[OB] How big is the voidbringer army? And where is it?

[ICanDream]

The desolation has come! Humans fight voidbringers! But how many voidbringers soldiers are there?

There were  reputedly “tens of thousands” of parshman laying siege to Kholinar during Part Three and the fleet at the Battle of Thaylen Field seemed impressive. But how big were they, exactly?

I would put all the voidbringer numbers to around 100,000 based on given numbers and in-world descriptions, as well as my own assumptions here and there. But there should be many more than this.  That fact leads us to a second, more important question: where are the other voidbringers. During Dalinar’s trip to Azir (I don’t have the book on me, so go ahead and call me out on any inaccuracies) the voidbringers are gone, leading to an economic disaster. They aren’t described as simply not working the fields, they’re said to have left. So where have they gone?

One answer could be Kholinar or Marat.  But there doesn’t seem to be multiple countries-worth of parshman at either of their locations, with numbers in the tens of thousands. So where? Iri? That certainly seems plausible, considering that they are under Odium’s control. But why would they be there if Iri has seceded to the voidbringers? They aren’t putting up a fight. There is no point in going.

Althekar? All the voidbringers have left Alethkar, or are in Kholinar. 

So where are they going? I believe Brandon is setting up something. I don’t know what, but the voidbringers are somewhere, out there, doing something. 

My guess? Aimia. Brandon has built up this mysterious place for three books, with even an interlude there, and an interlude from an Aimian themself. For now, this only a wild theory, but there you go. Something is going on with Aimia, so could this be linked to it?

Also, Shinovar. The shin have many honourblades and to steal them would be to cripple humanity. It could be linked to Moash and his murder of Jezrien. Will he do the same to other heralds and take the honourblades?

Fell free to pick this apart. And if you have any numbers about the voidbringer army, please share them.

 

[recneps]

I don't believe that they're all gathering in any spot. I think it's more likely that they're going to follow the pattern already shown: One region's Singer population at a time comes under personal focus of Odium and is incited to violent and coordinated revolt to conquer the region. They did this with Kholinar, and again with Thaylen City. Aimia also seems like an unlikely target. It feels much more like a Shadar Logoth than the sight of a major battle.. Additionally, there doesn't seem to be an Oathgate on Aimia, which would result in there being not much conflict between the Knights Radiant and the Voidbringers over it. It'd be mostly Voidbringers versus Aimians, with little chance of the Knights Radiant making a difference. It seems like it'd be an overall easy conquest for the Voidbringers, and so I doubt it'll be the focus.. I do believe that the Honourblades are a highly likely target. Potentially a Skybreaker raid on them, as many Skybreakers have sworn themselves to the Voidbringers.. Skybreakers have great mobility, more so than probably any of the Voidbringer army, and so would be able to infiltrate Shinovar quietly. They also are highly adept at combat, except we don't know how well the Stone Shamans could counter them.

[RShara]

5 minutes ago, recneps said:

I don't believe that they're all gathering in any spot. I think it's more likely that they're going to follow the pattern already shown: One region's Singer population at a time comes under personal focus of Odium and is incited to violent and coordinated revolt to conquer the region. They did this with Kholinar, and again with Thaylen City. Aimia also seems like an unlikely target. It feels much more like a Shadar Logoth than the sight of a major battle.. Additionally, there doesn't seem to be an Oathgate on Aimia, which would result in there being not much conflict between the Knights Radiant and the Voidbringers over it. It'd be mostly Voidbringers versus Aimians, with little chance of the Knights Radiant making a difference. It seems like it'd be an overall easy conquest for the Voidbringers, and so I doubt it'll be the focus.. I do believe that the Honourblades are a highly likely target. Potentially a Skybreaker raid on them, as many Skybreakers have sworn themselves to the Voidbringers.. Skybreakers have great mobility, more so than probably any of the Voidbringer army, and so would be able to infiltrate Shinovar quietly. They also are highly adept at combat, except we don't know how well the Stone Shamans could counter them.

I thought there was an Oathgate at Akinah?

Edited January 29, 2018 by RShara

[recneps]

Oh, Akinah is on Aimia? Hmm.. That does raise more potential for conflict, if the Knights Radiant found out about any Voidbringer plot to take Aimia. Except it seems unlikely that the Aimians would come forward with knowledge about that. They've been maintaining secrecy for a very long time, and have been murdering to maintain it. I doubt they'd reveal the secrets and allow the Knights Radiant to come invade, even if it were for the defense of the island.

[RShara]

Yeah Akinah.