Mystery of Ascia

Lee Berman · 24 Jan 2011, 16:24 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:24:48 -0500
Subject: (urth) Mystery of Ascia
Message-ID: <SNT123-W29E6E739FE447806AC41CCFFD0 at phx.gbl>

>James Wynn: Wolfe has said in an interview that the Ascian (as-kee-an) / Asian false association 
>never occurred to him at the time of writing but acknowledged that it was a reasonable inference 
>for a reader to make. The idea was that most people of the Commonwealth thought the Ascians were 
>from the equator and had no idea that they were from much further north. Of course, the name also 
implies that they are in darkness ("no shadow"); rejecting the light of the New Sun.

Thanks James. It is interesting and good to know that Wolfe's idea for the name Ascian had only to
do with the equator-dwelling mistake and not with Asia or America.

I would disagree that the name implies dwelling in darkness. Being shadowless at the equator implies
one is in such direct, overhead sunlight that no shadow is formed.

This might agree with a current hypothesis I (and I think some others) are exploring: that the New Sun
is actually the thing most desired by the rulers of the Ascians, Erebus and Abaia. The one thing these
monstrous, immortal, ocean-bound creatures would fear most is Ragnarok, the ultimate winter, with 
frozen oceans and frozen atmosphere. (remembering that, per Ash, in the future of ice, and unlike Ushas, 
most of Urth's humanity is saved).

To meander a little, I picture Ascia as a well-lit place. Few trees, few shadows. Everything chopped down 
to make fields and farms for agricultural communes. Apollonian/sun god society- everything based on order 
and rules and proper forms and proper speech. Forests are Dionysian places.

Contrast this with the Jungle Sorcerers. They prefer to live in shade and shadow. No agriculture.
Their society is based on individual ability, magic and trickery. Even the formal test they set up for
Severian is a sham. Cheating and trickery was inherent in it. Decuman had a blowgun dart and the 
sorcerers had their spears and claws to assure that Severian would be killed if Decuman's mysticism 
didn't work. They admire Severian greatly for his (not really his) trick of using the slug.

Hm...you know...it just occurs to me...It is part of my growing hypothesis that Hethor (the true
boss of the partnership) never wanted to kill Severian, just test his abilities. Could the slug
have been used by Hethor BECAUSE Severian was in real danger of losing and being killed by the jungle
sorcerers? The timing is awfully suspicious to think the slug was intended to kill Severian. 

You could argue that Agia wanted to kill Severian herself. But was she the real boss? Anyway she had numerous
real opportunities to kill him herself on his journey. Or capture him and torture him for weeks, then kill him.
She was riding a flying peryton that could have grabbed him at any time (as it did to rescue him from the evzones).

But she never did try to kill him, finding excuses not to, each and every time.

(Agia does slap Severian, tearing his cheek. This could be a mythological reference to the ancient goddess
Achlys, daughter of Nyx)

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