Martin Laurie:
>I believe that Orlanthi society is no better than any other and oath
>breaking is something that occurs. Certainly oath tweaking does and
>in particular oath ignoring. Lunar society is much worse, more like
>modern day for a lack of real honour. If Count Julan _really_ wanted
>to sort out a lack of honour, he should go to Glamour but that side of
>things is ever so conveniently forgotten about when there are some
>handy barbarians to blame and to bash!
And y'know Martin, maybe someday he will (I got big things planned for Count Julan!) In the mean time, as a loyal servant of Appius Luxus, his mission takes him to the provinces where he strives to embody all the Lunar virtues, including honour. I don't think he sees this as a means of avoiding confronting issues at home (and even a cursory reading of "Strangers in Prax" would indicate the Julan is not into beating up handy barbarians for its own sake). Indeed, one of the Coders' principles is "encourage honest and effective government"; and I'm sure they do this wherever their work takes them.
>Before their morality and honour can be examined you have to look
>at the forces driving and creating them and look at RW examples for help.
>
>Here's an example: I was talking to a soldier who served in Bosnia and
>he told me about a group of the SAS (Specal Air Service, 1st grade elite
>British Special Forces) in a pub in Bosnia. He tried to talk to them.
>They took his beers but replied in a monosylabic fashion. He said, and
>this is a veteran soldier who'd been under fire speaking, that these men
>scared him. His closest movie analogy for them was the "Terminator".
Here's a theory: the SAS guys were minding their own business, having a quiet drink in the pub, when some unwelcome nerk tried to insinuate himself into their company. I'm sure any other close group (off-duty cops, footballers, sychronised swimmers?) might behave in the same way in a similar situation.
>In the real world very few people, if given time to think about their
>potential loss would actually stand by you when the shit hit the
>fan. Why? Because most people are desperate to save their own
>lives/careers or comforts. Think about it. When have you been
>in trouble and been saved or supported by somebody when their kneck
>would be on the line for doing it? I can count such happenings on
>two fingers myself. on the other hand, I can count on all my fingers
>and toes the times when people didn't stand up for me or a friend and
>kept their cowardly mouth shut!
I'm sorry for you. I think this passage goes a long way to explaining the sort of stories Martin writes and the characters he has empathy for.
Cheers
MOB P.S. A minor typo in my opening gambit for the communal novel, "The Ogre Sanction" or "The Cook, The Thief, His Life and Her Axemaiden" (or whatever it might be called) has prompted me to fix it, and make a couple of minor editorial tweaks - sorry, comes from writing feverishly at 3am after a Saturday night on the tiles. A reprise:
"The Demivierge leaned forward in her dining couch as we strutted into the dining chamber, a lascivious leer on her face, which, off the coins, appeared too be more voluptuous, more wanton - and far, far less serene in the flesh. Even eyes glazen with hazia, bhung or perhaps even plain wine (but large, dark, expressive and ringed with kohl) could not detract from her beauty, though to my father's eyes I'm sure it would have been the beauty of a brazen strumpet, not the mighty ruler of a powerful trading city.
A great sigh of lust - both carnal and gustatory, I feared - went round the banquet hall as the cooks put us through our paces. How was it that I, Hermocles of Bagnot, who had come to Rhigos as spy and erstwhile assassin, ended up shaven and oiled, disguised as not a member of the mid-course dance troupe as I first thought, but the next course itself!" ...to be continued??
Powered by hypermail