Defend the Land!

[matrixman]

Fun discussion going on here, folks!

How about this:
Troy finds out the size and direction of Fouls army well before the time he needs to commit his forces in anyway.
Now what can he do with what he has?
preparing for a siege of Revelstone would be the best option.
They would still hold the SoL so Foul can't use the weather against them like he does later.
And they still have the Bloodguard so Revelstone is safe.
Elena would still go on the Earthblood quest since they would still have access to the mountains (maybe Amok knows a secret way)

In saying Revelstone would still hold the Staff of Law, I assume you mean Elena journeys to Melenkurion Skyweir without it? That would be pretty radical, since my understanding is that traditionally only the High Lord ever wields the Staff. Perhaps you're thinking Elena could "authorise" one of the Lords to hold the Staff in her absence? Interesting scenario, but I can't see her (or any High Lord) letting go of the SoL. Sorry, maybe I'm splitting hairs over a technicality that is at a tangent to the topic, heh.

[Warmark]

i think he was saying the Lords in general still have the SoL therefore there would be no unatuarel winter if the army beseiged revelstone during TIW

[Gadget nee Jemcheeta]

Well everything would have been a lot easier if they hadn't installed a madwoman as a highlord. I don't know how Mhoram let that happen... With the staff of law on their side, they could have done some real damage I think, especially to that pesky chunk of illearth stone.

[High Lord Tolkien]

i think he was saying the Lords in general still have the SoL therefore there would be no unatuarel winter if the army beseiged revelstone during TIW

You are correct sir!

[wayfriend]

But, again, I'm not asking whether the Lords would allow it, I'm asking could it be done? I think it could.

Well, then, I insist that Fleshharrower be allowed an equal chance at improving his battle tactics!

For example, if you have seven times seven less forty years to invade an adjacent territory, overthrow the existing regime, and wipe out all insurgents, did Fleshharrower have the best plan? Which was, basically, assemble your troops into one massive force, and march it in. I don't think so.

If you were Fleshharrower, would you have chased Troy's army to Doom's Retreat, or would you have headed to Revelstone? Yeah, I think I would, too.

Does Fleshharrower get arial reconnaissance by careful use of his griffons?

Does Fleshharrower get any ur-vile special forces to steath into enemy terrritory and destroy key targets, create confusion, and disrupt enemy communications?

Etc. Etc.

BTW, has anyone hit upon using Ranyhyn for time-defying communication? Say Mhoram hangs out north of Mt Thunder, Elena hangs out south. Keep both their Ranyhyn in Revelstone. Which ever Lord sees Foul's army approaching summons their Ranyhyn. Revelstone gets notified three or four days before it even happens! More if you get the Ranyhyn to promise to walk slow.

[Edelaith]

Good point, Wayfriend. The Ranyhym would have been devastating working as intelligence agents.

To all: I'm not trying to be a pessimist or a wet blanket, or attack the What If scenario presented in this thread (I happen to love What If scenarios, actually.)
By all means, go for a way for the Lords to win. They certainly tried to win! And they DID win over Fleshharrower, so why not speculate on the What If?

In a sense, Hile Troy, Lord Mhoram, and the Warward pulled off an astounding victory. They destroyed an army 20 times their size, saved the heavily populated regions of the Land from devastation, and lost only 16,000 of their own in the process, plus several Lords and the Warmark himself.
The ancient Greeks pulled stunts like that ...

FINAL victory over Lord Foul was not possible without Covenant. But the Lords could delay that victory, until Covenant decided to actually get up and do something useful (a much harder proposition than the non-reader of Donaldson might suspect!)

-

I think a mistake is being made here concerning the geography, simply because Donaldson hasn't fully developed it, and everyone is assuming the Center Plains are one big flat region like western Kansas.
If you look at Covenants' run through the Center Plains in The Wounded Land, it becomes obvious this is not true. There are large lakes. There are areas of woodland. There are hills and valleys, and smaller rivers. And the Center Plains are huge, stretching over 200 miles from north to south, and 600 from east to west. A vast area for an attacking army to assail and take, especially if the terrain is the more rugged region described in The Wounded Land.

Also, if we are going to do the What If scenario, we need to know the population of the Upper Land. How else can we figure out the potential strength of the Warward?
Are there only a couple tens of thousands of inhabitants? 100,000? 200,000? 500,000? A million? Two million? Five million? (At 5 million, we are reaching medieval levels of habitation.) Ten million?

