Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
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Thinking about it, dream-walking combined with Time-hop, he might be able to explain it away as gaining the memories of a previous life.
Weaving Blind (The Wheel of Time SI)
- Thread starter thebrute7
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- wheel of time self insert
tomaO2
Male
Am I alone in thinking that his paranoia was justified? I didn't trust ANY of those Channelers, ever, and their helping constantly came across as help in the way they want you to help which is frequently not going to be helpful for you.
They didn't exactly take help either. Like Mat rescuing the girls. They just did their best to pretend that it never happened until Bridgette set them straight and I'm still pissed off at them for laughing about him being turned into the queen's concubine.
Then there is all the undercover agents. You trust the wrong person you get kidnapped and beaten every night for a few weeks. Sure, the SI knows some of them but it's by no means an exhaustive list.
Besides, he went nuts from channeling and you are extremely unlikely to get any good at this before you also develop your own multiple personalities. Probably end up with both Lew AND Rand fighting over your body. Learning to fight so you don't need to rely on tainted magic that you can only half use is a sound strategy.
Far Dareis Mai being entirely self-inflicted is a legitimate point but that assumes that SI is capable of hurting women. That is such a major facet of Rand's character that I wouldn't be surprised if the SI gets stuck with it. If Sword skills carry over and some knowledge carries over, it would make sense for Rand's complete inability to hurt a women to also carry over and stop you from doing any such thing. Then again, you can just pick a male clan to carry honor and be done with it.
It's hard to imagine it being a curbstomp. He seemed constantly beset with enemies and even having a complete knowledge of the series can't stop a lot of this from happening. This isn't Worm where one normal guy can use knowledge to suddenly make the world a better place inside of a week. The story takes place over the entire continent and so much is going on and so many enemies abound. Rand is the center of everything. I would think it is easier to follow along on someone else's arc, like Perrin or Mat. They handle things that are reasonable, in comparison. They have limited objectives. Rand juggles way to many balls and has to be pretty much flippen everywhere. Plus, he can't get privacy at all.
Accepting he is the Dragon Reborn is helpful and some major things can be done, like not letting Taim be in charge of the Black. But a lot of it is really long term stuff, like cleaning the taint. Even after you get the statues, you still need to get a small army together to fight off the assault that will surely happen during it. The plan to reseal the bore will NOT go over well, no matter what. Plus the many fights.
There are no easy solutions, I'd imagine every problem SI fixes will lead to a bunch of new ones being spawned. The scope of the story is massive and Rand has a great number of extremely powerful enemies who are keeping an eye on him and are fully capable of changing their strategies based on the SI's actions.
I'd personally say you are completely bound to Rand's fate and if you weren't then you wouldn't be a Ta'vern (however it's spelled) anymore. Or, at least, a much weaker one. Which might give more freedom but will also mean he can be killed off a lot easier. Being one of those kind means you are bound to the invisible rails. Which isn't always a bad thing.
On a side note, any possibility that the Dark One also read the series? If he's telling the SI "I win again" in our world, then would he have memories of it?
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I humbly note that I wrote and completed two WoT crossovers with Ranma... but they were part of a trilogy that I admittedly gave up on. 
I'm surprised we didn't see more licking of lips on Verin's part. "Shield... me? With. With Saidin? Ahm... yes. Yes I s-suppose. That would make sense. Yes it would."
I'm surprised we didn't see more licking of lips on Verin's part. "Shield... me? With. With Saidin? Ahm... yes. Yes I s-suppose. That would make sense. Yes it would."
thebrute7
Walker of the Planes
While you make some good, valid points, I have to pick on a few.
I just disagree about the paranoia. Rand's levels of paranoia were absurd, way higher than they had any right to be. He was paranoid about Moiraine from the very first book when he learned she was Aes Sedai, and no matter how much she helped him, no matter how many times he had to be saved by her, and no matter how clear it was that she was on his side, he fought her because she was Aes Sedai and for no other reason. And he didn't stop until book 5, and only then after he extracted an oath from her after she literally begged him to let her help him. And by then it was too late and she disappeared fighting Lanfear and saving his life again. Ungrateful ass.
