>No matter how cumbersome the Lunar system seems, it is a marvel of
>large-scale management compared to the Orlanthi, where every detachment
>becomes an independent command. Worse yet, Broyan has to show up at
>pretty much major engagement and be there in the center of the action -
>as a result, he can't tell the other military chieftains what to do. He
>has to rely on each military chieftain's good judgment. This is where
>Minaryth the Purple steps in, in my opinion. He may actually be what we
>would call the general for most of these battles - except he can't give
>orders, only advice. Some chiefs (like Broyan and Kallyr and some
>others) take his advice (after the Battle of Hofstarings' Flood, his
>reputation must be pretty good). Others ignore the suggestions of a
>Lhankor Mhy sage as irrelevant.
I would disagree with this, the Orlanthi have a very good bottom-up management system. You follow your selected leader who takes advice from his equals and anyone else who earns his respect. If they make mistakes you get together with your mates and choose a replacement. In larger groups this can get problematical but there aren't that many defenders here most of the time. Many leaders will in practice defer to the opinions of someone else so you'll have maybe four or five individuals who decide what's to be done and can be relied on to get other people to do it. Broyan and Kallyr are two, Illig Stargazer or his predecessor while the Herewardi are there should probably be another and there should be a troll/Kitori. Of course there's a load of arguing and compromise before a decision is reached but it is between those few people. Deployments will be very much dependent on which of those few people a group leader supports.
One of the reasons I haven't discussed the defenders much is that it's going to be very dependent on those few leaders - who they are, what their personalities are like and that changes during the course of the siege. I guess this is a call for ideas for Orlanthi leaders who need not be there for the whole siege.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
Powered by hypermail