>The Gray Age afterwards was a
>time of largely meaningless existance - people would die, and would
>hope to reach Solace after vanishing without a trace from this world,
>but there was no real Salvation, and mortality was perceived as kind of
>an inherited sin committed by ancestors who were not clear about when
>and how they had sinned.
This is not mythically satisfying to me. I think the Gray Age Malkioni had a pretty good idea why they died, though I can't think offhand of what it was. I see them as analogous to certain strains of ancient Judaism, though without the constant interference in history which YHWH exhibited. The analogy holds up in the Malkioni and Judaic emphasis on the Law and the relative unimportance of the afterlife. These were communities of believers, and individual salvation just wasn't a key concept to them. "God has commanded us to follow the Law, and that is why we do not slay rabbits with Smother" and so on. Seemingly trivial rules, providing endless opportunities for inadvertant sin. Into this stultifying worldview came Hrestol, and Malkionism was never the same again.
Otherwise, I generally agree with Joerg's take on things as a broad picture. The fun will be in the details. Crazed fanatics with their own special interpretations: "Follow the Sandal!" "No, no, follow the Gourd!"
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