(urth) What's So Great About Ushas?

[Dan'l Danehy-Oakes]

All that is required is that he be at least as large as the undines,
and get trapped
when the new continent arises.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 4:55 AM, Dave Tallman <davetallman at msn.com> wrote:
>
> <mailto:urth%40lists.urth.net?Subject=Re%3A%20%28urth%29%20What%27s%20So%20Great%20About%20Ushas%3F&In-Reply-To=%3C4858906F.1060708%40io.com%3E>Jeff
> Wilson wrote:
>>
>> **The enormous Blue Whale's voice is louder than a jet engine and can be
>> heard through water over distances of hundreds of miles, perhaps thousands
>> in the absence of motorized ships, and this was documented and popularized
>> signifigantly before the publication of BOTNS. The presence of Abaia's voice
>> doesn't require the presence of Abaia.
>>
>
> That's a clever work-around, but I don't think so. The steersman said that
> the women's voices were "not loud but big." The description implies a
> conversation (Citadel XXXVII): "They would say 'so-and-so-and-so.' Then...
> the deeper voice'd say 'go-and-do-that-and-this-and-that.' I heard the
> women's voices three times and the other voice twice."
>
> In Urth XLIII, Juturna speaks of Abaia's intentions in the present tense,
> without any hint that he has died or is about to. She says "Abaia would make
> of us a great people," not "Abaia would have made of us a great people."
>
> Do you know of anything in the text that suggests Abaia is such a size that
> he couldn't come up the river? The claim of the undines to be his brides and
> sweethearts in Shadow XV also suggests they are size-compatible. The
> legendary Abaia was an enormous magical eel that lived in a lake, so that
> doesn't imply an immobile size either.
>
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-- 
Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, writer, trainer, bon vivant
-----
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http://www.danehyoakes.com

I once absend-mindedly ordered Three Mile Island dressing in a
restaurant and, with great presence of mind, they brought Thousand
Island Dressing and a bottle of chili sauce. -- T. Pratchett