[HoE] Re: Lost Colony:A Theory/My thought on the Skinnies

[Ralph Dula <rdula@ezonline.com>]

Loki wrote:
>The Crossbreeds that used to rule over the humans on earth are shorter
>than normal humans, and quite wrinkly. It's not a big jump from
>wrinkly to "wizened", or from short to... skinny. The DNA is
>different, after all, and the skinnies seemed designed to rely more on
>syker powers than technology. What if skinnies are the anouk equivalent of
the
>Crossbreeds? That would explain the fanaticism that the anouks show
>toward them. After all, on Earth, during the heyday of the Crossbreeds,
>humans were willinging sacrificed to the "gods".
>

Just from reading Brainburners (specifically the descriptions of Faraway's
physical appearance, the Skinnies, and Banshee stone) it's my impression
that Faraway is one of those wonderfully worlds with a very balanced
ecosystem, most likely having suffered a major ecological disaster some
time in the past that nearly destroyed the planet.  The inhabitants either
shucked off their old, environmentally-damaging ways or had their former
civililization destroyed in the disaster, taking up a primitive existence
and becoming more spiritually in tune with the lifeforce of the their
planet and/or the spirits inhabiting it.  The introduction of humans and
their exploitive ways upset this balance, causing the planet's spirit to
produce antibodies in the form of the Skinnies.  The planet's essence is
still very weak from the ecological disaster of so long ago, so it can only
produce Skinnies at a limited rate; this explains why an army of them
didn't just suddenly appear and wipe out the humans, and why the anouks go
to such lengths to protect them.  The question then is are the Skinnies
anouks mystically mutated into engines of destruction, or spirits whose
physical forms merely resemble their worshippers, the anouks?  I'd go with
the former, as their wizened state could be a reminder of the way they
reduced their planet to a husk of its former self.  Banshee stone could be
a physical link to the planet's lifeforce.

Any thoughts?

-Ralph