Fits my theory perfectly: I think that the one-year education in Wanzow is meant to turn the student into an initiate of the imperial cult (throught the exarch of Wanzow) so that (s)he can spend time in Kralorela proper without polluting the land and diluting its magic. Given the somewhat reversed direction of power transfer (from people to gods) that Sandy has posited for Kralorela, the average unwashed foreigner must be seen as a great threat: (s)he doesn't give back power to the land.
So an educated foreigner is now a worshipper of the inmperial cult, which is the main duty of a good Kralorelan. Now since (s)he is after all an unwashed foreigner (s)he can of course not go directly to Vithela upon death, but since (s)he does the duties of a good Kralorelan (s)he should be a step closer to getting out of the reincarnation cycle and thus be rewarded with rebirth as a native of the Empire of Splendour. Then at the next death, off to Vithela for the soul
/Nils W
Powered by hypermail