Subject: (urth) Neighbors in the Whorl

From: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:36:33 +0000

>Andrew Mason-> It seems likely to me that the Neigbours in the Whorl are disguised as
> humans (or indeed fused with humans, in a way akin to possession). If
> they can transport someone else's spirit into a new body, it's not
> improbable that they can also transport their own spirits into new
> bodies.

>James Wynn- Well, the fact that they knew Silk's body was soon to be available 
>suggests they are there observing things. You make a good point though 
>that the Neighbors can very well be active on the Whorl without ships or 
>cracking the airlock.

Yes. I think this is getting closer to the heart of the matter. I would ask Andrew
about which group, on the Whorl, do we know is able to do "possession", putting their 
spirits into human bodies. Also, there seems to be some possession going on in the 
Short Sun stories. It is facilitated by a ring/jewel of the Neighbors. For me the 
pieces of the puzzle fit together nicely.
 
I think James also has a sense that Inhumi and Neighbor intrusions into the Whorl
were not a product of an outer space invasion through the void. The Whorl likely
came with all the pieces we find out about already in place.
 
I don't think the ecological symbiotic fit of Neighbors, Inhumi and humans that we see 
on Blue/Green evolved over the course of a few decades. It has been going on for a long, 
long time.
 
(this may be what Marc is getting at with his sense of flora and fauna. In BotNS there
is a pelagic/blue water theme, a green theme and feeding off the death of humanity theme.)