The Alone Confederation

[Joerg]

One expression of official imperial authority may be the tax farmer (or the tax farmer's agents) in the town. This may be a native of the place. (Probably not a member of Griselda's extended family, unless they have waxed especially creative in their schemes.)

[Jeff]

3 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Yeah that's what I'm going for, more or less. To be clear, I was previously debating with myself whether Alone would have a permanent Lunar presence in the form of some kind of local Lunar Provincial Governor living in some permanent villa in, or near, Alone, with a permanent guard and patrol.

Now I'm thinking it's more appropriate anyway to have Lunar officials only visit from the time to time, and have varying numbers of Lunar soldiers posted there depending on any ongoing Lunar business in the region. In most cases, the Lunars might not even care too much themselves, instead delegating most matters to Harvar and his Yelmalite bullies... so half the time it would be those people instead of Lunars coming in town (and probably looking down on everything, eager to go back to Alda-Chur as soon as possible).

One of the big opportunities for adventure and intrigue in the Far Place at this time is the number of Sartarite rebels looking for a place to hide, so every now and then some Lunars and Yelmalites would arrive in force, spending a few weeks or more intimidating various local steads and clan rings until one of them gives up the fugitives.

I personally imagine that Alone was not garrisoned.

One thing people seem to overestimate is how many soldiers the Lunar Empire has. A few notes:

1621

LUNAR HEARTLANDS ARMY 

36,500 infantry

18,000 cavalry

5,750 magicians

3,750 siege and supply

Total: 64,000

PROVINCIAL ARMY 

9,500 infantry

2,400 cavalry

1300 magicians

800 siege and supply soldiers

Total: 14,000

THEATRE DISPOSITION 1621

Dragon Pass 2500 (Provincial Army)

Holy Country 20,000 (includes 10k Lunar Army)

Prax 2500 (all Lunar Army)

Lunar Provinces 2500 (Provincial Army)

Heartland Satrapies 35,500 (Lunar Army)

West Reaches 10,000 (Lunar Army)

Redlands 5,000 (Lunar Army)

Total: 78,000

At the height of Lunar power, the Empire has 78,000 professional soldiers at its disposal. That is bigger than the army Alexander conquered the Persian Empire with. About a third of those soldiers are in Dragon Pass and its surroundings.

Of course it all goes downhill from here.

1624

The Battle of Pennel Ford was something around 8,000 Lunar soldiers against 4,000 Esrolians and Heortlings, 2500 Caladralanders, and 60+ Wolf Pirate ships (another 3000 Wolf Pirates), and 2000 Western Barbarians. Initially the allies outnumbered the Lunars 11500 to 8000, but thanks to the defection of the Western Barbarians they end up being outnumbered 10,000 to 9,500. However, the battle ends up being a bloody disaster. 3000 Lunars and 500 Western Barbarians are killed or captured during the route of the Lunar Army, and 1500 allies are killed.

The 350 km retreat of the Lunar Army from Esrolia to Dragon Pass was epic. Harried by Esrolians, Pure Horse People, trolls, and Beast People all the way back to Dragon Pass, only 2500 of the original expedition of 10,000 made it back to Dragon Pass.

1625 (EARLY)

COMBINED LUNAR ARMY 1625 (START)

Dragon Pass 15,000

Lunar Provinces 2500

Eastern Satrapies 25,000

Heartland Satrapies 5,000

Total: 47,500

After four years of war, and substantial defeats in the Holy Country, plus a concerted Pentan invasion in the east, the Lunar Empire has lost almost 40% of its effective strength - which is not surprising given that it is fighting serious wars on two fronts. The Empire is mustering militia to fight against the Pentans, but it too early to see much from that. The Empire has been weakened, but if it focuses on one front it should hold the edge.

1625 (POST-DRAGONKILL)

LUNAR ARMY 1625 (POST DRAGONKILL)

Dragon Pass 5,000

Lunar Provinces 2000

Eastern Satrapies 20,000 + 5,000 militia

Heartland Satrapies 5,000

Total: 32,000+5,000 militia 

Disaster! Dragon Pass is almost entirely gone! And more defeats in the East! The Empire has lost more than half its effective forces since four years ago. The Provincial Army is pretty much gone, the Heartland Army is fully engaged against the Pentan invasion. The Empire is mustering militia to fight against the Pentans.

