His role as an alien is essential because he can help with the Beforetime technology, since he existed in the Beforetime. This can be seen in his understanding of what needed to be done with the laptop computer in the amethyst cavern.
Maruman fits best as an alien because he is clearly a physical, corporeal being. He feels real when Elspeth touches him, he can be injured, and we saw him as a young cat centuries in the past. All of this points to him being a physical being, yet something more than an ordinary cat. We propose that Merimyn was preserved until Elspeth's time by being cryogenically frozen in the Beforetime so that he would wake in time to help Elspeth in her quest.
The Agyllians knew they had no choice but to allow the Govamen's experiments in order to impart their Talents to humans. In the Beforetime, not all the Talents existed, as can be seen in the book Powers of the Mind: ('they made no mention at all of others such as coercing and empathy.' (The Farseekers, 196)) Nerat used his superior mental abilities to help Elspeth with her quest:"'Long ago I foresaw that the machines which made the great destructions had not been destroyer. I saw that a second and greater destruction would come to the world, if these machines were used. And despite all the funaga did to bury the past, it was inevitable they would be discovered, unless they were destroyed. ... Then I dreamed one would be born among the funaga, a Seeker to cross the black wastes in search of the death machines, one who possessed the power to destroy them.'" (Atthis, Farseekers, 280)
IC
Maruman fits best as an alien because he is clearly a physical, corporeal being. He feels real when Elspeth touches him, he can be injured, and we saw him as a young cat centuries in the past. All of this points to him being a physical being, yet something more than an ordinary cat. We propose that Merimyn was preserved until Elspeth's time by being cryogenically frozen in the Beforetime so that he would wake in time to help Elspeth in her quest.'"Your body must be taught to repair itself and build its immunities. That is a simple matter of teaching, and can be done even as I drain the mental poisons."' ... 'Occasionally I was aware of Nerat's mind weaving a pattern in my thoughts as complex and intangible as smoke in the wind.' (The Farseekers, 264)
IC
The aliens altered their physical appearance to more Earth-like creatures by manipulating their appearance on the dreamtrails and manifesting the change physically. We know that physical manifestations on the dreamtrails can occur in real life, and that real things are on the dreamtrails: ('"Real are things on them."' (Maruman, TKP, 118)) This is evidenced by Elspeth making the charcoal appear in her hands in TKP, and then discovering she still possessed it when she woke, however it is most strongly demonstrated in Maruman's appearance. Gahltha observes that'I seemed to have no proper feeling for it, but the second I touched Maruman, I felt myself absorbed by his form and grace. He gathered himself, leaped, and went on rising. It struck me suddenly that I had never used my Talent to rise from the point of consciousness before. Always I had descended. How much would our minds be capable of, I wondered, if we would only know them better?' (TKP, 208)
IC
We propose that these beasts are in fact aliens. Maruman's tyger-like form is not identical to that of a tyger: ('...the slashing marks his coat bore were very like to those great cats which Beforetime books name tyger.'(TKP, 17)) We maintain that Maruman possesses the ability to manipulate his Earthly form through the Dreamtrails, as he has walked them his whole life, which is why he hints to Elspeth that his true form is more like that of a tyger: ('"Mayhap this dreamform is truer than that othershape I bear."' (TKP, 17))'"The dreamtrails are strange/dangerous. There are beasts like none that walk the earth on them, and shapes that hide/conceal other shapes, yet one grows better at it."' (Ashling, 328)
IC
Maruman is connected to both Elspeth and the Agyllians: ('he confessed a Guanette bird had told him his destiny was twined with mine.' (Obernewtyn, 24)) Maruman's role is to aid and direct Elspeth in her quest: ('"When I was in the Oldplaces, I dreamed of the Old One. She said I must follow you. It was my task."' (Ober, 29-30)) This aspect of Maruman's role is connected to his tendency to go seliga in his dreams, as we will discuss later.'Maruman said he "remembered" the Great White, and though that was impossible, he wove remarkably frightening pictures of a world in terror.' (Obernewtyn, 28)
IC
Maruman therefore knows the dreamtrails, and is aware that they have their own reality:'"Are you/Gahltha saying that Maruman yelloweyes asked you to look after me ... my mind or my dreams, and then went away in his madness/mindchaos?"
IC
'"Did I not sayso?"' (Ashling, 328)
So the dreamtrails can be used to see the past, present and future, which leads into our next point.'"Maruman knows dreamtrails. Knows where doors are/were."
IC
'"You mean your memory of the doors," I sent kindly as if he were a halfwit muddling things up.
