: Ah, but Balor knew the strength of the people of Gower
: and knew he must crush them. Do you think he spent 33
: years between the fall of Muirthemne and the war in
: the west twiddling his thumbs? And even if he did
: ingnore it surely the ghols would swarm into it, I
: doubt something completely surrounded by the dark for
: 33 years is going to survive.
It seems to me that the people of Gower are viewed much the same way as the Zerks--incredibly brave and tenacious, but not world-shatteringly (war-decidingly) powerful, since they don't have 1337 mages or cutting-edge technology.
You'll recall that after TFL it turned out the Zerk homeland was "virtually untouched by the Dark... a testament to the mettle of their homeguard.” Sure, but it's also a testament to Zerks' not being important enough to wipe out wholesale. Balor and his Lords concentrated on the Province because the Nine and the remaining Dwarves were the real threat...the Zerks were just too much trouble to kill given their comparative unimportance.
I suspect the same is true of the people of Gower. Why bother tracking down every single battle-hardened warrior hiding in the scrub and sacrificing a few Thrall to finish him off? Balor has better things to do; he's got a continent to conquer. He can do Gower on cleanup.
Now that's not to say Gower didn't suffer horribly in the Great War. But they're used to suffering horribly. They spent a thousand years in villages getting devoured by Myrkridia. If 10% of their population survives a Dark attack, it's probably a good day.
--SiliconDream