While I am sure there was at least one case where his paranoia helped him, I am having trouble thinking of any off the top of my head. But I acknowledge there probably is at least one.
I concede the point about the women in the series (channelers especially) generally being some level of bitchy and/or ungrateful, save a few notable exceptions - Min and Moiraine come to mind. Verin for the most part.
The undercover agents... true. However most of them aren't serious threats directly. mostly because the Dark One explicitly instructed his people not to kill Rand, and instead cause chaos and stuff. The Dark One always wanted to break Rand, not just end him. Although the example you used doesn't really count. He deliberately let those seven Aes Sedai come to him, expecting to be able to handle them with his angeal, and then they pulled six more out of their asses and took him that way. It was caused as much by his pride and arrogance in being unwilling to not see them as by anything else.
Madness and the Power vs Sworsmanship... I just disagree entirely. Rand wasted so much time on swordsmanship when he should have been learning to channel, even after he accepted being the Dragon. And sure, he got to be a bitchin' swordsman. And then got his sword-hand burned off and it was all for naught. And all the major threats, the Forsaken, Black Ajah, Dreadlords, the Seanchan, they are all best dealt with by use of the Power.
As for the madness as it relates to my SI. It was already to late. I had touched the Power the moment I was brought here. Not learning to channel won't stop the madness, only delay it slightly at best. One of the things learned in the series, in fact it is explicitly told to us by Moiraine, is that how much a man channels has almost no correlation to their madness. There are men who go mad after only touching it once, and men who go mad only after years of channeling. I think spending my time learning to channel is the best possible use of my time.
As for how Rand's instincts affect me, and might impair my ability to do things like send women to battle, the strongest instincts are the body's reflexes and learned motions (which includes things like some of the swordsmanship). Rand's memories are like half-remembered dreams at best, and will probably be mostly limited to face->name recognition and the like. (At least for now. Rand's personality showing up in the madness is always possible) But personally, I don't think I would ahve major issues (once I get over anygeneral issues), I tend to be fairly callous and distant to anyone not my immediate family (mother/Father/Sister) or my best friend, I don't know and haven't determined what issues I would have with fighting/commanding etc. yet.
All the stuff about how hard it would be to change things... yeah. That's the hard part, and causing new problems with my actions is a guarantee. If I make things better in one way I am almost certain to make things worse/harder somewhere else.
Just idle speculation, but considering the time-frame involved to the Last Battle, it might actually be better to not use the Choedan Kal to cleanse saidin before the Last Battle, and instead use them to reseal the Bore, and only cleanse saidin after. Because cleansing saidin carries the risk of destroying the only known female key. On the other hand... it means more insane male channelers. But for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction I guess.
Although to be honest I don't recall off the top of my head what the plan to reseal the Bore was... shit. My poor SI is really fucked by that, isn't he, having to figure it out on his own. Oh well.
I'll have to make a final decision soon about Rand's Fate and how bound I am to it, but there will definitely be things that Have to happen. Like the Heron brands and Dragons, or taking up Callandor. I need to refresh myself on those type of events and decide which ones will be Necessary and what I'll be allowed to change. Because being unable to change any of it would kind of defeat the purpose wouldn't it?
I think I read those once... a while ago. Maybe.I humbly note that I wrote and completed two WoT crossovers with Ranma... but they were part of a trilogy that I admittedly gave up on.
I'm surprised we didn't see more licking of lips on Verin's part. "Shield... me? With. With Saidin? Ahm... yes. Yes I s-suppose. That would make sense. Yes it would."
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tomaO2
Male
Paranoia is useful because it stopped him from just walking into the White Tower so they could trap him up and stop Rand from doing the shit he needed to do. They were trying to control him every step of the way and their solutions wouldn't have worked. He gave bread to that city, which turned out to be the best way to win their hearts and minds and have them give him their crown. Moiraine would have talked him out of that. Minor example.
