The Red Goddess never made peace with the Air Gods, for there was none among her pantheon who could approach those deities on their own ground. There began, within history, a struggle between the Red Goddess and the god Orlanth for the Middle Air that lay between the Sky and the Earth. The hostility between Moon and Air was more than just a rivalry with Orlanth, for the primary Carmanian deity was also an Air god, and the power of the storm has feuded with the Moon since the Red Goddess was born.
This is important to keep in mind – although the Red Goddess made peace with Lodril, Ernalda, Eiritha, Oria, Shargash, Polaris, Xentha, Lokarnos, the Lowfires, Issaries, Inora, Hykim & Mikyh, Mostal, Himile, Gorakiki, Flamal, Donandar, Daka Fal, Asrelia, Argan Argar, Aranea, and many more Old Gods – she did not make peace with the Air Gods.
But the Air Gods have always been powerful at the edges of Peloria. The later Carmanians worshiped Storm Bull and Humakt, and the western and southern hills are ancient Orlanthi lands. So what does the empire do?
With Humakt it is easy. Just get him to swear to do his duty and he’ll do it even if he hates you. It helps to have Yanafal Tarnils do the hiring though. Plenty of Humakti fight in the Empire’s wars, even if they do it as mercenaries. Still, best to have them fight against Pentans or Pelorians, and not against the Orlanth cult.
Storm Bull is also easy. He’s still there in the Old Carmanian territories as a bull god. He’s even useful fighting against Chaos cults that won’t play ball. Just be sparing on the Chaos Gift where Storm Bull is along.
Orlanth is the problem. His barbaric cult has been trouble since the 1st Wane, when thousands of Orlanth cultists followed Jannisor the Hero to the gates of Glamour. Hwarin Dalthippa sought to pacify the barbarians, with colonies from the Heartlands and military campaigns, but the exiles settled Dragon Pass and troubled the empire in the 3rd and 4th Wanes. The Sartar dynasty were determined foes of the empire, and presented themselves as the Orlanth Rex priests of Dragon Pass.
So what to do? The Orlanth cult is too big (and the Lunar Empire does not have the resources – regardless of what sycophants in Glamour like to claim) to simply suppress. The Nights of Horror ended the era of Lunar settlement; the Red Emperor has repeatedly refused to found new cities and settlements past Furthest.
One approach is to triage matters. Tolerate the Orlanth Thunderous cult as pretty harmless. That’s all farmers and herders, and unless you really rile them up, they tend to stick to their villages. Keep Orlanth Adventurous under close watch as troublemakers – shut down the most notorious temples but otherwise just watch. Shut Orlanth Rex down entirely or at least place safe puppets in that position. Play the tribes and clans off against each other and be generous with gifts and imperial largesse.
This is the approach favored by the Tarshites and in Talastar – as well as such powerful Provincial figures as Appius Luxius and Icilius Overholy. You end up with politically docile client states like Sartar under Temertain or the Bilini under Bolthor Brighteyes. But the population remains stubbornly resistant to the Seven Mothers and the Lunar Way – religiously the dial doesn’t budge.
The other approach is to wage magical war upon the Orlanth cult. Shut down the major temples. Desecrate important holy sites. Trigger limited rebellions that you know you can crush. Build new Temple of the Reaching Moons and cover everything with the Glowline. Do a reverse Seven Mothers and kill Orlanth inside Time.
This is the approach by many leading figures in Glamour and the Silver Shadow, such as the Assiday family (powerful Yelmites of Raibanth), the Red Dancer of Power, and the Tharkalists. You end up with political disorder in the Provinces until you finally crush Orlanth. Then the population can convert to the Lunar Way en masse.
The Red Emperor flip flops from one approach to the other, sometimes at the same time.
Besides Orlanth and the other Air Gods, what other deities has the Red Goddess not made peace with? Eurmal HATES her and it is reciprocated.
Why would Humakt, in the Third Age, be considered an “Air God”? Even though he is not associated with the Air Rune, Humakt is still the boon friend of Orlanth’s.
Who is/was this primary Carmanian deity that is an air god? Bisos, aka the Bull, aka Storm Bull. Greg tried to hide the name in the Entekosiad, but the god of the Bull Shahs was Storm Bull.