Quote Originally Posted by Tvtyrant View Post
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I no longer have my books, but I'm reasonably sure the Shaido field 100,000 soldiers as a single tribe when they invade Carhein. The Borderlands are similarly militaristic, have a better environment and manage to field armies smaller than that when they abandon their countries to talk to Rand (which they state strips them of their capabilities.)

And Tear has a population of millions and falls to what? 1,000 Aiel?



I don't hate the Aiel but I appreciate the jokes about them.
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It's been a while, but I think the Borderlanders brought over 200,000 when they went looking for Rand, and while that may have been a large portion of their total force it definitely wasn't everything, because they're not so stupid as to leave the Blight completely undefended.

And yes, they have a better environment and are at least in shouting distance on cultural military emphasis, but they also have a much smaller total land area. The Aiel desert covers an area similar in size to half of the entire Wetlands, and they brought everything to answer the call of He Who Comes With the Dawn.