This is where the RQG campaign starts. It is pretty obvious where the Red Emperor is going to focus his efforts - the East.

THE MILITARY CAMPAIGN

The Voor-ash in 1624 invade with somewhere around 20,000 horsemen. This is all superb cavalry, and much faster than the Lunar Army. The nomads overwhelm the Lunar army in the Oraya. At least 5000 Lunar soldiers are lost and Oraya falls to the nomads.

In 1625, the Red Emperor sends the bulk of the Lunar Heartland and Cavalry Corps to reconquer Oraya and suppress the Redlands. However, as the army tries to cross the Arcos River at Diavizzi Ford, it is ambushed by the King of Wings and routed. The gates to the Heartlands are opened and the Voor-ash rush through it. Had the King of Wings realised it, he could have marched to Glamour itself without opposition. That's how serious the crisis was. Combine this with the Dragonrise and it gets even worse.

Edited May 24, 2020 by Jeff

[Jeff]

4 minutes ago, Jeff said:

I personally imagine that Alone was not garrisoned.

One thing people seem to overestimate is how many soldiers the Lunar Empire has. A few notes:

1621

LUNAR HEARTLANDS ARMY 

36,500 infantry

18,000 cavalry

5,750 magicians

3,750 siege and supply

Total: 64,000

PROVINCIAL ARMY 

9,500 infantry

2,400 cavalry

1300 magicians

800 siege and supply soldiers

Total: 14,000

THEATRE DISPOSITION 1621

Dragon Pass 2500 (Provincial Army)

Holy Country 20,000 (includes 10k Lunar Army)

Prax 2500 (all Lunar Army)

Lunar Provinces 2500 (Provincial Army)

Heartland Satrapies 35,500 (Lunar Army)

West Reaches 10,000 (Lunar Army)

Redlands 5,000 (Lunar Army)

Total: 78,000

At the height of Lunar power, the Empire has 78,000 professional soldiers at its disposal. That is bigger than the army Alexander conquered the Persian Empire with. About a third of those soldiers are in Dragon Pass and its surroundings.

Of course it all goes downhill from here.

1624

The Battle of Pennel Ford was something around 8,000 Lunar soldiers against 4,000 Esrolians and Heortlings, 2500 Caladralanders, and 60+ Wolf Pirate ships (another 3000 Wolf Pirates), and 2000 Western Barbarians. Initially the allies outnumbered the Lunars 11500 to 8000, but thanks to the defection of the Western Barbarians they end up being outnumbered 10,000 to 9,500. However, the battle ends up being a bloody disaster. 3000 Lunars and 500 Western Barbarians are killed or captured during the route of the Lunar Army, and 1500 allies are killed.

The 350 km retreat of the Lunar Army from Esrolia to Dragon Pass was epic. Harried by Esrolians, Pure Horse People, trolls, and Beast People all the way back to Dragon Pass, only 2500 of the original expedition of 10,000 made it back to Dragon Pass.

1625 (EARLY)

COMBINED LUNAR ARMY 1625 (START)

Dragon Pass 15,000

Lunar Provinces 2500

Eastern Satrapies 25,000

Heartland Satrapies 5,000

Total: 47,500

After four years of war, and substantial defeats in the Holy Country, plus a concerted Pentan invasion in the east, the Lunar Empire has lost almost 40% of its effective strength - which is not surprising given that it is fighting serious wars on two fronts. The Empire is mustering militia to fight against the Pentans, but it too early to see much from that. The Empire has been weakened, but if it focuses on one front it should hold the edge.

1625 (POST-DRAGONKILL)

LUNAR ARMY 1625 (POST DRAGONKILL)

Dragon Pass 5,000

Lunar Provinces 2000

Eastern Satrapies 20,000 + 5,000 militia

Heartland Satrapies 5,000

Total: 32,000+5,000 militia 

Disaster! Dragon Pass is almost entirely gone! And more defeats in the East! The Empire has lost more than half its effective forces since four years ago. The Provincial Army is pretty much gone, the Heartland Army is fully engaged against the Pentan invasion. The Empire is mustering militia to fight against the Pentans.