The population of Revelstone is only a few tens of thousands, apparently, but that does not necessarily dictate that the Land is sparsely inhabited!
Remember that in medieval societies nearly all the population lives in the countryside. Over 90%, at the very least, is out there in the rural areas. In India today, most of that nations' 1 billion plus people still live in rural villages and on farms.
So I could see over a million people in the Upper Land, yet only two major cities (Revelstone and Revelwood.)

[[Syl]]

Troy lost because he thought he couldn't. He also needed the victory to feel worthy of the Land (and Elena). If you wanted Troy to defeat Foul, you bascially needed Elena to break his heart before they even left Revelstone. If you wanted to win, you'd have to be willing to sacrifice everything, possibly even victory (if that makes any sense), and maybe you'd win. Otherwise, Foul would bend you to his plans. That's my answer.

[Warmark]

Do we even know how effective a few hundred Giants would have been anyway? It was never really discussed. It seemed that the First of the Search was unique. None of the other Giants even had swords.

well we saw Foamfollower at Soaring woodhelvin he was pretty useful
admitly 4 or 5 cavewights could take him down but a concentrated force of many giants in my opinion would be unstoppable without Flesharrowers illearth stone

also didnt the gaints fight the sandgorgens for a time that would have been difficult

thinking about the kresh i would have spread sharp objects for them to stand on

if the plan was for a defensive battle at Dooms retreat why not fortify it? stakes in the ground, boulders ready to be dropped etc

im not talking about a roman fortifcation just simlpe barriers to slow the enemy allowing them to be slain by missle fire.

when did they invent the fire arrows used in tPTP? they would have been useful.

even thought the march wasnt planned why not make it easier ? paved roads?

could they have enlisted some wanyhim?

i agree with revelwood being to much of a taget and simply wated Amatin and callindrill who would have been very useful in the seige of revelstone.

when marching south why not enlist the local gravlingas and heartthalls? to aid them for instance throwing graving at urvile wedges and vitirol.

[drew]

Since we're all having fun shooting down eachothers ideas, I thought I'd shoot down Wayfriends:

BTW, has anyone hit upon using Ranyhyn for time-defying communication? Say Mhoram hangs out north of Mt Thunder, Elena hangs out south. Keep both their Ranyhyn in Revelstone. Which ever Lord sees Foul's army approaching summons their Ranyhyn. Revelstone gets notified three or four days before it even happens! More if you get the Ranyhyn to promise to walk slow.

The Ranyhyn would not stay in Revelstone, without their rider being there.

Plus what are Mhoram and Elena supposed to do, just sit their for months and wait?
Well I guess they could have had an Eoward with them, but still, what about the person who didn't see Fouls army-how long would they be required to wait before they headed back home.
Or what if, while en-route, a pack of kresh come running at them, and they need to call their Ranyhyn to get going quickly? That would screw everything up.

Not to shoot your idea down Way (but that's what this whole thread seems to be about)-I do aggree that a better early warning plan should have been in place. Like the comunication rods, enlisting the help of the Unfettered-man they could have come in handy eh?

[Gadget nee Jemcheeta]

I think the staff of Law alone might have tipped the scales to some degree if Elena hadn't been such a jerk about taking it with her on her field trip...

[Edelaith]

My pardons, all. I've thought and thought on this one, and - as Donaldson would say - it leaves me in a conundrum.
I keep thinking of effective ways for the Lords and their allies to stop the assault, but every way I think of leads inexoribly to the Lords becoming like their enemy. And that's an automatic victory for Lord Foul if they do.
I'm still thinking on this: it's an interesting What If. But the Defense, whatever it is, has to include the restrictions meted out by the Oath of Peace, and the inability of the Defenders to work together (the Bloodguard will not leave Revelstone, the Ramen will not leave the Plains of Ra, the Giants are way over in Seareach, the Forestal will not willingly help other Defenders, etc.)

And these restrictions are maddening. I fall into the habit of thinking in terms of expediency, ruthlessness, of the old Whatever It Takes philosophy. Human life does not matter. Collateral damage does not matter. Scorched earth does not matter. That is how war is fought in our world.
But the rules of the Lords and their allies are very different, and those rules have to be obeyed. The Lords will not break their own rules, even to save themselves.

I'm still thinking on it.
I have to give the Lords this: they never lost hope. They had no hope from the beginning, but they never lost hope (with exceptions like Callindril.) Had they lost hope, they would have ceased being what they were. Had they lost hope, they would never have followed Hile Troy in the first place.

