Paying the Lunar Army

From: jeffrichard68 <richj_at_...>
Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 18:18:36 -0000

I just realized I included a big typo in my paying for the Lunar army post. Here's the correct information:

The average soldier in the Lunar service receives 60 lunars a year in pay (this is an average - some get a lot more, some get a lot less). That basically is three cows. He also gets whatever he can scavenge, take, steal, etc.

In 1610, there are somewhere around 20,000 soldiers (at least on paper - the real number is significantly less) in occupied Dragon Pass and Prax. That costs about 120,000 lunars a year. This number goes down significantly leading up to Starbrow's Rebellion. Prior to Starbrow's Rebellion, there were probably around 7000 Lunar soldiers in Sartar (of course, there were about 2500 soldiers in Pavis) - costing about 56,000 lunars a year. Let's say the average cost of the Occupation (prior to the Rebellion) was around 100,000 lunars a year.

Circa 1610 (prior to the big tax increase of Euglyptus the Fat and the Fazzurite tribute) the Lunar Occupation receives some 22,500 to 25,000 lunars in taxes and tribute from the tribes. This goes up about a third or more after 1613 (not to mention the huge lump sum tribute demanded after Starbrow's Rebellion). Tolls and urban taxes add another 5,000 to 10,000 lunars. So maybe about 30,000 lunars in taxes and tribute from the tribes and cities. I don't know how much Pavis and the River of Cradles supplies - although I suspect that the initial conquest was quite lucrative.

That means the Empire must send on average around 70,000 lunars in support of the occupation. This goes up after Starbrow's Rebellion. Assuming this comes in seasonal installments, we've got armed supply caravans with some 15,000 lunars or more in silver
(worth about 750 cows) coming to Boldhome each season. That's a
pretty tempting target for raiders and must be exceptionally wellguarded.   Once in Boldhome, smaller caravans bring silver to the various commands in Jonstown, Wilmskirk, Swenston and Pavis.

Don't know how much this weighs - assuming a lunar coin weighs about 20-30 grams (a little less than a US silver dollar), then each caravan has about 375 kilograms of silver, which is a fair amount
(weighing more than just about anyone on this mailing list). Each
year, more than a ton of silver would be sent to Boldhome.

Jeff