I'd agree with everything Ian wrote, but add two more points:
- The Missionary Position. The Lunar Way is the Right Way. What true
believer would not want to bring the benefits of the Lunar Way and
the civilisation of the empire to the Sartari, however ungrateful and
undeserving they may be. It's easy to be cynical and concentrate on
the realpolitik, but many within the empire (and Tarsh) *believe.*
Praise Heortling independence and kinship all you want, but would you
rather live in an upland stead or a Furthest insula? More to the
point, if you are used to the order of empire, is it not easy to
believe that, in the long run, you are doing them a favour by
bringing it to these shaggy-maned barbarians?
- Policing Mythology. Orlanth is not just another god, he is
Oralanatus the Rebel in Solar mythology, Rebellus Terminus, and a
rival to Rufelza for the Middle Air. So long as his brand of antiestablishment
myth is allowed to exist unchecked, he is a threat. So
it is also a matter of "proactive mythic self-defence" for this
dangerous subversive to be tamed and re-educated.
All sounds fair enough to me!
Mark
Mark Galeotti