Hi CJK,
Victory or death are indeed the only options Clyntahn gives anyone, quite spur to Duchairn to get it right.
Given the 70+ millions of SR citizens who were shocked to find they were now heretics according to the inquisitor general, I 'd expect any doctrinal shifts to be very gradual, but the only textev from MTaT was that the new Archbishop of Siddarmark would welcome Maikel with pleasure, which might happen late in 897 or early 898.
He might come with Sharleyan, who wants to meet Nynian among other things, which could have interesting repercussions, as in acting in Cayleb's place as he goes off to Zion, thus demonstrating her co-equal role to all
had heard but won't believe it until they see it with their own eyes.
If Nimue came along, it'd be quite a one-two punch for women's equality, but that might have to wait for a state visit from Daivyn etc.
Getting back to this thread topic, if indeed Rhobair manages to offer something acceptable to the allies, but is understandably unacceptable to the Harchong, the temple land remnant or most of the rest of the mainland CoGA members without another war over the true succession of the CoGA, for a mortal replay of the War of the Fallen.
Which just might shake up more than a few people's previous assumptions about how easily they'd have picked the right side back then and perhaps then add a bit more tolerance to how they view other people.
Militarily, attacking the allies will also increasingly be seen as suicide as the allied rate of technological improvement continues to climb much more steeply than the CoGA and its associated nations.
Whether or not we see machine guns or tanks soon Charis already has the tools at hand if the 4" rifled guns can hit a target 2000 yards away with a 2 yard CEP.
Of Howard, only Harchong and Desnar could afford to make the new weapons, and at very low rates until Duchairn intervened in the case of Harchong.
Howard is going to remain a backwater until the thing in the temple's basement is dealt with, since the ICN will determine who on Haven can interact with Howard.
Regarding all the open hearth furnaces Brother Lynkyn is building, we also had Wyrshym's extended thoughts on the temple lands being a net coal importer, especially quality anthracite, so I'm not too worried about a future capability that may never get off the ground.
Practicality generally does trump faith in the impossible happening (such as your faith enabling you to fly unaided), except for the very devout, but they are a rather small minority that suffer painful lessons when they meet reality, like such examples of the children's crusade, or the various natives who expect their faith would stop the white man's bullets etc.
Southern Harchong according to Sharleyan is somewhat more interested in a less structured society with more room fore merchants and innovation, which could lead to interesting accommodations with the allies or at least the EoC, specifically how the ICN could keep Northern Harchong from interfering in Southern Harchong's internal affairs after the war, leading to all sorts of interesting permutations.
Time to end this.
L
[quote="CJK"]While Clyntahn is in charge or the Inquisition has a strong hold on power within the CoGA the options really ARE total victory or total destruction for one side or the other.
However once you start leaving the Clyntahn world behind things start opening up, for instance the fact that every Island nation left the CoGA with hardly any resistance at all is a nice indicator that faith in the CoGA at least is not strong at all. Charis has already made the difference between God and the CoGA clear, plus even the mainland is aware of the systematic abuse the clergy has made in power. As an aside pretty much every time a religion (Christianity especially) became too corrupt a new version was able to move in and take over as people became disillusioned. That process has already started in Safehold, especially as the Siddarmark Republic is NOT following the Church of Charis as their new Church, they will make their own variation likely as Reformists Something.
This will become MUCH more popular once people realize that the alternative for many mainland nations is to charge in with muskets, maybe flintlock smooth-bores against the full range of toys Charis currently has. Suicide IS forbidden in the writ after all and at this moment there are 2 nations able to build the weapons necessary to fight Charis; the Temple Lands and Dohlar. The border states, Harchong and Desnair specifically have all failed to build up the weaponry needed to fight Charis.
A good example here is King Zhames of Delfarahk and his wife, even after twice having Charis go in and wreck parts of his kingdom he wants NO part of the Jihad. Even his wife who is VERY devout does not consider the Jihad a good idea, or approve of the actions taken by the Inquisition. All indications from the text says Zhames will carry out every order Clyntahn sends and do his absolute best to stay out of the way of EITHER Charis or the CoGA. Which he probably can do because like many of the nations on the mainland Delfarahk cannot afford the army needed to fight Chairs and Duchairn and Magwair will see this very quickly.
Faith IMO comes second to the practicalities of waging war, even most die hard fanatics are not going to think that kicking the sleeping dragon whilst buck naked and no weapon is what the writ demands.[/quote]
