me:
>> The Underworld descends to the Primal Darkness where
>Nicely said. The one thing I would take out is the
>connection to Darkness, for several reasons, though it
>is very poetic. First, Aldrya's otherworld is also
>part of the Underworld. I doubt it is characterized
>by Darkness.
Well, you're quite right there; I wasn't thinking about the Aldrayami at all.
Second, Darkness is a distinct
>element, not undifferentiated primordial pre-element.
The elements have a sort of progrssion beginning with Darkness (the formless Void) moving to Water (formless, but not void) then to Earth (form) then to Fire (static energy?) then Air (motion). The Green (Earth) Age ends (partly) when things gain a definite "thingness" -- you can say for sure if something is a spirit or god or person. I would think in the "Black Age" the idea of "individuality" would be unthinkable (actually, thought would be unthinkable). Anyway, that's why I think of Darkness as undifferentiated. Maybe the Aldrayami reach back to the Green Age (or earlier, before the First Seed sprouted) for that same Bliss of Ignorance. For the Elder races (I think), the Golden Age was a time of loss (although the Uz didn't realize it until Yelm died).
>Third, uz have a sense that allows them to see in
>darkness, so darkness is muc less ambiguous than to a
>human.
OK, but I don't think darkness is as concrete as sight. The Uz seem to take a few things very seriously (mothers, eg) and they are kind of sloppy about everything else. It's humans that make distinctions (and Mostali). Heck, the Uz are even indifferent to whether you are a "troll" or not; if Lygor Litor accepts you, you're Uz.
I think the ambiguity of the underworld is
>simply a feature of the underworld.
That's nicely said. Maybe the Uz portions of the underworld reach back to the Balck Age, the Aldrayami to the Green Age, the Water gods to the Blue Age (surely, there is a Blue Age), and all that -- the depths of the sea are part of the Underworld, where they don't fall away into the Void. Maybe the Underworld is the place where Ambiguity pools; the places that the Celestial Court didn't define when the Cosmos was made.
I think they would react to the
>Aldryan underworld rather as some books have people
>react to fay magic: dangerous stuff where you can lose
>your identity altogether.
Another good point -- generally, I think humans that deal too closely with the Elder Races mostly regret it. The Uz seem the only ones that aren't pretty serious poison. They're not that safe, either; maybe it's because Humans and Uz are both meat....
eter Larsen
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