> Let's suppose you are an Issaries Trader and you want to travel
> the world. Is it right to think: "Hey, let's go to the Big markets
> in downtown Glamour"?. How would Lunars deal with an Orlanthi
> Caravan going happily through their lands? Would they just kill
> them? Or maybe enslave them? Or can they travel freely until
> finding some close-minded-Orlanthi-Hating-Yanafal Tarnils-Rambo?
Well, Issaries is a god of trade, communication and travel, not of closed-minded bigotry, so presumably many Issaries traders would *love* a=
chance to visit the Gloranthan Imperial Market of Glamour.
And the Lunars are, unlike the Nomads and Barbarians, a civilisation. The=
y
don't just kill and enslave merchants: they have other ways of making the=
ir
lives difficult. Like... tarriffs, and taxes, and tolls, and regulations,=
and requirements, and restrictions, and licensing laws, and safety laws,
and union rules, and traffic prohibitions, and Imperial monopolies... non=
e
of which are known to the poor Issaries trader when he plans his route.
Of course, if he were an Etyries cultist, his colleagues in the cult woul=
d
happily help him to plan a route for maximum profit and minimum trouble.
But because he isn't, they'll be laughing behind their hands as the taxma=
n
collects his dues and the teamsters' unions go out on strike and the loca=
l
underworld boss wonders where his cut went...
People don't just get "killed" or "enslaved" in the Empire, unless they'r=
e
committing some crime. But if you're carrying dangerous and unlicensed
goods, travelling in such a way as to create a breach of the peace, and
ignoring Imperial regulations and toll-points, you deserve to be arrested=
and fined, and to lose a good share of your goods and profits in recompen=
se
for the disruption you've caused.
And, yes, a "Closed-Minded Orlanthi-Hating Yanafal Tarnils Rambo" would b=
e
an unpleasant thing to encounter. Luckily, they're about as typical of th=
e
Lunar armed forces as Rambo (or Timothy McVeigh) would be of the U.S. arm=
ed
forces. You can't have a civilised army whose soldiers go out attacking a=
nd
enslaving foreigners on sight -- or not within the Glowline, at any rate!=
> Let's suppose you are a young adventurer, and you find this new
> Chaos cave, just waiting for a first-level adventurer to clean up.
> And it happens that the caves are just too much for you, so you
> go to the nearest city, and in the tavern you shout for help.
> Would all Uroxi leave their beers to run and clean the caves?
> Would do this the very fanatic only? (Well all Uroxi are fanatic:)
> Would they expect a payment?
Uroxi are (almost by definition) violent, drunk, anti-social bullies. If
you're a nice young "first-level adventurer" who finds a teensy weensy
little bit of Chaos too much to handle, they'll treat you with contempt.
They wouldn't so much "expect payment" (politely asking for a couple of
clacks?) as mug you, steal everything you owned that they fancied the loo=
k
of, and maybe beating you to boot. Remember, they know (by definition) th=
at
they're tougher than you are, and that you're the one who's come crying f=
or
help. So you owe them, big time!
> Let's suppose the Scorpion man leader has a map of another chaos
> seed. Would all remaining Uroxi inmediately rush into this new
> discovered chaos place?
"Must be a trap: send this wimp to scout it out. We know he'll run fast t=
o
tell us if there's any *real* mens' work to be done..."
> After two hard days, you carry your best friend's dead body to
> the next Chalana Arroy Temple (or Shrine) hoping they resurrect
> him for free because this nasty broos took all your money.
After two days, you'd be kinder to bury/burn/eat him (as culturally appropriate): his stats will be wrecked by post-death erosion.
> The priestess has the Resurrection spell, and right now there is
> nobody in the local resurrection waiting list. Would she resurrect
> your friend for free and then expect you to pay back in goods or
> in work? Or would she just negate herself until you put in her
> hand the cash?
"I saved your friend's life: that means you owe me a life. But the White
Lady is generous: she will settle for a year's work, from you and your
friend, carried out here at the shrine. There are many sick and wounded
folk to be tended, floors to be swept clean and meals to be prepared... a=
nd
the Lady's curse upon you should you refuse."
> I can't imagine my player characters, the Granite Phalanx, and
> Harrek the Berserk living in the same world: the first ones are
> fairly powerful; the second ones are puny and hopeless as described
> in TOTRM 15 (as compared to my player characters, and I think they
> are not precisely very powerful); the third is...
Leaving aside Harrek (and there's only one Harrek), are you seriously saying your player characters could stand up to the Granite Phalanx, properly employed? A front rank of Rune Lords in Iron armour, immune to Knockback and covered with protective magic, all benefitting from the supporting spells of the Lunar College of Magic? I think you're really saying, "My PCs are tougher than the 'Average Lunar Hoplite' would be, if=
they could fight against him on their own terms," all the while completel=
y
ignoring the context and tactics inherent in the very existence of the
Phalanx.
Granite Phalanx is a war cult. Its Rune Lords (file leaders and the like)=
are as tough as any other Rune Lords (90%+ weapon skills, Iron armour and=
weapons, Rune Magic, etc.), and tougher still encountered in their chosen=
,
magically-enhanced formation. If you want to give your players a hard tim=
e,
work out how to use that formation to best advantage: don't worry: Granit=
e
Phalanx has been doing this for centuries, and it's not *meant* to be fai=
r
to straggly bunches of barbarians!
::::
Nick
::::
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #508
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