A responsible soldier wouldn't let
: his self-destructive impulses get in the way of
: protecting his empire's citizens; maybe the Heron
: Guard exiled themselves only when they were certain
: the rest of the empire had been destroyed. Not a
: perfect explanation, but then I think the
: "hundred years" was only the narrator being
: imprecise, as I already said. Does that seem unlikely
: to you?
: --SiliconDream
You are absolutely right. Remember everyone, this is not a modern world here, even if the Eastern Empire had the best news relay system in the world it would still take months(at least on foot) to get word from one end of the empire to the other. Add war time stresses on the system and the fact that Muirthemni was probably the hub of the net work and you will see that its destruction would throw what was left of the nation into disarray.
Also, the Guards were/are the most elite fighting force in the world; would it not make sense to scatter these wise, battle hardened troops around the various armies? The empire had been fighting a war for 50 years(I've seen no evidence to contradict) so the armies at the end would have been a mix of veterans and green conscripts, a situation much like what you find at the beginning of TFL. So the Herons where most likely scattered to give backbone to the Green troops. As the last provinces began to topple the guards that had heard of the sack of their home would have contacted the other survivors and made the expedition the capital. A J-Man text said they only when into penitence when they "...saw the ruin it(muirthemni)had become in their absence..." I am guessing that by that time the remnants of the empire where overrun or beyond help, so the surviving Herons(does anyone know how many there were at full strength?) Crossed the cloudspine to get the west braced.
None of these ideas invalidate anything before I think, some of the guard probably stayed behind to evacuate some of the citizens and remaining armies to the west.
Well that's all for me. :sits back to watch people blast holes in his theories:)
Respectfully
Drunken Ghol
