>> The question then is how big this force is. I'd seen it as a large
>> bodyguard - maybe 50-100 cavalry. You seem to be talking about a
>> regiment or perhaps more. Given that the army of Tarsh only includes
>> six regiments of cavalry that appears a lot.
>
>That's the Army of Tarsh without Fazzur's troops, IMO (and IMG).
>Basically, a contribution to the Cavalry Corps for the conquest of Dragon
>Pass, units created by Fazzur for the kind of Blitzkrieg actions he led
>into Volsaxar when Euglyptus botched the invasion of Esrolia in 1605.
>
>In Dragon Pass terms, I am thinking of 3 to 6 units equal to the mounted
>Sartar city militia.
Which is a heck of a lot of cavalry to raise out of nowhere. It is not as if Tarsh has a culture of horsemen.
>> It looks like we need to define the associations involved - the ones
>> for the Assiday family, the Tarsh Royal Family and Fazzur's family.
>> Then we can make sense of the politics. I've got a few ideas for
>> the Assiday's.
>
>Great. I see Fazzur having connections to Jillaro, for horse-breeding,
>and having several leagues of manufacturers both in Sylila and Tarsh
>working to equip his forces.
OK, I'll see what I can get down in useful form.
>>>> From the map in Dragon Pass there seem to be few clans that far
>>>> away from a road
>
>>>There are roads, and then there are royal highways, and there is a
>>>great difference between these.
>
>> I'm assuming that any road marked on the map is adequate for wagons.
>> I'm not sure which are the royal highways.
>
>Duck Point to Wilmskirk, Wilmskirk to Roadend, Wilmskirk to Boldhom,
>Boldhome to Swenstown, Boldhome to Jonstown, Jonstown to Dangerford,
>Dangerford to Ironspike, Ironspike to Alone, Ironspike to Aldachur
The map in DP doesn't show any roads to Ironspike. The road goes as far as Heron Green with roads from there to Alone and Aldachur.
I would have expected a road southwards as well. At least from Wilmskirk to Roadend. Looks about right for the border between Sartar and Volsaxiland.
If there's a significant difference between the royal highways and other major roads then the Lunars are going to have problems getting supplies to WW. Unless they've improved that road.
>>>There is a reason why Issaries traders use mule caravans
>>>rather than wagons.
>
>> That's assuming they have enough goods to justify a wagon. I don't
>> see the traders who travel between clans as carrying much bulky
>> stock. Anything a clan can't produce itself is going to be
>> expensive which means low demand. Large quantities are going to
>> be arranged by the merchant and delivered later. Also I think the
>> trader will often travel to the bigger steads, probably accompanied
>> by the clan reeve. Those may not be accessible by wagon.
>
>My impression of backcountry Sartar is one of no wagon traffic for
>transorting goods, or even taxes.
Well taxes are going to be either silver coin or cattle, probably a mixture and with other goods as well. The total taxes paid by a typical clan is 500 cows or 10,000 Lunars. So even if the clan gathers everything in one place and sends it to the tribe at one time it's barely going to be a full wagon load. And you don't keep a wagon for one use a year without ritual reasons.
>> I would expect a missionary post at tribal level. With number of
>> guards depending on how friendly the tribe is. There's only a
>> couple of dozen tribes.
>
>That missionary post at every tribe would be there if the leadership
>wasn't interested in showing the bloody followers of Umatum their
>proper place ground into the dust. With Dara Happan management, I
>wonder why the population wasn't simply enslaved wholesale and
>shipped off to toil in the Redlands, or be used up for entertainment
>as well as ritual purposes in Imperial games.
Not enough military resources to round everyone up. In any case it would flood the slave markets.
I expect some Dara Happen has created a plan for the pacification of Sartar based on that idea. Opposing it are the missionaries and the traders. It isn't just a matter of who is in charge but who is on the ground doing the work and when you get different groups working at cross purposes generally not much happens.
>The Lunars appear to believe that the tribes are more strongly
>tied to the cities than they do in reality - after all, in their
>culture the tribes would be extensions of the cities. That's where
>most of the missionary activity will be.
Most I can see, but every friendly tribal chief will want an advisor or two. If they aren't friendly the Lunars need someone there to guide them the right way.
In any case from MGF we need them there - if they are all hidden away in the cities many PCs will never encounter them.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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