(urth) traveling north

[Roy C. Lackey]

Andrew quoted and wrote:
> > The Curtain Wall around the Citadel didn't need to be as big or
> > sophisticated as the City Wall. The purpose of the Curtain Wall
(according
> > to Cyriaca's tale) was to safeguard the writings that became Ultan's
> > Library. Her tale also implies that the City Wall and the curtain wall
date
> > from the same period. That is, "Their spoil was gathered into a great
heap
> > in the city of Nessus, which was then newly built, to be burned." She
goes
> > on to say that the cache of books was enclosed by a curtain wall when
the
> > ruler changed his mind about burning the books. That ruler had planned
to
> > retire behind the curtain wall if his dreams of a "new empire" (as
distinct
> > from the "first empire") should fail (SWORD, chap. VI ).
> >
> > The implication, of course, is that Typhon was that ruler, though he
died
> > alone on his mountain. So, yes, if Cyriaca is to be believed, the walls
are
> > the same age.
> >
>
> Don't you think "newly built" here may not be not reliable?

Definitely not reliable, which is why I qualified the statement. Cyriaca may
have conflated separate events, just as we get an American Civil War naval
battle mixed up with Greek myth in a story from the "brown book".

> From the point
> of view of a future fable, events in the past can easily be seen as
> happening in the same "long ago", even if separated by many years. I
> certainly get the sense from Short Sun that Nessus was an established city
> at the time of Typhon - unless we are to think of Roger as a recent
> immigrant to the place. Typhon himself calls the place Nessus in BotNS,
but
> we are told elsewhere (can't remember where) that it had an earlier name.

Oh yes, Nessus was well established in Typhon's time. The spaceport on
Citadel Hill was known as the "old port" even when he was still alive (URTH,
251). (Which in turn implies a new spaceport somewhere, but we are never
told where.)

> But whatever, has anybody ever come up with a good story about why he or
> somebody else built such an extensive wall, enclosing so much undeveloped
> land? Even for a megalomaniac ....

No good story that I know of. Since both walls were made of the same
unsmeltable metal, they had to have been constructed when the technology was
still available, and we know for sure that the curtain wall was there when
Typhon was alive. Technology declined after Typhon, but not right away. (The
early autarchs could still carve mountains.)

It is hard for me to imagine that the City Wall could have failed to keep
out an invading military force, but the Old Autarch said that the Ascians
had once "laid waste to Nessus" (CITADEL, chap. XXIV). It is also hard for
me to believe that such a thing happened during the First Empire. It is
equally hard to believe that it happened during Typhon's era; he had to have
ruled the whole planet, not just the Commonwealth, and the Ascians could
hardly have been a real threat to him.

Mantis theorized that the invasion "occurred early in the Age of the
Autarch" (LU2, 253). Could be. If so, the Wall may have been built early in
the autarchy to prevent such an invasion happening again. Still, it seems
like overkill. In any event, the Wall has to date back at least that far.

The city existed in some form long before Typhon came around. If it was ever
sacked, then it must have been rebuilt. Cyriaca's story may have conflated
the rebuilding with "newly built", and mixed up the time of the Monarch(s?)
with that of the Autarchs.

No matter what, the Wall of Nessus is an enigma.

-Roy