{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/whorl/15", "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": 15, "subject": "On top of the airship", "messages": 2, "voices": 2, "first": "1997-01-02T13:56:30+00:00", "last": "1997-01-04T01:17:47+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Peter Cash", "address": "cash at convex.convex.com" }, "date": "1997-01-02T13:56:30+00:00", "subject": "(whorl) On top of the airship", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "CoxRathvon at aol.com wrote:\nSubject: on the airship\nDate: Mon, 30 Dec 1996 19:38:52 -0500" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": " If I'm not mistaken, somebody has asked about the conversation between\nSilk and Horn on the top of the airship. I'm not sure how many replies have\nbeen posted. But I do feel that that conversation is key, and I find it very\nenigmatic. Why is Silk suicidally depressed? And what happened at the end\nof that conversation--did Horn begin to fall and did Mucor save him?\n Let me suggest that among other things Silk has begun to suspect\ncorruption in Pas's plan. He may not specificaly suspect alien involvement\nin the plan. But certainly--as he points out to Horn--he suspects that the\ncities of the Whorl have been separated and pitted against one another to\nprevent them from uniting against Pas. I think that in this late hour of the\nstory, Silk has despaired of all the Whorl gods, and it takes a mighty effort\nfor him to retain his faith in the Outsider's more remote designs." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Perhaps insight into the true amount of corruption in the Whorl--and\nPas' plan--had a role in driving Silk to the point of suicide. I don't\nthink that was was the whole of it, though. After all, Silk's faith\nshould have been in the Outsider, who \"enlightened\" him, and not Pas;\nthe corruption of Pas and the other Gods is something Silk has had more\nthan a glimmering of by this time.\n\nNo, I think what really drove Silk to the edge was something more\npersonal. But I'm not clear about what it was." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": " But I do not understand the implications of Hycanith's falsity--that she\noverpowered a soldier and betrayed an ability (or something about her past)\ninconsistent with her claims about herself. What am I missing here? Can\nanyone help? " }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I wish someone would--I'm as puzzled as you are. There was also the bit\nwhere Hyacinth and Chenille reminisce about a fight they had when they\nfirst became acquainted. There's some import to this that I can't\nfathom.\n\nIs Hyacinth perhaps an agent of the Trivigaunti? --That would put her\nrelationship with the Trivigaunti general on the airship in a different\nperspective, and explain her hand-to-hand combat skills. Surely she\nwould have been an ideal operative, considering her charms and her\naccess to the ruling class of Vir. She was also in a position to work\nclosely with Dr. Crane, without exciting suspicion." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "And again, what is the culmination of this scene, when Horn\nappears to fall?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Yes, I'm still totally mystified by that scene. I originally got the\nimpression that Horn was pushed--by Mucor, and Silk grabbed him at the\nlast instant. But that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Was it\nreally Silk who fell (or jumped)? Then why does Horn hide this fact? \n\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n Die Welt ist alles, was Zerfall ist. \n (apologies to Ludwig Wittgenstein) \n email: cash at convex dot com (sorry, spam prevention)\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n\nQuestions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Rich Skrenta", "address": "skrenta at rt.com" }, "date": "1997-01-04T01:17:47+00:00", "subject": "(whorl) On top of the airship", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "And again, what is the culmination of this scene, when Horn\nappears to fall?" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Yes, I'm still totally mystified by that scene. I originally got the\nimpression that Horn was pushed--by Mucor, and Silk grabbed him at the\nlast instant. But that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I assumed that Horn fell simply as a result of being possessed by\nMucor. Balancing on the edge would require some effort and\nconcentration, and this would be disrupted by the possession.\n\nWe were expecting the risk of sitting on the edge to come from\nturbulence. Mucor's appearance has the same risk-effect, but is\nfrom an unexpected source.\n\nWhat kept me wondering was whether an airship would actually function\nnormally in a false-gravity environment created within a spinning\ncylinder. I vaguely recall reading in one of the earlier books a\nmention that floater drivers had to take care, as they would lift\noff if they flew too fast anti-spinward, or slam into the ground\nif they flew quickly spinward. Would a balloon actually rise\nnormally in that kind of environment?\n\n\nQuestions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com" } ] } ] }