This is where the RQG campaign starts. It is pretty obvious where the Red Emperor is going to focus his efforts - the East.

THE MILITARY CAMPAIGN

The Voor-ash in 1624 invade with somewhere around 20,000 horsemen. This is all superb cavalry, and much faster than the Lunar Army. The nomads overwhelm the Lunar army in the Oraya. At least 5000 Lunar soldiers are lost and Oraya falls to the nomads.

In 1625, the Red Emperor sends the bulk of the Lunar Heartland and Cavalry Corps to reconquer Oraya and suppress the Redlands. However, as the army tries to cross the Arcos River at Diavizzi Ford, it is ambushed by the King of Wings and routed. The gates to the Heartlands are opened and the Voor-ash rush through it. Had the King of Wings realised it, he could have marched to Glamour itself without opposition. That's how serious the crisis was. Combine this with the Dragonrise and it gets even worse.

So looking at those numbers, would you spare any troops to garrison a place like Alone?

[Brootse]

1 minute ago, Jeff said:

So looking at those numbers, would you spare any troops to garrison a place like Alone?

Yes, if I knew that the PCs were heading in that direction.

[soltakss]

1 hour ago, Jeff said:

One thing people seem to overestimate is how many soldiers the Lunar Empire has.

The "Lunar Soldiers" in Pavis largely consisted of paid mercenaries rather than regular Lunar Soldiers. Many of their patrols in Prax were Sable Riders rather then regular Antelope Riders.

Why would the Lunars use mercenaries instead of regular troops? Because they were spread too thinly.

Edited May 24, 2020 by soltakss

[Lordabdul]

11 hours ago, Joerg said:

One expression of official imperial authority may be the tax farmer (or the tax farmer's agents) in the town.

What's this? Some local collaborator that everybody hates because they are the ones making the rounds taking a third of everybody's harvest (or writing it down for later confiscation), and who travels back to the nearest Lunar authority for reporting? Do you have references for me?

10 hours ago, Jeff said:

So looking at those numbers, would you spare any troops to garrison a place like Alone?

Even when I was considering a permanent Lunar presence in Alone, I imagined a skeleton crew (less than 40 soldiers, officials, etc. in total), most of whom got placed in Alone as some kind of "shit job" punishment, so I'm not sure it would register much on the big picture. And probably by the time my campaign reaches the early 1620s, these people would be requisitioned elsewhere as the Lunars get in a "all hands on deck" situation. I'm OK making my Glorantha vary a tiny bit on that front if it lets me have more interesting local politics (maybe... maybe not, I still haven't decided, but the information you shared is definitely helpful!).

10 hours ago, Jeff said:

PROVINCIAL ARMY 

Again, thanks a lot for these sneak previews!  Is the provincial army only counting actual Lunar soldiers deployed in provinces like Sartar? So it wouldn't include Harvar Ironfist's army or Praxian mercenaries or hired Broos or whatever?

[Joerg]

2 hours ago, lordabdul said:

What's this? Some local collaborator that everybody hates because they are the ones making the rounds taking a third of everybody's harvest (or writing it down for later confiscation), and who travels back to the nearest Lunar authority for reporting? Do you have references for me?

Tax farmers tend to be people trying to enrich themselves by paying a certain area's taxes on time to the authorities 6  recouping that expense by pressing out as much tax money as possible. They usually have hired muscle in addition to official Lunar authorities, but with those gone, hireling thugs are maybe as good as a Lunar garrison.

There is one example of a nice tax farmer who got screwed by Fazzur,

Gringle Goodsell, at one time tax farmer for all of Sartar.[/spoiler ]

[Sir_Godspeed]

16 hours ago, Jeff said:

I personally imagine that Alone was not garrisoned.

One thing people seem to overestimate is how many soldiers the Lunar Empire has. A few notes:

Getting some serious "Give me back my Legions, Tatius!"-vibes from this. 

