>I would note here that the Lunar army was notably crushed at least
>twice by Jannisor
Yes, exactly -- a feat which no Orlanthi force ever managed even once, up until Argrath's time. As I said, the Orlanthi are not the only bad guys the Lunars must worry about.
>There was always an implication in Dragon Pass that only part of the
>Lunar army was represented
This is of two interpretations, and (naturally) I like mine best; namely that the College of Magic, Cavalry Corps, Thunder Delta Slingers, Heartland Corps, and Imperial Bodyguard make up basically the entirety of the Lunar army. Oh, there might be a unit or two somewhere training, or re-equipping, or recruiting, but 75%+ of the army shows up in Dragon Pass.
Now, this does not mean that once you beat those guys your worries are over. You must proceed to fight your way through various Lunar "national guard" troops. The Furthest Native Corps is a fine example of same. Probably every subdivision in the Empire has some equivalent of the Native Furthest Corps, armed and equipped according to local mores and techniques, and trained to fight alongside the Red Army at need. The Native Furthest Corps, in fact, may be one of the weakest of these militias. I would expect Carmania and the Redlands to have the strongest defense forces.
These local armies serve to hold off weak attackers and raids (i.e., the Heartland Corps isn't mustered to deal with an incursion of Tusk Riders). But when the Empire is seriously threatened from some quadrant, then the native forces are bolstered by the main army.
>most of the Lunar gods/goddesses are former heroes. Thus, a whole
>group in the Zero to early First Wane (Yanafal, Deezola, etc), more
>by the mid to late First Wane (Etyries?, Twin Stars).
Most of the Lunar deities are former _humans_, which doesn't mean that they were necessarily heroes. I've read at least once that Yanafal T. may have been a superhero. Maybe not, but probably at least a very powerful hero (in DP terms, maybe a combat value of 8-12, unlike the usual Hero = 4). I'm not sure that Deezola, She Who Waits, or Danfive Xaron qualify as heroes in Dragon Pass terms. If we had a DP style game of the early Lunar Empire, I'd probably rank the 7 mothers as 5 different units each individually weak that, when stacked, turned into a new, and very powerful piece.
Twin Stars are a spirit, not a hero. Etyries' history is unclear. It's not plain how much of her is what she did, and how much was taken from some earlier cult. But saying she was a hero is perhaps overstating it. Hon-Eel, of course, was a genuine superhero, which are rare enough that probably all of them in the history of the world can be named (and I'm a-going to try).
KNOWN SUPERHEROES OF GLORANTHA SINCE TIME BEGAN Arkat. Sheng Seleris, Hon-Eel, Jar-Eel, Harrek And that's all I can think of. Androgeus has superhero-like qualities, but he originated before Time, and was some kind of cosmic force before degenerating into her current state. I wouldn't term him a "superhero" any more than I'd consider a dragon to be a "superhero". I've heard arguments that Hon Hoolbiktu may have been a superhero, and maybe he was. Any other takers?
HEROES IN THE THIRD AGE
The upcoming wars are known as the 'Hero Wars" and that's for
a reason -- there's going to be more heroes than ever before by an
amazing number. Why, there's _two_ superheroes alive at the same
time! Greg and I (personal discussion) agree that in general heroes
are exceedingly rare in Glorantha. We believe, in fact, that there
have been long stretches of time -- perhaps centuries -- in which
there were _no_ heroes anywhere. For example, we assume that, in all
the world, there have never been any Morocanth heroes. Which means
that if your Morocanth makes a significant stab at this status, that
he'll be the first!
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