Well, I'm not going to touch most of that mantic limbic conjecture, but I will note that Hethor does indeed have a set of mirrors by which he manipulates his beasties--Father Inire alludes to them in his letter to Sev near the end of Citadel. How he transports them, I wouldn't know.
-alga-
alga,
Right, Hethor's mirrors aluded to by Father Inire. But since the only mirrors we see (mainly the "transporter pad" of the Presence Chamber: about which Domnia told Thecla as Severian tells Agia [I, ch. 20]; into which Jonas steps [II, ch. 18]; and into which the cat is thrown into ["The Cat"]) are part of a room sized installation (eight full length mirrors, with "labyrinths" aka teratoid signs on their backs; some sort of laser-like light source at the center of the mirror octagon), and since Hethor does not seem to be carrying as much as a knapsack, then Hethor's mirrors must somehow be, kit and kaboodle, pocket sized.
About summoning mirror critters: it seems that Chinese "magic mirrors" are mirrors that seem normal but they reflect/project a specific image, e.g., you can look at your face, but catch the sunlight and you project the written character for "fire" into the shadows. The mirror silvering is only partial.
Father Inire tells Domnia that the Fish will materialize if they don't darken the lamp or adjust the mirrors. Suggesting that there is a physical action rather than a psychic action: one dials up the critter code on the mirrors rather than thinking strong thoughts of influence. But maybe not--Inire also seems to suggest that the Fish is one of the first shapes to materialize; so there might be limits to what a novice can catch with the mirrors, and only a real fisherman can haul in the wild and very big creatures as Hethor does.
So Hethor, staring into his pocket compact, draws forth a half dozen flying mounts for Vodalus? Yikes!
=mantis=
This is Sean Whalen (prion).
A while ago I think there was some question about how big Hethor's mirrors would have to be for him to get all those creatures through them. It's possible that all the creatures had a small original form or that they can fold their bodies enough to make it through. That would take care of how Hethor could carry small mirrors around with him that bring out large beings.
However, the mirrors (that's what they're always called in the story, so I'll assume he has more than one) could summon large beings withought being large at all. With three small handmirrors arranged on the ground in a triangle with each bent back at an angle, in the area where light from the three combine, a fairly large creature could appear. Remember how Jonas never goes through the Inire's mirrors, he just stands between them at the point of confluence and is sent away.
prion
Urth Net