# OBW: Yet another Inhumi secret theory *The Whorl list — 3 messages, 2 voices, 08 Jul 2000* > 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. --- ### David Lomax *08 Jul 2000, 18:24* All, Pardon for going back to a dead horse, stick in hand, but I just got around to reading OBW (in preparation for the next which I believe is coming out soon). Immediately, I went and read a whole bunch of old posts from this list which I had been saving for the occasion. I'm fascinated with the quest for the Inhumi secret (which I acknowledge may be unknowable given our present information). Like most of you folks, I had rejected the "can't we all just get along" hypothesis and many of the other likely candidates. One I haven't seen suggested (perhaps because I haven't read _all_ the old posts) has to do with giving. Giving, people giving themselves to others, seems an important theme for Wolfe. What if the secret went something like this: if people were to willingly give themselves over to the Inhumi, then (1) the Inhumi wouldn't be able to kill the people (much as Krait doesn't kill Horn or Horn's people once Horn has properly given his word) and (2) the Inhumi would, for some reason, no longer drink sentience along with the blood. This is not a satisfying theory, mostly because it seems too simplistic, but I thought it might spark of someone else's ideas. If it's a repetition of stuff that's already been said, my apologies. David Lomax *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. --- ### Nicholas Gevers *08 Jul 2000, 23:32 · follows David Lomax* More likely, by giving themselves to the inhumi, humans would see to it that the sentience the inhumi imbibed was of a benign, self-sacrificial flavour--a means of rendering the inhumi themselves more benign. --- David Lomax wrote: > All, > Pardon for going back to a dead horse, stick in > hand, but I just got around to > reading OBW (in preparation for the next which I > believe is coming out soon). > Immediately, I went and read a whole bunch of old > posts from this list which I had > been saving for the occasion. I'm fascinated with > the quest for the Inhumi secret > (which I acknowledge may be unknowable given our > present information). Like most > of you folks, I had rejected the "can't we all just > get along" hypothesis and many > of the other likely candidates. One I haven't seen > suggested (perhaps because I > haven't read _all_ the old posts) has to do with > giving. > > Giving, people giving themselves to others, seems an > important theme for Wolfe. > What if the secret went something like this: if > people were to willingly give > themselves over to the Inhumi, then (1) the Inhumi > wouldn't be able to kill the > people (much as Krait doesn't kill Horn or Horn's > people once Horn has properly > given his word) and (2) the Inhumi would, for some > reason, no longer drink > sentience along with the blood. > > This is not a satisfying theory, mostly because it > seems too simplistic, but I > thought it might spark of someone else's ideas. If > it's a repetition of stuff > that's already been said, my apologies. --- ### Nicholas Gevers *08 Jul 2000, 23:32 · follows Nicholas Gevers* More likely, by giving themselves to the inhumi, humans would see to it that the sentience the inhumi imbibed was of a benign, self-sacrificial flavour--a means of rendering the inhumi themselves more benign. --- David Lomax wrote: > All, > Pardon for going back to a dead horse, stick in > hand, but I just got around to > reading OBW (in preparation for the next which I > believe is coming out soon). > Immediately, I went and read a whole bunch of old > posts from this list which I had > been saving for the occasion. I'm fascinated with > the quest for the Inhumi secret > (which I acknowledge may be unknowable given our > present information). Like most > of you folks, I had rejected the "can't we all just > get along" hypothesis and many > of the other likely candidates. One I haven't seen > suggested (perhaps because I > haven't read _all_ the old posts) has to do with > giving. > > Giving, people giving themselves to others, seems an > important theme for Wolfe. > What if the secret went something like this: if > people were to willingly give > themselves over to the Inhumi, then (1) the Inhumi > wouldn't be able to kill the > people (much as Krait doesn't kill Horn or Horn's > people once Horn has properly > given his word) and (2) the Inhumi would, for some > reason, no longer drink > sentience along with the blood. > > This is not a satisfying theory, mostly because it > seems too simplistic, but I > thought it might spark of someone else's ideas. If > it's a repetition of stuff > that's already been said, my apologies. ---