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Jeff Richard has some very thought provoking questions the extent the Lunars suppress the worship of Orlanth within conquered territories. He points out that to do so by armed force in Sartar would require a significant fraction of Lunar forces.
First I think it is necessary to establish the natural enmity of Orlanth / Orlanthi culture (depending on whether you label yourself as objectivist / subjectivist) towards the Red Moon / Lunar way. I think the Orlanthi love of independence and hatred of chaos would mean they would be completely opposed to the Empire. My main reason for holding this opinion is that I see the Orlanth / Red Moon conflict to be representative of the wider conflict of the hero wars that sweep the whole of Glorantha. So I think there is a fundamental Orlanthi hatred of the Lunars, but my thoughts on the subject at are an early stage, so are not very firm.
So how does the Lunar Empire deal with this? In the real world, conquered nations do not seem to give up their religion / culture easily. Even the fanatical Crusaders soon settled down to a modus vivendi with their Muslim subjects (a great source for this is Smail's Crusading warfare, indeed I have not found a source as good as this for warfare of the period). They simply let the Muslims continue their way of life, and just taxed them more. Similarly the Muslims in their conquests did not try to eradicate other religions immediately, they converted them slowly through higher taxes and general prejudice. However this is a gradual process, and the Crusaders found that whilst there was no external threat they could control their subjects, who were happy to forget their religious differences, in times of crisis the Crusaders could not trust their Muslim subjects who were prone to remember their religious obligations and rise against them.
So I imagine that if the the Lunars do not have the armed force to garrison Sartar completely for extended periods they would not be able to stamp out Orlanthi worship immediately. However they could make times really hard for die hard Orlanthi, through taxes and persecution. I think they would heavily garrison a few strong places in Sartar. They would establish a wide network of spies and informers, encouraging treachery between kin by huge rewards (very tempting to Orlanthi impoverished by Lunar taxes), breaking up the tribal ties. I think they would actively ferment trouble in a few regions, being ready to respond with overwhelming force. It weeds out the trouble makers, and gives the impression of Lunar might. In cities they could quietly (through killings and bribery) get Lunar sympathisers to positions of power in cults. However the lack of religious hierarchy in rural areas would make this difficult there.
In areas conquered some time ago by the Lunars, I think the wealth and benefits of the Empire will result in gradual conversion. Orlanth is by his very nature rebellious, so I think that the empire will wish to quietly convert people away from his direct worship, either to Lunar gods, or more peaceful and easily dominated gods in the Orlanthi pantheon. However, come the Hero wars and Orlanthi victories, the Orlanthi folk of Tarsh etc. will remember their proud traditions and rise against their masters. I imagine that there will be terrible blood shed between those who regarded themselves as having been loyal to their traditions and those who sold themselves to the comfortable Lunar way. Perhaps this is part of the troubles in Tarsh after its conquest by Agrath under the rule of one of his generals (Murzak or something like that?).
So I do not think that the Lunars would just outlaw Orlanth worship. If they did it would not be very effective away from centres of Lunar power, and would probably jsut be used as an excuse for violence. I do not think the Lunars worry too much about excuses, so a ban would not make much difference. Either way at first I think the Lunars would brutally persecute Orlanthi. After some years, they would be more gentle in their approach, converting people by the comfort of the Lunar way and taxes.
Any ideas anyone?
Stephen Lucek.
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