(urth) Agilus and Agia

[Lee Berman]

>Jeff Wilson: I can buy Rudesind being Fechin, or at least having 
>taken Fechin's identity. But I don't recall Fechin being old,

Well, if he is really an immortal, shapeshifting alien then the 
human concept of "age" doesn't really apply. 

But presented as a standard BotNS character, Fechin should be old
as are his contemporaries, such as Rudesind, the old person in Casdoe's
house, and (I think) the old boatman. We are never actually told that
Fechin died....

>and a handsome teenage boy gaining carnal knowledge of a teenage girl 
>hardly sets him apart.

Actually, I question the handsomeness. It doesn't seem to go easily with
long, hairy, monkey-like arms. I suspect we are meant to understand the
handsomeness is in the eye of the beholder and storyteller here.

But I kinda go along with somebody's (Borski?) idea that the teen girl
Fechin seduces is Dorcas. That's probably an unnatural stretch but not 
so much for me if Fechin=the old boatman=Rudesind=Inire.

>I see no paint unless that's a palette in the subject's right hand, but is
>there a black cat at the top left? And other figurines on the fireplace
>mantle?

Well, I picked that younger self-portrait by Nicolai Fechin because it shows
his hair to be a bit more red. This more famous, older self-portrait does
show him holding a paintbrush.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-shcjDerM3oE/USlESDOGOmI/AAAAAAAAPQM/V0-0es69axU/s1600/fechin+self+portrait2.jpg

Perhaps the paintbrushes in the painting of Rudesind by Fechin were not
meant to signify a self-portrait and were just a bit of literary decoration.
But it is fun to consider they might represent a clever puzzle piece.

>aaron: In-EAR-ay, huh?  Makes sense.  The meaning of the name's source being
>entrance seems to jive with Inire's overall agenda, as well.  He does
>create entrances with the specula using some arcane method or other.  Good
>stuff.

Yikes! Specula is the latin word for mirrors but were you implying word play 
with the gynecological speculum? That's a tool which both functions to enter
open and as a mirror. What IS that naughty Father Inire really up to?