 

Interestingly, in researching North Pent for my own little project, I read about the Pentan invasion of the Redlands and Oraya, but given how it's stated that Jar-Eel goes up against Dranz Goloi (no mystery who wins of the iconic fan favorite character intensely involved in the main plotline of the Hero Wars and the largely unknown dude coming in sort of from nowhere) I kind of dismissed it. It's interesting to see this other angle on it, and see how big of a deal it is, and how, at least for the moment, it is a much bigger deal than that vagrant Argrath mucking about in Prax.

[Cragspider]

On 1/5/2020 at 1:58 PM, Corvantir said:

I don't know if this is its first appearance but the pic is indeed in Wyrms Footprints, page 13: Famous sights of Dragon Pass #1 - A village near Alone.  

Its first appearance is in Wyrms Footnotes#5 (1978), p. 20.

Not old skool, oldest skool.

[Lordabdul]

@Jeff told me to create a new thread for "what is canon?" questions, but I already have my own thread here on the Alone Confederation so I guess I can re-use that!

As I still slowly (very slowly) write my Bachad tribe campaign, I find myself having to choose what material to base it upon, and what to ignore and re-invent from scratch, or vary from, or whatever. So here are the questions:

• Is there anything that may/might/will be changed about the Far Place from what was described in Wyrms Footnotes 15? (especially the map, and the history/culture of the local tribes)
• Is it canon that some villages in the Far Place have those spikes in their centre to defend against Giants? It's a cool and fun architectural bit of world-building, but I'm not sure if destruction-by-giant-stomping is a common enough hazard to justify it?
• There are a few geographical differences in the area around the Woods of the Dead between The Coming Storm and the Pegasus Plateau. They're not very important differences so I'm wondering if they are mostly artistic license and adventure-specific tweaks in terms of cartography and phrasing, or if they were deliberate adjustments to the canon?

Thanks!

[Jeff]

12 hours ago, lordabdul said:

@Jeff told me to create a new thread for "what is canon?" questions, but I already have my own thread here on the Alone Confederation so I guess I can re-use that!

As I still slowly (very slowly) write my Bachad tribe campaign, I find myself having to choose what material to base it upon, and what to ignore and re-invent from scratch, or vary from, or whatever. So here are the questions:

• Is there anything that may/might/will be changed about the Far Place from what was described in Wyrms Footnotes 15? (especially the map, and the history/culture of the local tribes)
• Is it canon that some villages in the Far Place have those spikes in their centre to defend against Giants? It's a cool and fun architectural bit of world-building, but I'm not sure if destruction-by-giant-stomping is a common enough hazard to justify it?
• There are a few geographical differences in the area around the Woods of the Dead between The Coming Storm and the Pegasus Plateau. They're not very important differences so I'm wondering if they are mostly artistic license and adventure-specific tweaks in terms of cartography and phrasing, or if they were deliberate adjustments to the canon?

Thanks!

Lots of little tweaks here and there. Lemme give a few clips from the forthcoming Sartar Homeland book:
 

ALONE

Alone was built in 1583 by Prince Terasarin as a refuge for those Tarshite Exiles clans who fled after the Battle of Grizzly Peak. It is well-fortified with the characteristic stone walls of the other Sartarite cities, and prominent temples to Orlanth Rex, Uleria, Ernalda, and Maran Gor. Alone is the market, political, and religious center for a confederation of the Amad, Bachad, and Tres tribes. Alone has several inns, including Geo’s Alone Inn. A dragonewt road runs through Alone; as a result, dragonewts occasionally visit. However, the city never became a major trade route, and, as its name suggests, was largely isolated from the rest of Sartar. 

There are about 1000 permanent residents, but winter drives many to seek shelter within the walls of the city,

After the conquest of Sartar, Alone surrendered to the Red Emperor but was it considered too poor and too strategically irrelevant to warrant a garrison and was largely ignored by the Lunar Provincial Government. In 1611, the city offered a token submission to Harvar Ironfist of Alda-Chur, but was largely left alone. As a result, the city became a refuge for exiles and rebels from the Righteous Wind Rebellion and Starbrow’s Rebellion. It has declined under the Lunar Occupation, and now has many abandoned buildings. 

