I see the High Orders as representing the religious hierarchy who,
in theory, like the idea of the
> epitome of one imbued with God's Grace
but, in practice, object to the loss of power and/or prestige that a
Knight causes them.
Again, in theory, the Wizards/High Orders object to the atheistic Sorcerers but, in practice, as the Sorcerers do not tap the same pool of socio-religious power as themselves, they do not personally hate them so much.
[Steve] This is hardly a conflict WITHIN Malkioni society. Possibly "malkioni" as a synonym for "western" but not "Malkioni" as a religious community. Rather the gulf which seperates Wizards and Sorcerors is as much a seperation within the sorcerous (Western) sphere as the Lunar-Orlanthi contrast. Lunars aren't simply Orlanthi that have had it with smelling like cattle and having to hurl themselves pell-mell at any passing chaos beastie.
It has to be remembered that Zzabur betrayed and murdered Malkion. To me, the schism between sorcerors and wizards is (in most cases) rather more substantial than a rarified theological debate. To sorcerors, Malkioni are a bunch of naive optimists at best. Solace? Bah - we (say the sorcerors) manipulate the primal forms of the universe logically to produce utterly repeatable, utterly understandable results. To extrapolate anything beyond that which demonstrably is, is nonsense.
The Wizards, on the other hand, have an essential faith that there is something more. Their faith (and the pathways to Solace blazed by their Saints) are the means by which they are able to tap the powers of the universe.
Really, this is/was the first bifurication of the Western philosophies, and a fundamental one.
My $.02.
Powered by hypermail