Donald makes very good points about the probable legal set-up in Sartar, Heortland and other occupied territories. Nevertheless (and I instantly concede the fact that soldiers would face military justice), armies of occupation that are in for the long haul need to act with some tokens of fairness towards the locals. The Lunars are there with the explicit intent to colonise, civilise and convert. This is harder to do if they won't punish their own when necessary.
It depends heavily on the character of the guy in charge. If the military governor only thinks of the conquered as incipient rebels looking for a chance, so that the locals are always wrong in his opinion, then constant repression is likely to be his answer to any dilemma. OTOH, if the governor has a halfway decent sense of diplomacy, then he'll know that the more he lets the injustices pile up, the more trouble he'll have in the long run.
My conception of the Lunar civilian/military split would lead me to make the average general somewhat wary of bad reports from the civilian religious powers charged with the thankless task of bringing the Heortlings over to the Goddess. While the military is responsible for security, they are in some sense principally there to allow the safe proselytisation of the region.
Even though they have the strength to quash any rebellion, it's a sign of poor leadership to have these happen. Too many insurrections, and superiors who've never even been to this heathen place will decide that you're incompetent and need to be replaced, with a protege of their own, naturally.
I like the complication of trying to find a Lunar citizen to bring the case forward. I'd look for a Deezola or Teelo Norri priestess (as likely to be sympathetic) to push their case. Their complaints may stand a chance of being heard. A genuinely good and compassionate Lunar priestess who tries to take care of her flock is always a nice shock to the Lunar-hating system. An introduction to the intricacies of Lunar politics is also useful.
Nevertheless, I would expect the Orlanthi to assume that they'd get short shrift in a Lunar court, as Donald says. After all, the Solar traditions of the Heartlands (Yelm never admitted when he was wrong), plus the usual impulse to protect one's own, will be assumed. So it may be a mug's game to attempt this, but if the alternative is out-of-hand indiscriminate retributional killings, then there's not a hell of a lot to lose, either. And who knows, they might win...
Alison
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