The quote in question:"Remembering that, it was simple enough to guess who my priest's forbears had been - the sailors routed by my memories had paid for their defeat with their pasts, just as I would have lost the future of my descendants had my own past been defeated." I have always interpreted this as meaning that the sailor's have had their memories wiped and been 'abandoned' on Ushas to begin the human race anew. 'future of my descendents' I had once thought to refer to the ritual castration that Appian had to go through. On a closer look that would not be the punishment for Sev's defeat as the castration was simply a tool by which Sev would be guaranteed ascension to the Pheonix Throne. I now believe that Sev's descendents refers metephorically to all the creatures of Ushas whose genesis has been made possible by Sev.
As to what was conceived between Sev and Apheta: "That something was myself" The White Fountain. Sev always refers to the white fountain coursing through space as a second and sentient self.
FunkMonkey
J. Schutlz
jschultz at wcnet.org