n7axw wrote:Peter is right about the risk of bringing her in. But there are countervailing risks to having her on the outside knowing that she is not quite trusted and knowing that there are things going on to which she is not privy which could inspire her to apply her not inconsiderable skills in spy craft toward finding out.
Peter is concerned that she is a passionate believer. That is true, but the question is passionate believer in what. Not everyone who loves God accepts uncritically the doctrine of the church. My own sense of Nynian is that she hasn't accepted anything uncritically in a long time. Frankly, that makes her a better candidate for the inner circle rather than the reverse since it that she will be able to step back and take another look at what she has been taught.
I agree that translating those Spanish writings is critical. That is an uncontrolled variable in the mix since at this point, we don't know what they say. Another potential fly swirling around the olive in the martini here concerns whether or not the translation will be trusted. Nynian herself seems to trust Merlin enough to tell the story of St Khody and the sisters so it is reasonable to assume that her trust in Merlin will carry over to the translation.
But that leaves the question of the sisters? How will they react when their previously untranslated document suddenly turns up translated after almost 1000 years? When would it be appropriate to tell them and who should do it?
The thing is, Merlin and the inner circle needs to get a grip on how to handle Nynian since there could be more Nynians in the future. Shsn-wei's re-educated Adams and Eves are for the most part unaccounted for. Further, we really don't know who else was re-educated by whom and what sort of secret organizations they might have left behind.
Finally, What we have on Safehold ts COGA. The last word on that title is "awaiting". Do we know what they are waiting for.
Don
Don, you touch on many questions about revealing (part of) the truth to Nynian. For me to understand the reach of Nynian her belief and her capacity to accept the story how man came to Safehold the next quote is crucial.
runsforcelery wrote:
“Well, given the difference between the heretical church in question and what that pig Clyntahn and his precious Group of Four had done to Mother Church, it didn’t take me long to conclude that you represented a fairly emphatic statement of divine disapproval of their actions.” Her smile disappeared. “And, to be honest, I found myself wondering what had taken God so long.”
“Who are you really, Merlin?” she asked. “Where do you truly come from? And don’t just tell me ‘the Mountains of Light.’”
“Where else might I come from, Aivah?” he asked in return, holding out his arms in a gesture which took in not simply the bedchamber, nor even the Republic’s capital, but the entire world beyond them.
“I don’t know,” she told him very quietly, her eyes deep and dark in the fire-spangled bedchamber’s dimness, “but I’ve come to suspect that wherever you truly come from is also where all of the Adams and Eves who awoke here on Safehold on the Day of Creation truly came from, as well.”
I think she can accept that man came to Safehold for another reason than stated in the writ. And who is to argue that it was not God's wish that man escaped from the Gbaba?
She would be a great and invaluable addition to the inner circle. But my problem is with the Sisters of Saint Kohdy.
Is it possible to separate her from her organization. The SSK has different groups. Some belief more and others less from the story in the writ. How much, if anything, can be disclosed to those groups.
The first thing Merlin should ask her should be something along the line of: "My dear, you are on to something. But if I trust you, does that mean I have to trust all the Sisters of Saint Kohdy?"
Revealing anything to her depends on her convincing Merlin and the inner circle that she will reveal nothing without the consent of the inner circle.
And about translating the diary. Just give the sisters a dictionary, a grammar and some high-school textbooks to learn Spanish. Along with some novels like Don Quichote and stories about El Cid Campeador.
In beautiful a thousand year old leather bound volumes freshly minted by OWL.
editted lots of typo's