vanished people = Hieros

Andrew Mason · 07 Nov 2011, 21:23 · from 2011-November.txt.gz

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From: andrew.mason53 at googlemail.com (Andrew Mason)
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 21:23:44 +0000
Subject: (urth) vanished people = Hieros
Message-ID: <CAM3O41KN24A3U+VXbOgsCk8YvwRM9t8nDkTtGyzC8ZwWqPM19A at mail.gmail.com>

Jeff Wilson wrote:

> FB&O are hierodules and they come from Yesod.

Are we told this? In any case, whatever is true of them, I don't think
it can be true of all hierodules, In the appendix to COTA we are told
of a trade in arms with the hierodules - the same hierodules whom
Inire has just been referring to as 'my cousins' - and it does not
seem likely that these arms are made in Yesod.

They also spend a great
> deal of time in Briah. Inire claims relation to the same hierodules and
> has devices that directly access a hierogrammate on demand,

You mean the book? I'm not sure if we know it can access a
hierogrammate on demand - Severian sees one when he opens it, but that
may be because of his specific situation. In any case it looks as if
the hierogrammates normally contact the Autarchs through aquastors,
which is a bit odd if Inire is directly in touch with them.

 so despite
> his deep cover as a human vizier on Urth, I believe he is also
> reasonably characterized as a Yesodi, and likely a hierarch judging by
> his lifespan.

Ah - interesting. I would take him to belong to the same species as B
and F, given Severian's remark about his life being prolonged beyond
the short lifespan of his race (and this can't be because he thinks
all hierodules are of the same race - it's actually mentioned
somewhere that they aren't). So I don't think he can be a hierarch if
they are a dsitinct species, the literal children of the
hierogrammates. Now, I have wondered if they are in fact adopted
children of the hierogrammates - since if they were their biological
children you might expect them them to inherfit their parents' powers
- and then certainly Inire could be one.

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