>
> I suppose.... It does raise the question of who hires these
> mercenary warbands, however. It doesn't seem to be the sort of
thing
> clans would do very often, especially for Humakti. Why hire a bunch
> of deadly killers when all you want to do is spank the neighbors?
Intimidation?
Actually I would have thought that for any sizeable band the hire price would be a bit steep for a clan, even in the good times it would be more affordable for a tribal king.
>Of
> course, if you want to really kill off the neighbors, that's a
> different situation, but does that happen often enough to
> support mercenaries? Humakti shrines and temples might be gathering
> places for loose Humakti waiting for a chance to sign on with a
Chief
> or King who needs more weaponthanes, but this isn't the same thing
as
> warbands for hire.
In the more peacable Sartar periods I would guess that many humakti worked for the city rings, their neutrality and reliability would be quite useful by contrast with clan warriors who would inevitably have their main loyalty to just one faction within the city ring. Other than that I think that many hirings would be of a handful of men at a time for various duties (caravan guard, hunting criminals, whatever) rather than whole warbands which would likely only muster in times of war.
Of course Sartar has never been a peaceful place for very long and faced with external threats it might seem preferable to throw a few mercenaries at the problem than risk members of your own clan/tribe.
-- Nic
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