> ... the concept forwarded by Nick that Hrestol traveled around visiting
> all the Kingdom of Logic descendants ...
This is a direct crib from Greg's early First Age writings (25+ years old but still valuable for Gloranthan history). After his exile from Seshneg, Hrestol travels to Brithos, then runs off to hide on the Vadeli Isles to raise a family (after his best friend kills the ruling Talar). The old notes are silent as to the date, manner and location of his apotheosis, but Greg confirmed while we were writing "How the West was One" my theory that it was a martyrdom in Sog City. (As the first established Malkioni church was in Akem, it seemed only sensible to have the Second Prophet offed there: besides, setting a freeform in a previously obscure location does wonders for your focus and creativity).
Joerg's recapitulation of the train of inquiry that led me to create the sect write-up for Old Seshnelan Chivalry is remarkably comprehensive: I'm only puzzled that he thought it worth setting out in detail, given that it's now something of a fait accompli (published on the Net, used in the freeform, blessed by Greg and Sandy, etc.). Why defend orthodoxy? ;-)
>> Hrestoli can now found their own nations ... attempting to base their >> society on Hrestol's teachings which, sadly, prove imprecise.
> Being basically a model to form a force of knights out of a populace
> beset by enemies, not a reformed society.
Not entirely, Joerg. That was Hrestol's *initial* teaching in the land of Seshneg, which was adopted wholesale by that kingdom despite their exile of the saviour/hero. The later teachings of the Hrestoli Church are far more wide-ranging in their impact on society, being an attempt to define the relationship between the individual's conscience and the divine law.
In a nutshell, Hrestoli theology says that in certain circumstances you should look not at the letter of the Law, nor at the spirit of the Law, but rather at the Will of the Creator who gave us the Law, when deciding how best to act. This is "heresy" to Brithini and Old Malkioni, but goes without saying to all the New Malkioni churches descended from Hrestol's teachings.
> I suppose the natives of Akem were descendants of a Sea nymph and a
> Storm God, like Malkion himself and their neighbours on Ygg's Islands.
I'd assume the population of early First Age Akem could be divided into four distinct chunks:
"Hrestolism" spreads among groups (3) and (4), but leaves (1) and (2) largely unmoved. Those Brithini who do accept Hrestolism are shifting themselves from group (1) to group (3) in the process in any case: from "Immortal-but-Atheist-and-Doomed" to "Mortal-but-Saved-by-Solace".
Joerg refers in passing to:
> the heart of the [pre-God Learner] religion in Ralios.
This is wrong, as the heart of Hrestolism was always Akem, while the largest and strongest Malkioni land was Seshneg. The only thing that Ralios was the heart of in the early Second Age is Arkat's Dark Empire, which is hardly an example of mainstream Malkionism...
Whether or not pre-God Learner Stygian thought was unified by Councils is about as useful a line of inquiry as how many Power Spirits can dance on the head of a pin. Even if it was, that didn't last for long, and there are quite obviously no useable remnants of it in the modern day. The old Arkati Church of Stygia was united in any case, but this unity was wiped out: quite deliberately by the God Learners, but inadvertently due to the obscure, personal and tenebrous nature of Arkati/Stygian revelations in any case. In the 1620s, it makes no difference how united it used to be (or, indeed, how it used to be united): the contemporary Safelstran scene of a fragmented array of sects each asserting that it's "the one and only truly original Arkati way" would change not one jot or tittle in either case.
> Does anyone have any recommendations as to where to start?
"The Destiny of the Warrior" and "The Destiny of a King" are part of the bedrock of my approach to Gloranthan myth across many cultures. I'd also recommend his "Archaic Roman Religion", though I never got quite so far into that (my Finals intervened...). I have a neat collection of essays called "Mythes et Dieux des Indo-Europeens" which is fun to dip into when I feel up to handling the academic French. But Dumezil was a polymath who wrote zillions of things (articles, essays, books): why not see what your local library can order in!
Mircea Eliade is jolly good fun, too: more approachable than Frazer, who *everyone* seems to misspell "Frazier" in RuneQuesting circles. This is just as annoying as "shamen" for shamans, IMHO...
End of Glorantha Digest V1 #196
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