Perhaps this What If scenario needs a time limit. That is, the ability to defend the Land for a specified number of years after the onslaught of Fleshharrower.
Let's say that it would take Covenant 100 years to decide to get up and do something, and confront Foul, from the time of Fleshharrowers' attack (it was actually 7 years before Covenant acted.)
How, then, could Hile Troy, Elena, the Lords, and their allies defend the Upper Land, Giant Woods, and Seareach for those 100 years?

[CovenantJr]

And these restrictions are maddening. I fall into the habit of thinking in terms of expediency, ruthlessness, of the old Whatever It Takes philosophy. Human life does not matter. Collateral damage does not matter. Scorched earth does not matter. That is how war is fought in our world.
But the rules of the Lords and their allies are very different, and those rules have to be obeyed. The Lords will not break their own rules, even to save themselves.

That's pretty much why I asked the question. I can't see any way the Lords could have done any significant damage to Foul's army - never mind win - while still holding to the principles they hold sacred above even life. That's why I was trying to ask "We know the Lords couldn't win, but could someone?" Perhaps someone willing to sacrifice whatever needs sacrificing could do it - not that I'm saying they should. Hence my suggestion of basically flinging chunks of Landsdrop on the Despiser's army, or damming the river.

My thinking is basically this: If we hole up in Revelstone (or anywhere, for that matter) the Despiser's army will have the run of the Land. We can't win then because all the civilians will cut to pieces - and if nothing else, the Warward wouldn't fight for someone who lets their loved ones die. Then I thought maybe we could (give that we have 40-odd years) bring everyone into Revelstone, then when the attack comes shift them all to the plateau and the mountains beyond, then let the Despiser's army break in - and drop the whole of Revelstone on them. But I don't think it's possible to demolish Revelstone. So that left me with the option of preventing the army breaching the Upper Land at all...

[Gadget nee Jemcheeta]

I think a lot of good would have been done by keeping the loresraat in the defensible revelstone

[Edelaith]

Ok, I'll take the bait on the What If (using the Whatever It Takes approach)

Hile Troy came from our world, and from the American military at that, so he had a great deal of knowledge about firearms.
Since he had several years in which to work before the onslaught of Fleshharrow, he should have worked with the Lords to build an extensive military/industrial complex to produce firearms and high explosives. Given the capacity of the Loresraat and the industriousness of the Lords, they should have had gun and ammo factories going fairly quickly.

A mandatory draft should have been imposed on all the men and women of the Land excluding the Plains of Ra (an independent people) and the Haruchai (also an independent people.) In any case, the Ramen had their own draft, and the Haruchai were bound by their Oath.
This would have increased the size of the Warward to over 3,000,000 strong, and the military/industrial complex would have seem them equipped with handguns, rifles, and cannon. Hand grenades, mines, and other personal explosives would have been ready.

Railroads (easily conceived of by Hile Troy) could have freighted the Warward to any part of the Land where it was needed.
Telegraph wires would have ensured communications (as long as they were guarded and repaired after attacks.)
It is even possible the Giants could have built Ironclads, which could have patrolled the Soulsease, Black, and Landrider Rivers, as well as threatening Foul by sea.

The use of high explosives could have rendered Landsdrop all but unclimbable, and the entire cliff face could have been rigged for hundreds of miles in case anyone tried an ascent.
Vast minefields could have been enplaced around Mount Thunder, and all through the lands both directly below and above Landsdrop.

Let Fleshharrower and his vast army try to ascend Landsdrop, when explosives are sending avalanches down to bury the climbers, and the booming of thousands of cannon are raining destruction down on his troops.
As for the rifles, the men and women of the Land were sharpshooters (see LFB, the bridge in Mount Thunder) and with rifles could have picked off targets in the Spoiled Plains from atop Landsdrop, in what would have been a massacre of Fleshharrowers' forces.

And, of course, even should Fleshharrower somehow break through the cannonades, the rifle volleys, the high explosives blowing Landsdrop apart as they climbed, the minefields behind, they would face a wall of guns (the Alamo on a grand scale, with defenders ever bit as determined.)

(chuckles ruefully) Lord Mhoram would faint in horror at the implications of these suggestions. After all, large amounts of timber would be required, and coal mines, and iron mines, and air pollution, and ...

