False Gods.

From: Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Thu, 07 Sep 1995 12:14:01 +1300


James Dyer:

>Do the Malkioni have a host of angels? The reference to the Messenger
>(just forgotten his name), who delivers the Word of Malkion, in the
>Genertela box (Book 1 - 6 Worlds section) struck me as very
>archangel-like.

Yingar the Messanger. Yingar however was the son of Horal (ie the First Brithini Fighter) who was the first son of Malkion. So while Yingar may be an Archangel, he is originally human. Consequently I think Malkioni do not know of Angels in the sense of a seperate creation from Man. All their Angels would have been humans prior to Solace.

>Similarly, how do the orthodox Malkioni see the False Gods? Do they
>demonize them, or are theists seen as poor deluded idolators? Nick
>Brooke thinks the Rokari see them (the gods) as demons. How about
>the Hrestoli?

Two points. The False Gods and the Pagan Gods are two seperate categories. The Western Soldiers World View in the Players Book of G:CotHW makes this clear. The False Gods seek to lead people to lead people to the perdition whereas the Pagans are merely stupid clots.

The False Gods dwelt in the Kingdom of Logic with Malkion and Vadel. The ones that I know of are: Worlath, Ehilm, Humct and Zrethus. They were expelled from the Kingdom of Logic by Malkion the Lawgiver according to Malkioni Records. The Vadeli do not worship the False Gods so it seems to me that the False Gods were leaders of factions within the Kingdom of Logic. (I'll skip over the vexed issue of euhemerized gods and mortals issue except merely to state that in highly magical Old Days they could not be told apart IMO.)

The False Gods appear to have been worshipped to some extent by the God Learners. This is blamed for their downfall by hindsighted Modern Malkioni. Nowadays they are seen as evil agents of the Devil. In the West their worship survives, I think, as occult mystery cults which are hunted down without mercy by the Iron Rod of Rokar. They are worshipped outside the West but divorced from the Malkioni context that makes them 'false'.

The Pagan Gods, modern theology holds, are mere anthromorphic entities created by foolish barbarians who don't know any better. They don't really exist and anybody who claims to worship them must be taught the error of their ways (by the sword if need be).

>Thinking about this made me wonder whether after the downfall of the
>Serpent Kings of Seshnela, the Malkioni view serpents as one of the
>traditional forms of the Devil.

Sure!

Powered by hypermail