I disagree - I think that the Lunars may be shocked by the fact that the presence of other flyers is not all that surprising to the Heortlings. First off, most of Heortling warfare has historically been against other Heortlings or folk like them. When the Colymar went to war against the Malani, both sides used flyers. Second, when Heortlings fight Lunars (or other Evil Empires), historically, the Evil Empire always has some analogue to the Heortling flyers. Gbaji had them, the Lunars have them. Where's the surprise?
This brings me to an important point - the Heortlings have a long history of fighting Dara Happans and their many allies (and have at least one cult dedicated to that task). There is very little the Lunars have tried to do that the tag-team of Nysalor-Lokamayadon didn't do. Flyers? Yep, Lokomoko used flyers against the Heortlings - the Lunars probably will as well. Weird storm magic? Yep, Lokomoko had weird storm magic - the Lunars probably will as well. And so on.
The advantage the Lunars have over the Heortlings isn't that their magic or warriors are intrinsically superior to that of the Heortlings. It is that the Lunars are a hell of a lot better organized and can use their military resources far more efficiently than the Heortlings. The Lunars don't have to have a political conference involving every potential warlord and regimental leader to determine who will actually show up to war. A Lunar warlord is very unlikely to switch sides and brings his troops over to the other side. These are all everyday occurences for the Heortlings (Sartar High Council and King Blackmor, anyone?).
Jeff
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