Maybe I'm influenced by the first person narrative but I just could not bring myself to trust them. Moiraine always had the smell of manipulation on her, as did every other one of their kind. They needed to be plain speaking, give some respect, and take down the levels of patronization. Rand was capable of listening but they went about it the wrong way and it cost them. Which was a common theme, honestly. Like Rand "giving" Elayne the throne or how he handled the Maidens. Disasters, but ones that seem like reasonable mistakes to me and everyone made them. What became unreasonable is how a lot of them kept using the same tactics that failed to work, causing rifts that were unable to mend after awhile.
I interpreted the difference in madness to be strongly related to the person. Sure, someone can go mad after just one use but that's an outlier. I would focus on going into a stedding. You go in and you can't get any more crazy then when you were outside. The reason is because you no longer touch the taint. You don't go sane again though, madness you gathered stays put, just like after it was cleansed. There is a direct link to touching the taint and becoming more insane. Only the amount needed to go up a level changes. I think the taint healing showed how it reinforces itself on the mind of the person, Little barbs of darkness stabbing into the person's mind.
I also point out that SI has no one to teach him how to channel. Even without the taint using it can kill you if you don't know what you are doing. Plus, it got so damn hard for him to use it after awhile. Delays in simply grasping it can kill you. You need to be able to function without it. At least he can learn how to use the sword from experts in the field.
Choedan Kal was useful, no question, but the narrative of the book said that the pattern needs to go with the sword instead. That going with the former would simply be too much power and he had to destroy it. I would personally think that this work should respect that and use the power as a temptation for darkness. That or the pattern will block any path using it because prophecy foretold that ran will use the sword.
Maybe I'm influenced by the first person narrative but I just could not bring myself to trust them. Moiraine always had the smell of manipulation on her, as did every other one of their kind. They needed to be plain speaking, give some respect, and take down the levels of patronization. Rand was capable of listening but they went about it the wrong way and it cost them. Which was a common theme, honestly. Like Rand "giving" Elayne the throne or how he handled the Maidens. Disasters, but ones that seem like reasonable mistakes to me and everyone made them. What became unreasonable is how a lot of them kept using the same tactics that failed to work, causing rifts that were unable to mend after awhile.
I interpreted the difference in madness to be strongly related to the person. Sure, someone can go mad after just one use but that's an outlier. I would focus on going into a stedding. You go in and you can't get any more crazy then when you were outside. The reason is because you no longer touch the taint. You don't go sane again though, madness you gathered stays put, just like after it was cleansed. There is a direct link to touching the taint and becoming more insane. Only the amount needed to go up a level changes. I think the taint healing showed how it reinforces itself on the mind of the person, Little barbs of darkness stabbing into the person's mind.
I also point out that SI has no one to teach him how to channel. Even without the taint using it can kill you if you don't know what you are doing. Plus, it got so damn hard for him to use it after awhile. Delays in simply grasping it can kill you. You need to be able to function without it. At least he can learn how to use the sword from experts in the field.
Choedan Kal was useful, no question, but the narrative of the book said that the pattern needs to go with the sword instead. That going with the former would simply be too much power and he had to destroy it. I would personally think that this work should respect that and use the power as a temptation for darkness. That or the pattern will block any path using it because prophecy foretold that ran will use the sword.
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The other thing to keep in mind is this is a pre-industrial society thats exceeding unlikely to ever become an Industrial Society because so many different Factions are holding them back, not including the general distrust towards change. Everytime a Nation/society takes a step towards a better future they get dragged down By the Dark, the Aes Sedai, Rivals etc ad nausem. I freely admit to having stopped reading around book 12, but looked like without The Dragon acting against the Dark, it was a case of the Dark has already won, some tidy up required.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
More or less. The story is horrifying on so many levels...
