{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/whorl/1414",
    "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it.  Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.",
    "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'"
  },
  "archive": "whorl",
  "thread": {
    "id": 1414,
    "subject": "The weapon too heavy to wield",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "2001-04-28T02:03:47+00:00",
    "last": "2001-04-28T02:03:47+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<whorl-v0012-0757@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Alan Phillips & Ling Xiang",
        "address": "atplx at earthlink.net"
      },
      "date": "2001-04-28T02:03:47+00:00",
      "subject": "(whorl) The weapon too heavy to wield",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "I just had an idle thought on what the nature of the inhumi secret may\nbe.  This may not be supported by the books, but what if the inhumi\ninherit not only human intelligence from the blood of thier parents but\nalso inherit a link to part of the human spirit.  The inhumi would gain\nsentience and a \"soul\" of sorts which is connected (astrally? psychic?)\nto the victims of their parents.  If the human victims of inhumi bites\ndie, then the inhumi children might \"loose their souls\" i.e. die or\ncease to be intelligent.\n\nHere is where we get the \"weapon too heavy to wield\".  There are 2 ways\nto reduce the inhumi to mindlessness, one improbable and one possible:\n\n1) For all victims of inhumi bites to become so altruistic that the\ninhumi who share their spirits stop drinking blood and die out.  This,\nhowever, is so unlikely that even the most paranoid inhumi need not fear\nit.\n\n2) Kill all humans who have been bitten by inhumi.  This would reduce\nall inhumi to animal intelligence.  This may be what Horn/Silk fears. \nIf word of this got out there could be a mass witch-hunt to slaughter\nall the inhumi victims.  There are probably many on Blue (and Green) who\nwould gladly attempt this if they though it would work.  This may be\nwhat the inhumi fear.  Horn/Silk would also be reluctant to reveal\nthis--less so because of his oath than to prevent the murder of innocent\npeople.\n\nAgain, I haven't re-read the books to try to back this up and you have\nto swallow my soul-link theory to make it work but it sounded somewhat\nplausible.\n\n--Alan\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun."
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}