Here we go again.
I'll let the Illustrated man set the stage:
> In the eyes of the Inner Circle, all participants have acted
> properly at every step of their engagement:
>
> The Horselords felt insulted, so they did something about it. They
> rode their horses around a bit, scuffed up a bit of turf, and went home.
>
> The Lords of the Crown didn't like it, and now they are doing
> something about that.
>
> Neither did the Harn Alliance go whining around at this point. They
> dug in to defend themselves.
>
> And now the Inner Circle is going to get involved. Why? Because
> one of the targets of the Lord's reaction is Jheremai the Scarlet,
> to whom we feel we owe a debt.
Of course, there is the minor detail that the Lords helped out Eagle
when PLATO attacked the New Empire. So maybe Eagle will decide they
should stand by their old friends when the IC starts attacking.
Eagle has the much the same motivations as the IC in this matter. They
were helped by the Lords when they needed it. Maybe the Lords aren't
seen as "paragons of moral purity", but by the IM's own standards
they still deserve to have Eagle stand by them for the help they
gave in the past. This makes Eagle as much a part of the Harn/Lords
conflict as the IC is.
Then, of course, PLATO might feel that they should stand by their old
friends, the IC. Same basic reasons as above.
We've been here before, folks. I think Jheremai has it right. This is
a matter for Harn and the Lords to deal with, and everyone else
should stay out. Either that, or *everyone* else will jump in the
pool, and it'll get real messy.
Then again, there are a number of people who have become convinced
that this sort of war is inevitable given the bellicose
personalities involved, so maybe they should just get it over
with.
As for myself, I really don't care about the whole mess. It looks to
me like there were misunderstandings in diplomacy that escalated
into a ghazi, which escalated into a local war, which is on the
verge of escalating into a World War.
Not that anything I say will do any good. The Illustrated Man has
said he's going to do something as a matter of principle, so
there's no way he'll back down from that. Then Eagle will feel the
need to obey much the same principles. Then PLATO will follow
suit.
I think I'll retire to a nice island somewhere.
Your friendly neighborhood peacemonger,
Andrew Grey
Speaking only for the Grey Company