Just for starters, time is looping. Anything that has happened will happen again; there is no true freedom, only minor variations, and the world can't escape that repetition so long as the Dark One is in his prison. Ishmael is insane, but of all the forsaken he's the only one I understand; he was driven to it by a philosophical point that actually matters.
But, release him? That would be a quite literally fatal mistake. Destroy him? You get a crapsaccharine world instead. There's no escape...
Except, hold on. Who was it who claimed that destroying the Dark One would be a bad idea? And don't we also sometimes call him the Father of Lies? Why did Rand listen to a demon claiming that killing him would be a bad idea, anyway?
Just for starters, time is looping. Anything that has happened will happen again; there is no true freedom, only minor variations, and the world can't escape that repetition so long as the Dark One is in his prison. Ishmael is insane, but of all the forsaken he's the only one I understand; he was driven to it by a philosophical point that actually matters.
But, release him? That would be a quite literally fatal mistake. Destroy him? You get a crapsaccharine world instead. There's no escape...
Except, hold on. Who was it who claimed that destroying the Dark One would be a bad idea? And don't we also sometimes call him the Father of Lies? Why did Rand listen to a demon claiming that killing him would be a bad idea, anyway?
Huh. I never thought about that, weirdly enough. Good point.
Verin has her little dirty secret with her - the book which contains information about almost the entire Black Ajah. So the information about who among the Aes Sedai he can trust and who he should purge is already with him right this moment. Conveniently, he is already training on how to shield Verin.
I would have understood if it was just flat-out impossible for a channeler to kill the Dark One, since it is after all a godlike entity which is not part of the world and independent from the Creator's power. But noooo... we had to get this bullshit instead.
Ishmael should have had a much more convincing argument at hand: Humanity is as much imprisoned by the pattern as the Dark One. They are just as trapped in this endless, pointless circle of time. All their accomplishments doomed to be erased, all their knowledge worthless and soon forgotten. Because apparently, all humanity is good for is as toys to entertain the Dark One in his prison. The Creator is an asshole.
I'm pretty sure that your perception of Moraine is heavily influenced by her later turnaround. You probably have read the books more often than I did, but in the beginning, I think she was very much a typical Aes Sedai in that she tried to assert control over Rand, generally played up the mysterious Aes Sedai act while giving away as little information as possible and tried to make him completely dependent on her. Only after she realized that the Dragon couldn't be dominated this way did she change tracks and actually attempted to get closer to him by being a decent adviser and friend. Much too late, since Rand had already fallen into the habit of working around her and she disappeared soon after.
Agreed. This was a really big What The Hell, Author? moment for me. Throughout the entire series, it is endlessly repeated that the Dark One is an unnatural influence. Not part of the pattern. That it perverts the world with its touch. And then, suddenly, in order to escape its rightful destruction, it turns out to be an integral part of it, needed for humans to remain human. Apparently the Creator designed a defective humanity on purpose, just as insurance so that the Dark One is never destroyed by the Dragon. What depressing bullshit.
I would have understood if it was just flat-out impossible for a channeler to kill the Dark One, since it is after all a godlike entity which is not part of the world and independent from the Creator's power. But noooo... we had to get this bullshit instead.
Ishmael should have had a much more convincing argument at hand: Humanity is as much imprisoned by the pattern as the Dark One. They are just as trapped in this endless, pointless circle of time. All their accomplishments doomed to be erased, all their knowledge worthless and soon forgotten. Because apparently, all humanity is good for is as toys to entertain the Dark One in his prison. The Creator is an asshole.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
There are a lot of potential readings of this. Let me just name a few:
- Ishmael did have that argument, and had repeatedly made it, and everyone else (or just Lews Therin) went "What the hell". He is no longer interested in arguing, and has also discovered that--bad as the pattern is--working for the Dark One is far more mentally corrosive.
