Joerg

I did not argue against the leg between Karse and Furthest being done by the same caravan - what I argued against was a caravan going from Karse into the Heartlands. Furthest is the logical trans-shipping point where you switch from animal back or cart to river barge. While the Daughter's Road is equivalent to the Sartar roads (especially the Boldhome-Jonstown stretch), river transport on the Oslir is more convenient and cheaper, at least downriver. There is a certain likelihood that some of the merchants will accompany the river barges while the caravan makes its return trip to Karse, or to Duck Point for the river route to Nochet. There is a stretch of inferior roads between Sartar and Tarsh, the least inconvenient being located in Trader's Valley, The alternative routes that bypass Boldhome are a lot less convenient. Cults of Prax even treats the Etyries cult like a subcult of Issaries, especially in the Corflu section of Biturian's travels. The local chief priest of the market has to comply to the Garzeen cult's obligation to carry that bit of hyena skin into the Wastes.

Tarsh is one possible source of refugees, yes. Terasarin built the city of Alone to house one group of those, but others may have chosen to put a little more distance between themselves and Moirades. There is always a chance that people loyal to a noble house in the Lunar Empire find their patrons on the losing side of a Dart Competition, and that they may find a breath of Sea air healthier than staying on their lands. Teshnos has seen quite the uproar when the Calyz priest Harstar conquered Melib in 1589 and then was censured for it. The reaction to the Quenching of Gio where Pubnashab ordered every third person in the city killed is more recent (1618), but for fire worshippers to consider such a sacrilegious act the tension must have simmered longer. But then, Melib with its Holy Country presence was a lot closer for these folk to run to. (But then, also for any assassins sent after them.) Ralios may be as bad with its intrigues and secret societies as the Dart Competitions of the Lunar Empire, and the Rokari ambitions for it may send people into exile, too. Not everybody is a Prince Aamor becoming a sorcerer-knight and heroquester in Fornoar, just in the back-garden of his oppressive conqueror. Wolf Pirates have been troubling the coasts of Genertela for a while, now. While the Threestep Islands appear to have been settled only in 1605, the Ginorth colony off Old Seshnela has been established since the Wolf Pirates broke away from the Vadeli. Their coastal raids may have pushed people away from those raided lands. The conquest of the Kumanku archipelago by the Fonritians from Kareeshtu sent a group of Kumankans off onto the seas, ultimately raiding Teshnos for slaves before settling down on Teleos, founding or taking over the Place of Cloth Trading among the Purple tribe of Teleos. While Karse would have been a detour for them, other compatriots may have made it there. The Vadeli conquests of the Pamaltelan northwestern coast may have caused nobles to flee those lands, too. Problematic refugees usually are nobles of some kind. Like Duke Raus, for instance. Throughout the reign of the Sartar dynasty, there have been traders carrying goods from coastal Genertela through Saird into the Empire, and the other way too. Lunar Tarsh was a lot smaller before Phargentes became king during Jarolar's reign, just after Jarolar had positioned the kingdom in opposition to the Lunar cause in the battle that killed Phargentes' brother Philigos. But Phargentes had already been profiteering from the same trade as the House of Sartar in his long years as Provincial Overseer before reclaiming Tarsh, and after re-taking Furthest, he was as interested in keeping the Spice flowing as was the House of Sartar. Would a caravan travel all the way from the Heartlands to Karse, and back? Occasionally yes, but think of the spread of merchants like the Polo brothers exploring the Silk Road. Transportation was not done by Venetians, but the trading was organized by them or their contacts along the route, and some would travel all the way and visit. I would be very surprised if 1582 did not see Etyries merchants establishing a caravanserai and trading office in Karse. Others may have been in the Holy Country even earlier, e.g. following the Battle of Quintus Vale which saw a cooperation of the Sylilan Lunars and the Orlanthi kingdom of Tarsh against the Opili nation horse nomads in the early 1400s, but that trade may have gone through Rhigos instead, the established end of the Manirian Road. Jeff offered a breakdown of trade in Kralori silks since the Opening. Quite obviously, there was no silk trade worth mentioning between Kralorela and Kethaela prior to 1587, when the attempt to demonstrate Kethaelan naval superiority in the Suam Chow resulted in the destruction of that expeditionary fleet, but the first ships that had sailed from Lur Nop back to Melib and Kethaela had brought silks, and more silks followed. Prior to the trade in silk or other eastern luxuries, or coastal Pamaltelan luxuries, there were native items and western items that got traded into the Empire. The Syndics Ban cut off the Lunar iron trade through Fronela in 1499, which made Dragon Pass the only viable route for that commodity. (The Dorastor route would take a much higher percentage of the material out of the caravans. While still profitable, the margin was a lot lower than the longer way around the Rockwoods.) Other western items became unavailable, too. Of native items, the bounty of the shallow seas included material like pearls, mother-of-pearl, purple, tortoise-shell, ambergris, and possibly seafood delicacies that could be preserved to survive the transport. Then there was wine, and possibly plant oil. Or (bachelor) newtling tail meat, probably already cooked into a paté and transported under salt brine. Textiles other than silk don't appear to have played a roe in long-distance trade. Wools are abundant everywhere, whether from goats, sheep or other beasts, although the less itchy quality of southern (warm weather) wool may have made some trading worth the while. Dyes, resins, spices, possibly somewhat exotic salts, drugs are other low volume high value goods that nobility on both sides of Dragon Pass would have a demand for, to outdo one another in ostentation for the glory of the cult and deity. Then there are ancient artifacts which may have become a craze or a magical focus in demand. Even Temertain's interest in Brithini iron statuary may have been a legitimate interest into a trading item.

