trade vs war in Lunar Carmania

From: Loren Miller <loren_at_hops.wharton.upenn.edu>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 1995 00:33:36 -0400


The reason that I've been going on about trade versus war in Lunar Carmania is because that's the biggest faultline I can see in the Carmanian leadership. Everything that follows is IMO. In the (good? bad?) old days Carmania was an empire that conquered Peloria and was in turn ruled by Brolian Tawari and other bull-worshipping-fanatics, Dara Happan sun-worshipping-fanatics, and Spolite darkness-worshipping-fanatics. The Carmanian Empire (all three aspects, light, dark, and bestial) ruled by conquest. Humakt was the sword-arm of the empire with an emphasis on conquest and destruction. After the Lunar empire took over and killed off the old Karmanos cult, including the most direct shahvian bloodlines, and the (mostly Humakti) leadership of hazari mystery cults, Carmania no longer had a need for unlimited warfare. As the land, increasingly led by Etyries-worshipping nobility, developed along new lines that emphasized commerce with Seshnela and the west, the Humakti traditionalists lost their appeal. Humakt was irrevocably associated with the old way of doing things, and was no longer acceptable in the new Lunar administrative district of Carmania. The state-sanctioned cult of Yanafal Tarnils was poised to take over, and it became the new war cult of limited military action. IMHO in Carmania YT became a police cult and the source of guards for trading caravans. The Humakt cult continually lost power to YT until the Syndics' Ban scared people and made them turn to old traditions, and then the Hero Wars came calling. Alehandro is a big fan of the Humakt cult, and he has recruited heavily for it while preparing the Queen's Regiment for war in DP.

When you distill that down to a single catch-phrase, it's easy to see why you can come out with "Humakt=war, YT=trade." Obviously that isn't totally true, but it's pretty good for shorthand.

Also, remember that it's well established that Humakt in Carmania is not a pretty cult reserved for honorable knights. It's also a cult for bloodthirsty conquerors, barely distinguishable from those who follow Zorak Zoran. IMO those Humakti don't think that the Death+Truth runes imply honorable warfare, they think they mean true death delivered with the utmost despatch.

Powered by hypermail