The central story of the Malkioni

As an aside, here’s an old snippet between Nick Brooke and I from some time ago which I was just dusting off:

The central story of the Malkioni is that of the “self-reflective hero” who acts decisively and simultaneously questions the rightness of his or her acts (that whole Hrestoli chivalry thing) until realizing that these doubts are self-defeating. Meanwhile, our hero is aided (and frustrated) by the zzaburi who follow wherever their logic leads them to its conclusion. Together they face hordes of nearly mindless savages, ecstatic temptresses, and dark monsters.