Difference between revisions of "War of Reckoning"

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== Background ==
While exploring a forest south of the [[Shattered Plains]], King Gavilar's brother [[Dalinar Kholin]] encountered a society of non-[[slaveform]] [[singers]] who called themselves '''listeners'''.{{book ref|sa1|28}} Not knowing what they are, and seeing their similarity to [[parshmen]], Gavilar's [[stormwarden]]s coined the term '''Parshendi''',{{book ref|sa1|45}}, meaning roughly ''parshmen who can think''. "Parshendi" became the official Alethi term for the listeners, and it also spread to other countries on Roshar. The listeners did not show any offense for the term.{{book ref|sa1|prologue}}
 
Diplomatic relations were established, and eventually a treaty was made between the Alethi and the so-called Parshendi. The king invited a Parshendi delegation to celebrate the signing of the treaty in [[Kholinar]].{{book ref|sa1|prologue}} That night, Gavilar revealed to [[Eshonai]], a member of the delegation who could speak Alethi, his secret intention to bring back the [[Fused|old singer gods]] in order to also bring about the return of the [[Herald]]s. He mistakenly believed that the Parshendi would welcome this idea. In reality, the ancestors of the listeners had abandoned their gods in favor of freedom, and they did not want their gods to return.{{book ref|sa3|prologue}}
The majority of the Alethi armies were composed of [[darkeyed]] spearmen organized into battalions and led by [[lighteyed]] officers. Darkeyed soldiers were only allowed spears{{book ref|sa1|prologue}}, so Alethi archers and swordsmen were all lighteyes.{{book ref|sa2|76}}
 
Aside from regular weapons, the Alethi also had around twenty [[Shardblade]]s.{{book ref|sa1|52}}. As well as an unknown number of [[Shardplate]] armor. It is uncertain exactly how many of these were used in the war and how many remained in Alethkar, but there were more than thirty official [[Shardbearer]]s in the warcamps, a few of whom had both Plate and Blade.{{book ref|sa2|5}}
 
The Alethi also had [[fabrial]]s, some of which, like [[grandbow]]s, had military applications.
Seeing the steady decline of her people and becoming war-weary, Eshonai was eager to find a way out of the protracted war. She had been planning to approach Dalinar Kholin and sue for peace. However her sister, the scholar [[Venli]], did not believe such a plan would work. Instead, Venli argued that they should use a [[Singer#Forms_of_Power|Form of Power]] in order to defeat the Alethi.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}}
 
Secretly guided by the voidspren [[Ulim]],{{book ref|sa3|i|3}}, Venli had previously captured a [[stormspren]], a spren that granted [[stormform]]. This Form of Power was believed to allow the summoning and control of storms.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}} Eshonai initially protested the idea due to the form's connection to [[Fused|their hated gods]]. However, after the other leaders sided with Venli, Eshonai ended up volunteering to experiment with stormform to see what it does.{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
 
Prior to bonding the stormspren, and with the help of Dalinar's son [[Adolin]]{{book ref|sa2|26}} and the listener warrior [[Thude]], Eshonai was finally able to arrange a meeting with Dalinar to discuss a possible end to the war. The plan was for the meeting to happen in seven days. Having received confirmation of the arrangement, Eshonai went out to experiment with stormform.{{book ref|sa2|i|5}}
Stormform gave Eshonai a different kind of armor and the ability to jump chasms more easily. She started attuning to a new set of [[Singer#Rhythms|Rhythms]] that were more aggressive.{{book ref|sa2|i|8}} More importantly, the new form changed Eshonai's personality, making her more arrogant and belligerent. She abandoned her plan to negotiate. Instead, she challenged the Alethi to try and destroy her people if they could.{{book ref|sa2|51}} She planned to lure the whole Alethi army out far away from their warcamps and destroy them with a summoned highstorm.{{book ref|sa2|i|11}}
 
Along with Venli, Eshonai organized the adoption of stormform for all of their people. A few of the listeners did not agree to this plan and managed to escape.{{book ref|sa2|i|11}} [[Rlain]], a listener spy who infiltrated the Alethi army and joined [[Bridge Four]], returned from his espionage mission, and discovered the new stormform army. He decided not to join them.{{book ref|sa2|78}}
 
=== The Battle of Narak ===
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