On to specific points. The Dara Happans HAVE managed to rule over much of Peloria for large amounts of time. In fact, I believe a fair amount of the current power of the Lunar Empire finds its source in Dara Happa. I think the reasons for this are two:
The first reason is mythic. The solar pantheon has specific virtues the DH exhibit pretty well (e.g. chastity, purity, uprightness, honesty, and grace, as well as arrogance and insufferable self-righteousness, etc.). When the DH exhibit these virtues, they walk in the footsteps of their gods, and they are righteous and powerful. When the people (esp. the Emperors) stray, bad things happen. I think the success of the DH over the ages is a pretty good measure of their virtue. The fact that 'foreigners' can't stand to be around them is irrelevant.
The second reason is because they have been civilized and organized for a very long time. The Dara Happans (Shargash in particular, I believe) invented the phalanx, against which the attacks of the Digijelm and the Sons of Umatum break like the wind against rocks (or something like that). This plus sheer weight of numbers has made them a formidable military force.
What will happen to the DH now, I'm not sure. In fact, if the Yelmies are as depleted and run down as the Lunars would have us believe, it's hard to understand how they've kept their culture alive and vibrant these past 400 years. I guess that's David's question. I guess the answer is they're not so depleted and run down. If the DH are being good Lunars, their culture should be thoroughly Lunarized by now. If they're just being bad Solars (i.e. engaging in rampant 'secret depravaties') their culture should in worse shape than it is. I suspect that (on the whole) they're being good Solars. Perhaps if the Lunar empire suffers a major setback in the near future, you'll see the Solar culture exert itself again in Dara Happa.
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