>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.
And also that they are nowhere civilized lands, being on the wrong side of the sweet sea, and do quite fine by not fighting pitched battles which has been a successful strategy for the Rathori so far.
>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.
This gradual evolutionary process never had a chance to work over time because countless events kept stuffing it up. In particular, Shah Nadar's raids, the fall of the Loskalmi Empire (in which a major City, Eastpoint, becomes a virtual ghost town until the Arrolians arrive three centuries later), the Carmanian conquest, the White Bear Empire and the Ban all inhibited the formation of developed civilized communities capable of putting a crimp in deterring the Rathori from invading. I do not believe that the people of upper Janubia are capable of maintaining a "quick reaction and warning system", much as though they would like to.
>As for the Rathori raiding the Char-un, this would be even more suicidal
>than raiding the Janubians.
Then take a look at the sidebar on p43 of the Genertela Book that mentions that Elves raid Erigia from time to time and also What My Uncle Told Me on p7 of the Player's Book: Genertela which describes how the elves and Rathori once had an alliance and conquered many foes. If Elves can survive raiding the CharUn on the Steppes, then the Rathori should too.
>The Char-un have all their wealth in mobile defended
>groups, are far faster than the Rathori and are much harder to find.
A cluster of yurts is by no means a mobile defended group, the Rathori on foot can cover greater distances per day (50 km) than the CharUn rider (30 km) and a herd of horses is much easier to track than half a dozen men on foot.
>Further, they are adept at countering and moving large bodies of
>troops with speed.
Which is effective for dealing with large bodies of men, which the Rathori would not do, but not for tracking and hunting down small groups, which they do.
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