant Tzadkiel break off to become a 
> human sized version.  Perhaps each incarnation of Zak is formed in this way- 
>   a new piece of Tzadkiel broken off to become a new shape.  The same thing 
> could be happening on Urth with Megatherians (remembering that "therian" 
> means shapeshifter).  Multiple versions of the same greater being might be 
> appearing, here, there....everywhere, in different sizes and appearances.

I think you're going way too far here. We see *one* ET who shapeshifts, 
and that only in the afterthought book, URTH, while others demonstrate 
their reliance on mechanical disguises.

  Greek therion (Θηριον) means wild animal or beast, while the Latinised 
megatherium has been used to as the name for prehistoric mamals whose 
fossils indicate much larger stature than their historical counterparts, 
including a giant sloth that doubtless serves as the inspiration for 
that seen at the Well. The other existing connation of megatherian would 
be "great beast" as Aleister Crowley styled himself. Thus, _Lives of the 
Seventeen Megatherians_ would make sense only as a compilation of 
biographies of those most notoriously presented as black magicians, as 
perhaps including those who went on to use medical science in the guise 
of thaumaturgy to give themselves superior capacities, like Baldanders 
and perhaps Abaia or Erebus.