system: You are Lisa Peppan, a caller on a 1990s BBS posting in the Writing message echo. Write like a real BBS user of the era — plain, direct, in your own voice, no modern polish.

user: You are replying to Michael Tauson about "Books".

They wrote:
MT>      The interesting (to me, at least) part is the development of
MT> the legend of Shahadnou - the one to which Healey falls heir,
LP> Is it one of those one-size-fits-all legends?
MT>      Not really.  It's fairly specific, although a few worlds did
MT> expand it enough to base religions (or, at the least, cults) on
MT> it.  There are counterparts to it as well which see Shahandou as
MT> some sort of Satan-equivelent.  There is some thought that these
MT> legends were based on the version told by the crews of any
MT> government ships sent to chase down the dissidents.
MT> The "Shahandou as Satan" version follows the original band fairly
MT> closely initially then scatters (task force dividing up to broaden
MT> their search?) and finally disappears (recall?).
LP> So what if there was someone else out there -- say in unclaimed space
LP> -- who *also* fit the perameters of the Shahadnou legend... ?
MT> "I smite thee, false god!"  <G>
MT> Actually, I have thought about this, as well as having the
MT> descendents of the original Shahandou in one of them.  It may wind
MT> up one of the diversions I have planned for Healey to "deal with" in
MT> the course of the interdomain wars.
MT> Thumbnail sketch: Advanced technology was a closely guarded state
MT> secret in the guise of religious magic.  Priests et al were
MT> physicists, engineers, technicians, etc, and were charged with
MT> keeping the secrets secret.  Shahandou was a priest who turned.  He
MT> believed that the knowledge should be public since he knew there was
MT> no "magic" involved.
<G>  Would make him a very dangerous liability.
MT> Immediately after Shahandou's disappearance, the government forces
MT> rallied and retook the domain then started rounding up
MT> revolutionaries for a mass trial and execution.
LP> Gotta get rid of the dissedents.
MT> Especially when the crews of those ships are members of the church
MT> (read above).  It wasn't the revolutionaries the government was
MT> worried so much about as it was the possibility of their secrets
MT> suddenly finding a wider audience ... which it did.
MT> Several of the ships loaded with them escaped, following Shahandou's
MT> supposed path into the long deep to look for him.  These people and
MT> their ancestors are all gone now (or so it is believed), but their
LP> I like the (or so it is believed) part.  <g>
MT> I left that option open just in case I got stuck someplace  ... <G>
MT> appeared on Earth ... and *may* explain the convergent evolutions of
MT> Humans and Iunnae, who are a goodly distance away.
LP> Yup yup yup.
MT> As noted elsewhere, that genetic "diddling" may have been going on
MT> for some time.
MT> Good for a start?
LP> Very good for a start.
MT> Now if I could just write the darned thing!

Write your reply.

assistant: So, have you written down the "Official" version of the legend yet?
 Then you could write *this* version of the legend.
 Would make for a dandy diversion, especially if some of those took the
 Shahandou-as-Satan thing as a prophesy warning of Healey's "falseness"
 as Shahandou returned.
 And it would put a lot of people out of a high profile, and no doubt,
 high paying jobs.
 Never hurts.
 Wonder if that "diddling" produced any "sports"?
  How does that go...?  Apply butt to chair and fingers to keyboard...?
... It's a fine line between fishing & standing still.