Why Most Sartarites Hate the Lunar Empire

From time to time it is worth reminding people why most Sartarites HATE the Lunar Empire, and are so willing to throw themselves behind Argrath in 1627.

Let’s ignore the big cosmological stuff. That’s there, but the Sartarites would likely largely ignore that but for the rest.

The Lunars and Sartar had been skirmishing with each other all the back since 1538, with the Lunars fighting to maintain their stronghold of Furthest and the House of Sartar fighting to maintain their primacy in Dragon Pass. Most of this was through the Lunar client state of Furthest.
In 1582, the Red Emperor personally made a full-court press against Sartar. At the Battle of Grizzly Peak they killed the King, the Queen, their key allies and so much more. The Lunar Army continued their march, but were repelled by the new Prince at Alda-Chur.
The Lunar Empire kept pushing against Sartar, and had assassins murder members of the Sartar Dynasty in the Holy Country, wiping out Terasarin’s entire bloodline.
In 1602, the Red Emperor marched against Sartar, with the Crimson Bat and allied with Delecti. The Lunar Army extermined the defenders at Runegate, took Boldhome in a bloody and brutal assault, and then directly ruled Sartar for 11 years. More distant members of the Sartar Dynasty and most known potential claimants were hunted down and murdered.
The Lunar Occupation targeted the Orlanth and Storm Bull cults. When it finally sought to desecrate one of the most holy places in the world to the Orlanth cult, a coalition of tribes rebelled. This rebellion was defeated by a clever Lunar general, who also placed a puppet member of the Sartar Dynasty on the throne.
For eight years, the Lunar Occupation was pretty cleverly managed by the clever Lunar general. But in 1621, the last free Orlanth major holy site in Dragon Pass fell to the Lunar Army, and the Lunars decided to make this a final triumph over Orlanth. The clever Lunar general was fired and replaced by a hard-core Yelmite. There were famines, persecutions, and a wide-spread realization that the Lunar Empire did not care whether the Sartarites lived or died. There was constant war, rebellion, famine, and hardship.
In the end, the Lunar Empire suffered many reverses, leading to the Dragonrise. Kallyr Starbrow liberated Boldhome in the confusion, and proclaimed Sartar free after repelling a Lunar attempt to restore their occupation (led by the clever general). Kallyr scrambled to find a way to secure Sartar’s freedom, but her attempts to use the LBQ to do that turned out to be a catastrophic failure, and she was killed repelling another Lunar attempt to restore their occuption.
It is absolutely certain that the Red Emperor intends to reconquer Sartar. It is also absolutely certain that if the Red Emperor reconquers Sartar, there will be widespread persecution, executions, and reprisals. Most people are also certain that without a Prince to relight the Fire, the Red Emperor will have little difficulty in reconquering Sartar. Even with a Prince, few hold out any hopes, but without a Prince it is a certainty.

In truth 1626 and early 1627 are the lowest point of Sartarite morale.

See also