> > What mad horse-nomads? [The Rathori]'ve chased away the nearest nomads
> > and have plenty of time before any reprisals can reach them.
>Okay, even assuming that the clan has broken into sub-herds, I cannot see
>these herds being more than a mile or two apart.
Considering that you and Martin were talking about a thousand strong clans at the minimum, I do think the horse herds would be spread out a lot further than that.
>I think that even a small sub-clan should be able to muster a dozen
>or a score of mounted archers.
Given that the Rathori have the better bows, this is hardly going to make them quake in their bearskins.
> > Unless you assume that CharUn are always on full military alert
> > at any one time and instant ready reaction forces.
>No, I assume that they are sleeping in their tents with out-riders. When
>the alarm is raised then they grab their bows and swords and leap on to
>their horses (don't need saddles) and ride off where they leaders direct
>them to. Sure, that may take 5 minutes.
Your CharUn do not invoke the spirits before they set out? Does the Leader not take time to determine where the Rathori are? What happens if an outrider fails to return from a patrol? Do you guard the camp on the basis that he has been hit by a Rathori? Or do you send out a search party to wake him up?
All these things and many more take time.
> > The horse nomads still have metal weapons which would be well worth
> > acquiring.
>But it would be much much easier to take those weapons from somebody else
>rather than a guy on a horse waving said weapon at you. Say the Arrolians
>maybe.
For the Rathori who live in the east, they really don't have a choice about who to raid.
>My point, and I think Steve's as well is not that the Char Un don't have
>valuables to raid.
The CharUn are close buddies to the decadent Lunar Empire yet in all of Erigia, there is not one single clack plundered from the fall of Boldhome? Do not their women have shiny trinkets that might appeal to a Rathori? A bronze knife, a red cloak, a skull coffee cup, a singing lunar doll for the kids. All these things have some value in the eyes of the Rathori.
>Their metal cook pots, their metal chairs, metal spoons, knives
>combs and other metal things that a Rathori would have no idea
>what it was - but its really shiny. I do not think that they Char
>Un have these things.
Why not? They are friends with the Empire. Their best menfolk are away south fighting for loot. Surely some of these things in the Empire end up on the Steppes?
>They have metal yes. Swords, arrow heads, armour, buckles, jewellery,
>knives.
And the CharUn have an inventory of all items of these kind so that they can check if anything has been left behind when they are forced to leave camp quickly?
> > No. Read it again. The CharUn clothing is of much better
> > quality than the Rathori.
>It had better be gold-plated, diamond encrusted, Iron-ribbed leather
>goods to make a Rathori want to take it from the steppes.
Why? All it has to be is _better_ than the clothing that the Rathori can make themselves to be desirable.
> > >Horses, metal, sons, weapons. I do not see any of
> > >these being unable to be tossed on a horse and moved immediately.
> > But leaving camp in a damn hurry, are you sure that you
> > will get _all_ of them? How many times have you gone on
> > holiday and found that you had forgotten something?
>Yea, I forgot my son! NOT!!
"I thought he was with _you_!"
> Maybe I am not in the correct frame of
>mind. I cannot see any possibility where a Char Un would _forget_
>his horse, metal, son and weapons when he leaves camp.
He can account for even the stragglers when he has to move a herd quickly? He remembers where he left all his weapons, even the arrowheads, and metal goods when he has to pack up within a limited period of time?
>Nomads are like anybody else, they want to live a comfortable life.
Which includes plenty of useless good-looking stuff in excess.
> > No. I'm saying that the CharUn use their horses for purposes
> > other than riding, considering that they think cattle are
> > polluting. I even explicitly made an comparison with _cattle_ to
> > aid comprehension.
>Well, I worked on a farm as I said. We had holstein, herford and angus
>cattle (red and black). Besides the amount of milk they put out there
>was no significant difference in the breeds.
Yet Steve Lieb criticizes me for implying all the CharUn horses are less than 99% alike. But you've already admitted one key difference.
>They all walked the same speed, they all tasted the
>same, and they all kicked as hard.
I strongly doubt that all cows are alike save the amount of milk they produce. The Jersey gives rich milk yet is not good for beef.
>And that it today in an industrial society where we have the time and
>money to breed cattles for specific purposes.
Breeding cattle for speciality is not an industrial trend.
>Also in this discussion we have not even touched on magic. The nomad's
>camps would be warded by spirits and they would have hunting spirits to
>help them catch the raiders.
And the Rathori have similar spirit allies and elvish magics to help them raid. I wouldn't say it cancels out, I just think it makes life more interesting for both sides.
>The Rathori would have bear magics. I am not sure what the bear magics
>would be like but I assume stuff like "fight long after you are dead",
>"smell food 30 miles away", "sleep through anything", "really really
>strong", "move quietly through forest". Nothing that would really help
>them to escape the Char Un hunt.
"My favorite cloak is the cloak of magic when the dancing is good, the one which grows from my naked skin".
"You were lucky that the fletcher gave you one of the iron arrowheads as a tooth gift, for someday you will conquer that spirit and learn his magic".
"You showed me your running magic and everyone knows that the bluejay badge stops bleeding. Maybe you will qualify for magic like mine: this opossum ribcage holds a spirit which makes arrows bounce off of my skin; this pounch of eyeballs lets me see into the spirit world, this carved stick can light a fire"
"When I outfought the Soldier of Gold three years ago it was my strike which slew him but Gromavon's rune carved into the spearhead which allowed me to strike. Once I saw her reattach your own mother's severed arm."
All these and more in the Player's Book: Genertela. The Rathori are a bit more sophisticated in animist magic than you suggest and some of it is helpful against a CharUn hunt.
>If raiding was a problem within a few miles of the Rathori forest then the
>nomads would stop going there or would keep full awareness while in that
>region.
And the poorer clans might have nowhere else to go other than near the forest because the richer clans have hogged up the best places.
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