Piaton; apocalypse

Jeff Wilson · 27 Sep 2004, 08:00 · from 2004-September.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Mon Sep 27 08:00:59 2004
Subject: (urth) Piaton; apocalypse
In-Reply-To: <03a801c4a436$a6b5d460$3700a8c0@crunchynut>
References: <03a801c4a436$a6b5d460$3700a8c0@crunchynut>
Message-ID: <41582B0F.4030208 at io.com>

Andrew Bollen wrote:

> But there is a fundamental question about Sev's apocalypse which remains 
> very unclear to me. How do Abaia and the others fit into this? Very 
> simply, a global inundation isn't something which is going to cause them 
> much grief; and indeed we see the undines leaping from the waves (or 
> something like that) to greet the New Sun. 

The flood may not be world-wide; indeed if the Increate is the God of 
the Old Testament, that would be in keeping with His promise not to 
destroy the world by water a second time. The undines may be momentarily 
flourishing because they are feasting on the creatures drowned by the 
flood of Gyoll's basin.

> But why? Is a race of enslaved Ascians a better cosmic outcome than a 
> race enslaved by Typhon? And to the extent that Abaia wants to enslave 
> humans, won't this be much easier to accomplish with humanity reduced to 
> a scattering of souls & returned to its primitive beginnings?

Not really; each pocket of the scattered and primitive survivors may be 
easier to control, but they have little or no reach to snare others. 
Instead of working from the top downward of a corrupted society, Abaia 
and agents would need to duplicate their efforts many times for little 
gain each time.

> And you see something of the same puzzle in the different tretment of 
> Typhon and Baldanders. To me it is clear enough that they are the 
> "alpha" and "omega" of the same type - Sev first kills the original 
> tyrant, and then comes down the mountain & deals with the new wannabe 
> tyrant. But Baldanders doesn't perish, then or in the Flood (presumably).

Perhaps it is the grace of the Increate, or reflective of evil's 
tenacity. To have the flood simply wash away badness leaving only the 
good would imply destructive force is a simple and complete solution to 
moral issues. Or perhaps Baldanders and Abaia have some good in them 
worth saving. It could be that Abaia's forces are secretly on the side 
of good, grim doers of the regrettably necessary, like the angel of 
death at Passover, or Severian himself.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
Lead Playtester, GURPS Ultra-Tech for 4/e
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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