Ah, now that's another question entirely, and one I had planned to get to
in the near future. But since you write, surely the Lunars don't prevent
the Orlanthi from carrying any weapons or armour _at all_. After all,
there's lots of dangerous things running about even with (or perhaps
because of) the 'glorious pacifiers' around. And the ban on plate armour
doesn't make sense if in fact all amour is banned. (Though this ban sounds
pretty gamey to me - I don't think many people of Orlanthi origin even have
access to plate armour - probably applies more to the Yelmalion Sun Dome
types - or matbe it's a status thing). And in addition, in Redbird's Treaty
the safety of the roads is entrusted to the Sartarites... A pretty hard
task to fulfill without weapons and armour.
However, the Lunars probably do keep close watch on the roads, and the
people who are travelling around generally. They want to catch rebels at
every opportunity, and prevent troublemakers from, well, making trouble.
What would be the standard procedure? Guard posts at the cities and forts,
obviously, probably with patrols moving around the place as well in areas
of difficulty. Do they require 'papers' explaining identity and reason for
travel? Makes sense. If you want to travel anywhere, you have to go to your
local official and get him/her to write out a travel permit (for a
reasonable sum of course), and maybe even a weapon licence (a la Home of
the Bold - though this may apply more to cities). Of course most orlanthi
can't read anyway, so all they know is they're carrying around bits of
paper with ritual signs of peace. A sort of Lunar version of their Orlanth
greeting.
What about locals travelling with Lunars? Presumably their Lunar companion
will carry all the necessary paperwork, and do all the talking with any
officails encountered. Of course, if he doesn't have all the paperwork on
hand (if some goes missing...) and the official doesn't like the Lunar
companion, trouble will inevitably follow...
I guess that answers it though. If everyone has to have a permit, a large
bunch of tribesmen travelling to a weapontake will probably not meet the
requirements for the permit. And the Lunars will know what's going on.
Yes, Martin Laurie's right on the demagoguery, I think: though it will
probably be hard to organise an entire tribe, giving them a place and time
to meet without the Lunars finding out. But if they do manage it, the first
guy to get it will be the local official. The locals will just go in and
cut his throat before heading off, thus preventing him from spreading the
word. But then again, there're all these Spoken Word agents floating
around, and Orlanthi quislings who're trying to get the latest word on all
this sort of thing, and find out who is responsible. Assassins, secret
agents, foolish constabulary... All the makings of a great spy novel... :-)
And what about travel 'abroad'? That is, outside Sartar. Do the Lunars
permit travel to Wintertop, or to the Sun Dome, or to Tarsh, Esrolia or
Heortland? Or rather, whom do the Lunars permit to travel to these places
(and elsewhere) and under what circumstances?
Control at the clan level may be pretty difficult though. There must be
nearly 200 clans in Sartar, and making sure none of them uses the forbidden
rituals will be tough. As long as the chieftain and his council adopts a
servile posture, I don't think the Lunars will care much what they do (as
long as its not rebellion).
On population growth in peaces clans... Yeah, what an excellent point.
David Weihe talks about the taxation system and Etyries exploitation. Lots
of great scenario material there. Lots of smiles all round...
To Craig Furber: My queries originally were about Orlanth because that's my
current area of priority. I too would like to know about the whole
situation, so feel welcome to post any ideas you may have. AFAIK, the focus
on Orlanth comes a lot from the disputed notion that the Lunars are waging
a religious and mythical war against Orlanth, singling him out for
destruction while leaving all the others alone. I originally held this view
but have since been convinced that its a little (or a lot) more subtle than
that. Nevertheless, Orlanth gets special attention because he is the ruling
god in Sartar, and all the political focus for unity and leadership comes
through his worship and veneration.
Pax
Saravan.
------------------------------
End of Glorantha Digest V3 #253
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