2,070
edits
PrinceDusty (talk | contribs) m (capitalized section headers) |
Truthwatch3r (talk | contribs) (→The Use of Shardbearers: added a detail) |
||
(63 intermediate revisions by 17 users not shown) | |||
{{event
|image=Plateau Battle by Miguel Sastre.jpg
|participants=[[
|effects=Summoning of the [[Everstorm]]
|world=Roshar
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]
}}
The '''War of Reckoning''' was a conflict on [[Roshar]] between [[Alethkar]] and the [[
== Background ==
After hearing the news from Eshonai and fearing Gavilar's plans, the
▲On that night, Gavilar revealed to a Parshendi woman named [[Eshonai]] his secret intention to bring back the [[Fused|old Parshendi gods]] in order to also bring about the return of the [[Heralds]]. He mistakenly believed that the Parshendi would welcome this news. In reality, their ancestors had abandoned their gods in favor of freedom, and they did not want their gods to return.{{book ref|sa3|prologue}}
While the rest of the listeners fled from Kholinar, three members of the Council of Five—[[Gangnah]], [[Klade]], and [[Varnali]]—remained to take credit for the assassination. The Alethi had the three hanged.{{book ref|sa2|prologue}}
▲After hearing the news and fearing Gavilar's plans, the Parshendi leaders decided to have the human king assassinated that very night.{{book ref|sa3|prologue}} They assigned this task to their newly-acquired slave, a [[Shin]] man named [[Szeth]]. After an intense fight, the man who would later be called the '''Assassin in White''' succeeded in killing Gavilar.{{book ref|sa1|prologue}} The Parshendi took credit for the assassination then fled from Kholinar.{{book ref|sa2|prologue}}
During Gavilar's funeral service,
== Participants ==
=== Alethkar ===
[[File: {{map|Alethi warcamps}}|700px|center]]
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}}
=== Parshendi ===▼
The Parshendi were a single army. Ever since the start of the war, their camp had been on the ruins of [[Stormseat]], at the center of the Shattered Plains. They called this central place Narak, which in their language meant '''Exile'''.▼
Aside from regular weapons, the Alethi also had around twenty [[Shardblade]]s.{{book ref|sa1|52}} 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.
Unlike the Alethi, the listeners had a single unified army. Their society was governed by the [[Council of Five]], whose members each represented one of the five [[Singer#Forms|singer forms]] that the listeners used. The Council member who used [[warform]], which is the singer form used by listener warriors, served as the general of the army.{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
At some point during the war, Eshonai became the warform member among the Five and started leading the fight for survival against the Alethi. She also possessed the listeners' only remaining set of Shardblade and Shardplate, and used these in addition to warform during battle.{{book ref|sa1|68}}{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
Warform gave listener warriors a carapace armor as well as increased strength.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}} Though not as strong or resilient as someone with Shardplate, warform listeners were a real threat to regular human soldiers. Their strength allowed them to use heavy weapons like battleaxes, hammers, and sometimes clubs and swords.{{book ref|sa1|40}} They were also capable of jumping far enough to cross chasms{{book ref|sa1|27}}, something that only those with Shardplate could do on the Alethi side.{{book ref|sa1|55}}
While they also used archers just like the Alethi, the listeners' combat strategy also involved using '''warpairs'''{{book ref|sa1|26}}, or pairs of warriors who fought side by side as partners. These listener warpairs would jump around the battlefield in coordinated maneuvers and attack enemy troops with heavy weapons from multiple directions.{{book ref|sa1|28}}
▲
== History ==
=== Beginning of the Siege ===
In order to fulfill the Vengeance Pact as quickly as possible, the Alethi highprinces initially planned a full-scale attack on the Parshendi. However, they were unable to immediately locate the
The Shattered Plains{{map ref|Shattered Plains}}
=== The Impact of Gemhearts ===
Once the Alethi settled on the border of the Shattered Plains, they
The safest way to win a gemheart of a chasmfiend would be to wait for a chasmfiend to climb on a plateau, where it would pupate.{{book ref|sa1|15}} Once this happens, the chrysalis could be opened with a [[Shardblade]]{{book ref|sa1|26}} or more slowly with hammers and chisels.{{book ref|sa1|40}}▼
Both the Alethi and the listeners used these gems to sustain their armies, prolonging the siege and greatly extending the duration of the war. Whenever a chrysalis is spotted on a plateau, a race between the listeners and Alethi highprinces would occur.{{book ref|sa1|15}} Whoever arrived first would have to retrieve the gemheart from the chrysalis before the opposing army arrives, otherwise a battle would occur.
