Hi Bryan,
Ah, the Rinliddi: close to my heart. I enjoyed working on the Rinliddi section in ILH-1, precisely because of this juxtaposition of flighty pretension and unexpected toughness. It's also why I chose to make the Black-and-Ivory Hunt in GT a Rinliddi force, to start to make the benighted Heortlings begin to realise why they need to fear them.
Yes, the Rinliddi are tough. In part this is historical -- remember, they resisted the Carmanians for quite some time (while the pitiful DHs rolled over, claiming that Yelm told them to), even though by then the 'Abode of Peace' could draw upon the resources of DH. It is also a matter of geography, between nomads to the east, DH to the west and such martial powers as Birin. But it also reflects the new resurgence, the extent to which they are a power in (re)ascendance.
Of course, that doesn't mean that they can't also be silly, gaudy and pretentious!
As has been said, the flightlesness of the durulz isn't going to be an issue. My feeling is that the Rinliddi aren't going to be especially troubled by fighting durulz in battle, but OTOH I could see them unhappy with the policy of genocide later applied by the Lunar authorities. It's one of those nice moral dilemmas: how do you remain a loyal Rinliddi but also turn a blind eye to the 'underground riverway' smuggling durulz out of danger...
All the best
Mark
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