- The Pattern, and the One Power, may themselves be artifacts of a yet-older high-tech civilization. Possibly our own. There are hints that it existed, and that the most interesting artifacts in their world (portal stones) are the product of our own (Age of Myths), but that involves descriptions of nuclear missiles as "javelins of fire thrown across continents". The portal stones are the one set of artifacts that directly involve messing with time. (Alternately, of course, the Age of Myths may simply be part of the wheel, but our own linear view of history suggests against this.)
- The Pattern, and Wheel, may have been created as a means of holding the Dark One down. They couldn't stop it from interacting with civilisation to some degree, but so long as time recurs, there's literally no way for it to actually break free. I think I'd have preferred to destroy humanity entirely rather than get left in such a state, buut~ if you consider the sort of entity we might make that would fit the bill--namely, unfriendly artificial intelligence--you get to the point where a single planet is a small price to pay for suppressing it.
- Alternately, the wheel of time may simply not exist. Time may not be recurring at all. There are plenty of religions with a recurring view of time, and they may simply be caught up with something like that.
- Most disturbingly, Rand may have been physically unable to take any action that would destroy the Dark One, for the same reason as the Dark One also cannot break free; either action would break the recurrence. The story states that small changes are allowed, but the overall history always remains the same. This of course posits a higher power enforcing the status quo which is both more powerful than the Dark One and additionally not very ethical. Which is pretty well supported by the text.
All of which is to say that, as a writer, you can justify whatever outcome you would like to see. (And I'd be happy to point out how.)
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tomaO2
Male
I think the time loop issue might simply be their (incorrect) interpretation of parallel dimensions. If you enter a portal stone you see yourself living a hundred different lives. If you see that you might imagine that you lived many times before when, in fact, you are simply experiencing different lives your alternative selves has experienced.
The idea that time loops over and over again just never felt right to me, especially given how long the history of the world is, there is a good 5-10k years we are talking about from the records of the fall of their civilisation. To get to that point in the first place would have taken 10k years to begin with, not to mention the evolving process and... The loop would have had to of been massive in scope. Where does it start? When will it end? There is not even a hint of either. At worst, I would see that there is a pattern of civilisation rising only to be crushed again by the Dark One, with various heroes being re-spun into the pattern to stop him. I imagine that all their other lives are also just alternative selves as well.
The idea that time loops over and over again just never felt right to me, especially given how long the history of the world is, there is a good 5-10k years we are talking about from the records of the fall of their civilisation. To get to that point in the first place would have taken 10k years to begin with, not to mention the evolving process and... The loop would have had to of been massive in scope. Where does it start? When will it end? There is not even a hint of either. At worst, I would see that there is a pattern of civilisation rising only to be crushed again by the Dark One, with various heroes being re-spun into the pattern to stop him. I imagine that all their other lives are also just alternative selves as well.
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The wheel exists, but not meaningfully. There's a cycle of reincarnation (which might have a technological origin and might not), and there's a cycle of "The Dark one tries to destroy the world."
But that's about as far as it goes. Too many other things change each age for anyone to really call it more of a pattern.
But that's about as far as it goes. Too many other things change each age for anyone to really call it more of a pattern.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Oh, I'm fairly sure the time loop was supposed to be considerably longer than a single age.
as I understand it, it's supposed to be 7 ages long. Complete and utter bullshit of course... it's a repeating pattern, supposedly, not a time loop.
thebrute7
Walker of the Planes
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Three
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It was wet and cold, and I was miserable.
My opinion of camping, or any experience that could not be done from the comfort of at the very least a hotel room was not very high. I did do things like go camping on occasion for the benefit of my family who enjoyed it and for no other reason.
Riding a horse along an unpaved dirt track, while rain poured down from a sky so overcast that it was near impossible to determine the direction of the sun, and thus the time, was not in any way my idea of a fun time.
The rough woolen cloak that was supposedly protecting me from the rain was long since soaked from the combined efforts of three days of near continuous rain.
