: I doubt that many of them actually do survive the Dark
: Age. But there at least must be a handful that do,
: either by avoiding or fighting against the forces of
: the Dark. You have to remember that the tournament is
: held ever 7 years, so in a 500 year span they will
: have over 70 tournaments. If 4 are chosen to be
: initiated every tournament, then they have at leat 280
: Heron Guards. I doubt many of them would die during
: the peacetime, so it remains a steady growth rate for
: this period.
There has only been one Dark Age, other than the Great War, since the Cath Bruig empire came into existance. As far as I can tell, it goes like this:
Axe Age. Primordial time, included dark First Era.
Age of Reason. Light Second Era. Cath Bruig Empire founded and grows for 431 years. At a rate of six new Herons every seven years, and assuming approximately 0 deaths, that means there would be 369 Herons at the start of the Wind Age.
Wind Age. Dark Third Era. Now, it seems the Cath Bruig were still around at the end of the Wind Age (they helped Connacht kill Moagim Reborn, and that's when their then-current Emperor died, leading his Herons in battle - though the Herons elected Connacht as the new Emperor, so there wasn't much shame involved I imagine), so they hung on for a thousand years. It makes sense that the Herons would still be around then, and the tourneys would still be going - perhaps the six warriors who held out the best during the latest Myrkridiam attack became Herons, or some such. So, over a thousand years, that leaves us with around 857 new Herons, plus the 369 Herons you began with. Say at least half of them die in the wars with the Myrkridia, and you've still got around 613 Herons at the end of the Wind Age.
Wolf Age. Light Fifth Era. Another thousand years of light, and assuming around 0 casualties for the Herons, with the normal rate of six new Herons every seven years, plus the 613 left at the end of the Wind Age, and you've got around 1470 Herons in the Guard at the end of the Wolf Age.
Sword Age. Sixth Era (maybe light, maybe dark, maybe neither). All but 100 Herons die at Muirthemne under Balor's attack. That means 1370 Herons were incinerated.
The big question is, how could the Guard and the whole Cath Bruig manage to survive the Wind Age and those horrible Myrkridia for a THOUSAND YEARS, but 1 and 1/3 THOUSAND Herons got turned to ash and the entire Empire was vaporized in the blink of an eye? Is Balor really that much buffer than the Krids?