 

AMAD 

The smallest and poorest tribe in Sartar, the Amad are rugged frontiersmen whose settlements are in the shadows of Dagori Inkarth. They are a New Sartar tribe, having settled this area after being exiled from Tarsh in the wake of the Battle of Grizzly Peak in 1582. They originally came from what is now the Bush Range.

Their farms are often raided by trolls from the Indigo Mountains or the Vale of Flowers, and as a result the Yelmalio cult is popular for its darkness-fighting abilities. A member of the Alone city ring, the Amad are remote and isolated even by the standards of the Alone tribes. 

Tribal Center: Amadhall

City: Alone

Population 2000

Clans: Three

Main Tribal Deities: Orlanth, Ernalda.

Minor Cults: Yelmalio, Maran Gor.

Language: Tarshite

 

 

BACHAD

The leading tribe of the Alone city ring, the Bachad are one of the New Sartar tribes, having settled this area after being exiled from Tarsh following the Battle of Grizzly Peak in 1582. They originally came from what is now the Bush Range. They control much of the good agricultural land in the Hidden Valley, raising barley and cattle. 

Tribal Center: Alone

City: Alone

Population: 3000

Clans: Three

Main Tribal Deities: Orlanth, Ernalda.

Minor Cults: Humakt, Maran Gor.

Language: Tarshite
 

TRES

A member of the Alone city ring, the Tres are one of the smallest and poorest tribes in Sartar. They settled this area after being exiled from Tarsh following the Battle of Grizzly Peak in 1582. They were originally made up of dissidents from the Koffer Hills and the Bush Range.

The Tres are mostly pastoralists, herding sheep in the Sheep of Luck Hills. 

Tribal Center: Alone

City: Alone

Population: 2500 

Clans: three

Main Tribal Deities: Orlanth, Ernalda.

Minor Cults: Chalk Man, Maran Gor

Language: Tarshite

[Lordabdul]

7 hours ago, Jeff said:

Lots of little tweaks here and there. Lemme give a few clips from the forthcoming Sartar Homeland book:

Ah nice, thanks! And I see a few additions and tweaks from the last time you shared some of that material. Nice to know that this is for the Sartar Homeland book, too... I guess I'll leave you to your work until it comes out   Thanks!

[Garrik]

I wrote the Far Place stuff in Zin Letters #3. Almost all of it, at least. And made the basic map, enhanced by a professional friend.

It seems the Kalikos Society don't have copies of ZL#3 anymore. I do have a small pile. If you're still interested, you can message me. Then again, the funniest part of these creative voyages is not getting there, but the journey of writing your own. So perhaps you don't need it anymore.

[kr0p0s]

The Bachad tribe described above puts them in the category of Earth Tarsh ( type C) used in Wyrms Footnotes 15. However in the section of the Tribes of Sartar in that issue they are described as Dark Orlanthi. I imagine being close to the Toranki there may be some Darkness influence, but surely not enough to supercede the Earth Tarshite beliefs they brought from the Bush Ranges?

[Jeff]

At this point, I am just going to suggest that people wait for the Sartar boxed set.

[FungusColombicus]

18 minutes ago, Jeff said:

At this point, I am just going to suggest that people wait for the Sartar boxed set.

How long we need to wait !!!

[Emod]

Thanks!!!! I thought the Bachad tribe clans were Turte And Golden Poppy. What is the third clan?

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Emod said:

Thanks!!!! I thought the Bachad tribe clans were Turte And Golden Poppy. What is the third clan?

Have a look at the WIP clan map that Jeff originally posted on FB and is accessible via the Well of Daliath here: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/home/catalogue/websites/facebook/2021-10-jeff-on-facebook/#ib-toc-anchor-25

I believe the third is the Flint clan which is adjacent to Alone.

[Emod]

Thanks!

[Darius West]

Lordabdul, if you haven't considered it already, you should definitely include some ghouls in your write-up.  The Woods of the Dead where King Brangbane and all his ghoul subjects  resides are very close to Bachad territory.