[Quinthane]

correct me if i'm wrong, Aurang is the only Inchoroi that we have a first hand (or 2nd and 3rd) description of...except to say that Aurax is his twin so presumably looks identical....but i wonder about the 'Oyster-shell skull within a skull' for him. Mostly i wonder what Sil looks like and if he differs much from his two warlords and in what ways. we know he's big because he wears armor adorned with 'the festering bodies of his foes' which at that time were the Nonmen, and they weren't small.

thoughts? stuff n' all?

[Wilshire]

I think the oyster skull thing is likely the remains of a past graft. Since they are often referred to as a species wide rewrite, I'd guess that most major traits like that would be shared.

[H]

I think the oyster skull thing is likely the remains of a past graft. Since they are often referred to as a species wide rewrite, I'd guess that most major traits like that would be shared.

I still feel like the oyster heads and gills point to an aquatic past.  My pet theory, of course, is that the first limitation they sought to overcome was their underwater nature.

Since we only really see two Inchoroi, it's really hard to generalize what their 'true form' is, or should be.  One theory could be that each Inchoroi is a unique amalgam of the grafts their genotype can sustain.  While we are told that Aurang and Aurax are "twins" we really don't know what that means by way of Inchoroi.  So, perhaps A&A were born from the same genetic sample, however, it seems plausible that they endured, or exacted, different grafts over their lifetimes.

I come to this because Aurang seems to have once been quite strong himself, his Warlord status perhaps being the culmination of his cleverness coupled with his strength.   Aurax seems to not have achieved such, or at least, not that we know of, so it is plausible that he took a different path with his grafts.  All we really know is that both A&A could survive the graft to see the Onta (which, does raise some interesting questions then about the ability to be the Few).

There is a chance that Sil was simply the best able to sustain grafts to give himself physical strength and that is what allowed him to be King-After-The-Fall, which, mind you, implies in a way the possibility that he was not King before the the Fall.

[Simas Polchias]

Mostly i wonder what Sil looks like and if he differs much from his two warlords and in what ways. we know he's big because he wears armor adorned with 'the festering bodies of his foes' which at that time were the Nonmen, and they weren't small.

thoughts? stuff n' all?

I've always imagined Sil to look like Nito, the First of the Dead:



Basically, for those unacquainted with Dark Souls game, Nito is both a god and a giant skeleton wearing common-sized skeletons as some sort of cape or trench-coat.

So. A thin giant with initially-elegant build, who in the end looks like an indomitable mass of flesh thanks to all his slain enemies/comrades hanging from his body?

I think the oyster skull thing is likely the remains of a past graft. Since they are often referred to as a species wide rewrite, I'd guess that most major traits like that would be shared.

I still feel like the oyster heads and gills point to an aquatic past.  My pet theory, of course, is that the first limitation they sought to overcome was their underwater nature.

Considering weapon-races and all that guesses about Arc being sentient creature, I suspect inchoroi are just a members of a warrior-race with no independent history aside from their crew-membership. Also, it could be the reason behind their damnation. They can't even relate with corresponding metaphysics because of their artificial, narrow-specialised and thus flawed, highly-incompatible origin. Being srancs to the Arc, why should they have a commune with the divine? Arc possibly had, but it's dead, lol.

And a crackpotty! Viscera of the living Arc was all liquid. Proto-inchoroi evolved inside among it's other natural habitants, thus their aquatic features, but later claimed the whole Arc as their own. You know, like mankind takes a planet mile by mile. So both their genocidal crusade and inevitable crush-landing were sort-of predetermined. Because inchoroi are just Arc's disease; something with virus/cancer/autoimmune image and destructive effect.

[H]

Well, it's all just guesswork.

I like the idea that if they were born weapon races, they would essentially suffer from "original sin" and be damned in the making.  Very Bakker-ish.

I still like the transhumanism allegory of them though, that their damnation was their own doing, which is why they rail against fault and removing it.  Their damnation is their own fault, but rather than submit, they seem to remove the agent of damnation.

