RE: Why should barbarians get all the poetry....

From: Gareth Martin <gamartin_at_...>
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 13:51:08 -0000

> Ah, but one can always play the majestetic and somewhat sinister
> orchestra track from Star Wars - the Empire Strikes Back... well,
> basically the imperial airs.

Ah, good point. Yes, the Lunars sort of thing would be more national anthem-like, no doubt with the mandatory bombast and self-aggrandizement. Hmm, the Carmina Burana? Lots of other associations, but stirring, dramatic, and massive scale. What about the Nibelunglied? Not familiar enough with it to know the tune myself, and concerned about RW associations... anyone think of anything else?

Anyway, the Lunars will probably be more orchestral than individual songs.  

> The conflict is somewhat similar anyhow. Do some people
> honestly see the
> Empire (in Star Wars) as any more evil than the Lunars.

Hmm. Evil, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, IMO. If I were GMing in Dragon Pass, I would not present the Lunars as evil. We tend, I think, to impose "evillness" on our enemies, to justify our enmity and the violence we use against them; we render them "other" so that normal concerns about killing and violence are not relevant in their case. No doubt BOTH the Lunars and Orlanthi can defend the argument that are fighting for freedom, and I would play them accordingly. Lunars would not be Evil; they would be motivated individuals with a set of goals. When speaking with an Orlanthi voice, I might present the Lunars as evil as this is the cultural default perception (I expect) but would not carry this through to my analysis of the Lunars as they see themselves. In many ways, the most dangerous Lunars will be those that are least corrupt, venal, and otherwise "evil" by conventional standards.

"We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us me and you
Is that the Russians love their children too"

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