I've just hauled out my Harrison's Internal Medicine to look up "Charcot's joint", which is severe osteoarthritis associated with loss of pain sensation in the joints, or proprioception (sense of position) or both. Lacking pain and position sense, joints get repeatedly traumatized and can be rapidly destroyed (eg weeks to months to a very unstable joint filled with bone fragments). Causes are various - syphilis was one, leprosy, congenital malformations of the spinal cord, and congenital indifference to pain among them. I'd always thought the 'relpul were conditioned at a higher level than the nerve endings, since pain does have a protective function. It is just useful not to be preoccupied with it or terrified by the fear of mutilation. But then the pain training/conscience bonding of 'relpul is another holdover from an earlier stage of evolution. Would we come up with the same idea now?

Response from Lynda

Good point. If and when we get around to the Charous novella dealing with how she became Royal Relpul, we might tackle it in terms of an historical left over. That is, cast the ORU's creative evolution, fictionally, as its historical evolution. There was a time at court when all the best gorarelpul were torture proof. Probably a rather nasty time, like the period in which dresu bondage hardened attitudes. Maybe it even predated the conscience bond. But pain training was never subtracted as a precaution even when no longer meaningful. Tradition. Perhaps one of Charous' issues in the novella will be getting that reviewed.

posted by Anonymous at 23:26   comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments