Ammanas, on May 9 2009, 08:58 PM, said:
Back in MoI, there were plenty of Kell for everyone. Let's see--Tool and the Seguleh had some success against them. K&B survived an attack. The horse and rope trick used by the Grey Swords was effective, IIRC.
Tool and the Seguleh aren't your average humanoid soldier. A 14th soldier, be they heavies or marines, are not going to be displaying a skill anywhere near what those scary sword fighters could do.
KB&B are super strong/skilled warlocks. Again, not what you can expect being displayed by the 14th in an average clash. Quick, Sinn, maybe a few unknown mages among the 14th could do the same, but for how long? and against how many?
The Horse trick was cute. It only cost the Grey Swords... what? 50 dead perhaps? along with the loss of of an unknown number of valuable horses. Those numbers don't sound good for the 14th.
Ammanas, on May 9 2009, 08:58 PM, said:
However, I never understood why the Andii didn't unveil Kurald Galain against them. We've seen Rake do it in GoTM and MoI, it's devastating. Also, he told Korlat early in MoI not to hesitate to unveil KG against Kallor if he moved against Silverfox and I believe she questioned the wisdom of such a move, considering how many Andii were present. I interpreted as meaning she believed that would be far more power unleashed than was needed to slay Kallor.
I'm curious why the Andii didn't unveil against the Kell.
An unveiling sounds to be a complicated ritual not something you just use over and over.
When Rake gave permission to using the unveiling and Korlat was surprised, it proved one thing. Rake gauged Kallors strength to possibly be much greater than what was apparant. It showed just how scary the guy is. some... 70, I think the number was, Andii were needed to destroy the CGs nascent realm. 1100 Andii would have nuked the entire subcontinent of the Panion Domin, but Rake thought that many may be needed to take Kallor out for sure.
Your question is of course interesting. When I just started the forum, I used to ask those questions constantly. Why didn't they use an unveiling to remove the entire panion domin from the face of the earth? Why didn't Brood step out of portal warren ten kilometers from the Panion Capital and smack his hammer in the ground? Why didn't all the T'lan Imass dust travel immediatly into the Panion Domin and begin the slaughter? Why didn't Olar Ethil nuke the Seer. Why didn't Hood just open his warren over the Panion Domin and rain death on the continent? Why didn't he use his army? Why didn't K'rull just put all the Panions to sleep? Why didn't the House of Shadow get directly involved in the fight when their attempt to sneak in Apsalar failed? Etc. etc. etc.
The answer is of course, that then we wouldn't have had a kick ass convergence, the circumstances and the actions of the characters are tailored to set up the final stages.