Theran Theories

Yes, tuckusses were involved. I did so miss you Odo, in fact you were responsible for getting me to run out and invest in half the works of Jack Vance. Then the forum evaporated before I could fully report back.

Still working out how Orwell fits into all of this...my head is twirling.

halfwise wrote:Yes, tuckusses were involved. I did so miss you Odo, in fact you were responsible for getting me to run out and invest in half the works of Jack Vance. Then the forum evaporated before I could fully report back.

Still working out how Orwell fits into all of this...my head is twirling.

You'll work it out, you will... Actually, Odo is sadly only half what he used to be, Halfwise {{{That's the silly half, of course! Though I'd never say that without an encryption spell in place. I trust you'll remember encryption spells??? Anyhow, I reckon it's something a highly trained Electrician could work out for himself... in time... Now I think of it -- did encryption spells even exist in Old Hobbitmovienewsland? Eldo?}}}

As to Vance, what think ya? A fiction God or what?

Sorry, I had to wander off into a quiet corner and let my head explode.

Good to see the Banks tribe back in the forum, all's well in the world.

Vance is best when he's in a dying earth, don't really like his fits of effectuating, though Magnus is always a welcome presence.

{{{{ Orwell, I'm pretty sure encryption spells started sometime after we moved to the new froum. I can't remember exactly when or how, though. Maybe a Google search would reveal the answer but meh. }}}}

{{{{ Halfwise, your memory is good -- there were indeed multiple Odos running around even on the prior version of Forumshire. Orwell is yet another Odo, though not one that shares the Banks name. As I see it he represents the more earnest side of Odo, whereas the main Odo has become more silly and faux-moralizing with time. We also have Wisey around and he still channels poems every now and then, though he hasn't been as prolific as late.

NB I sure am glad they can't see this encrypted message or they'd have some choice words for me for giving that description. }}}}

halfwise wrote:Vance is best when he's in a dying earth, don't really like his fits of effectuating, though Magnus is always a welcome presence.

"...fits of effectuating..." What the....? (I'll go look that up).

But Magnus? Don't know him. Planet of Adventure (quartet), Araminta Station (first book), and Lyonesse Trilogy are my faves. There are many others I like though.

Anyhoo, looking up effectuating...

Eldorion wrote:{{{{}}}}

I guess you get away with it this time, Eldo ---- but I smell a peppermint scented encryption spell rat!!!

Get away with what? All that I was doing {{{{ as far as anyone but Halfwise is aware }}}} was using a bit of peppermint-scented air freshener.

"effectuating"-- I think you'll have to explain, Halfwise. Looked up the word, but still don't know what you meant in a "Vancian" context.

Eldorion wrote:Get away with what? All that I was doing was using a bit of peppermint-scented air freshener.

Well that's all it better have been, son... I mean it!

I better explain something, Halfwise. Or show you...

{{{ at least three of these at one end ---

}}} at least three at the other....

Everything between them if addressed or clearly intended for a cerrtain person or persons can only be seen by those addressed.

Eg: {{{Halfwise, always keep in mind, that Eldo is a dork}}}.

Now, Eldo, I just told Halfwise how much I admired you, so don't go all funny because you happen to have smelled a bit of encryption spell peppermint fragrance. I do know you can be an untrusting lad at times.

Don't bother to pick up Galactic Effectuator, do look up The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph. Two variations on the same theme. I have to see if I can pick up those others you mentioned.

I see some new bells and whistles have appeared on the forum since last I was here. See if I can operate them. Lessee, turn on the {{{ ohh nooo......}}}
- (*pop*) -

I sense an encryption, Halfwise... Um... can't know if it was meant for me, though, all I know is I couldn't read it. If it was addressed (properly, or hinted properly) to me, I would be able to, of course. Perhaps try again...

Oh yes what the heck does : - (*pop*) - signify?

Don't forget that Admins (me) and royalty (Tinuviel) can break encryptions, Orwell! We can see everything that gets said. It's a necessity when trying to make sure that certain rowdy Ozhobbits behave.

Well, I reckon that situation should be changed immediately!

- (*pop*) -

Just returned out of being encryptsalated. Don't know if you noticed but if you turn on the encryptsalator and you don't know what you're doing, it's like two big peppermint covered mittens come swooping in at you from either side and you go stumbling around in an oblivious swirl where you can't hear what anyone is saying until you stumble back on the secret combination that spits you back out into the world you knew. Out stumbles a humbler Halfwise, a quieter Halfwise, an oh-Odo-I'm-so-glad-to-see-you Halfwise. You all have the hang of the thing, I'm still learning.

I know exactly what you mean Halfwise, I tried those beastly encription spells and ended up Disapparating to Borgin and Burkes and waking up in a cupboard. Most unpleasant.

I guess, having become familiar with encryption spells over time, most Forumshirans think that just about any fool could pick up the idea easily. Clearly some fools struggle.

Lesbo Proudfoot
Editor-in-Chief and Authority on Encryption Spells
The Archet Bugle

Naff off Proudfoot.

Just saw a "secrets of the dead" special - if you are not familiar with the series it basically looks at scientific re-examinations of history....not bogus 'investigators', newly published science.

Anyway, seabed detritus washed 20 m high on Crete, dated exactly to the Theran eruption. Walls washed out, etc. It's an open and shut case that a tsunami from the theran eruption wiped out the Minoans. Then relate it to history: all the navies in the Aegean would have been wiped out at the same time, the Minoans being by far the most powerful. But the bay upon which Mycenaea is perched faced the opposite direction. From this dates the rise of the Greeks. The Minoans had the only written language at the time, Linear B (or is it A, keep getting them mixed up) is actually Mycenaean written using Minoan characters, or something like that. Anyway, there would be no written record except perhaps a generation later, at which point it would not be a developed enough tradition to record anything historical.

The cataclysm would have caused world wide effects by all accounts. Folk in further flung parts may or may not have known what actually happened, but either way a "religious" explanation could easily have developed. Monster tides, blackened skies, plumes of fire in the distance - all sorts of things may have manifested itself around the Mediteranean through oral tales manifested as history and legend. The Exodus tales may have coagulated from a series of after-effects spread over several years. The Atlantis story too, of course! The idea of a maritine Empire (of sorts) being wiped out in one foul swoop by a cataclysm of mind-blowing proportions is quite possible and I believe more than probable. That Thera had an advanced civilisation for the times is clearly apparent from Theran archeology. If that civilisation's quick demise lead to stories of an advanced culture being wiped out, then the basic Atlantis legend is more than believeable.

The collapse of the Minoan civilization may have been quick, but the Mycernaen supplanting may have taken fifty years, quite possibly more, to fully occur. There are views it may have ocurred during the time of Pharoah Ahmosis, or as late as Hatshepsut, which I find fascinating (if definitely not proved).

I see no reason to think that stuff recorded in Hesiod's Theogony, the Bible (Exodus story mainly), Plato's Atlantis stuff, and stuff written in Egypt including the Admonitions of Ipuwer as well s stuff carved in stone, can't be linked to the one world changing event. To me it is unblieveable that such an event woud not have left an indelible mark on oral history at least. When it was transmitted to a written legend would be hard to know, but the first written accounts in Egypt may have been very soon after. Whatever happened to inspire the Exodus story, no doubt occurred in Egypt, and versions of varying kinds would have been written or chiseled down in some manner fairly early on.

I have no idea what you're saying, Orwie, but I love you anyway. With all my heart and with all my soul.