(urth) traveling north

[Roy C. Lackey]

James Wynn wrote:
> The wall might be constructed *primarily* to prevent aerial and
> space-based assaults through some sort of protective dome (which is
> unnecessary in Severian's time). The Ascians might have been far more
> technologically advanced in Typhon's time. Anyway, protecting a city
> with a "mere" wall in Typhon's time strikes me as a bizarre anachronism.

I don't think the Ascians were a factor in Typhon's time. He ruled the whole
planet. (Remember all the ethnic factions from all over Urth that were
forcibly put aboard the _Whorl_.)

I really doubt that the Wall had anything to do with the Ascians, who were
far to the north of the Commonwealth. The Wall circumscribes too much
territory. The Gyoll passed through the Wall, north and south. Several days
before the _Samru_ reached the Citadel from the coast, the ship passed
through the Wall (CITADEL, chap. XXXII). The banks were marshy with silt,
and it took a couple days before Sev even realized that the moss-covered
mounds he was looking at were the crumbled ruins of buildings.

That implies a long period of decay. There is no point in building a huge
wall around ruined buildings, so the Wall must have been built when it was
still a vibrant part of the city, and the area was far south of Ascia.

It is also hard to believe that the southern sections of the Wall were
filled with Commonwealth troops. What good would they be out in the southern
boondocks when the only known enemy is far to the north?

-Roy