(urth) Inhumi's secret and numbers on Blue

[Marc Aramini]

Yes the inhuma are liana as is the narrators staff.  This has been my position since about 2001.

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 27, 2012, at 1:58 PM, DAVID STOCKHOFF <dstockhoff at verizon.net> wrote:

> Does anyone recall a passage in which the narrator suggests inhumi are derived from plants? (Please excuse it if I've brought it up before.) 
> 
> I'd have to look at it again to confirm it (and that it was meant in a literal sense), but it could make for an interesting twist to this discussion. I believe the inhumi are related to the vines of Green. Plants could traverse space given sufficient external hardness, but that is insufficient by itself. There are at least three dangers and three challenges in traversing space:
> 
> (1) Vacuum rupture
> (2) Radiation
> (3) Heat/cold variation
> (4) Navigation/propulsion
> (5) Reentry/landing
> (6) Food/air
> 
> I'm pretty sure there are Earth seeds that could handle the first two or three for a period. The second three are probably unsolvable except by (1) setting a trajectory, (2) either large "wings" or a very hard, nonflammable exterior, and (3) dormancy.
> 
> A winged, intelligent descendent of plants capable of going dormant could conceivably carry this out (aside from firing seeds across the abyss). It's a stretch, but one worth making. Anything else is unlikely even by SF standards.
> 
> From: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com>
> To: "urth at urth.net" <urth at urth.net> 
> Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 2:22 PM
> Subject: (urth) Inhumi's secret and numbers on Blue
> 
> 
> 
> >nate jarvis: Of course characters in BotSS travel to the Whorl (Horn's walk in) and
> >even as far as Nessus (inhuma included) without spacecraft. They don't
> >take their bodies, though, and I thought the inhumi claimed to fly
> >between Green and Blue, when the time was right, in a very literal
> >sense
> 
> With regard to the astral projection sort of travel, I agree with those who think
> that has more to do with the less-than-substantial Neighbors' influence than Inhumi. FWIW,
> this sort of travel seems to produce the "real essence" of the travellers or something like
> that. So gods and inhumi who travel that way end up showing their "true" form, whatever that
> may mean. The Inhumi end up as hyper-sexualized humans which is probably worth some discussion.
> 
> I'll leave aside the debate on whether all predatory humans rely on stealth and emphasize the 
> point that all Inhumi that we encounter are relentless liars and deceivers. It seems completely
> a part of their nature. Likely this is metaphorically related to the Serpent, Satan, The Great
> Deceiver, etc., not to mention Jahi/Lilith, the temptress, demoness etc.
> 
> We could go so far as to say that the Secret of the Inhumi is a lie just like everything else
> the Inhumi say. But I think good writing requires that there is something of substance to this
> secret that we are supposed to figure out.
> 
> As you point out earlier, nate, this secret is supposed to be something which could ruin the
> Inhumi race if revealed. Your idea about consent is along these lines, and I appreciate that.
> 
> Yes, quite a bit is said about the Inhumi travelling across the void from Green to Blue when
> the planets are in conjunction. In previous discussions about that we've agree that the 
> planets cannot be close enough to share an atmosphere and not collide so the Inhumi must be
> travelling through the void. 
> 
> My position has been that multi-cellular organisms cannot possibly survive such a trip without 
> exploded cell membranes.  Perhaps most damaging to this story is the impossible premise that 
> biological creatures could somehow achieve escape velocity purely on the power of wings. Still,
> I may be in the minority in disbelieving the lies of the Inhumi, but it leaves me feeling as
> frustrated as when I hear real world masses believing the lies of some demogogue.
> 
> So, I think that is a lie to cover up the inhumi reliance on being spaceship stowaways. I feel it
> has to have some important significance like that.  Likewise, Antonin Scriabin's thought that the 
> Inhumi mating habits could be just a biological oddity doesn't ring true to me. Why would such
> a thing be revealed at the very end of the story by Juganu? There are more lies going on here I 
> think, meant to protect the Inhumi race.
> 
> These are like the lies told by Quetzal to get some of the Whorl residents to go to Green. As Krait 
> tells Horn, the Inhumi think of humans as cattle. They are more (socially) intelligent than humans and
> will use lies and deception to herd us where they want us, just as we use fences, whips and nose
> rings to herd cows where we want them.   
> 
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