Is corruption a major problem within the Lunar Empire? Is this something the infamous Tax Demons would deal with, or would Moonson and the authorities turn a blind eye to such practices considering them not to be a cause for concern?
Most Gloranthan societies don’t make much of a difference between one’s roles as a priest, a ruler, a member of a kinship group, and as an individual person. The Lunar Empire, Kingdom of Sartar, Queendom of Esrolia – these things are not “states” separate from the rulers.
The Lunar Empire is the personal possession of the Red Emperor who is ONLY subject to his divine mother.
The Kingdom of Sartar is a confederation of tribes and cities held together by the Prince – who MUST be a member of the dynasty descended from Sartar.
The queendom of Esrolia is whatever ruling Ernalda priestess can get acknowledged as top woman by the rest of the ruling Ernalda priestesses – usually the ruling priestess of the city of Nochet as she has the wealth to bring everyone else on board.
So we might have Loyalty to these individual rulers or kinship groups, but we likely don’t have a loyalty to an abstract state. Loyalty to Sartar is loyalty to the Sartar dynasty. Loyalty to the Red Emperor is loyalty to that constantly reincarnating demigod. And so on.
If have been appointed to a position, I likely don’t have a problem with feathering my own bed, as long as it is not inconsistent with the position and with my loyalty to whatever group I am responsible to. And even then I might do it if my loyalty is not particularly high!
So in play, might I be able to bribe that Jonstown city guard to look the other way? Well it probably depends on how loyal they are to the city. Which depends on what’s going on. Right after Dragonrise, it might be pretty easy to bribe the guards – everyone is looking to better themselves now that the Occupation is over. After Kallyr is dead it might be REALLY easy to bribe the guards – who knows how long we have before the Lunars return.
After Argrath is Prince, it might become increasingly hard to bribe the guards after he has a few big victories and it becomes clear he is there to stay.
So within the Lunar Empire the opportunities for graft are incredibly high, largely because the Lunar Empire is very large and the current Red Emperor really doesn’t care as long as what you are doing doesn’t come to his attention (see the first clause and remember he is not looking very hard). So in practice it comes down to what the local Lunar ruler expects. Does Tatius the Bright care if you are receiving kickbacks from smugglers? Probably not, at least not until we are done with the big ritual to consecrate the New Lunar Temple.
In Sartar, the Princes really need to care about collecting their toll revenues (that is their lifeblood) and anything that affects that is likely going to a violent response. But do they care about price fixing at the market? Usually only if the Issaries cult does!
Both the Lunars and the Orlanthi expect that people take care of their kin and their followers. Patronage is not only expected, but considered commendable.