Subject: (urth) Inire R.I.P.?

From: m.driussi <m.driussi at genie.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 00:58:00 +0000

Add to the rumors of Inire's death mill:

The scene--survivors floating on the Flood waters, circa 50 S.R.

The speaker--Odilo (III), responding to Severian incognito, who asked
if his father was steward in the same place before him.

The quote: "He [Odilo II] was indeed, sieur, and gave the most
complete satisfaction all his life. =That was in the great days of
Father Inire=, sieur, when, if I may say so, sieur, our Hypogeum
Apotropaic was famous all across the Commonwealth" (V, ch. 44,
italics mine).

The "great days"?  Meaning either, "when Inire was still sprightly"
or "when Inire was still alive"?

More dredging:

"The Cat" is told by Odilo (II) who heard it from Odilo (I), who was
a contemporary of the chatelaine Sancha.  Odilo (II), the one who met
Severian as torturer wandering in the House Absolute, began serving
in 16 P.S. (pre-Severian's Reign) and was still working 20 years
later when he wrote "The Cat" in 5 S.R.

Odillo II is a plump man of fifty or so (I, ch. 19) in 1 P.S., which
suggests that he was thirty-five when he succeeded his father as
steward.  (And recalls the long apprenticeship of Cyby.)

If son is like father, then Odillo III is fifty years old in 50 S.R.
(and looks just like him), suggesting that he too began serving at
the age of thirty-five, which would be 35 S.R. (and making him meet
Severian for the first time in the fifteenth year of his
service--just like dad did!)

           BORN      SERVICE
Odilo I    80 P.S.   xx P.S. to 16 P.S.
Odilo II   50 P.S.   16 P.S. to 35 S.R.
Odilo III   1 P.S.   35 S.R. to 50 S.R.

So =maybe= Odilo II served until 35 S.R., and for one reason or the
other, this period is known as "the great days of Father Inire."

=mantis=

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