The Second Apocalypse
Earwa => General Earwa => Topic started by: Quinthane on December 23, 2015, 08:33:01 pm
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remember when Kel encounters his first Nonman (i think most of us believe it's Mekertrig) and the nonman rolls one of the dead sranc over and sez:
"This sranc here-you could not pronounce its name-was our elju...our book. A most devoted animal. I'll be wrecked without it-for a time, anyway."
anyone else find it...i dunno....odd that the role of elju could be handled by a creature such as a sranc? esp. for a living line such as Meker).
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Quinthane, I've thought the same every time I read it. Doesn't see like a thing of flesh like the sranc would even be capable of such a thing.
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Sranc do have language and can craft basic items so they have some intelligence. Some Sranc have souls just like some animals and skin spies have souls so maybe you need a Sranc with a soul?
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It might have been an Ursranc? They're a lot more intelligent, ride horses and command other Sranc.
Mek gives orders to elju/Ursranc who in turn orders the band that attacks Kellhus in the prologue?
The Nonmen at the end of TWP had mounted Sranc with them so maybe they were the eljus? One for each of them.
It's not like the Consult has many humans to act as an elju and the skin spies would be presumably be wasted on simply being an elju.
Just a thought.
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Well, there is the possibility that that particular Sranc had slightly better language or memory capabilities.
There is also the idea that perhaps that Sranc was the most violent/most brutal, or very memorable for some other reason. So, the idea would then be to have that particular Sranc present at every atrocity, thereby it's very presence would provoke memories.
Also, there is the curiosity that Mek says, "our book" not "my book." So, does he refer to himself as the plural, or is there someone he is working with?
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1. We do not know exactly the concept & technology of elju. Maybe it's closer to being spa-therapist than psychiatrist-сonfidant. Do they have portalbe metronomes and clocks in three seas? For all we know being elju could be less about cognitive/creative and more about monotonous/labour.
2. Considering erraticism and memory/identity issues, every nonman is/are nonmen. Thus plurals. :3
PS Sorry for the pun.
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Ur-Sranc is not a bad idea, but this question has bothered me as well. Unfortunately with no real info on what an elju is or does its hard to say.
If it involves some magics, then maybe they just need a brain as an external hard drive, and the intelligence of the critter doesnt matter that much.
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Ur-Sranc is not a bad idea, but this question has bothered me as well. Unfortunately with no real info on what an elju is or does its hard to say.
If it involves some magics, then maybe they just need a brain as an external hard drive, and the intelligence of the critter doesnt matter that much.
Well, that's only sort of true. Cleric admits that Kosoter is his elju, so we've actually seen one, at least partially. Now, that doesn't really give us a great idea how a sranc could preform the role, but I think there are plausible ways to interpret the role in ways they could.
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Well, an elju, is a book for a Nonman, right? So, we have to assume that it's a keeper of his life/events, so to say. Doesn't Kosoter have to pull Cleric aside again and again to "remind" him? So, it's either a elju is a person/sranc that Nonman continuously have with them since the womb plague when the began to go Erratic. And, their "deeds" are passed from one elju to the next. Or, an elju is simply there to remind the Nonman what it's purpose is when that Nonman has a mission to carry out. I'd say the former is much more likely, imho.
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Well when kosoter is speaking to Cleric when Cleric says "Kosoter i struggle" when Mimara is spying on them. He specifically tells him he is preparing to remember, what he is doing at that point. Not reminding him of past events.
Hardly enough information though.
Maybe the face of a particular sranc is the jog to memory needed. they all look alike to us, but probably not to each other.
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Ok, so sorta remind them what they've been doing when their brains loses that info. Not a book of events of a life, but since they've come in contact with their elju. Makes sense.