PC>> He then adds some piffle about Lodrilli soldiers [...], overwhelmed by
>>the sight of naked, screaming Orlanthi charging down on them. To which I
>>say: old hat! That's what they signed up for!
After introducing a curious digression about a re-enactment of a battle between Union and Confederates, neither of which indugled in phalanx warfare nor berserk charges AFAIK, Joerg continues:
>I brought this up because the "furor celticus" was feared all over the
>classical world, that's the region which had been fighting in phalanxes
>for centuries. It took some military geniuses among the Romans to train
>the men to stand through these charges - a bit like the effect of war
>elephants, actually.
Joerg has gotten things seriously muddled here. To suggest that Celts could break a phalanx like a war elephant is sheer nonsense. Phalanxes are designed to stop the people in the front (who would be the most scared by the Celts) from turning around and running away. Also the only time the Celts invaded Greece in force, they ended up stuck in Galatia with no way home. This is hardly evidence for the Celts being the fear of the classical world. Even the Roman legions could cope with Celts on the battlefield (unless they were outnumbered).
Simon Phipp:
>I thought that Harrek was hired by one clan in the Dart Wars, personally
>destroyed their rival clan, was so disgusted by what he had to do that he
>wiped out the first clan and then killed the Red Emperor for promoting and
>encouraging the Dart Wars. In my opinion, anything which disgusts Harrek in
>this way has to be admired, after all one would not expect him to be
>disgusted by a little bit of violence.
Harrek feels disgust about destroying a clan? This doesn't sound right. He has sacked Sog City, murdered fellow Rathori and committed innumerable enormities since then yet Harrek feels no remorse over those deeds. I think his hatred of the Lunar Empire (which appears to be above and beyond his normal hatred of everything) should stem from something deeper than mere disgust over hired butchery.
Simon also asks questions about:
>(Jarst - Two tribes, unicorn-riding deities, magic weapons/shields
Where did all this come from?
>Garsting - one city;
There has been some discussion of Jarst/Garsting in earlier digests, v02.n566 and v02.n544 contain the most recent responses. The humans of Jarst are lodrili farmers who are raided regularly by the Horse Riders. Because of this, they are not very populous. The Empire would have annexed this land but any plans to do so were put on hold after the Nights of Horrors robbed them of manpower.
>Redlands - Lunar farmers, Pentian nomads, raided by everyone
Some of the farms are resettlement camps so there is some Lunar military presence there. The reason that it's not commonly known is that people who ask questions about it generally find themselves on a guided tour.
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