I suggested that the Rathori would serve as mercenaries for the Carmanians AND that they would have evolved military skills due to their interaction with civilised lands.
To which the counterclaim has been made that the Rathori could not develop such skills given that they are Hsunchen and particularly disorganised Hsunchen at that.
I would agree that the Rathori are not going to field volley fire archery units or any kind of disciplined body. I do think however that they would have been hired enmasse on several occasions and told to "stand over there in a big clump please" and this would not be beyond them given that:
a). They know how to stand
and
b) They can all eventually be pointed in the right direction.
and
c) they can be stopped from killing each other at least when facing a real
foe.
Furthermore, I think that this would eventually begin to have an effect on their culture, much as any barbarian people were changed by interacting with civilised folk.
I also think that the raiding and the interactions on the border would also have an evolutionary effect, firstly on the civilised folk themselves as they evolve to cope with the raiding and then on the Rathori as they counterevolve to cope with the better defences. This is the same old story of tactical evolution that is seen throughout history, RW or Gloranthan.
The Arrolians and other Fronelans who receive regular raids would begin doing what every raided people has always done, localised fortification, followed by a quick reaction and warning system. Even though they are sparsely populated, this would work over time. The Rathori would have to learn how to cope with this, learn how to storm small forts quickly and to hold off relief efforts. As a result, they would begin to work in larger groups, with larger confederations of raiding clans. This in turn would create evolutionary pressures on the way they act and think.
As for the Rathori raiding the Char-un, this would be even more suicidal than raiding the Janubians. The Char-un have all their wealth in mobile defended groups, are far faster than the Rathori and are much harder to find. Further, they are adept at countering and moving large bodies of troops with speed. The Rathori would NOT be able to develop a counter for their tactical dominance, other than to use superior bow range, and even then, they would have serious problems.
So to recap, the Rathori are not organised warriors, but they are evolving that way. The HW will speed up this process very quickly IMO.
Martin Laurie
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #520
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