[Scorn the Terrible]

Actually, as long as there was someone to fight, Fleshharrower's army would never go hungry.

One of the many advantages of having cannibals working for you, eh?

[Edelaith]

I posted this in the other thread, but thought it appropriate to put it here also.
In this Defend the Land scenario, I am taking up the Bloodguard. I am moving them, as a chess player might move a rook or a queen.
I am curious to see if others take up other powers, to see whether they can further the situation for the Lords or the Despiser ... and to see what consequences the Bloodguard actions might have.
So, post your thoughts on this, if you would. I'd like to hear what you think.

The movements of the Bloodguard assume the following:

- Hile Troy and most of the Lords have departed Revelstone with the Warward, heading for Dooms' Retreat.
- High Lord Elena and Thomas Covenant have left Revelstone, seeking the Earthblood.
- Lord Shetra, Lord Hyrim and their company has departed for Coercri to succor the Giants.
- As of those departures, everything has gone as it did in the book, including the onslaught of Fleshharrower and his army.

Copied and pasted, with modifications:

- At the command of First Mark Korik, the 500 Bloodguard at Revelstone immediately summon their Ranyhim mounts.
- 400 of the Bloodguard ride out from Revelstone, leaving 100 behind to protect Lord's Keep in case of a surprise assault unforeseen by the Bloodguard. (Note: these Bloodguard immediately begin pressing all able bodied men and women in the Revelstone area into militia service, rapidly creating a force of tens of thousands of militia. Only if the Lords directly object do they cease this operation: protests by the native people are ignored, and any forcible opposition is immediately crushed.)
- 50 of the Bloodguard and Raynhim fan out to the north, west, and south, and east of Grimmerdhore. After that, nothing comes out or goes into the Forest without observation. Enemy scouts coming out of Grimmerdhore are slaughtered. Enemy forces coming out of Grimmerdhore are monitored. (It is unlikely, though, that enemy forces emerge.)
- 350 Bloodguard and Raynhim invade Grimmerdhore, leading an all out assault on the Kresh and Ur-Viles entrenched within the Forest. This is the equivalent of an assault on the Forest by 21,000 warriors of the Warward (see below.)

- After the 350 invading Bloodguard and 350 Raynhim have slaughtered enough of the enemy to draw the full wrath of the thousands of Kresh and hundreds of Ur-Viles in Grimmerdhore upon them, and these enemy forces are massed and on the move westward, the Bloodguard retreat swiftly from the Forest to the west.
- Several Bloodguard, in a prearranged sacrifice, begin forest fires to the north, east, and south of the massed enemy force. This has one of two effects: 1: it either awakens Grimmerdhore fully, in which case the enemy forces is slaughtered by the Forest, along with the sacrificial Bloodguard, or 2: the fire drives the massed enemy out of the western side of the Forest. (1 seems much more likely, considering the short story Gildenfire.)

- If the Forest slaughters the enemy, and kills the Bloodguard who started the fire, the situation is ended. And Grimmerdhore is now impassible to both sides. Revelstone is now warded by Grimmerdhore, since enemy forces must deter hundreds of miles around it. This is the situation desired by the Bloodguard.
- If the Forest does not awaken, the 350 Bloodguard and 350 Raynhim (minus small casualties) retreat to prepared ground where thousands of peasant levies of Stonedowner and Woodhelvenin have been mustered (mustered forcibly, if they refused peaceful conscription.) When the Kresh and Ur-Viles emerge from the burning forest, peasant archers rain arrows and stones on them by the thousands. Prairie fires are set to panic the Kresh and reduce the options of the Ur-Viles. Pit traps harry the attackers. Finally, when the Kresh and Ur-Viles attack the fortified positions, the Bloodguard, Raynhim, and peasant allies slaughter them. After the battle is done, more forest fires are set to ensure that Grimmerdhore will remain impassible for weeks to come as the Forest burns (or, awakens and puts itself out.) Grimmerdhore is thus impassible to both sides in this scenario.
When the people of the Land protest the burning of Grimmerdhore, Korik coldly tells them to take the matter up with the Lords. The Vow of the Bloodguard is to protect Lord's Keep and the Lords, not Grimmerdhore.