=== Rivalry Between Highprinces ===▼
For five years, the war was fought mostly through these skirmishes over gemhearts.
▲The safest way to win a gemheart of a chasmfiend would be to wait for a chasmfiend to climb on a plateau, where it would pupate.{{book ref|sa1|15}} Once this happens, the chrysalis could be opened with a [[Shardblade]]{{book ref|sa1|26}} or more slowly with hammers and chisels.{{book ref|sa1|40}}
Over the years the result was that the Alethi army lost its original purpose—to fulfil the Vengeance Pact—and their unity. The ten armies fought on their own instead of fighting united against the Parshendi.
{{image|Battle of the Tower.jpg|side=right|height=300px|A map of the Battle of the Tower}}
=== The Battle of the Tower ===
The [[Tower (Roshar)|Tower Plateau]] is a very large plateau not far from the center of the Shattered Plains. Because of this, the
▲The [[Tower|Tower Plateau]] is a very large plateau not far from the center of the Shattered Plains. Because of this, the Parshendi always arrived first whenever a chasmfiend pupated on the Tower Plateau, and they usually had enough time to arrange themselves into battle formation and prepare their defense. Consequently, no Alethi army had ever won a battle at the Tower during the first six years of the war.
When Dalinar worked together with Sadeas, a
Dalinar and the remnants of his army were saved by [[Bridge Four]] led by [[Kaladin]]. In the aftermath, Dalinar made his nephew, King [[Elhokar]], declare him Highprince of War. It was Dalinar's goal to re-
=== Stormform and the Failed Peace Talks ===
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}}
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.
Along with Venli, Eshonai organized the adoption of
=== The Battle of Narak ===▼
:''Main article:'' [[Battle of Narak]]
After
Upon the arrival of the Alethi armies in Narak, a large number of the stormform listeners initiated the ritual song to summon a storm, while the rest prepared to fight the invaders.{{book ref|sa2|81}}
▲Guided by the voidspren [[Ulim]]{{book ref|sa3|i|3}}, Eshonai's sister [[Venli]] captured a [[stormspren]], a spren that granted the [[Singer#Forms_of_Power|Form of Power]] called [[Stormform]]. This form was believed to allow the summoning and control of storms.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}} Eshonai, now the general of the Parshendi army, initially protested the idea due to its connection to [[Fused|their hated gods]]. However Eshonai ended up volunteering to try bonding the stormspren to see what it does.{{book ref|sa2|i|4}}
The battle was fought on three plateaus. Aladar, Roion, Adolin each led soldiers on their own designated plateau while Dalinar gave orders from the command tent on another plateau. Sebarial's army reinforced Aladar's and Roion's, as Sebarial himself did not fight.{{book ref|sa2|81}}
▲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. More importantly, the new form changed Eshonai's personality, making her more arrogant and belligerent. Prior to bonding the spren she had a meeting arranged with the Alethi to discuss peace{{book ref|sa2|i|5}}, but she abandoned her plan to negotiate after her transformation. Instead, she challenged the Alethi to try and destroy the Parshendi 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}}
The stormform listeners showed the ability to shoot red lightning, which they successfully weaponized against the Alethi. Roion's army was eventually defeated, but Adolin and Aladar managed well enough on their plateaus.{{book ref|sa2|82}}
▲Along with Venli, Eshonai organized the adoption of Stormform for all Parshendi. A few of the Parshendi did not agree to this plan and managed to escape.{{book ref|sa2|i|11}} [[Rlain]], a Parshendi 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}}
Having been warned by Rlain that the
▲=== The Battle of Narak ===
▲After the peace negotiations failed, Dalinar proposed a joint assault on the Parshendi camp, located deep within the Shattered Plains, in order to end the war and fulfill the Vengeance Pact once and for all.{{book ref|sa2|51}} Out of all the Alethi highprinces, only [[Aladar]], [[Roion]], and [[Sebarial]] joined him in the end. They set out near start of the [[Weeping]], expecting no highstorm to impede their attack.{{book ref|sa2|76}} Along the way they met up with Rlain, who reported to Dalinar what had happened to his people.{{book ref|sa2|78}}
The surviving remnants of the
The non stormform listeners who escaped into the chasms survived with the help of a chasmfiend.{{book ref|row|115}}
▲Having been warned by Rlain that the Stormforms' song will bring destruction, Dalinar instructs his son Adolin to stop the singers.{{book ref|sa2|81}} Adolin found a way to get to the singers and killed many of them, but Eshonai attacked before he could finish the task.{{book ref|sa2|83}} In the end, even though he defeated Eshonai, he was unable to prevent the song from being completed. The summoned storm turned out to be the [[Everstorm]], and it came towards them from the west, bringing red lightning.{{book ref|sa2|84}} In addition, the [[Stormfather]] sent an unexpected highstorm, coming from the east as highstorms usually do.{{book ref|sa2|86}}
▲[[Kaladin]] arrived in time to save Dalinar from Szeth, who had been sent there to assassinate the highprince.{{book ref|sa2|86}} [[Shallan Davar]] managed to find{{book ref|sa2|84}} and activate the ancient Oathgate within the city, and the surviving Alethi army was safely transported to [[Urithiru]] before the combined Everstorm and highstorm destroyed the whole city of Narak.{{book ref|sa2|86}}
▲The surviving remnants of the Stormform army eventually ended up as vessels or subjects of the [[Fused]], the immortal commanders of [[Odium]]'s army that returned through the Everstorm.{{book ref|sa3|i|6}} Aside from Rlain, it is currently unknown whether any non-Stormform Parshendi survived.
