> Half the fun of the Digest is watching Alex and Nick having a Flame
> War. They do it with such erudition and finesse.
Bearing this in mind, I shall now deconstruct the latest "Alex Special" (which I, for one, consider a noble institution -- but then again, who wants to live in an institution?)
> One of the most "unrealistic" (and unsurprisingly, gameable) parts of
> the Council was that so many people were not only invited, but given
> voting rights.
This is a God Learner Construct (and .: a Good Thing, naturally)! I think on further analysis you would find that almost all the bishops with votes could claim direct succession from a bishop who voted in the God Learner Fifth Ecclesiastical Council, when their unnaturally-united Malkionism covered all of Greater Loskalm, Seshnela, Tanisor, Safelster, Umathela, and places even further afield. Of course, at the Fifth Council, everyone agreed on everything, and no fun was had by all. The Sixth Council was a "quick fix" held during the Closing, so nobody ever got to notice that there were weird things brewing in the distant corners of Malkionism (like the Wizard Church of Valkaro, the Scrolls of the Seven Sedalpi, not to mention the as-yet-unborn Arrolian Lunar Way, none of which attended).
The Seventh Council, to all intents and purposes an early "Event of the Hero Wars", was of course an exceptional gathering: but being guided by Holy Notslor's all-embracing vision of United Malkionism, the organisers feared to risk excluding *anyone* who might be a bona fide Malkioni, be they never so strange. The consensus was that weirdoes could be "sussed out" at the Council itself: if proven irredeemably heretical or pagan, a stake could surely be found somewhere nearby...
> My impression was that Nick's scheme involved antedating God Learning
> somewhat, so they get stuck in on Malkionism before making themselves
> known to the world at large. To exactly whem I'm not quite clear.
The discovery of the Invisible God was, IMHO, the original and defining act of "God Learning". Its completion probably ignited the Return to Rightness Crusade, and could therefore be dated to some time after 675, depending on when you believe that Movement became a Crusade.
But I wouldn't have thought we'd need to significantly antedate the Big One from the known God Learner dates: after all, there's quite a gap between the years 675 (Return to Rightness Movement begins in Jrustela) and 734 (Return to Rightness Crusade completes liberation of Seshnela).
> Notice that Loskalm has (or had) everything _but_a Westpoint? Or maybe
> it sunk.
I was hoping to be able to pat some little RQ Digest-er on the head for noticing why our Loskalmi bishops were all called "Cardinals", but alas! it never happened... must make my puns more obvious, next time.
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