Peter Metcalfe had said in response to a question about Lunar pay that : "I think because of the smallness of the local moneyed economy, any coins that the lunars spend end up in the lunar hands to be paid to the soldiers again."
I'm not sure that I agree entirely with this. In fact I don't think that much coin makes it into circulation in Elkoi. I'm sure that there are two main siphons for army pay.
When the pay does show up (and of course it's always late) most of it probably ends up in Moraring and Cyriel's pockets. They or their reps are right there when the paymaster is doling it out to collect (plus interest). A lot of whatever's left over probably goes to the army to pay for broken or lost equipment.
From their pockets some money goes to taxes, expensive foreign booze in Moraring's case, or whatever other wheels need to be greased. Most probably goes into their strong boxes or leaves the economy altogether to wherever Cyriel is stashing his fortune. This "mechanism" probably works well enough in a backwater like Balazar that the Lunars couldn't care less about. The troops are usually annoyed by their lack of cash but what do they have to spend it on anyway? If they were favoured they wouldn't be posted to Balazar in the first place.
As far as Elaml goes I'd say that the controversy/confusion between Elaml and Yemalio has had zero effect on Balazar. Their god is actually an old Dara Happan god called Tharkantus who was introduced into the region by Balazar as a unifying element. He's one of the Sun Dome gods and has light and heat attributes and of course looks like Yemalio to outsiders. Whatever his original nature was for his worshippers is lost to the Balazarings. Pretty much every able bodied worshipper in Balazar died in the Dragonkill War leaving nothing but a few pensioners and some young Balazarings who had at best a sketchy grasp of the god's nature. What they've ended up with is a cult that is very much based on leadership, fighting trolls and ancestry (all Balazaring leaders are descended from Balazar and of course from the god.) Local Tharkanti relgious attitudes include :
Fighting in phalanx - Huh? What's a unit?
Spears - Well they were always good.
Bows and arrows - Not a weapon used in Balazar, forbidden by
Votank's laws
Horses - No connection realized. Horse use in Balazar
only dates to the Lunar occupation.
Sexual uptighness - Not an issue, the Balazarings are NOT as
uptight sexually as the Sun County bunch.
Fear of gender - They recognize three genders actually. Men, swapping
women and shamans.
Dragons - Dragons are an ancient enemy. Beware them.
Hawks - a recent addition.
Drug use - only for shamans but allowed.
Agriculture - very recent addition.
Any Yemalio visitors are going to find some superficial similarities trappings wise but beliefs are going to be a stretch. Tharkantus is the god of leaders and warriors (not soldiers) and does not set the tone for the society. Votank, Foundchild and the Hearthmother do that. The locals would accept Yemalians and Elmali as fellow light worshippers but it's probably a fairly loose fit and uncomfortable fit for them, more so for Yemalians of course. This is all RQ related of course. In HW terms Tharkantus is a god given improper worship as a spirit.
All IMO of course, YGMV.
Oliver D. Bernuetz
www.geocites.com/bernuetz
End of The Glorantha Digest V8 #264
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