Question to the sea sage from a troll: now, these here dolphins and orca aren't like other fish, right, 'cause they ain't got no scales, and got live young, and stuff.* And they got that troll darksense thing going? So, the question arises, where'd they come?
My guess is -- the Styx! :)
Cory Davis asks:
>I was reading thru Troll Gods last and ended up looking at Black Arkat
>and the temple of Black Arkat. It says that in the Heortland the temple
>of Black Arkat is the same as the cult except it is for humans. So what
>does anybody think, do you have to be a darkness worshipper, a Malkion
>worshipper or what ? does anyone have any ideas?
Well, I ruled that if a Human wants to join Black Arkat (aka Arkat Kingtroll), they do, yes, have to worship a darkness god. Inasmuch as that gives the troll some measure of trust for them, and gives them a troll POV for worshipping Arkat. A human joining directly is an unknown quantity -- make 'im sweat it out in ZZ or someat, first.
But, that said, there's nothing preventing you from creating your _own_ Arkat cult. I always though Black Arkat was just the troll offshoot of a more common human cult....
And is just me, or is that picture of that Arkat statue in Troll Gods just a _wee_ bit perverted? Yeecchhhhh...
Jose Ramos notes:
> My dictionary says that Coronel comes from corona (crown) and was
>the man apponted by the king to lead a unit (a tercio at that time).
<shrug> Could be. Like I said, I'm using secondary literature. Either your
dictionary is right, or my military historian is right. :) (voice to
high-pitched whine) And my historian can take your dictionary maker, man!
Nyah nyah nyah! <g>
>As he usually had no experience it was usually "el Sargento Mayor", the
>most senior sergeant in the force who codirected the Tercio, overranking
>captains.
And the senior sarge was the Sargento Major General, which eventually
became the rank of "Major General," at least according to Guilmartin. This
was the lt./cpt. structure I mentioned before -- the Spanish had a
slightly different system than the Central European one that spawned
"lieutenant."
>The Lunar empire usually has that also, the political post given
>to a noble while the MS does all the work.
Well, it'd be more likely they used the Roman model. The general, the
legatus legionis, was usually a temporary appointee (using it as a career
stage), and this sometimes happened with the Tribunes, too. But the
centurion primus pilus, the head careerist, was _way_ far down the list --
they didn't have the same kind of "lieutenant professional" to amateur
system that developed later, in 16th century Spain or Germany (as war
became yet more specialized). A smart LL might invite him to advise him,
but might go to the tribunes instead.
Remember, the Lunars have a much different system than the Spanish -- it _worked_ in the 16th Century because it was easier for Madrid to move money around than men. Merc troops were the way to go. In (essentially) coastless Lunarland, it's a different story -- much more like the Romans, where the local legions really had to take care of any problems until a force could be raised and transported.
I'd make some more guesses here, but perhaps if we're really nice we could beg MOB into decanting on this...? After all, if he wrote Soldiers of the Red Moon, he probably knows more on the Lunar Army than Fazzur himself. :) Or will (pant, pant) TotRM 16 have info on the Lunar Army?
>The real problem in the RW was that it was the colonel who had to pay the
>troops. How he did that (specially when the crown was bankrupt, a common
>occurrency) was the real measure of his worth to the common soldier.
True, although it wasn't all _that_ bad. He was only providing
(average) about a third of the money, and it was usually in return for
crown favor. 'Sides, if the Hapsburgs _had_ managed to pull it off, the
return would have repayed them. Imagine the loot from the sack of London.
For a Gloranthan example, giving the merc captain a share in the magic
items. Or a couple days worth of "looting rights" in cities that were
particularly obnoxious in the defense.
PLAYING THIS IN CAMPAIGN: Heck, easy. Have your merc characters sign up, serve in a couple battles, then go to get paid. Turns out one of the officers scampered off with the pay chest -- and your company turns into a number of small "adventuring groups" determined to hunt down the thief, and seize the payroll for yourself.
>I suspect most civilized and all mercenaries in Glorantha follow the same
>principle.
Why? I'd agree on mercenaries, but not on civilized armies. As long as you
can foot the bill, there's no real need. In fact, it's _dangerous_. If I
let Fazzur pay all his troops, how do I have control over him?*
REALLY EXAGGERATED SCENARIO:
Jar-el: "Well, Fazzur, I've brought you the core of the Imperial army to
attack the Sartarites with."
Fazzur: "Hell with that! I think _I_ want to be the Red Emperor! Wanna
make babies?"
Jar-el: "Why, Fazzur, you _man_..."
<Falls into his arms. They kiss. Fade to scene of Lunar Civil War...>
IMO, the Red Emperor isn't in as much trouble as the Roman emperors were, since he's got lots of nice magical critters, allies and (of course) his Mom on his side, but why make it easier for the proxies than you have to? Just pay the troops directly from imperial stores, and make the paymaster _independent_ of the local commander, as much as possible. A direct Imperial appointee. Use a blue moonie, and making him the paytroll officer. <g>
'Sides, most Gloranthan armies are "militia" in any case -- and you don't usually need to pay militia. You give them looting rights, or they receive their weapons/armor as payment. Considering how many of those worthless Lunar troops are militia, it seems true for the civilized types, too.
James Frusetta
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #167
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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