The most important thing about Hrestol in Malkioni religion is NOT that he transgressed against caste restrictions (he did that but that is a secondary aspect). Here’s the basic story:
A year after the Dawn of Time, Malkion appeared to Hrestol, then a noble warrior of Seshnela in the service of his father. With the wisdom he gained, Hrestol killed the goddess Ifttala, the daughter of Seshna Likita and mother of the Pendali people. Afterwards, Hrestol was slain by Seshna Likita. However, Hrestol managed to retain some memory, skills and identity in the Land of the Dead and continued his quest. He made his way back to the world of the living. Upon his return, Hrestol was banished from Seshnela for his crimes but accompanied in exile by the best of his people.
Hrestol’s BIG SECRET is that death is not the end. Personhood survives death and it can be overcome. We are not just matter plus energy. Instead, rebirth is part of existence.
This is the radical departure Hrestolism had from traditional Malkionism. Remember this occurred only two years after the Dawn, when the mundane world was new. And so with the Dawn comes Hrestol with the joyous news that Death is not the end. He’s the Dawnbringer for the Malkioni.
This, more than Hrestol’s caste violations, is what horrified by the zzaburi, who followed the old Brithini ways. They insisted that Hrestol be punished for the caste violations – even though what they really feared was his experience of Rebirth.
Malkion appeared to Hrestol and gave him the wisdom needed to slay a goddess and return from the Lands of the Dead. But Hrestol got this first-hand from Malkion – you couldn’t find this information in any of the zzaburi’s books.
Now some theorise that what Malkion taught Hrestol is how to preserve the Self in death. So sort of like a spell out of the Book of the Dead. Hrestol thus prepared could preserve his Self after death and with the aid of others could return from death. Nonetheless this was NOT a part of Malkioni teaching prior to 2 ST.
Also the Brithini can prove that the ego – the Self – does not survive death. At the point of death we are divided into matter and energy (the spirit). The Self – our memories, personality, individual existence, etc. is gone. To believe otherwise is falsehood. Those who have willingly enslaved themselves to gods and spirits claim otherwise, but they mistake an echo shadow for the Self.