(urth) Pike/Oreb

[James Wynn]

> On 11/5/2011 5:58 PM, Andrew Mason wrote:
> Having now reread the pasage, I am still worried about Oreb. [...] But Oreb is not actually with Pike; he flies out of the window some time before Pike appears.

It is true that we do not see "Pike" at the time, but Oreb's presence 
means that the Rajan is already nearby when Silk awakes. Probably in 
Pike's bedroom. If astral Oreb is there, astral Rajan is there.

> And I remain unconvinced
> that it is Oreb, Silk sees him at the moment of waking, in the dark,
> through a curtain. In those circumstances he might mistake almost
> anything that flies for Oreb. I don't think we've ruled out the
> possibility that it's Quetzal.

This is a modification of the "Silk didn't really get a good look at 
Pike" explanation. I think this causes the number of misidentifications 
to become cumbersome. I find it quite unlikely that Quetzal (flying 
serpent) could be mistaken for any bird, let alone a very specific bird. 
Here's the text:

++++++++++++++
"He woke gaping for breath. The lights had extinguished themselves. In 
the faint skylight from a curtained window, he saw Oreb hop out and flap 
away. Mucor stood beside his bed, naked in the darkness and skeletally 
thin; he blinked; she faded to mist and was gone." Lake of the Long Sun, 
chapter 1.
+++++++++++++++

When he awakes he is immediately convinced that what he sees is Oreb. 
It's not "What is that hopping flying thing? Is that Oreb?" Only 
afterward does he decide it is illogical that what he saw Oreb since 
Oreb can't fly.

> I also wonder what Mucor is doing there. We have _three_ ghostly
> visitors to Silk's house; one feels there should be a connection
> between them. Silk later speculates that Mucor summoned Pike, though
> he's very likely wrong. In any case, I don't see how Mucor can be
> fitted into the time-travel story.

At other times, we see Mucor appearing in mirrors and possessing people. 
I *think* this is the only time we see her appearing in astral form, 
disappearing in a mist.  I propose that the Mucor Silk sees here is 
***Mucor from Blue,*** on her mission to find Silk. The Silk she finds 
is the Rajan in astral time travel. It is he who tells her:

++++++++++++++++
"'He asked me not to tell you where he is. It will be very dangerous for 
you to try to go where he is. If you find him, it will be dangerous for 
him, and for Hyacinth as well.' This was said without any expression, as 
Mucor always spoke; but it seemed to me that there was a spark of 
concern in her eyes, which were usually so empty. "OBW, chapter 4
+++++++++++++++++

The concern is her knowledge (having conversed with the Rajan) that 
something very strange is going to happen to Horn and Silk, although she 
might not be exactly clear on what.

How this is dangerous for Horn is that if he continues his journey, is 
that he will die on the floating island and his body will be destroyed 
on Green. How it is dangerous for Silk relates to all the events that 
happened to Silk after he killed himself in front of Hyacinth's casket 
and even before which are certainly helped along by the Rajan.

Dangerous for Hy? It could be that the answer is tied up in her 
confabulation with Mucor and Seawrack. Personally, I believe it is 
because he knows that as events unfold, the inhuma Fava will die, become 
trapped in dreams, rescued and set free in the Whorl only to become a 
prostitute for Blood, and all the other dangerous events that will 
transpire up to her death--starting with Neighbor-Horn becoming Silk and 
returning to Blue. This is a story with no clear beginning, middle, or end.

Otherwise, it is never made clear how Silk though Horn coming to where 
he was was dangerous for any of them. Silk was not under any threat from 
the Vironese or Trivigaunte government.

J.

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