Given the five-part soul model for the Orlanthi (6 for Solars, 7 for Loonies), yes, you are giving away a portion of your soul when you invest in enchantments, DI, rune magic, runes, or when you are tapped. But then, an artist or artisan pouring their soul into a work of theirs may be a figure of speech in our Christianity-moulded society, but may be a lot less so in a more animist world-view. Only slightly different is the model where POW is the drive or energy of a person. The reactor that breeds the magic one can invest in their daily life. This really makes me wonder whether any pious Gloranthan would walk around with their personal magic points topped up. It feels like not spending that life force is a dis-respect to Creation and its guardians.

What is the weekly/seasonal/annual upkeep in human sacrifices for a standard-sized Temple of the Reaching Moon? What would it have been for Tatius' new temple in Sartar? How does that number compare to the Crimson Bat's hunger, or the consumption of human life in the Corn Rites?

You cannot have international trade without snoopy foreigners visiting, and sending home intel. Traders live on this kind of information, and many will keep such knowledge close to themselves as knowledge means profits. My City of Carse-based Karse translated the Keshian Caravanserai into Kostaddi sable-riding Etyries merchants as I found it difficult to fit camels into this lush land.Besides traders who remain in conversation with their partners in far-away lands, another group you can be paranoid about are refugees and exiles.

Jaransbyrig is a detail from my 1990ies playtest game with the Avalon Hill RQ4:AiG playtest rules. I had placed the town roughly at the M in that map. The current interpretation has Milran as an alternative name for Pennel Ford, possibly a settlement near the battle-field. Having Argrath and a bunch of wolf pirates move across the Choralinthor Bay and fight a battle in Heortland was always a bit problematic to fit into Argrath's bio. Sailing to Corflu and from there upriver to Pavis doesn't really have a natural stop there. But then, Argrath leading a Fireblade-wielding unit from Caladraland has a bit of a weird story behind it, too. What did he do in Teshnos to get a handle on the volcano god?

For an extra point of POW, the user group able to use the artifact can be defined during the enchantment. This remains in force even if something is added to the enchantment later on. Most temples will require cult membership or possibly the explicit loan of the item to someone else by the highest priest of the temple, or something along tat line.

I don't need a grand unified theory to wonder why half-moon strength of those units is less than they get inside the Glowline. The cyclical factor is at peak in the Glowline, and at less than peak on half moon days outside of the Glowline. But then, the Lunar magicians in the board game were nerfed when sending their spirits out of the Glowline, even if they benefitted from it while remaining inside. Units with cyclical MgF: 2 Major Classes, 4 Minor Classes, the Crater Makers (physical magic), the Twin Stars. The Red Emperor gets a straight, non-cyclical 10 MgF.

Much like Nochet, Karse has seen periods of growth and decline. Did the walls for the outer city adapt, or was more new area enclosed after the old enclosed area became too tight to survive in? How generous was the original area protected by those Vingkotling era walls? The sketch map shows a total of about half a square km or 50 hectares of enclosed land, including the beach area. That's a third of the area of historical Lübeck, which had about thrice the number of inhabitants of Karse, and was very densely built up. But then, Karse has been booming once again since the Opening, starting with Tarkalor whose achievements as Prince of Sartar include "He built a great port." (King of Sartar, p.30 in the pdf/hardcover. And the fisherfolk village on the next bay may or may not be included in accounting for the city's residents.

Karse used to be the major sea-port for Dragon Pass until the Closing, and even afterward the Creek-Stream River remained the main carrier of traffic into and out of Dragon Pass. Karse would have been the place where cargo was trans-shipped to river craft which then would claw their way up the Creek-Stream River current(s). Nowadays this kind of trans-shipping happens at the Lyksos estuary. Normally, a port city would want to avoid the sea-going vessels and the river craft meeting directly - much of the profits in a port are made by giving the local merchants first right to purchase from cargo brought onto land and into the city's storage facilities, if only to make sure a toll is paid for that mandatory service (the Staple, which appears to be a privilege introduced to the continent by Charlemagne). I suppose that the Mirrorsea Bay is calm enough for river craft to enter the bay and turn into the harbor basin formed by that inlet.

