<Bill.McKinley_at_mailhost.dpie.gov.au> articulated:
> Owen Jones <odj_at_maths.uq.oz.au> said:
>
> >Could the glowline be a side on view of a glowsurface (or glowmanifold
> >perhaps) which extends up into the middle air, enveloping lune. Given the
> >lunar goddess is forever battling the storm gods for control of the
> >middle air, the glowsurface would mark the boundary of her sphere of
> >influence.
>
> Owen, do you think this has any implications for Balazar? Maybe it
> explains why the Empire is interested in a backwater like Elkoini!
Well, I'm not Owen but here's my two-penn'orth. Balazar is pretty
insignificant in and of itself. It's not even significantly Orlanthi to
be worth marching into out of spite. So why?
A few possible reasons:
- The region has a lot of natural wealth, unexploited by "civilisation".
Because most of the peoples of the plainsland wouldn't recognise many of
the artifacts left after the Gods' War, and because the land is
relatively uncharted, and because most of the inhabitants haven't made
it past the Stone Age ('s true!), a lot of gems, metal and other
valuables are still being found. Also, you've got a lot of animal and
plant species rare elsewhere, whose skins, body parts and so on could be
worth a lot. The Lunars want to control (and tax) the trade, so they're
taking over Elkoi in order to control the main trade route: also,
Irrippi Ontor sages would dearly love safeguarded access to the wealth
of (hitherto unexploited) native wisdom concerning the medicinal and
magickal use of the local flora;
- Balazar is the gateway to the Elder Wilds; if you thought Balazar was
unexploited, it's nothing on the EW. 'Course, it's a bit risky, but you
can always seal off the EW and control access, like Old Pavis but on a
larger scale; gruesome death penalties to unlicensed adventurers, of
course. (Much MGF.);
- The Lunars want to treat with the {Giants,Dwarfs,Elves} who border the
region, but are presently viewed as unimportant outlanders. By
controlling the Balazar area, that species must either negociate with
the Lunars or retreat;
- The Elder Wilds is well-known for its uncharted Chaotic elements.
Certain factions in the Empire would dearly love to analyse and perhaps
exploit them - who knows, the logical successor to the Crimson Bat could
be {sitting,squatting,glopping} around there? After all, the Bat can't
be everywhere at once, and it's beginning to lose its fear value now
everyone's got a tale about it;
- All Hail The Reaching Moon! (Justification in and of itself.)
Jon
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