== Warfare ==
=== The Use of Bridges Between Plateaus ===
While
During a race for a gemheart, mobile bridges were used by the Alethi armies. There were two main types of bridges.
;Heavy Bridge
:Bridges that functioned like siege-towers. Those were very heavy and needed to be pulled by chulls and thus were very slow. Their advantage was that they offered cover for the Alethi army until the bridge was lowered over the chasm.{{book ref|sa1|55}}{{book ref|sa1|28}}
;Light Portable Bridges
:These were only light in comparison to the bridge-towers. At least
Sadeas was the first one to use the light bridges <!--- he was first? ---> and had much success with them because of their mobility. He also used the exposed bridgemen on purpose to attract enemy fire that would otherwise have centered on his own soldiers.{{book ref|sa1|6}}{{book ref|sa1|15}}{{book ref|sa1|32}} That is also why bridgemen were neither armored nor trained.{{book ref|sa1|15}}▼
▲Sadeas
Dalinar did not use those because he was convinced that officers shouldn't demand anything from their soldiers that they would not do themselves.{{book ref|sa1|15}}{{book ref|sa1|65}} He reproached Sadeas for wasting lives. Later Sadeas and Dalinar worked together. Sadeas could reach a plateau faster than anyone else, because he used the light bridges and left his main army with Dalinar<!--- main army with Dalinar? --->. Dalinar followed with the slow bridges, using the light bridges to cross the chasms. At the final plateau, Dalinar put his own bridges forward, not to waste bridgemen's lives. <!--- not in the Tower Battle? --->▼
▲Dalinar did not use those bridges because he was convinced that officers shouldn't demand anything from their soldiers that they would not do themselves and reproached Sadeas for wasting lives.{{book ref|sa1|15}}{{book ref|sa1|65}}
Kaladin was the first to train a bridgecrew of a light bridge{{book ref|sa1|14}} and had considerable success with it.{{book ref|sa1|59}} Not only did he manage to make them faster than other crews, he also devised the method of "side carrying" the bridge so that it could shield arrows from bridgemen.{{book ref|sa1|32}} Although this method significantly protected the bridgemen, it was a strategical failure to Sadeas' army. The [[Parshendi]] archers realized [[Bridge Four]] were too well protected and focused their arrows on the bulk of soldiers instead, causing heavy loss of trained soldiers instead of expendable bridgemen. Other bridgecrew who awkwardly tried to imitate them failed to deliver the bridges and this resulted in a lost battle. As punishment, [[Lamaril]] was executed and Kaladin was left out for the [[highstorm]].
=== The use of Shardbearers ===▼
<!--- fits passage about the parshmen bone shield in here? --->
When an army arrived at a plateau and the enemy army was already formed up for battle, the only way for the attackers often was to send in [[Shardbearer]]s who could jump over the chasm and clear a space for the bridges to land.{{book ref|sa1|26}}▼
▲When an army arrived at a plateau and the enemy army was already formed up for battle, a great slaughter would ensue; the only way for the attackers
The Alethi Shardbearers were the only ones who could stand up to the Shardbearers among the listeners. As such, the highprinces without a full set of Plate and Blade were at a disadvantage during the times they faced such an enemy and often had to retreat.{{book ref|sa1|24}}{{book ref|sa1|54}} Shardblades were also a very effective way to cut open the chasmfiend chrysalis in order to get the gemheart.{{book ref|sa1|26}} Apart from that, Shardbearers had the same use as in every other battle during that time on Roshar.
=== Chasm Duty ===
During battles on the plateaus, falling into chasms was a real risk for both Alethi soldiers and
== Notes ==
}}
<references />
{{
{{Stormlight}}
|