'"All that is/was/can be can be reached by dreamtrails. Real are things on them."'
(TKP, 118)
We propose that when Maruman is seliga he is often 'before' or 'behind/back' in time, and is on the dreamtrails dreaming of his past (including the Beforetime). These dreams may be either lucid or passive, which explains why Merimyn was not conscious of his present self. We suggest that sometimes he speaks to the Agyllians, and other times goes to the past to speak with Cassy, which would explain why he often knows more of Elspeth's quest when he returns.'It was almost impossible to probe a sleeping mind unless you knew where the sleeper lay or could make physical contact; even then it was sometimes impossible to enter Maruman's mind. Gahltha had once told me this was because the old cat often went seliga when he slept. This was one of the few beast words I did not understand clearly. It meant something like 'before' and something like 'behind'.' (TSK, 26-7)
IC
Also, I'm not sure about the below section - I thought this point was helpful as it's kind of pointing out where "alien" makes sense compared to ghost, robot or Cassy reincarnation - so basically explaining one way he fits best as an alien. Do you think we need to condense it?
Maruman fits best as an alien because he is clearly a physical, corporeal being. He feels real when Elspeth touches him, he can be injured, and we saw him as a young cat centuries in the past. All of this points to him being a physical being, yet something more than an ordinary cat. We propose that Merimyn was preserved until Elspeth's time by being cryogenically frozen in the Beforetime so that he would wake in time to help Elspeth in her quest.
So, fellow Obernetters, do not let robots, ghosts and Cassandra reincarnations fool you. Maruman is truly an alien with superior mental abilities, and is part of a larger network of aliens overseeing and manipulating the outcome of Elspeth's quest as Seeker.
The very nature of Maruman's pivotal guiding role and his status as an outsider suggest an element of alien embodiment.
We propose that Merimyn was preserved until Elspeth's time by being cryogenically frozen in the Beforetime so that he would wake in time to help Elspeth in her quest.
The Agyllians subjected themselves to Govamen's experiments in order to impart their Talents to humans, as Talented humans are generally more compassionate. Talents such as coercing and empathy did not exist before these experiments. (The book Powers of the Mind, The Farseekers, 196)(I think that we can claim that those Talents didn't exist before the experiments, as the only coercers and empaths we've seen from that time were the kidnapped paranormals - I believe Cassy was a farseeker/beastspeaker, and Hannah was a farseeker/futureteller...? Oh, and my version of the book is from the US (I love the door cover!), and it leaves off the "perhaps" from the quote about Elf discovering the full extent of her powers. Which of course is better, so I propose we use that version of the quote? ;D)
The aliens helped Elspeth to discover her abilities: "...without him [Maruman] I would never have discovered the full extent of my telepathic powers." (Obernewtyn 20-21)
Similarly Nerat used his superior mental abilities to enhance Elspeth's abilities:
IC wrote ...
'"Your body must be taught to repair itself and build its immunities. That is a simple matter of teaching, and can be done even as I drain the mental poisons."' ... 'Occasionally I was aware of Nerat's mind weaving a pattern in my thoughts as complex and intangible as smoke in the wind.' (The Farseekers, 264)
Maruman has a role of the Moonwatcher: the guardian of the dreamtrails, and looks after Elspeth in her dreams:I don't think we really need the quote from Kasanda, since she doesn't explain how Elf is dreaming about her, or how she knows this? We could even just keep this sentence, and lose the rest entirely:
‘You did not summon me, yet I came. Dreams touch other dreams and things may travel from one to theother unbidden.
He also directs Elspeth to dream about Cassy.
I CALL YOU FRIEND, SEEKER, THOUGH WE HAVE NEVER MET, FOR I HAVE KNOWN YOU A VERY LONG TIME. TO YOU I KNOW THAT I WILL ONLY EVER BE A STRANGER WHOM YOU HAVE SOMETIMES GLIMPSED IN DREAMS OF A TIME THAT YOU WILL CALL THE BEFORETIME.
Maruman has the role of Moonwatcher: he is guardian of the dreamtrails, and looks after Elspeth in her dreams.We could possibly add:
We can't really prove this though, as it could be the Agyllians - but either way it's the aliens... [act]ponders[/act]It is possible that Maruman also direct Elspeth to dream about Cassy.
'I had agreed, despite knowing Maruman would be annoyed with me if he woke, for he found human emotions irritating.' (TKP, 251)From TSK:
'"I know emotions disturb you," I beastspoke the old cat tersely, "but unfortunately they are as much a part of us as our bones. We can't set them aside to please you, even if we wished it."So basically I guess we could say that he is too sensitive and they discomfort him?
