Idle question...

[Silver]

The are about 100,000 Aiel fighters in each clan. So, a conservative estimate is 500,000 Aiel fighters. Each of those warriors has 4 spears, that's 2,000,000 spears. Now my question is, where did the Aiel get all the wood to make that many plus surplus for when spears broke? And this isn't even considering the number arrows there are

[Guest Winespring Brother]

That's the best question I have ever seen on this board! :D Why on earth did you suddenly think that?

 

I have no idea as to the answer, but I'd say your estimates are a little conservative considering that there are 12 clans.

[Silver]

well i did say it was conservative :p and this question has been on my mind for a while, just never thought to post it

[Guest Winespring Brother]

I love idle questions to do with WoT! (or anything else for that matter) Not quite of the same nature as your question, but I have been wondering for years what the Can Breat is, and why anyone would be buried in it. Any ideas?

[Kadere]

I don't know anything about the Can Breat, but I could assume that the spears are made from wood in the Blight. The Aiel certainly aren't go over the Spine of the World to make their spears, and they do talk about how much training they do in the Blight. So that's my guess... either that or there's a secret GIANT forest in the Waste that only the Aeil know about, and RJ won't tell us.

[Zyrshnikashnu]

The are about 100' date='000 Aiel fighters in each clan. So, a conservative estimate is 500,000 Aiel fighters. Each of those warriors has 4 spears, that's 2,000,000 spears. Now my question is, where did the Aiel get all the wood to make that many plus surplus for when spears broke? And this isn't even considering the number arrows there are[/quote']

I have, actually, thought the same thing. It happened while I was developing a game that takes place in a setting similar to the Aiel Waste. As I wrote the description for a spear wespon, calling it cheap and easy to produce, I realized that I was lying. There are no trees!

 

Perhaps they have a lucrative spear trade with the Sharans.

[BenTGaidin]

Now my question is' date=' where did the Aiel get all the wood to make that many plus surplus for when spears broke?[/quote']

 

On a similar note... On the borderlands, towns keep lanterns burning all night long, along all the streets and gatess so that Myrrdraal can't slip in. Where do they get all that oil for the lanterns?

[Alys Kinch]

first it is three spears to person. when the third is purposely broken they are no longer a warrior...

and the aiel do trade for things. remember, they even trade for sung wood with the ogier. they wouldn't have to trade for spears per se, just the wood to make them.

 

and i would assume the animals in the borderlands have more fat to withstand the winter...plus added trade for the oil. i think they would even get slightly cheaper prices due to the constant demand.

[Neira]

lmao ... good question silver! You have to much free time.

 

I do believe you have beat the system silver! and i honestly don't know. as it is most likely well known, i am not a deep thinker. I have small thoughts *nods*

[Angel of Death]

Maybe there not wood spears? lol

 

I really have no idea.

 

I dont think theyd get that much wood from the ogier, as i dont think the ogier would like cutting down that many tress. I like the idea of the blight.

 

I also like the giant secret forest. :)

 

Maybe it rains wood in the waste.

[Kadere]

*strumming fingers together* Exxxxccceeellleeennnnt! Believe my absolutely moronic theories about wood in incredibly hot tempratures. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[Guest Egwene]

:lol: Silver,thanks for providing everyone with a giggle! That's a brilliant question and a lot of spears. Maybe one of the mathematical brains here could work out how many spears to one tree and how many trees for all the spears.

 

Don't forget replacements for those lost/damaged in battle. The way they live, I doubt that they inherit their ancestors original ones...

[hapazard]

Hey, just had to try to answer this.... (all calculations are in meters)

 

If we first consider that we want to make spear shafts we will have to use young trees or tree limbs, not lumber.

 

If the Ail trade for spear shafts lets then say that the spear shafts arriwe by wagon.

 

The spears are quite small, I would say that the shafts before straightening and smoothening are no more than 2 cm in diameter and have a lengt of max 1.5 m.

 

If then a wagon is 3 m long, 1,5 m broad and you can stack shafts to a heigt of 1 m on it you can fit 7500 shafts on it (50*75*2).

 

Then according to the first statement of the number of spears ( 2*10^6) it would take 266,6 wagonloads of shafts to supply the demand.

 

Say that one fourth of all spears have to be replaced each year, then 66.66 wagonloads is requierd each year or, 5.6 a month!

 

Doesn't seem impossible does it?

 

If we consider all 12 clans then the numbers will rise to 4.8*10^6 spears, 640 wagonloads, 160 a year, 14 a month.

Still not impossible!

 

Seems as a huge amount of forest that has to be cut down, not realy.

 

If we use young trees a ( 5 cm in diameter at the root and with a heigth of 3 m) a moderate densety of trees in a young forest is one / m2.

 

One square km is 10^6 square meters so for the total number of spears 2 (low number) or 4,8 (high number) square km would be needed, only a path of forest 1.4 * 1.4 or 2.2 *2.2 km big!

 

That equals 0.5 or 1.2 km2 of forest each year.

(0.7*0.7 or 1.01*1.01 km)

 

Not impossible at all.

 

Cheers!

[Eadon Sedai]

Maybe they steal the wood from the peddler wagons after they chase the drivers off...

 

 

What? No?

[Guest Egwene]

Hapazard... I bow to superior knowledge!!

 

Ever thought of applying for the job of Quartermaster??? :)

[Sweet 666]

I think that Alys Kinch was on to something with trading. Remember that the Aiel share a boarder with shara a whole country that we know very little about except that they are very rich. Also we do know that the Aiel trade with them. Also from what i know about the blight it is not a healthy place for the growth of plants, leaving them twisted and deformed most likely not the place where you would get a tree straight enough for a spear shaft. 8)

[Bob T Dwarf]

But, the Waste is not the Blight.

[Myth]

a VERY good question...and it touches upon my biggest issue with Jordan's world. how is it that there are so many Aiel?

 

i can understand why they are so bad ass, but how are there so many of 'em? how do they raise enough food and so forth in a desert? jeez! there are more Aiel than Andorans, Tairens, Cairheinen, etc. all together it seems like.

[Artemis]

If you have bought the Guide you will notice that the Waste is easily the same size (or bigger) than all the other lands eats of the Dragon wall.

[Myth]

i understand that, but it's not like a desert can support as many folks per square mile as, say, rural farmland in the Two Rivers.

 

besides, with all the super-hot Aiel ladies running around, the fellas are probably too busy with sweet lovemaking to get much farming done. 8)

[hapazard]

Does anyone have a grip on the population sizes overall?

I now I don't....

[Guest cwestervelt]

There may not even have been 100,000 Aiel that came during the Aiel War. The guide refers to 10's of Thousands, not 100's of Thousands of Aiel warriors. That was 4 clans, so about 1/3 of the total. There is likely somewhat less than 1 Million total warriors among the Aiel at that rate. All of the Aiel together likely don't even make 50 Million. That would leave them a lot of land per person. Think of them as Bedouin. If you consult wikipedia.org, you will see there there were 500000 in one tribe in the 70's and they make do with a lot less space than the waste.

 

Edit: the estimate for the Bedouin trime was 250,000 - 500,000 so I mis-stated the details a little. The thing is, large populations can survive in a desert as long as they know how to live there.