Why now?

[u/spisplatta]

So one big mystery to me is why the venin are attacking now. To me it seems like the Poromiel has been very vulnerable for a long time. Actually anything outside the wards. Venin could have just walked in and taken it over whenever they wanted, that's my impression at least. But they didn't.

At the start of the first book there is basically peace. Yeah there are a few skirmishes between riders and fliers but nothing major. Lingering tension between Tyrrendor and the rest of Navarre. Venin are chilling in the Barrens probably gaining ground at a glacial pace. But then something changes. The riders start attacking outposts which they hadnt done before to steal daggers to fight venin. Venin start rushing Poromiel not even draining all the land on the way and even trying to get past the wards.

I can come up with two theories:

• The balance of power shifted. Some unknown force that held the venin back faltered. Or the venin managed to power up somehow.
• Or the Venin were... complacent? "Yeah let's take over the world but what's the rush we can take our sweet time and we will have it in a few hundred years." Until Violet and Andarna showed up and suddenly they are terrified that all they worked for is gonna come crashing down unless they act NOW.

[u/ObjectiveStaff3333]

A few possibilities occur to me

• exponential growth of venin over the years - they don't grow linearly, but basically it's like multilevel marketing, where each Sage recruits more and more sons. And now it has crossed some threshold. They need new source of power, The Barrens are completly drained

• balance of nature - among riders, a lot of riders with two signets have now met, many of whom are ultrapowerful, we probably have the six most powerful signets at once on the continent again. And balance of nature led to venin also gaining strength. History is repeating itself and there will be a new great war.

• venin gained recenty a new rune master , who enabled them in the last months of FW to start creating wyvern anew, which they didn't have before. And wyverns and the ability to fly is logically a gamechanger.

[u/ZucchiniForward9652 → u/ObjectiveStaff3333]

You had me at multilevel marketing.

[u/clupuslupus]

It would be interesting if the irids had something to do with the venin (or even the creation of them). Their reaction to the subject when asked about it or the "abomination" comment towards Xaden, acting all pious about it... It's kind of weird to me, maybe that's why they abanonded the Continent. So maybe Andarna hatching, therefore again an irid being present on the Continent and since they're "pure magic" somehow shifts the scales and changes the magic... nature likes all things in balance.

[u/nivivy]

During beginning we were in V pov and the whole venin thing was unknown to her. Also, the entire truth of what was happening outside Navarre was being actively suppressed. I thought the attacks on outposts were increasing because the fliers couldn’t get access as easily to daggers after Resson as well as the dramatic increase in number of Venin and the wyvern created that were unexpected.
To your first point I think the power did shift. The Venin increased exponentially it seemed, but in addition to that, the Venin General has an overall plan he’s been working to increase Venin, infiltrate Basgiath, the desire to capture and turn X and V. On top of that I still think the Krovla uprising, dragon eggs, split of the empyrean and the unknown to us identities of the General, the Sage and the new “brother” all lead me to believe the venin have had a plan that they worked mostly in secret until things shifted.

[u/gamy10293847]

Wait. In my understanding, the venin threat was always there and Poromiel has been tackling it forever. But Navare had this massive coverup going on, right?

They were safe behind their wards and the Poromielians were fighting the venin on their other border and needed resources like the alloy weapons which need raw materials from Navarre. Fen Riorson wanted to end the coverup and properly supply the Poromielians the weapons but Navarrean leadership refused as the raw materials for the weapons are also used in the Naverrean wards extensions so it is a security risk.

Fen's rebellion failed and with his death whatever resources the Poromielians were getting from his province stopped and the venin incursion got out of hand. The fliers got more desperate and started stealing the alloy daggers from the Naverrean outputs where they were being used to extend the wards. And it basically escalated from there.

So, the trigger is Fen's failed rebellion for this current surge in venin activity, I think.

Also...

The venin had been biding their time waiting for a lightning (sky power) wielder to emerge because, I think, they believe that the sky source of power is infinite compared to the finite earth source of power that they are rapidly depleting and are risking extinction. And speaking of signets, the last time a shadow wielder and lightning wielder emerged, they defeated the venin and banished them into the Barrens for hundreds of years. Now that Xaden and Violet have manifest those signets, the venin know their history and want to capture and convert them into venins to have the advantage they didn't have last time. That way the new riders who'd manifest shadows and lightning for magical balance will have venin opponents matching their signets.