Neighbors & Trees/Ash & Vine

James Wynn · 02 Dec 2010, 03:45 · from 2010-December.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:45:42 -0600
Subject: (urth) Neighbors & Trees/Ash & Vine
In-Reply-To: <002001cb91c6$d98ade60$afd04a0c@rclackey>
References: <AANLkTinB2k48SyesHaL7tXEs4wu0OQWF8M5H=wFx4ybb at mail.gmail.com>	<4CF6A69A.9040602 at gmail.com>
	<002001cb91c6$d98ade60$afd04a0c@rclackey>
Message-ID: <4CF71666.5090405 at gmail.com>

>> James Wynn wrote:
>> Suppose the trees and vines originated on Green.
> Roy C. Lackey wrote:
> The books state that the Neighbors were native to Blue (lists, OBW, IGJ), so
> if they are trees they did not originate on Green.

List oBW:
"Blue's sentient race."
List iGJ:
"The name by which the sentient native race is known on Blue's western 
continent, the Vanished People."

Hmmm...I'm a member of America's sentient race but my race did not 
originate there. American is the name by which the native race is known 
in the Northwestern continent. Others are known as Canadian. But that 
says nothing about their origins.
Still, I would have rather hoped that Wolfe would leave more breadcrumbs 
if the Neighbors had originated on Green. But then, he doesn't always 
(or often) leave as many breadcrumbs as I think he ought. I'd say mark 
this as inconclusive with the weight toward NOT FROM GREEN. Still, on 
the whole its fifty-fifty.

> The migration of the Neighbors was the other way around. They were native to
> Blue and only later went to Green. That is why there are few ruins to be
> seen on Blue, but the ruins on Green still stand.
>
> That is what Silkhorn told Hide in that chopped-up conversation about the
> Vanished People they had while camped at the edge of that swamp after
> leaving Blanko. See particularly pages 352-53 of IGJ.

Okay, this conversation hurts. I'm inclined to trust the Rajan on the 
general history of the Neighbors.
I could say that the Neighbors transported their seeds to Green and that 
was where they encountered the inhumi lianas except that the Rajan says, 
or strongly implies, that the inhumi were preying on the "great beasts" 
of Green before the Neighbors arrived.

> Silkhorn believed that the Neighbors had spaceships (ibid., 353). Inhumi
> were introduced into the _Whorl_ by the Neighbors, presumably when they
> first boarded the ship as it neared the Short Sun system (RTTW, 232). If the
> rules for spirit travel are the same for Neighbors as they are for humans,
> the spirit bodies of any inhumi they bring along will lose their fangs and
> other inhumi characteristics, as was the case for Fava, Jahlee and Juganu.
> Quetzal had fangs and was every bit an inhumu, therefore he did not get
> there by spirit travel.

I agree they did not transport the inhumi to the Whorl by spirit travel. 
I'm not saying that. How they got them to the Whorl has always been a 
mystery. I'm sure no one would allow an alien lander to dock. It is 
possible the inhumi flew there. The Rajan believes the Neighbors "must 
have" had landers. He doesn't say why he is so certain, but, again, I'm 
inclined to trust him. Maybe because they were trees? I don't know. 
Still, if the Neighbors had landers, where are they?

The Rajan says the Neighbors went to Green from Blue and that is where 
they became "wise", presumably where they became "Neighbors". My 
construct is still technically possible but verrrry cumbersome. Alas, 
I'm still not sure how the inhumi could be vines.

u+16b9

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