(urth) The Ship

[Jeff Wilson]

On 1/11/2012 12:04 AM, Lee Berman wrote:
>
>
>> Jeff Wilson: So you are of the opinion that none of the improbable occurrences that
>> happen around Sev are connected to him? Despite his own,cosmically-enhanced perception
>
>> that they are?
>
>
>
> I'm not comprehending this post. I am suggesting that most/all the improbable occurrences
>
> are connected to him, including the eclipse. That perhaps it is Severian's doing and not
>
> Tzadkiel's Ship. That if he is really an Incan sun god then he ought to be a real one who
>
> caused an eclipse, not a fake one.

Why would Tzadkiel and his Ship be immune from Sev's subconscious 
powers? He's at least familiar with them firsthand, unlike Lune.


>> Why does he (Tzadkiel) arrange the show trials? Why does he do anything? To preserve
>> the carefully fiddled timeloops that allow Sev to have the adventures
>> necessary to bring Ushas. The few hours of parking is relatively trivial
>> next to the centuries of sailing back and forth from Briah to Yesod as
>> well.
>
>
>
> Yes, it is possible he went through this trouble. If you believe that, perhaps you also
>
> believe (as I tend to) that Tzadkiel also arranged 1000 years of Commonwealth history,
>
> placed/allowed Inire and the Cumaean and the sea monsters on Urth, created the Torturer's
>
> Guild, set up the Ascian war, duped Vodalus, duped Agia, etc. etc. to position Severian
>
> in his proper place. Or would that be too much trouble? Remember, if Tzadkiel's Ship caused
>
> the eclipse, his/her travels span tens or hundreds of millenia not centuries. A puny 1000
>
> years of manipulation of one measly planet is indeed trival in comparison.

By centuries I refer to the apparent subjective time taken, judging 
roughly by Sev's estimate of 100 days for his round trip. Tzad hesitates 
to paint in broad strokes lest he lose control of his chaotic medium, so 
he fiddles with it at the rate of perhaps a chilliad or ten per 
manvantara before his big production number's dress rehearsal.





>> Dan'l Danahey-Oakes: ...but more cataclysmic than you apparently
>> understand.  If Lune were to alter its orbital velocity so that it was
>> stationary relative to the surface of Urth -- it would have consequences
>
>> immediately noticeable in the phases of Lune -- the tides would not merely
>
>> "maintain" but pile up, pushing first the oceans and then the crust of Urth into
>
>> increasingly (with, admittedly, limits) distorted forms. Earthquakes and floods _would_ be
>> the result.
>
>
>
> Hm. I'm not sure what research has been done in this area. But it sounds like you are
>
> talking about a permanent cessation of moon movement causing these cataclysms. The story is
>
> only talking about a few hours for Severian's eclipse. My sense is that the moon doesn't
>
> have that great an impact on earth that a few extra hours of lunar gravity would wreck the place.
>
> But I think some complex astrophysical computations would be necessary to hazard a truly educated guess.

Not especially. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_force


>> by the way, an unimaginably immense amount of energy would be required to do this
>
>
>
>> Gerry Quinn: think about the power needed to stop and restart the Moon in its orbit.


To be fair, the White Fountain as described can supply limitless energy, 
and if Sev manipulates time he could do the moon-halting for essentially 
no net energy cost.


-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at clueland.com
Computational Intelligence Laboratory - Texas A&M Texarkana
< http://www.tamut.edu/CIL >