(urth) Dorcas and Fechin

[Dave Tallman]

Andrew wrote:

> If his Sev-mojo was bred into him, can we find any trace of the
> breeding?
>
> I think Dorcas does display some signs. Her husband says that her
> eyes opened as her corpse was being lowered into the water. When
> Sev resurrects her, it seems he isn't doing all the work: she seems
> to rise to meet him, with his sword in one hand and clasping his
> with the other. In Hildegrin's skiff it is as if she has brought
> forth a flower on the water, where there are no others.
>
>
I think Dorcas was put into the time-statis water alive (possibly because
she fell into a coma and was thought dead).  Her dream in Claw XXII seems to
be not about her initial burial but about being moved closer to shore.
(There's no doubt in my mind that she was moved so that Sev would find her.)
In the dream her eyes were open before she hit the water. She may have been
paralyzed from the lingering effects of the previous "burial."  Her husband,
old in the dream, seems to be chant-caught: "I know that he has never known
that I was there at all." He denied that he once pulled her up and then put
her back (in Shadow XXII), but it turns out to be ironically true. Sev's
presence revived her, but this may not be a resurrection like the others.

The water hyacinth looks like a great clue that Dorcas has miraculous
powers. Incidentally, most water hyacinths are purple, and a purple hyacinth
means "I'm sorry" in the language of flowers. Is this another clue to a dark
secret in her past?

Another possible "miracle" by Dorcas is the failure of Jolenta's blood to
clot in Claw XXVIII. I believe the initial wound was a suicide attempt by
Jolenta, probably by using Terminus Est. Sev would have noticed a trace of
blood the next time he cleaned his sword, except that all traces were washed
away when it was doused by the undine. Jolenta was sleeping (or pretending
to sleep) on her side. That way she could keep the wound pressed to the sand
and Sev might not notice when he checked her. Otherwise, there doesn't seem
to be enough time for her to lose a lot of blood. The Cumaean repeatedly
said that Jolenta didn't want to live in Claw XXX.

Dorcas screamed when she saw Jolenta bleeding, but she may have decided to
assist her former lover's suicide by preventing clotting. She was the one
who came up with the explanation of blood bats. There's another possible
explanation, though. Patients are often given anti-coagulants after major
surgery to prevent blood clots. Dr. Talos operated on Jolenta to augment her
body with wires.

And I think there's at least a few hints that Dorcas' father was
> actually Fechin. She's a good painter (with the backdrops of Dr
> Talos' play); she is quiet and beautiful like the girlfriend of
> Fechin described by Becan's father (Dorcas' mother?).
>
>
My idea was that Dorcas herself was Fechin's girlfriend, even though it
means her powers, if any, must be from another source. It would be a better
age fit. Possibly she became pregnant with Ouen by him and was married off
quickly to someone else. This fits her other dream where shopkeepers look
down on her in Claw XXII. (I read b sharp's matching of Fechin with the
husband also, but it doesn't seem compelling to me. There's no mention that
the old man looks monkey-like. Would a famous artist's wife be a mere
shopkeeper?)
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