> AFAIK the Larnsti were part of the pre-pharaohic kingdom but
> sidelined when Andrin became King for the second time. How
> Broyan ever makes use or contact with them is unknown
> although I dare suspect that he was trying for some mobility
> connection.
Do they trace back to Hendreik the Free (or whatever he called himself)? This is as good of a time as any to try to pin those shifty Larnsti.
> The Larnsti motivations are pretty much up in the air. I do not
> believe they are aiming for the return of the pre-pharaohic
> kingdom has that has been something that has already happened
> while they exist for change.
If they are Hendreik's heroband, maybe they are simply the defenders of Hendreiki liberties. Or something like that. I'm trying to get a handle on them and they keep shifting!
> I think a more complicated set of affairs than the simple division
> between Dara Happans and Tarshites is happening here. A major
> factor is the feud between Tatius and Fazzur but a clean split
> of allegiances over this matter is unlikely.
I agree - there is no clean split over Whitewall. But cracks become visible. John has an excellent thematic idea that much of the future history of DP can be staged in WW. I guess Maniskisson and Kallyr don't get along.
BTW, I have a recommendation - the Maniskisson role should be reserved for player characters. Last I checked, there are quite a few Colymar Maniskissons wondering around people's games who can claim descent from the House of Sartar. I've got one, I'm sure there are others.
> An interesting possibility that I was reading was the history
> of Ammanius Marcellinus. He was at the siege of Amida
> which is a harrowing conflict of a roman town against a
> massive Persian army that is able to ring it five deep. Amida
> was so small that the Persian Generals are advising Sapor
> not to bother investing it but to attack something more rewarding.
Siege of Amida, A.D. 359. Sapor II besieged Amida for 73 days, before siege mounds allowed his troops to enter the city. Although victorious, the Persians lost almost 30,000 men in the effort.
There are some good articles on the web about Sapor and Amida. This one is from somebody's masters thesis:
http://www.ukans.edu/history/ftp/articles/laws_of_war3.txt
> What I think is that the Lunars weren't originally interested
> in Whitewall at all. They were after the far more glittering
> prize of Heortland with Whitewall being some two bit
> village in the wop-wops that will be reduced at leisure.
> After all Fazzur's in decadent Karse while other Lunars
> have arrived by sea (which suggests capture of the other
> ports of Heortland).
Which Lunars? I agree with you that Fazzur is not interested in Whitewall at all (other than as a possible nuisance to supply lines). I think that the Dara Happans (Jorkandros the Blinder, Tatius the Bright) had a different view of it. I think they linked this into their Reaching Moon Temple project (which had been ok'd by the Emperor back in 1580). I think the Death of Orlanth at Whitewall is not something that happened haphazardly - it is something that has been planned for a very long time, not simply vengeance for killing the Crimson Bat (which happens not infrequently - it happened at Boldhome).
What intrigues me is what myth are the Lunars trying to reenact? When was Orlanth (or Rebellus Terminus) killed in DH myths?
Also interesting is that the really creative Lunar heroquesters (e.g., Jar-Eel) are not involved in this. Instead, this is the Emperor-approved obsession of an old-school Raibanthi aristocratic clan (presumably the Assidays can trace themselves back to a DH Emperor).
> The aims of the siege will vary depending on the political
> currents. At some stage, the nuclear option (Kill Orlanth!)
> will be raised, quickly dismissed, raised again, debated at
> length, dismissed again. With every setback the Lunars
> receive at Whitewall, attitudes will harden until such a point
> that even the doves want Orlanth dead.
I disagree with this. The decision to kill Orlanth is not made as a result of the siege - frankly I don't think that the siege itself is that big of a deal in the Lunar Heartlands. Tatius' assault on Whitewall is the culmination of decades of planning.
Now it is possible - and even likely - that Jorkandros is not trying to fulfill the Kill Orlanth project when he makes his assault on Whitewall in 1619. Using the Crimson Bat to level WW could just be standard operating procedure. However, defeating the Crimson Bat - or maybe certain identifications made by Broyan and the defenders - triggered the criteria for using the Kill Orlanth project. Tatius (Dean of the Lunar College of Magic) gets appointed commander of the WW siege and is not subject to Fazzur, his nominal commander.
Thus in victory, Broyan triggered a much bigger problem - the Kill Orlanth project. During 1620 and 1621, Broyan begins to realize what the Lunars are trying to do. He can't beat the Lunars, he can't negotiate with them - so he raises the stakes and joins their ritual with one of his own...
That to me is MGF.
Jeff
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