I've been thinking about Western stuff a fair bit lately (as should be obvious). I've grown pretty interested in what little we know about Vadel and the Vadeli.
I think it is really interesting just how much hate there is for the Vadeli. Mostly, when we are looking at the really old Danmalastan era myths, there is a pretty cool tone. Zzabur is generally just arrogantly dismissive of everyone else's error. But not so with the Vadeli - on pg 6 of The MSE there is this incredible rant blaming Vadel for everything, particularly for every moral evil.
I think the root of this is the Brithini system is based on the idea that everything they do is both moral and Logical. There is one right way. And Zzabur/the Brithini are able to point to the logical flaws in everyones behaviour and mindset, and explain the Logical error that led them there - even Malkion himself became prone to error, according to Zzabur. I think the Brithini hate the Vadeli because they know that the Vadeli are, at their core, both immoral and completely logical.
Various philosophers have tried to create a system of morality predicated only on logic, such as Immanuel Kant. Kants summary of his moral philosophy fiat justitia, pereat mundus, ("Let justice be done, though the world perish", or "Let justice reign even if all the rascals in the world should perish from it" as Kant loosely translated it) sounds very close to Zzaburs view of things (taking it quite literally, having destroyed fairly large chunks of the world and its population). If you take Kants ideas and adapt them to a world where magic is real, it has a lot in common with mythic Danmalastan.
But we now know philosophically that logic can be used just as easily to argue for nihilism and the absence of any objectively verifiable morality. I think the Vadeli are experts in logically arguing for pragmatism and overturning any moral value that gets in their way. Particularly, arguing that one rigid unchanging pattern of behaviour is the right one for all circumstances is a very hard position to logically sustain, and yet the Brithini try to do so. The Brithini can't beat the Vadeli on logic alone, so must morally condemn them so vehemently partly because it is the only real argument they have. What is also interesting about that rant about Vadel is that while it accuses Vadel of every moral evil, and uses the term sin frequently, it doesn't say he is in error or accuse him of any mistake in his thinking.
And the Brithini hate the Vadeli because they are the one people that they know they can't out argue with logic. All they are left with is blowing them up, which is effective, but ultimately pretty hollow, because they can't prove them wrong except on pragmatic grounds (and even then, it was closer than they'd like - the Enrovalini were losing a war to the Vadeli and were forced to resort to destroying a continent to stop them).
Of course, all the moral condemnation of the Vadeli is mostly correct. The Vadeli do practice theft, incest, hatred, deception, greed, assassination and treachery, and that is just getting started on their unpleasant practice. But what really makes the Brithini hate them is that the Vadeli have perfectly logical reasons for doing all those things.
Cheers
David
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