I'm not suggesting it did; I was expanding upon the bases of the character concept I envisaged, in response to Simon's mail. We've not got a welter mid-ranking Lunar heroes fleshing out Whitewall at the moment.
> Then again exactly how do the Lunar generals view Broyan and his
> followers? Are they an honourable enemy who refuse to surrender
> or criminals who deserve execution?
I'd suggest a whole range of views would exist, depending on their position within the local command structure. What is at one moment a rather surprisingly amenable reason for further renforcements from Fazzur and greater authority in theatre, is at another time an intransigent scourge on a commander's reputation and barrier to rapid success.
Generally speaking, Broyan is a royal pain in the backside, but that pain can at times turn into a tool the Lunar commander can use to his political advantage. Feelings will ride on the success of local engagements and the progress of events in the south, the opinions and perceptions developing in the Ordenviru back home. Personally I see a little room for variety.
And if we might not see Aggari and Sartarite pipers serenading each other of an evening (though you never know), rather bizarre changes in the Jus in Bello may mark the progress of the siege.
Perhaps one of the greatest incentives to cruelty in siege warfare is the garrison's *taking the piss factor*. This is a rather nebulous concept, but largely factors in how bad the dysentry has been; boredom; lack of soldierly 'comforts'; attritional losses; lack of pay; tiresome siege duties; having exhausted local plunder and forage... and still facing a murderous assault at the end of it.
One of the most famous sieges of the Thirty Years War, that of Magdeburg, is held as an example of confessional violence. Sadly, the truth is a little more base. Magdeburg rated exceedingly highly on the *taking the piss factor*, which drove on the attackers more than any ideological issues. It had flagrantly ignored the customs of siege prior to its sack. It had failed to admit an Imperial garrison in 1629. It made an alliance with Gustavus Adolphus in 1630. It repeatedly rejected demands for surrender, even after the outerworks fell. And had even repudiated a final demand to cease the defence.
This doesn't exactly excuse wholesale slaughter, but it is basically a rather extreme example of the wholly understood and accepted customs of the time. Whitewall itself will perhaps progress from an enemy outpost to a rebel outpost very quickly, in the perceptions of the Lunars. And as Alberigo Gentili said (well, the Spanish were fighting the Dutch at time) "… [the] chief incentive to cruelty [in war] is rebellion." I'm not sure that's too far off base for elements here, either.
> Perhaps Jorkandros's first action to crucify a party of suspected
rebels
> in front of WW and announce to the defenders that that will be their
> fate unless they surrender immediately in which case they will
merely
> be sold as slaves.
Such would serve the useful corollary in that it enforces a view among his own troops that they can expect no quarter in return. If he was ever concerned about the will to battle and ferocity of his charges, such actions will reassure him considerably.
Stu.
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