Not even to please ourselves, I thought privately.
"They are untidy/disturbing." Maruman responded with a fastidious mental shudder that was rather like having someone sneeze inside your head.' (TSK, 41)
The Agyllians subjected themselves to Govamen's experiments in order to impart their Talents to humans, as Talented humans are generally more compassionate. The book Powers of the Mind revealed that Talents such as coercing and empathy did not exist before these experiments. (The Farseekers, 196) The aliens also helped Elspeth to discover her abilities: ('...without him [Maruman] I would never have discovered the full extent of my telepathic powers.' (Obernewtyn 20-21))"'Long ago I foresaw that the machines which made the great destructions had not been destroyer. I saw that a second and greater destruction would come to the world, if these machines were used. And despite all the funaga did to bury the past, it was inevitable they would be discovered, unless they were destroyed. ... Then I dreamed one would be born among the funaga, a Seeker to cross the black wastes in search of the death machines, one who possessed the power to destroy them.'" (Atthis, Farseekers, 280)
IC
You may ask how did the aliens arrive here and how did they change their appearance to suit earthlings? The answer lies in the dreamtrails. The dreamtrails are a place that was discovered and made use of by the aliens. It is evident that neither beast nor human has great knowledge of the dreamtrails (Maryon explains that only the most advanced futuretellers even know of their existence, and Gahltha did not know of them until Maruman showed him), yet Maruman can masterfully traverse this unstable phenomenon.'"Your body must be taught to repair itself and build its immunities. That is a simple matter of teaching, and can be done even as I drain the mental poisons."' ... 'Occasionally I was aware of Nerat's mind weaving a pattern in my thoughts as complex and intangible as smoke in the wind.' (The Farseekers, 264)
IC
Maruman fits best as an alien because he is clearly a corporeal being, he can be injured, and we saw him as a young cat centuries in the past. He he is a physical being, and yet something more than an ordinary cat.'I seemed to have no proper feeling for it, but the second I touched Maruman, I felt myself absorbed by his form and grace. He gathered himself, leaped, and went on rising. It struck me suddenly that I had never used my Talent to rise from the point of consciousness before. Always I had descended. How much would our minds be capable of, I wondered, if we would only know them better?' (TKP, 208)
IC
These strange beasts are in fact aliens. Maruman's tyger-like form is not identical to that of a tyger, although ('...the slashing marks his coat bore were very like to those great cats which Beforetime books name tyger.'(TKP, 17)) We maintain that Maruman's alien form is very like that of a tyger, as Maruman says: ('"Mayhap this dreamform is truer than that othershape I bear."' (TKP, 17))'"The dreamtrails are strange/dangerous. There are beasts like none that walk the earth on them, and shapes that hide/conceal other shapes, yet one grows better at it."' (Ashling, 328)
IC
Maruman's role is to aid and direct Elspeth in her quest: ('"When I was in the Oldplaces, I dreamed of the Old One. She said I must follow you. It was my task."' (Ober, 29-30)) Maruman has the role of Moonwatcher: he is guardian of the dreamtrails, and looks after Elspeth in her dreams.'Maruman said he "remembered" the Great White, and though that was impossible, he wove remarkably frightening pictures of a world in terror.' (Obernewtyn, 28)
IC
Thus the dreamtrails can indeed be used to reach the past, present and future.'"Maruman knows dreamtrails. Knows where doors are/were."
IC
'"You mean your memory of the doors," I sent kindly as if he were a halfwit muddling things up.
'"All that is/was/can be can be reached by dreamtrails. Real are things on them."'
(TKP, 118)
IC wrote ...His susceptibility to the pains of human emotion is essentially the result of the differences between his own alien way of thinking and human thought, it makes him an ideal instrument for the alien cause.
"They are untidy/disturbing." Maruman responded with a fastidious mental shudder that was rather like having someone sneeze inside your head.' (TSK, 41)
IC wrote ...
'"His pain and his strange mind make him receptive to us and allow us to use him."' (Atthis, The Farseekers, 27)
Hopefully there are no xmas presents, post-apoplectics or potato pot-atos to ruin our presentation ;DHehe, I think we're good! ;D Now I want a potato pot-ato in our presentation! :P
Just condensed this point, and a couple of others...:This looks fine.
Maruman fits best as an alien because he is clearly a corporeal being, he can be injured, and we saw him as a young cat centuries in the past. He is a physical being, and yet something more than an ordinary cat.