From: matthew.malthouse@guardian.co.uk
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 16:20:59 +0000
Subject: RE: (urth) Posthistory league-high cliff notes




On 13/03/2002 12:40:20 Jeff Snader wrote:

>As a matter of fact Typhon represents an alien invader, and it seems
>probable that he brought the exultants along with him.  From how far
afield
>they came (perhaps as nearby as Skuld or Verthandi; beyond this, the
stars)
>remains unknown.

Alien in culture.  But Typhon knows that Earth/Urth is the original home
of his race.

And from the stars, Typhon says so when talking of his lost empire and the
one he intends to rebuild.

As for the exultants I can't recall a reference that would support or
refute the idea that they came with Typhon. Then...

>It does make sense that the exultants where a spacefaring race.  They
have a
>technological superiority over the rest of the populace. They could
possibly
>be from a planet with a weaker gravitational pull, which one could
attribute
>to their height.

It's an interesting thought.

I have in mind that the exultants as a class just bred for hight, but I
can't say now why I thought that.

Tall people in Science fiction are often a result of low gravity - that
could be planets like Lune - or space habitats. But tall for aristocrats
is a commonplace, simpley because such a class being most consistantly
well fed and having well fed mothers are likely to be avove average hight
in any stratified society.  Eventually this becomes a characteristic *of*
the aristocrat so breeding or or more sophisticated maniplation to fix
that characteristic in the line might be an end in itself ratehr than
having any other purpose.

Mantis drew up a neat sysnopsis of relevant stuff  in
http://www.urth.net/urth/archives/v0001/0023.shtml




Matthew



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