I'm going to ramble a bit... You've been warned!
Bakker's point in the Four Revelations... To show how different Nonmen consciousness\souls are. No? Is there evidence Cinial’jin is an erratic at the moment\moments of the tale? I assumed he was intact at the time of the tale. Even if he is an erratic, I'm sot sure Bakker's point is any different. Nilgiccas' quote from the end of WLW comes to mind.
"We are many!" the Erratic roared. "We are legion! What you call your soul is nothing but a confusion, an inability! A plurality that cannot count the moments that divide it and so calls itself One."
Simply, a Nonman soul can (somehow), count or is aware of the moments which divide it
and of the divisions. Man's cannot and thus believes itself to be One when it is in fact many divisions. How can this not be connected to how we perceive Cinial’jin revelations? Also, this appears to explain how Shaeönanra divides human souls to stay alive...
I don't see much of a connection to their Elju except that perhaps they would serve as an anchor to 'now'.
How could a proper Elju function w/o a small understanding of Nonmen consciousness? Is it as simple as understanding how to use memory fulcrums? If so, how would Kosoter have known how to manipulate Cleric by using Akka and Mimara as memory fulcrums? Is it knowledge the Zaudyani Captain would have had just from his life experience? Can it be random chance? Did someone (Kelhus), teach him? How does Kosoter become in possession of Cleric anyways...
Another tangent... During his battle with Akka, Nilgiccas speaks of Becoming
Only when memory is stripped away! Only then is being revealed as pure Becoming! Only when the past dies can we shrug aside the burden that is our soul!
What is Nil'giccas' aim here? What will he gain by shedding his soul and Becoming? Surely Nilgiccas knows... Do y'all? I have an idea, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. Also, does he fail in Becoming? He asks Akka WTF just happened as he lies impaled?
I think I may have to start quoting earlier in the chapter, rather then just the quote which gave rise to my question. I'm going to try and just use the character's words from the chapter. Why? The entire conversation takes place between episodes of Mimara's POV and is filled with descriptions Akka\The Nonman's actions\feelings... A bunch of distractions! Also, quoting huge swaths of book would lead to an even larger post than this already is. All Italics and Capitalization are Bakker's...
Akka (Armed with the revelation from Mimara about who Cleric is), confronts the Nonman at Sauglish
"Incariol,"... "Why that name?"
N: "Because I wander."
A: "and Cleric?"
N: "It is a tradition... I think... A tradition among the Siqu to take a mannish name."
A: "You are Nil'giccas"... The Last King of Mansions."
N: "No, He is dead."
A: "No, He is quite Alive, gazing upon me"
Akka then falls prostrate at the Nonman's feet...
After Mimara's POV
N: "You are confused, mortal, Rise."
After a discussion of Kosoter being his book and the Nonman remembering Seswatha
A: "Please, my lord. Take me as your book!... Regain your honour! Reclaim your glory!"
N: "So... You offer me oblivion?" "No, I will ruin and I will break." "Honour?" "Love? What are these but dross before oblivion? No! I will seize the world and I will shake from it what misery, what anguish, I can. I will remember!"
Fairly straight forward so far. The Nonman claiming Nil'giccas is dead can be seen as Nil'giccas being an erratic, etc... Akka realizes he can't be the Nonman's book, he and Mimara are to be the memory fulcrum.
After the Nonman explains that Ishterbinth has turned to the Consult, a few Mimara POV's and finding Wutteat...
N: "This... This is where I am meant to die."
The above is interesting, but perhaps not to this discussion... unless it is?
After Akka's convo with Wutteat about truth...
N: "Run, Save them while you still can."
A: "Them?"
N: "Your wife and child."
Cleric (at the very least), knows who the father is. He must (?), want them saved so he can
remember them later.
After a Mimara POV & during the beginning of the Dragon fight
N: "I am Quaya! I am Ishroi! Five of your sons and daughters I have slain!"
Wutteat: "YOU ARE BUT A SNAIL! A SNAIL TORN FROM IT'S SHELL!"
N: "I am Nil'giccas-I am Cleric! And you will hear my sermon!"
The Nonman says he is both Nil'giccas and Cleric!
Anyways, after a bunch of Mimara POV's and the end of the Dragon fight. The Nonman empties his pouch of Qirri! The motive for that is interesting but another topic... unless it's not.
A: "You don't have to do this!"
N: "Because I remember no triumph... Only betrayal! Heartbreak and ruin!
A: "I will name you! I will be your book, and you will read me! You are Nil'giccas! The last King of Mansions-the greatest of the Siqu!"
N: Nil'giccas! you call-beseech! as if trying to awaken some truth slumbering within me. You think Nil'giccas is something I have lost! And therefore something I can recover! You forget, that before the Nonman King's passing, I did not exist! I can no more recover him than you can recover your mother's virgin womb. I am Incariol! Cleric! And you shall not survive my lesson! You think the cripple! You think Cleric the ruin of someone whole! But you are wrong, Seswatha! I am the Truth! "We are many!" the Erratic roared. "We are legion! What you call your soul is nothing but a confusion, an inability! A plurality that cannot count the moments that divide it and so calls itself One. Only when memory is stripped away! Only then is being revealed as pure Becoming! Only when the past dies can we shrug aside the burden that is our soul! Only then does Darkness sing untrammeled! Only then!"
A: And yet you seek memories!
N: To be! Being is not a choice!
A: But you claim Being is deception!
N: Yes!
A: But that is nonsense! Madness!
N: That is Becoming
Akka then kills the Nonman.
N: What just happened? Wh-what just..."
A: You found Glory
So... When Akka kneels before the Nonman thinking he is Nil'giccas, the Nonman tells him to rise because the Nonman in front of him is no longer Nil'giccas, but Cleric. Before the Nonman King's passing!? Is the Cleric division speaking of Nil'giccas or another king (I'm assuming Nil'giccas, but perhaps the king in Cil Aujis)?
The Nonman goes on to explain the divisions in the soul and that Cleric can not (somehow), access Nil'giccas. The Nonman compares this to a child recovering his mother's womb. So a division in the Nonman soul is in some sense born separate from the prior incarnation? Cleric's soul has the DNA of Nil'giccas' soul, but is like a wee 'lil child soul!!??? Yet, the total Nonman soul is aware of it's division (alluded to at the top of this post).
So in Becoming, is Cleric attempting to create a division in his soul or is the goal of becoming something else entirely? Is this why he says to Akka "This is where I die? Does he mean consciousness of Cleric divides here!?
I dunno guys\gals...