The old Autarch speaks exclusively of Erebus rather than Abaia. Was Baldanders' growth because he wanted to become a giant like them? Why is growth so terrible in these books? (Even the tall exultants seem like selfish people as a group.) But apparently one can become an undine or a wife of Abaia, and Juturna offers Severian the "gift" of water breathing. Is this because of the horrors of Erebus/Abaia or what happens to humans forced to lose their individuality? (Or both?)Įrebus always wants to enslave people. (Arioch and Scylla are simply names, except that in Claw, Scylla, like Abaia, is said to "wallow beneath the wave.")īoth Erebus and Abaia want to enslave humanity, much as I assume the Ascians are already "enslaved." Sev also insists that the Ascians are mad, much like Cthulhu's followers are driven insane. Jonas says that Abaia AND Erebus can't leave the water. Abaia and his brides are also, of course, huge. Andre-Driussi says that Abaia can enter the dreams of others, but this seems more like a possible implication than something given in the text. (Are Master Ash's masters, then, friends of Erebus?)Ībaia lives in the water and canNOT be an ice creature (b/c they have to swim/breathe water). Are they on the same team? Or do they each have their own purposes.īut they are different: Erebus is always mentioned along with ice, which fits well with Master Ash's future in which Urth is covered in glaciers. But this suggests that they're a collective, having a similar (or, following the trend of the Ascians) identical purpose. Why 17? Wolfe seemed to use it as his unlucky number all through his writing. In the library, there's a book called Lives of the Seventeen Megatherians (interestingly bound in green cloth.) If these are the same creatures (a megatherian is a great beast), then are there actually 17 of them? Is that the source of the Group of Seventeen?
The (I think) obvious allusion is to Cthulhu stories, especially with Erebus being in an icy place far south, like At the Mountains of Madness. But what do you suppose.? I just wanted to group together everything I think the text gives us:
We never know much detail about these monsters.
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