- The Bloodguard send all their slain upon their Raynhim to the Westron Mountains. They require an equal number of Bloodguard come from Revelstone to replace their losses, knowing these Bloodguard will quickly be replaced at Revelstone by new recruits from their Homeland.
- The Bloodguard know thousands of their own kind are ready to respond as replacements for losses. Thus, even if all 500 Bloodguard were somehow killed, they would all be replaced, over and over, for perhaps dozens of times. And if dozens of replacements - dozens of turnovers of the entire Bloodguard contingent - are the price required to see the Vow fulfilled, then so be it. Riding out from Revelstone to aid in the war counts as protecting Revelstone and the Lords, and keeping the Vow.
- Any one Bloodguard is the equal of 30 warriors of the Warward, and one Raynhim is almost as potent. (This is implicitly stated by Mhoram in LFB.) Therefore, 400 Bloodguard and 400 Raynhim are the effective equal of 24,000 warriors of the Warward. A fact they know well.

- Some of the Bloodguard scouts are returned by now, the fire having being a signal to ride back. They present information on the North Plains, Landsdrop, and areas east of burning Grimmerdhore. They carry information from the native inhabitants of those regions, where their scouting did not take them personally (and, of course, all the people of the North Plains are on high alert, and have their own scouts watching Landsdrop and the Lower Land, as well as Mount Thunder and Grimmerdhore.)
- Assuming the Bloodguard scouts report no assaulting force north of burning Grimmerdhore or preparing to pass north around burning Grimmerdhore, the Bloodguard prepare to ride south toward the approaching war.

Bannor ABSOLUTELY REFUSES to reveal any secrets to Covenant or High Lord Elena, thus preventing them from reaching the Earthblood.
The Bloodguard know that Knowledge Unearned Always Turns on the Wielder. The Bloodguard know the Lords have not even earned the Second Ward, much less the Seventh, and they are not constrained by Kevins' messenger to obedience. The Bloodguard know the Lords have fallen into folly to even seek out the Seventh Ward, and in no way will they endanger the Lords by approving that folly and furthering it.
Thus, the life of High Lord Elena is preserved, the Staff of Law is preserved, the Law of Death is not broken, and the location of the Earthblood remains known but unaccessible ... until the Lords earn the knowledge and thus the right to seek it out, and the Bloodguard will then give them their secret knowledge.

[firelion]

I would hide roofing tacks in the grass for miles around Revelstone-ever stepped on one?I have,after walking thrue ten miles of these babies I bet even an ur-vile would cuss and try to tiptoe back home.

[MrKABC]

Edelaith:

Interesting scenario with the Bloodguard... one fatal flaw in it though. There weren't 500 Bloodguard at Revelstone. 200 of them had joined the Warward to support Hiltmark Quaan at the battle of the Mithil Valley to delay Fleshharrower.

A Word of Warning required tending in order for it to remain viable. If Words had been placed at Landsdrop (as postulated earlier) each one would have required a Lord standing by to maintain it, and each Word could have been easily undone by ur-viles.

Also... Fleshharrower only commanded "little more than a third" of the Despiser's forces. Who is to say that Lord Foul would not have sent Satansfist and *his* army to attack at an alternate location should defenses at Landsdrop prove to be formidable? Imagine TWO Giant-Ravers with two pieces of the Stone, directly supported by the balance of the Illearth Stone itself. Foul's biggest error was in not using the Illearth Stone itself to ravage the Lords' armies or the Lords themselves. I doubt even the Staff of Law could have withstood such an assault.

[MrKABC]

Whoa! It appears others have been giving this topic some thought as well:

theland.antgear.com/war.html

Wow... what a comprehensive strategy...

[Edelaith]

Thank you for the reply, MrKABC. Your point is well taken.
In my opinion, those 200 Bloodguard are the reason Quaan held out so long. 200 Bloodguard are like having 6,000 soldiers of the Warward.

Ok, let me modify the above strategy:

The 300 Bloodguard remaining at Revelstone still press the local population into militia.
The Bloodguard who ride out to assault Grimmerdhore still press the local population near the forest into service as militia.
The Bloodguard that scout around Grimmerdhore still receive reports on Landsdrop, Mount Thunder, and the areas east of Grimmerdhore from the local people, who are on high alert.

All the remaining Bloodguard at Revelstone summon their Ranyhim (at this point in time, such a summons is still possible.)
The Bloodguard deploy 250 of their own in the Grimmerhore campaign, and leave 50 within the walls of Revelstone.
10 Bloodguard (of the 250 heading out) fan out from Revelstone as scouts, to ensure no enemy is approaching Lord's Keep from any direction.
10 Bloodguard (of the 250 heading out) ride around Grimmerdhore as scouts. They still kill any enemy scouts they encounter.

