(urth) Pike/Oreb

[António Pedro Marques]

James Wynn wrote (03-11-2011 22:54):
> On 11/3/2011 4:44 PM, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> Incidentally, there's a possible discrepancy in the theory that Pike's
>> ghost is
>> Silk's future astral self. The only description of Oreb's astral appearance I
>> could find is as a fat bird up to Silkhorn's belt (RttW, Ch. 17). The
>> young Silk
>> would hardly call that "Oreb" without further comment. I suppose one could
>> say that Oreb was big to contain the version of Scylla, and that after she
>> was
>> removed from him, he would have looked like his normal self. However, Hoof
>> goes along on that expedition, when Cilinia is separate from Oreb, and
>> doesn't
>> comment on any change in Silk, unless I'm missing something.
>
> We have an explanation for why Oreb did not look like a bird at the time. It
> was because he was possessed. Actually, I believe (IIRC, ho ho ho) that the
> text explains this.

The text does not explain that, but it in fact describes how the 'fat bird' 
split into a bird that looked just like the real Oreb, plus the 'girl'.

> An astral Oreb, unpossessed would have an animal soul
> and would look like itself.

He does look like himself, but he's still close to a human being; however, 
not closer nor farther than out of dream. Dream travellers look like their 
soul, but if their real body is the natural medium for their soul, then they 
don't look different. The difference shows up only when the real body and 
soul are out of sync: the Rajan looks more like Horn, Babbie looks more 
human, the inhumi look human, possessed Oreb looks somewhat human; 
unpossessed Oreb looks like normal Oreb, no matter how humanlike he 
*naturally* is. This is an important point because it lends weight to the 
view that Babbie is part Horn: if he were only Babbie, he'd look like 
Babbie, no matter how naturally humanlike, just as Oreb looks like Oreb. 
Notice, however, how Babbie looks humanlike at the same time the Rajan looks 
Hornlike; Horn wasn't displaced by Silk, he* just faded a bit all while 
sending a copy into Babbie.

(*) or the copy of him the Neighbours sent into Silk; but I don't think 
that's it, I think the original Horn really went into Silk, rather than a copy.