Lots of good points there.
I do agree that Mek's appearance is super weird and absolutely needs some kind of explanation eventually. I also agree that both the Dunyain and the Consult having the same insight in regards to the "mechanical" nature of reality (even though we as readers know it's a rather superficial and incomplete philosophy) is vitally important. But I'm not sure it was more than, well, a coincidence. Or perhaps more appropriately, a sort of "convergent evolution" of philosophy/technology...eh, that's badly phrased, but hopefully someone gets what I'm saying and can help me out.
However, in response to your two points in the third paragraph, I do disagree to an extent:
The connection between the Dunyain and the Consult stands out strongly to me, since both begin with the principal that life is mechanical, something which would be impossible for anyone to conceive of on Earwa
I don't think this concept is at all impossible for an Earwan to conceive. After all, it
is kind of true, though it has a limit. I think as readers (since we have at least SOME insight to the greater cosmology) we gradually lose the perspective that, in general, most of the people on Earwa really don't have a clue about the greater reality they live in. Even sorcerors like Akka, Eli, and Iyokus -- clearly familiar with some fraction of the supernatural -- have little definitive knowledge of how the universe seems to work. They all doubt Damnation. They fight and summon demons from the Outside, yet still question their own Damnation, and even the existence of the Gods.
Point being, I don't think it's terribly unlikely that some random mystic cult (I.E., the early Dunyain) may have stumbled upon the central concept of Causality in some form. Obviously the later Dunyain took it to another entirely, but shit...it's not like they weren't making some pretty evident progress. Even in ignorance, the Dunyain tapped into
something...but what exactly that entails is another thread.
The only way I could see the Inchoroi rediscovering the lost principles of the Tekne is if they isolated people away from the rest of the world and convinced them that the supernatural, magic, and other intelligent races weren't real.
This is other thing I'm not convinced of. For clarification, I totally believe it's possible that the Consult are behind the Dunyain, in one way or another, but I do want to play Devil's Advocate here a bit.
Broadly, I don't have a problem believing that after the Ark crashed (or whatever happened there), and after the Nonmen wiped out most of what remained of the Inchoroi, that it legitimately took them several thousand years of reverse-engineering shit they didn't understand before they could do anything useful with it. I can buy the idea that if you take a warrior (say, Aurax), and give him effectively
unlimited time, fueled by possibly the greatest drive of any living being possible (the avoidance of eternal, inconceivable torture after death)...well, I can imagine such an intellect will eventually figure some shit out. And even here, we're going off the idea that Aurax and Aurang had ZERO knowledge of the Tekne. It's entirely possible that the reason we haven't really seen Aurax is because he's busy in Golgotterath tinkering with the Tekne. We do have textual evidence -- admittedly flimsy, given the source -- that Aurax was the one who first taught the Old Science to the Mangaecca.
In summary, I think it's totally possible that the Inchoroi had no clue of the Dunyain, and in a classic dramatic twist, never anticipated their greatest enemy (the Dunyain) being the ones that beat them to the punch at their own game
Again, I'm not really convinced by this argument, or the contrary. Just trying to create discussion. For me, the Consult's involvement with the Dunyain is pretty a much a 50/50. Neither result would shock me, nor would it bother me. I just don't think we know enough at this point.
I think the connections in philosophy are there, but I think its to provide kind of a foil "what if" to the Inchoroi, both in purpose and in scope. Inchoroi want to remove gods to save their species/soul, Dunyain want to become god to save themselves individually from the darkness. Inchoroi want to kill/eliminate most life, Dunyain released into the world want to control it all. Inchoroi superiority of intellect led to a life of hedonism, Dunyain superior intellect led to a life of complete devotion (no prodding with IF needed, and even considering the Inchoroi goal, post gods they would return to a life of hedonism). The two, which vaguely similar and connect, are quite opposite.
I like this as well.