Difference between revisions of "Coalition of monarchs"

Dalinar left the meeting, unable to make any headway in defending himself, and the rest remained for a while to discuss the new information. The Azish decided to abandon the coalition, despite agreeing with Jasnah's observation that the messages received in the meeting all came at once and seemed too targeted to be coincidental. Taravangian also decided that he would leave the coalition. Queen Fen recognized that the Thaylens still needed the Alethi army to help protect the city, so she opted to stay with him, though she wasn't happy about it.{{book ref|sa3|113}} Before the coalition could disband their flotilla and send the ships and sailors back to their respective countries, however, the enemy sailed in under the cover of the Everstorm.{{book ref|sa3|115}} The Alethi and the Thaylens successfully defended Thaylen City from Odium and his army, due in large part to Dalinar's own efforts.{{book ref|sa3|120}}

 

 

Taravangian met up with Dalinar after the conclusion of the [[Battle of Thaylen Field]]. He admitted that he had abandoned the fight but argued that his choice had been made in the best interest of Roshar, as he would have been in prime position to take control of the coalition when Dalinar, as he assumed was inevitable, fell.{{book ref|sa3|121}} He confessed to Dalinar his role in the streak of assassinations that had been taking place the preceding year, a small amount of honesty calculated to regain a little of Dalinar's trust so he could remain with the coalition.{{book ref|sa3|121}}{{book ref|sa3|122}}

== Internal Structure ==

During the first few meetings of monarchs, Dalinar, Navani, or other Alethi officials lead the meetings.{{book ref|sa3|96}}{{book ref|sa3|107}} Later, [[Noura]] begins leading the meetings in the place of the Kholins, as she has a calm way of doing so that everyone respects.{{book ref|sa4|19}} The first gathering especially is chaotic and prone to devolve into arguments, involving a lot of peacekeeping from Navani. Realizing that the meetings need more structure to them, Navani asks the Azish to draft some bylaws that would govern how the nations interact with one another.{{book ref|sa3|96}} This eventually results in a much more organized system in which each nation represented holds a vote on each topic, with Azir and its member states grouped together as one. The total number of votes increases to five when the coalition officially recognizes Urithiru as a separate member nation with Dalinar as its king, granting both Dalinar and Jasnah separate seats on the council.{{book ref|sa4|10}}{{book ref|sa4|19}} The number goes back to four after Taravangian's betrayal and Jah Keved's withdrawal from the coalition, but the member nations are considering adding Herdaz as an official member due to the Mink's invaluable help in retaking Emul. It seems that the coalition requires unanimity among the members before acting upon a proposal.<!-- RoW 19, Emul and Lasting Integrity missions both unanimously approved; RoW 101, Jasnah is needing to convince both Fen and Gawx to approve Wit's contract. The only thing that gives pause is Fen's quote from ch 19 where she expresses surprise that they all agreed. This, however, could just mean that total agreement without having to persuade a member is the surprise. -->{{book ref|sa4|19}}{{book ref|sa4|101}}

 

== Politics ==

[[Honor]] first suggests to Dalinar in his [[Dalinar's visions|visions]] that the best possibility of beating Odium is a contest between a champion of Odium's and a champion appointed by those who oppose him.{{book ref|sa2|4}} The [[Stormfather]] agrees with this notion, explaining that Odium will see it as a situation that will cost him only time if he loses.{{book ref|sa3|16}} Odium agrees to such a contest during the [[Battle of Thaylen Field]], but he and Dalinar do not set terms at the time.{{book ref|sa3|117}} During the coalition's campaign in [[Emul]], [[Hoid]] advises Dalinar that Odium will not approach him to set terms for the contest until the coalition frightens him into believing that they could win the war.{{book ref|sa4|50}} [[Renarin]] confirms this when he gets a chance at the camp in [[Laqqi]] to tell Dalinar about his most recent vision.{{book ref|sa4|54}}

 

 

== Military ==

 

The coalition's military forces rely heavily on the abilities of Surgebinders. [[Edgedancers]] and [[Truthwatchers]] provide medical support both in battles and away from the front lines, while Windrunners do most of the fighting, facing off against the enemy's [[Heavenly One]]s and [[Skybreakers]].{{book ref|sa4|5}}{{book ref|sa4|47}} The Windrunners also act as the coalition's scouts, often watching for enemy movement or patrolling outside [[Urithiru]] or along the coalition's borders and coastlines.{{book ref|sa4|17}}{{book ref|sa4|19}}{{book ref|sa4|31}} Likewise, the Windrunners are used to transport small groups of people when they need to get places quickly.{{book ref|sa4|9}}{{book ref|sa4|111}} The [[Order of Lightweavers|Lightweavers]] aspire to act as the coalition's spies, though their ability to [[Soulcast]] is also important in that it can feed the army without the inevitable danger that [[Soulcasting#Soulcasters|Soulcaster]] users face.{{book ref|sa4|21}}

 

== Notes ==