Re: Re: [GZG] Saieed Khalifate

["Laserlight" <laserlight@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> If we're going with the "IF are on the far side of Known Space, and have 
> aTranslated into basest possible terms: this IF would still have raving 
> nutters, but they don't run the *entire* show, and the SK has a much higher 
> percentage of raving nutters...(the IF's real raving nutters would tend to 
> defect to the SK, anyway)
It also lets the IF be something other than "Taliban in Space", which is 
frankly more interesting...

That's more or less what I had in mind. Canon says the IF had a revolution. 
I've assumed that Phase I was the True Believers kicking out the Corrupt 
Royalists; Phase II was apragmatic general becoming the "Protector of the 
Khalif" in the same way the Shogun controlled the Japanese Emperor. The 
result was that the Khalif became a revered religious figure with almost no 
power, while the secular Sultan runs the show.

Religion is still a major component (it's the *Islamic* Federation, after 
all) but not rabidly so for the vast majority. Those who are nutters don't 
move to the SK (who are heretics); they join ghazi ("those who fight for 
glory", which I'd translate to Volunteer Brigades) or fedayeen 
("adventurers", which I'm calling Special Forces) units. I don't recall that 
the IF is openly at war with anyone in canon but has run covert 
assassination ops against ESU and NAC.

_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l