>
>Oliver D. Bernuetz wrote :
>
>>>Yurts are specifically designed to be quickly moved. In the real >>>world
>>>a yurt and it contents can be packed and ready to move in >>>well under
>>>an hour.
> >
> >So why are these raiders who have successfully eluded the horse >>patrols
>(no easy trick but doable) so that they can sneak up on a >>camp giving the
>people in the camp any time whatsoever to move >>before they launch their
>surprise attack? Misplaced sense of fair >>play? If they had been
>discovered already they'd have buggered off >>back to the bush where they
>came from OR they'd
>>have died.
>
>This kind of misses the point I was making. Peter keeps stating that >Yurts
>take hours to pack up - this simply isn't true. They were >developed to
>allow escape from mounted raiders - a bunch sneaking up >on foot has almost
>no chance. Of course if the first you know of a >raid is someone appearing
>in camp, this isn't going to help, but that >wasn't the point.
>
I didn't add enough clarification to my statement. I agree with you that yurts are relatively easy to transport, take down, erect, etc. And of course if the raiders are spotted they're toast. The point I was trying to make (which Graham acknowledges) is that in a complete surprise attack the ability to break camp quickly doesn't help. I wasn't really trying to side with Peter or Graham on this
>You also missed the third possibility (and perhaps the most likely?) >from
>the list - the raiders have been discovered, and don't know it, >cos the
>look out has hightailed it back to camp to raise the alarm.
A definite possibility but I don't know that it's the most likely. Depending on the terrain a lookout might have to be easily spotted in order to see anything.
>
>At the end of the day, the Char Un are used to being raided by
>neighbouring clans. They evolved Yurts to avoid attacks by mounted
>warriors - those who can't avoid raiders on foot are in real trouble.
Why more so than against raiders on horseback? Mobility only helps when you have warning. A surprise raid by horsemen would be just as deadly as a surprise raid by foes on foot maybe more so because the Char Un lose their advantage of mobility.
Another point that could be considered is that grizzly bears were once native to the prairies and plains of North America so certain members of the Rathori might have survival skills in that kind of terrain.
What I would see as the most convincing reason for the Rathori to raid the Char Un would be just so that they could say they did it. As an act of bravery it beats the hell out of raiding villagers or farmers. Coming home with a trophy won from the Char Un would be damned impressive (if really, really hard to do).
On a somewhat related note are the Grazelanders the Scythians of Glorantha?
Have a good one,
Oliver D. Bernuetz
www.geocities.com/bernuetz
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