(TBOTN) Nessus, Citadel, Wall

Michael Andre-Driussi · 19 Jun 2003, 21:19 · from urth-v0306.mbox · original

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From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at siriusfiction.com>
Subject: (urth) (TBOTN) Nessus, Citadel, Wall
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 14:19:28 -0700
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Nessus-the-mobile, the Citadel, and the enigmatic Wall.

For simplicity's sake, let's suppose that the citadel is located in the
exact center of a circular Wall.

Now then, in Typhon's time (in URTH), the "towers" are still ships.  The
doctor who checks Sev refers to the "zoetic transport," for example.  I'm
pretty sure we don't see Nessus in Typhon's era in URTH (we go from Saltus
to the Citadel); and in the Long Sun books I believe we have indication
that in Typhon's era the Citadel was at the northern edge of the city,
rather than being at the southern edge as it is in Severian's childhood.

So my question about where "Nessus" is at any given era relates to where
the leading edge and trailing edge are in relation to the citadel complex.
The citadel is like an island garrison, and Nessus is a tide that rises up
and finally past it.

If there were breaks in the wall, these would serve as access ways; but
what we see at the one gate is a tunnel like a mine shaft.  Presumably the
river passes through a similar tunnel, but Severian is maddeningly silent
on this (I think he literally sleeps through it on the Samru).

The Wall is far from the sea.

When I wrote about "gigantism" in gothic, I thought of CASTLE OTRANTO (the
giant there being a ghostly arm, iirc), and for genre of course I thought
of THE NIGHT LAND.  I nearly mentioned hartshorn by name in that regard --
I didn't, but he has popped up anyway.  Yay!

More gigantism in TBOTNS: the league-high cliff, the carved mountains, the
monster-mammals (baluchitherium, mammoths, et ali), the undines, the thing
in the mine at Saltus (sounds big, at least) . . .

Right, the =3DCitadel=3D is the one with walls of unsmeltable metal.  The W=
alls
of Nessus, who knows?  They are said to be honeycombed; basically an
anthill of the Autarch's freaky soldiers.  Beastmen, anpiels, things like
that.

=3Dmantis=3D

--=20

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