Subjugating Sartar

From: s.lucek_at_ic.ac.uk
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 97 14:47:17 +0100


 Subjugating Sartar
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I have just found some of my introductory notes for a Sartar campaign I run some years ago. It is all about the occupation of Sartar by the Lunars, so it might be relevant to Jeff Richards comments about how Lunars and Orlanthi cohabit. I had thought the campaign was run before King of Sartar was released, but on a quick reread it does not seem to glaringly contradict anything I can remember from the book, so perhaps not. Having said all that, it might be embarrassing if chunks are lifted from King of Sartar, but I don't think so. It is written for Orlanthi characters, so it is biased. However most conquerors are, initially at least, pretty brutal.

The year is 1615. Sartar has been occupied for 13 years. It has been a time of terror and poverty.

The first Lunar Governor of Sartar, Euglyptus, swore that he would completely destroy Sartar and rebuild it anew, a glory to the goddess. He ordered a vast network of spies and informers, through which he encouraged turmoil between the tribes. Those who would betray their kin were offered huge rewards.

With the complete destruction of Sartar's line the unity forged by Sartar collapsed and the kingdom disintegrated into strife, encouraged and funded by Euglyptus and his spies. Soon tribe fought tribe, clan fought clan and kin fought kin. Euglyptus hampered the King's Justice, murdering those within it who were able and promoting the incompetent. And so the King's Justice, the only inter tribe legal system became totally corrupt and unworkable. Only the clan and tribal moots survived, and through these institutions ancient rivalries and feuds were revived.

And so it was that in a few years Euglyptus achieved the total breakdown of the political organisation of Sartar. Strife was everywhere, there was no justice, the mighty robbing and pillaging as they pleased. The collapse of order lead to much hardship and poverty. Merchants, forever the target of the lawless, ceased to ply their trade. People starved, particularly in the great cities which relied on the inter-tribal co-operation and goodwill that their building had represented.

The breakdown of trade and the impoverishment of Sartar resulted in pitiful tributes to the empire. Imperial interests also suffered. The protection of Lunar citizenry in Sartar became ever more difficult for the Lunar military of the region. Increasingly Sartarite discontent and unrest were aimed at those who represented its cause, the Lunars. The reprisals by the military were horrific, eradicating whole clans and laying their lands to waste. However the Lunars were over stretched and could only maintain a grip on the most important strongholds. At last Imperial patience ran thin and imperial displeasure was made known to Euglyptus. He responded by levying impossible taxes which the already impoverished Sartarites could not hope to pay. 1612 was also one of the harshest winters in living memory, and mass starvation occurred over the whole of Sartar. The unrest could not be contained and the whole country rose up in rebellion and overwhelmed Euglyptus's garrisons. His field army was destroyed at the Hill of Orlanth Victorious. To the relief of both Sartar and the Empire Euglyptus died of a surfeit of sugared eels.

Euglyptus's successor was Fazzur Wideread. His visions of glorious new conquest for the empire in the Holy Land, along with the pacification of newly conquered Prax, required a stable base for the empire in Sartar. Thus he set about the pacification of Sartar.

Fazzur's personal forces from Tarsh had already been mobilised, and on his appointment as governor he marched into Sartar with almost impossible speed. With a mixture of diplomacy and martial might he defused the rebellion and appointed a puppet king, Temertain, who, as a descendent of Sartar, was acceptable to the rebels.

Fazzur imposed peace on the belligerent Sartarites through military might. The provincial army was dispersed throughout the whole of Sartar garrisoning all strong points. He maintained his own crack troops as a standing army, which was used ruthlessly to quell any dissension.

Fazzur also re-established the king's justice, a series of judges who roamed the land dispensing justice. This system had be founded by Sartar because of the inadequacies of the clan and tribal moots as a form of inter clan or tribal justice. Fazzur extended the powers of the judges and backed them up with Lunar guards who could enforce their rulings. Fazzur was careful in his choice of judges, selecting not only the most loyal men but those of the best reputation who could be trusted to be fair and impartial in their judgements. By this illustration of Lunar order and justice Fazzur hoped to woo over converts to the Lunar way. Indeed the Northern regions of Sartar were considered Lunarised enough that, under Fazzur's governor ship, they were annexed to Lunar Tarsh.

However in some ways Fazzur continued the policies of his predecessor. He still maintained a huge network of spies and informers. In the persecution of the Durulz or Wereducks of 1614 (those who delivered a body of a Durulz, dead or alive, were relieved a year of the heavy tribute which had been levied by the Lunars) Fazzur encouraged the splitting up of old allies and also fostered collaboration with the lunars. To some extent Euglyptus's network of spies was maintained, and treachery between kin still rewarded.

Fazzur encouraged trade within Sartar by offering generous concessions to Lunar merchants. The roadways were cleared of bandits and repaired, so that soon trade flowed freely amongst the cities.

Stephen Lucek.


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