230 Bloodguard and their Raynhim commence the assault on Grimmerdhore. They point of the assault is not to destroy the enemy Kresh and Ur-Vile forces within, but to force these foes to congregate and counterattack the Bloodguard (if they refuse to do so, they are wiped out piecemeal.)
The Bloodguard and Raynhim then retreat west out of the Forest.
The sacrificial Bloodguard then fire the forest north, east, and south of the enemy force, forcing it out of the Forest westward, where the main force of Bloodguard, Raynhim, and militia are waiting to destroy them, assuming Grimmerdhore does not wake up and do the job itself (which is still the likely outcome, considering the story Gildenfire.)
The Bloodguard send their casualties Home, and the replacements go to Revelstone. Casualties are probably few, since the Bloodguard assault was not meant to give direct battle, but rather to harass the enemy into gathering together and marching on them.

THEN ...

Bloodguard Scouts from the Battle of the Mithil report back, and state Fleshharrower has 400,000 strong in his army, including 20,000 cavewights and 30,000 ur-viles.

And Something Interesting happens at this point:

Korik (or an appointed Bloodguard) rides Home through Guards' Gap, and the Haruchai hold a Council.
It is appreciated that 500 Bloodguard cannot indefinitely succor Lord's Keep from an army of that size. Eventually, they will all fall in battle, and will have to be replaced.
I stress: replaced. For the Vow MUST be fulfilled. The Haruchai are absolutists: they must fulfill the Vow and protect the Lords and Revelstone, at any and all costs.
And the Haruchai will quickly see, that since 500 Bloodguard cannot hold Revelstone, that they will be replaced piecemeal, until thousands of Haruchai have gone and died in Bloodguard service, and that this still will not save Revelstone ...
The Haruchai will come to a logical conclusion:

ALL of them will eventually be called upon to fulfill the Vow.
They will fail because ALL of them are not present, at ONCE, to fight for Revelstone with their combined might.
Therefore, the Haruchai will ALL gather and march to Revelstone, so that they can fulfill the Vow by protecting Revelstone with the full might of their people - they would have had to do so anyways; this way gives the highest probability of success.

I'm guessing there are at least 10,000 male Haruchai in their Homeland. That's a low guess, based on the incredibly hostile, bitterly cold environment of their Home. Their population could be considerably greater. But let's say 10,000.
So now we have 10,000 Bloodguard at Revelstone. A force equivalent to 300,000 warriors of the Warward!

(Lord Mhoram stated it would take 100 Bloodguard, or every warrior Revelstone could provide, to cross Grimmerdhore in Lord Fouls' Bane. At that time, Revelstone had 3000 warriors of the Warward, so I am going on a 30 to 1 ratio. A Raynhim is the equal of a Haruchai in combat, or close to being an equal, so I'm using the same 30 to 1 ratio.)

At this point, the Bloodguard - 10,000 strong - send scouts to patrol the entire length of Landsdrop north of Fleshharrowers' onslaught, and Bloodguard scouts monitor Mount Thunder.
Since Korik sent 200 Bloodguard to aid Quaan, the Bloodguard obviously consider holding Fleshharrower back a top priority, as they should.

9,000 Bloodguard set out for the distant Mithil Battle.
Around 800 Bloodguard and Raynhim remain at Revelstone.
200 Bloodguard are involved in the scouting.
And the 200 Bloodguard with Quaan are, of course, still fighting to hold Fleshharrower back.

The Bloodguard do not attempt to summon the Raynhim since Fleshharrowers' army lies between them and the Plains of Ra.
As a result, the Bloodguard arrive too late to prevent Quaan from being driven back into the South Plains (the Bloodguard can cover great distances in a day, but the distance they must travel is enormous.)
Instead, the Bloodguard army of 9,000 intercepts the Vanguard of Fleshharrowers' army. 9000 Bloodguard are an overwhelming force. The entire Vanguard of Kresh and Ur-Viles is massacred. Fewer than 50 Bloodguard are killed.
Quaans' six remaining Eoward and the 100 surviving Bloodguard with him are thus spared further losses.

When Hile Troy looks down from Kevins' Watch, he sees Fleshharrowers' Vanguard of Kresh and Ur-Viles lying dead, and an enormous Bloodguard army succoring his mounted Eowards.