Orlanth in Sartar:
Orlanth worship is still allowed in Sartar, even in the cities. To forbid it would invite constant rebellion and disruption of tax revenues. It is the Lunar's long-term plan, and they are thinking up all sorts of ways to try and discourage it, not always actively. They certainly do have to crack down on big ceremonies that occur at places with names like "The Hill of Orlanth Victorious" or "The Mound of Orlanth Smasher and Gorer of Lunars Armies".
The reduction of Orlanthi worship in an Orlanth-worshipping area is going to be a slow process. Partly it will be done through conversion of tribes to the Lunar Way, often starting with the ruling clan. The Colymar and Enstalos are good examples of tribes undergoing conversion. For the other part there will be swingeing taxes on Orlanthi priests and similar measures. A carrot and stick approach, but with a big carrot and a (apparently) little stick.
I think it is unrealistic to believe that the Lunars would attempt to outlaw all Orlanth worship in the space of one generation. I can't see them being that foolish.
In Pavis the Orlanthi are a less important religion which allows the Lunars to discriminate against them to a greater extent without inflaming the general populace.
The main Orlanthi temple in Boldhome is on Thunderous Ridge above Sartar's Palace. There are a couple of buildings near the main worship site and two paths leading to it. Almost all Orlanthi holy sites are open to the wind.
There's also a temple to Orlanth Adventuress at the edge of the West Pocket according to the old maps. This is the origin of the creation of Vinga by Greg.
The Storm Bull temple in Boldhome has been closed down since 1602.
Andrew Joelson writes about Things from the Swamp:
If this did happen then the Lunars would have sat back and laughed while the "things" attacked Duck Valley, Lismelder lands, Colymar lands, Dragonewt Wildlands and the Spinosaurus Flats. Are you mixing this up with the earlier duck wars against the Colymar and Lismelder in 1380 (KoS page 131)?
IMHO the main reason for the Lunars relaxing their duck policy was to try and encourage the ducks to restart their trade route to Nochet. It would also help pacify the Lismelder, who had just elected a more compliant king.
The Kingdom of War:
I don't think there's any formal war college either. I reckon Lord Death on a Horse's main power is that he knows every battle plan that has ever existed. This is one reason why armies led by him are so invincible - rival generals have got to be continually innovative and/or unpredictable to beat him!
The descriptions of the KoW's origins sound a bit too mundane for me. I can't help thinking there's something more sinister behind it, some BIG secret. Lord Death on a Horse was *meant* to lead them, his appearance is not down to luck. It is no accident...
I didn't think the KoW's army was all horsemen either. There must be a large number local peasants who are forced to worship dread gods and thrown into battle en masse to soften up the enemy. Those that survive for long enough are no doubt enlisted into the ranks of the cavalry. Bow or Javelin armed peasants might make up a large proportion of the KoW's missile troops.
Loskalm:
The point that was made about Loskalm not fighting a battle for many years was a good one.
I think that most Loskalmi farmers are happy to stay in their caste until the day they die. Their society would quickly break down if that were not the case - they'd all starve. The religion stresses that staying in ones caste, and striving to be good at it, is as good as trying to progress through the castes (though whether this comes over as being convincing or not I cannot comment on).
In the same way, most soldiers are probably career soldiers and take the time to learn their trade. Most will harbour no desire to become a knight. They may not think their skills good enough (they don't have access to their own character sheets), they might lack ambition, and they might not expect a knightly order to accept them (tho' if they kicked up enough fuss it would have to).
As has been pointed out, it's in the interest of good knights to learn the soldiers trade. Though my suspicion is that many Loskalmi knights are on a fast track and spend as little time as farmers and soldiers as is possible. This might cause Loskalm problems when they meet the KoW.
On Nochet Fergus Windbag says:
Nochet? Whoa? Did someone say say 100,000 people? Wow! That's big. Now, let's think, Triock says there's about 100 people in Greydog Village. So, that must be more than 20 Greydog villages... Yeah! That's really big! But I hear that Boldhome's is bigger than 30 Greydog villages, which is more than even I can count using all my fingers, toes, and the pipes on my bagpipe.
But how many is 100 people? Is it as many pints of Kings Ale as Big Hralf drinks in an evening?
By the light of the Red Hot Moon:
Is it April already?
All Hail the Reaching Moon!
David Hall
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