The Lunars have a standing professional army, while the Orlanthi rely much more heavily on militia. The Orlanthi have a small core of professional warriors, but not nearly enough to fight the Lunar Empire. The really big battles of the Hero Wars must require Orlanthi farmers to take up their spears.
Thus, if the Lunars want to wreak havoc in Dragon Pass they can stage campaigns during planting and harvest times. Even if the Orlanthi win the battles they will loose the war. The Lunars can return after starvation sets in and offer food to those who worship at the Seven Mothers temple, or sell it to the clans and tribes in exchange for their land - creating Sartarite sharecroppers. To the Lunars this policy would seem rational, but to the Orlanthi it would be viewed as a despicable evil the likes of which they can hardly conceive. What sort of monsters attack at planting and harvest? It just isn't done!
Nasty, very nasty.
~Kevin
--__--__--
Powered by hypermail