On the appearance of each Inchoroi, they may well have all looked different, depending on their "job" or "caste" or specialization.  Aurax might have forgone the kind of grafts that allowed Aurang to be as strong at Ciogli for ones that allowed him to specialize more in the Tekne.

[Simas Polchias]

I like the idea that if they were born weapon races, they would essentially suffer from "original sin" and be damned in the making.  Very Bakker-ish.
I still like the transhumanism allegory of them though, that their damnation was their own doing, which is why they rail against fault and removing it.  Their damnation is their own fault, but rather than submit, they seem to remove the agent of damnation.

By some obscure divine math these two options could be inclusive. Like, damnation is located outside of cause & effect, so damned specie is damned long before it will actually break some moral event horizon. Would be especially fun if all inchoroi were damned for the things which Aurang & Aurax will do in the TUC.

On the appearance of each Inchoroi, they may well have all looked different, depending on their "job" or "caste" or specialization.  Aurax might have forgone the kind of grafts that allowed Aurang to be as strong at Ciogli for ones that allowed him to specialize more in the Tekne.

Pity we don't yet know both if TUC name ("the Iyisku") is inchoroi's own word for themselves or the real meaning behind it. I'm sure it would shed some light on their social and biological features.

[Francis Buck]

I've always imagined Sil to look like Nito, the First of the Dead:



Basically, for those unacquainted with Dark Souls game, Nito is both a god and a giant skeleton wearing common-sized skeletons as some sort of cape or trench-coat.

So. A thin giant with initially-elegant build, who in the end looks like an indomitable mass of flesh thanks to all his slain enemies/comrades hanging from his body?

My man. I've noted many similar aspects between Dark Souls and TSA (beyond both being dread-filled dark fantasy with master-class world-building), but Nito's "cloak of skeletons" escaped me until now.

[Bolivar]

Crossing my fingers that they have different appearances, since the concept for Aurang is so out there, I want to see what other crazy designs he could come up with.

The part of text that maybe supports this is when Achamian sees the Inchoroi in a WLW dream - he immediately recognizes him as Aurang. If the twins looked the same, he probably wouldn't have assumed it was one over the other.

[Simas Polchias]

The moment I saw this aprox five mins ago, I knew I couldn't resist to share.

Don't mind the line, if possible. That's as Sil as possible from my POV.

[Madness]

Lol - except they'd be dead babies.

[Francis Buck]

Lol - except they'd be dead babies.

Cormac McCarthy style.

[mrganondorf]

@ Quinthane - I hadn't thought of the possibility that Aurang might have a unique Inchoroi look, interesting…

I still feel a bit dumb for admitting this, but is there a definitive passage that points out which way the shell is facing?  I can see it either way: running front to back like a shark or a mohawk or running from side to side like an evil crown, like mama alien vs Ripley

@ Simas Polchia - that is too cool about Nito.  I'm going to tweet that.  Cool crackpot too.

Whenever i think of the Inchoroi, I get the aesthetic feeling that they have some kind of resemblence to the way demons were portrayed in early Christian art.  Idk why.

@ H - that's cool about Aurax.  It would be pretty surprising if Kellhus meets Aurax in the Ark and Aurax is shorter than Kellhus.

@ Bolivar - Maybe Kellhus' recognition of Aurang via Nau-Cayuti is because NC met Aurang inside the Ark?

[The Sharmat]

Crossing my fingers that they have different appearances, since the concept for Aurang is so out there, I want to see what other crazy designs he could come up with.

The part of text that maybe supports this is when Achamian sees the Inchoroi in a WLW dream - he immediately recognizes him as Aurang. If the twins looked the same, he probably wouldn't have assumed it was one over the other.

He might have assumed it was Aurang because Aurang is usually the one that's out and about doing work while Aurax sits at Golgotterath being a useless nerd.

I do like the idea of the Inchoroi having nothing much in common besides a standard, vestigial body plan that's a template for all their other grafts. It would make sense. Aurang doesn't even consider "Inchoroi" a species anymore, after all. Bit of a moot point though, since he and Aurax are twins.