A way to end the war with chalced [posible spoilers]

[assasin]

I'm new here and if you feel this thread has no relevence can you please tell me.

Heres a way that I feel chalced can be annialated.

stage 1
The pirate isles start a mass raiding similar to the red ship war. The fisrt cut off all trade and then start inland attacks.

stage 2
The mountain kingdom and six duchies start an overland attack while chalced is distracted.

stage 3
The stone dragons are awakened and start forging the milatary.

stage 4
an alliance is mde with several of the dragons [possibly convining them with reasons such as the duke tried to kill and eat several of them.]. They start their assualt.

Within a few months chalced would probably be defeated easily. The slaves would be freed. The nothern alliance [duchies and mountain] would gain more territory. Everyone would have an enemy removed. Everybody wins.

[Nuytsia]

Probably ..... although I know next to nothing of the geography and social/political structures of chalced so can't say for sure!

But it DOES seem as if no-one likes chalced so it does seem strange they haven't done as you suggest....

[assasin]

No it doesnt. Jamailia doesnt hate chalced. Bingtown doesnt have the soldiers. The pirate isles are newly formed. As such the only real competion is the duchies and the mountain kingdom. Since the duchies dont want to fight another war they're out. Not that strange.

[Liquid Ice]

Well any suggestion to do with dragons or stone dragons is a lil.. iffy. Doubt you should just awaken them or could awaken them at any time you want.

And normal dragons wouldn't fight for humans unless they had something to gain... and even then I doubt they would bother.

Cutting off trade and raiding is an option. Though I think (Not sure) alot of traders use Claced and a meaningful source of income so unless they can profit from something else it wouldn't be that easy to just say "no more"

Also I believe Stage 2 was suggested at one point during the Tawny Man. Kettricken was given alot of gifts and then the suggestion was made... though I don't remember why she declined it... other then it not benefiting them at the current time.

[assasin]

I agree with the dragons. Though it is an option.If not a foolproof one.

With trade it wouldnt matter if chaced attacked first.

Yes but then they would only be fightng on one fron [its not like bingtown was going on the offensivet]. This way they can pull an offensive from the north and the east.

Another possible prewar startegy could be to pull an amber and start a slow build up to a slave rebellion. Basicly start freeing slaves and then create an underground movement. That way that when the chalcedeans are detsracted by the duchies and raids the slaves can rise up another front right in the midde can start.

[redchild]

There are other ways to settle matters between nations than outright war.
In fact, Chade's job is to do just that: to protect the Six Duchies by preventing war before it starts.
Fitz's interference managed to avoid a possible rebellion/civil war by Rippon.
Kettricken's marriage with Verity and Dutiful's marriage to Elliania cemented a peaceful alliance with the Mountain Kingdom and the Outislanders-- two nations who were once belligerents are now allies.
Kennit's unification of the Pirate Isles, while not bloodless, I believe has saved more lives than it cost.

There are probably more examples but I can't think of anything right now.

Chalced is also a powerful nation that many foreign countries depend on for trade. To topple Chalced would rip a great gaping political and economic vacuum that would devastate not only Chalcedeans, socially and economically, but those who had previously depended on them.

I think the Chalcedean people and their culture needs to be further explored, and whether the wants of the people are the same as those of its leaders, especially the ones who control the military. Just as the Outislanders are presented as the 'bad guys' in the Farseer series, we are presented with a much closer look in the Tawny Man series and we find that not all Outislanders are bloodthirsty barbarian killers. A few rotten apples shouldn't spoil the bunch.

All the information we've had about Chalced so far are stereotypes presented by non-Chalcedeans. The merchant Sinad Arich is the first Chalcedean we meet whose actions implies that Chalced has its own internal problems to deal with, and perhaps premature judgement would not give you a good idea of what Chalced is made of.

[assasin]

Do you really think a peace treaty would stop chalced if war was to their advantage/ Though I guess this is a hypothetical sitation.

[redchild]

Well there are other ways to prevent it from happening in the first place. While there doesn't seem to be general unrest, there seems to be evidence pointing to an eventual upheaval.

Right now it seems certain people in Chalced are after different things. It's quite possible that there are disparate factions in Chalced, vying for power. Some want land from the Six Duchies, others want dragon parts-- either to sell for profit or to consume for its magical properties, while others simply want to maintain the status quo. Exploiting certain interests can turn the course of events that may avoid war with another nation, or if war is inevitable, then it may force Chalced to accept a peace treaty on better terms than any onslaught of troops. A slave rebellion, for example, can cripple Chalced as slavery is a big part of their society and is also the foundation of their economy.

[Nuytsia]

Righty ho then

No it doesnt. Jamailia doesnt hate chalced. Bingtown doesnt have the soldiers. The pirate isles are newly formed. As such the only real competion is the duchies and the mountain kingdom. Since the duchies dont want to fight another war they're out. Not that strange.

[Farseer]

I second all of your insights and comments, redchild - bravo!

There is still so much to learn of Chalced (the land and its people; history, politics and motivations etc), and it's through this gradual process of increased understanding (ours, as the readers, as well as the characters') that options not previously seen/sought may still yet be found.

While it is said that "there is always war with Chalced", we have all of these other, more diplomatic alternative pathways to peace and the subsequent changes that have been wrought within the realm shows firm evidence of their effectiveness.

The eventual toppling of Chalced may be started with something as simple as causing a break in the slave 'elfbark cycle', and then other resulting factors may come into play. Truly, the resolutions we have seen so far have all come about with only relatively small changes or shifts in perspective.

Of course, we can't rule out the issue of Changer's continued existance (sorry, I couldn't leave him out altogether !), though only time will tell if he will even have a role in these future events. An upheaval is imminent and change is certainly coming though...of that we can have no doubt.

What I don't see working is an all-out war with no diplomacy involved. Diplomacy and reason will have to be a part of the fix for the fix to be permanent. War alone, even though successful, would just postpone the cycle and time would continue in its current course, trundling on to the next phase of war, such as what happened between the Out Islanders and the Six Duchies. Certainly the SD won in the time of King Wisdom but to what end? Eventually the Out Islanders returned for their revenge and then it began again. It was only when diplomacy was also applied, along with the 'winning' of the Red Ships War, that permanent change could ensue.

War will almost always fester revenge (revenge that almost always then has to be outplayed later) but diplomacy, with or without war, allows for a greater opportunity to forgive, mend and renew.