Think India. Think Persia. The empire is not held together by a dreary state religion, but by a plethora of ancient and multifaceted fertility deities, many of whom the Red Goddess has been! And for the Lunar expansion mechanism, the Islamic Empire in a quite good analogy - wide religious tolerance and conversion through preferential tax systems and a complex ideology.
Slavery
There is no labor shortage in the Heartlands. Millions of Lodrilli and Orians provide all the labor anyone could want. They are similar to slaves/serfs, due to an ancient caste system tied into the religious hierarchy of Lodril/Yelm. But they are also valuable members of society, because they participate in the huge magic rituals which keep the land fertile, the monsters out, etc. In essence, they are serfs who buy into the system. There may be food shortages; there certainly were historically. The _last_ thing they need in the Heartlands are more people.
Newly conquered territories lack such peasants, so the Lunars likely _do_ use slaves on small latifundia in Tarsh and the Redlands. But these may be economically less productive, as Lodrilli likely need little or no guarding and provide more magic fertility to the land than do a bunch of oppressed Theyalans. My guess is that newly secured areas are soon filled with Lodrilli moving out to "the wide open spaces", in search of more opportunity.
Most of the slaves which the Lunars, (and just about everyone else) take are young women and children. They are not intended to work in fields.
Expansion
My POV is that the Lunars are expanding for religious reasons, not economic ones. (The DH empire, the direct predecesor, existed for 2000 years w/o expanding appreciably). The Lunar philosophy includes an imperative to spread the Lunar Way, and the army is merely a tool of diplomacy against the recalcitraint. They expand to the south because of religious reasons: the south is the last unconquered source of enemies. Many waves of Orlanthi barbarians, including the EWF, all attacked the empire from the south.
Loren's ideas on Carmanian mercantile amibitions may also play a big part.
David Cake: > The Lunars... want to be changed as their goddess was
changed.
>The Lunar willingness to accept what they should hate... the Lunars believe
>that as everyone should strive to change themselves, it is only natural
>they should change their place in the world.
AWARD THAT MAN AN "ORDER OF THE DEATH RUNE AND SICKLE" MEDAL!
Red David again> The Lunars believe, for example, that there is power
that only
>comes from suffering, or sacrifice, or acceptance of your enemy. They
>believe in death and rebirth. The Orlanthi hate them in part because their
>acceptance of such things makes them more likely to inflict them on others
>as well as themselves.
Excellent point, David. Thanks for pointing this out! This makes sense to the Gerra and JagaNatha aspects, and goes a long way toward fitting in the D. Xaron cult and Lunar policy in occupied lands with their apparent goal of world peace.
Pam
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