I had the image of the Etruscan cities discovered to have Etruscan era foundations, and entire stretches of city wall, in the 19th century. That's about 2500 years of history in between. If "Cyclopean" corresponds to "polygonal blocks of masonry apparently seemlessly conjoined", then such foundations under more recent buildings can be found all over the world. This kind of architecture has proven to be quite earth-quake resistent, as there are few alternatives for the blocks after being stirred up than to fall back into position.

so the cyclopean walls from before the Greater Darkness are still used?

You could switch "Lunar" for "Artmali", for instance. There were at least two (subsequent) Artmali empires in Pamaltela during the Gods War. The Lunar Way doesn't have to be the way of the empire, except that it happened to rise in (Greater) Dara Happa, where the Empire is the only conceivable form of society, government etc. You cannot rule over Dara Happa without having an empire. After the Gbaji Wars, the Heortlings tried, and failed. The EWF succeeded for quite a while, the Carmanian Bull Shahs for even longer. The Arrolian City States demonstrate a Lunar Way without the force of the Empire. The Syndics' Ban may have helped enforce the isolation from the Empire, but their founders had fled from a Lunar Empire that existed mostly in name only, with only very few Lunar holdouts (Glamour, Sylila, the West Reaches).

Is it a change to the WBRM / Dragon Pass effects? There the Glowline offers the full 7 of the Lunar strength.

I'd be disappointed if that turns out to be little more than a Glowline denial effect. A permanent Dead/Dying effect might be interesting, but something to boost Storm magic might be preferable.

Dragons are variable in their size and mass - that's when they collect the surrounding landscape and fly off, leaving a valley behind. There is no observational data for the low end of the range. Dream Dragons and (first generation) Wyverns are significantly smaller than the big sized dragon. They have enough self-awareness to be individuals different from their parent, and they don't vanish when the dragon awakens. They may fade away or even vanish if their dreamer dragon is slain.

In the Dragon Pass/WBRM there is Argrath's mystical ability to negate the effect of the Glowline or Glowspot on his own and six adjacent hexes. Depending on the day of the week, that can defuse some of the most powerful Lunar units. It would be interesting to learn how and where the White Bull acquired that ability.

In a way, all have. Did the FHQ ever preside over human sacrifice? No idea, but she does have a Humakti bodyguard unit (those snapper-turtle cuirass vendref guys).

Munchkin Humakti casting big sword trances take a lot of time, too. But then I am more than ok with dealing them a head-shot while they prepare.

After the moon has fallen, yes. Before that, he is a driven fanatic who has sworn to do so, but hasn't, yet. Still vaporware, so to say.

One of the Lunar virtues is balance. One might say that the "always half full" ruling creates balance. Or better. Lunar magic always half full means an increase on four days of the week and a decrease on one day. The "full moon inside the Glowline/Glowspot" ruling comes from WBRM/Dragon Pass. There the Lunar cyclical strength was 7 on full moon days, 5 on half moon, 4 on crescent and 3 on dead moons. IIRC, half strength inside the Glowline was the HQ1 rule (as per ILH2, p.8). To be exact, only characters who had "concentrated" their magic to the Lunar Way received this benefit. Characters who had learned the Secret of their Lunar cult (possibly a form of illumination?) received the bonus of always the full moon's effect. It can be safely assumed that all the units with cyclical phase in combat or magic would be ones initiated into the secrets of their respective Lunar denominations, hence the regiments receive full bonus.

Happened all the time. Exile from your own clan or tribe in Sartar for them to evade Lunar persecution doesn't mean that the Lunar authorities in Pavis will have it out for you in Pavis, at least not until you hang around in conspicious company. You'd have to be quite notorious for your "wanted" portrait to make it to Pavis, or for someone to remember your name on a list.

There are at least two Red Emperors in her lineage (Hon-eel's dad (Magnificus?), and her own, Ignifer(?)), but quite likely more.

The FHQ title is hereditary. The Sorana Tor incarnation not quite, although Arim's and Sorana's twin daughter probably became high priestess of the cult. It isn't clear whether the future generations came as twins, too, or if they did whether they married one another. The High Khan of Waha is sort of obliged to marry the high priestess of Eiritha. When (only) one of them is a morokanth, fertility might require the Other Side and some shape-shifting shenanigans. In full mythical panoply, the act may happen on the Other Side, where the deities have numerous shapes, and numerous bodies. The mating might still happen between a human couple and a morokanth couple, both of which would be these two individuals.

Jar-eel is of course born from privilege. Without Hon-eel's privilege the Red Emperor would probably not have agreed to the Eel-Ariash breeding scheme which resulted in Jar-eel's birth.