vnfan wrote:
I've been thinking about the Volturi, especially with the emphasis that is placed on their appearance in New Moon, Ch. 21 Verdict when Bella meets Aro:
Quote:
He drifted forward, and the movement flowed with such surreal grace that I gawked, my mouth hanging open. Even Alice, whose every motion looked like dancing, could not compare.
I was only more astonished as he floated closer and I could see his face. It was not like the unnaturally attractive faces that surrounded him (for he did not approach us alone; the entire group converged around him, some following, and some walking ahead of him with the alert manner of bodyguards). I couldn't decide if his face was beautiful or not. I suppose the features were perfect. But he was as different from the vampires beside him as they were from me. His skin was translucently white, like onionskin, and it looked just as delicate—it stood in shocking contrast to the long black hair that framed his face. I felt a strange, horrifying urge to touch his cheek, to see if it was softer than Edward's or Alice's, or if it was
powdery, like chalk. His eyes were red, the same as the others around him, but the color was clouded, milky; I wondered if his vision was affected by the haze...
...I was horrified at the thought of allowing him to touch me, and yet also perversely intrigued by the chance to feel his strange skin.
Edward nodded in encouragement—whether because he was sure Aro would not hurt me, or because there was no choice, I couldn't tell.
I turned back to Aro and raised my hand slowly in front of me. It was trembling.
He glided closer, and I believe he meant his expression to be reassuring. But his papery features were too strange, too alien and frightening, to reassure. The look on his face was more confident than his words had been.
Aro reached out, as if to shake my hand, and pressed his insubstantial-looking skin against mine. It was hard, but felt brittle—shale rather than granite—and even colder than I expected.
His filmy eyes smiled down at mine, and it was impossible to look away. They were mesmerizing in an odd, unpleasant way.
Aro, Caius and Marcus seem to be some sort of uber-vampire. I find it intriguing that there were 6 original Volturi -- 3 male and 3 female. (Marcus' mate died in battle according to the Lex, and we know there are 2 other females) If vampires were created, not originating in some sort of curse or genetic abnormality, could these 6 be the original and all others their "offspring" (not by birth, since we know that can't happen, but by conversion)? Do they look different because they are different?
Stephenie did say we would learn why the Volturi's skin is the way it is in Book 4. Will there be some big reveal on vampire origins? If they were created, then when, at what point in the created order? Vampires are nearly angelic in appearance and gifting. Could they have been some sort of 'divine' creature that was exiled or fell?
In one very small part of Genesis (Gen 6:1-4), there is a mention of the Nephilim being on the earth and they are described as "men of renown" and are mentioned right after a phrase that says the "sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful..." The meaning of Nephilim is unclear, but one possible meaning is "those causing others to fall," and they are popularly thought to have been fallen angels. Anyway, if the Volturi were some sort of non-human beings who took human-like bodies to be here amongst the people, it could explain why their bodies are in some ways like those of the other vampires and yet still very different from the typical vampire. They could possibly be in a body that is starting to wear out, or was never all that strong to start with.
I clearly spend too much time thinking about this sort of thing. Is this totally nuts?
*crickets chirp*
There's those that think I'm totally nuts-in fact I'm so nuts I don't care what they think! So, here's something I wrote over here:
http://twilightmomsforums.freeforums.or ... t5208.html
This might actually go under the
"Science of Vampirsm" we keep talking about starting, but Stephenie keeps hinting that vampires do age, albeit very slowly (all has to do with increasing entropy, that Second Law of Thermodynamics). Remember, on page 146 of New Moon, when Bella tells Jake that they have to count the difference in their ages "in dog years"? Too funny, considering what happens. Anyway, I think it's a similar situation with vampires. It seems to be about 1 year for about every 50 human years. (page 517 of New Moon: "They count years the way you count days". At the rate of one vampire year for every 50 human years, one human year is about a week for a vampire.) So, someone like Aro, who may haved turned when he was 20 3000 years ago, would now be comparable to an 80 year-old-human. Sound about right? And Carlisle, who was 23 when he was changed 350 years ago would now be comparable to a 30 year old human, which is why he can get away with being a physician. Edward would have aged about two years, which would put right at the same age as Bella. How convenient.
So, where I'm going with this is that, an old vampire is old, not because he was changed when he was old, but because he's been around a very long time, and would therefore, be expected to speak an ancient language, such as Latin. That still wouldn't explain why he didn't speak an indigenous language, but maybe it's because all very old vampires were created very close to the point of origin, the Vampire "Garden of Eden" and dispersed from there.
One more thing this leads to: Do vampires really live forever? Maybe they don't die by natural means, but maybe they become weak, relative to younger vampires, and are destroyed.
and if Jane's power to torture manifested while being burned--I wonder what Alec was thinking that created his power. Something along the lines of "how dare you judge me. wait until you see what is in store for you"--kind of thing. I have no evidence from the text to back that up and it isn't really a satisfying answer, but I'm sure it would be a horrific revelation to any vampire. If I thought my choice was "side with Alec/Volturi and do what they say or be destroyed and spend an eternity in a river of boiling blood in Hell" I'd go with Alec.
. All these vampires seem to get around pretty fast- Denali to Forks. Brazil to Italy. And why was Laurent going to the meadow specifically in NM? There is a lot of land out there to just happen across the same spot. Humph.