Glaring at everything and nothing, I pulled the hood further forward. I was bored, left with nothing to do but stare out at the land around me, which looked no different to me than the land we had been passing for days.
My thoughts turned to how I was brought here, by some quirk of fate caused by Rand's manipulation of the Portal Stone. It seemed to me that if I had taken his body, perhaps he had gone into mine.
I idly caressed the hilt of Rand's - my - sword. The thought that he might have taken my place, in a warm home with modern convenience was one I couldn't get out of my head. I hated him. It was all his fault I was here, riding towards a conflict I wanted nothing to do with, instead of lazing about on my couch, eating my mother's cooking and playing with my friends.
"Are you okay Rand?"
I tilted my head down and to the left. Perrin was riding up alongside me with Mat.
I grimaced beneath the hood. I had been avoiding them since I arrived. I didn't know how to deal with them, and they were the ones most likely to realize that I wasn't Rand.
Mat didn't have Perrin's sense of tact. "You've been acting weird." He looked to the left and right as though something would appear out of nowhere and jump him.
"Light, Rand, what did Verin say to you? The two of you have been attached at the hip for three days now."
I shrugged and tried to think of something to say. "I..."
I'm not Rand at all, I'm actually a random civilian from an entirely different civilization and probably world brought here and stuffed into this body by dumb luck. And I have no idea how to get back or return Rand.
Somehow, that didn't seem like a good idea. "I can't run away anymore."
There, a suitably vague answer that could mean anything at all. And it was true, in a sense. Trying to run away from what was happening to me like the real Rand would have wasn't something I could reasonably do.
"Can't ru-" Mat spluttered. "Run from what? The Light-forsaken Aes Sedai trying to prop you up as a false Dragon? Why shouldn't you-"
"I am the Dragon." I cut Mat off with a quiet but insistent voice.
Probably. It was almost certain at any rate.
Perrin just sat there, watching us. It was kind of unnerving, seeing a man as big and rough-looking as him quietly contemplating my and Mat's words.
"I don't know what lives you lived during our trip here, or what you learned from it-" I said, before correcting my horse's direction, which had begun to stray from our slightly haphazard column. "-but I don't have it in me to keep running from what I have to do."
I felt like a right ass, saying these things to him. Half of it was bullshit made up on the spot. I wasn't doing this out of some sense of duty, but because I knew that it was my best chance of surviving. Because if I just rejected it entirely I was absolutely certain to die a premature death, either from channeling madness, or by being hunted down by the forces of the Dark One.
So no matter how much I wanted to turn my horse around and flee, I didn't.
Mat rolled his eyes at me and nudged his horse to leave, but I directed my own to keep up with him, and spoke with a fair bit of force.
"We're one day, maybe two away from Falme and the Seanchan, Mat. And if we get in trouble trying to retrieve your dagger, I suspect you'll be grateful that I can keep their channelers from killing us."
Of course, that assumed that I figured out Shielding before we entered Falme. After two days of effort I had little to show for it. Oh, I could feel out Verin's connection to saidar, but shield it? I hadn't found a weave that worked yet.
Before Mat could respond I kicked my horse into a trot and moved up the column. When I looked back over my shoulder, Perrin had caught up to Mat and they seemed to be arguing about something. Probably me.
I sighed and picked up the pace. Verin Sedai ought to have been near the front of the column, and if I was going to figure out a Shield by tomorrow, I'd need every moment of time that could be spared. It was already dangerous for her to channel, and with every step we took it became more and more dangerous for her to even hold the Power.
I leaned my head back and let some of the cold rain splash on my face. Everything was coming to a head. Egwene was in Falme, collared like an animal, Elayne and Nynaeve had devised a plan to save her and Min. mat's Dagger and the Horn of Valere were waiting for us to retrieve them, and Padan Fain was somewhere in the city.
Removing him early would be ideal, but somehow I didn't think it would be possible. And a small war was about to break out between the Children of the Light and the Seanchan.
We were all running out of time.
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I slammed my fist on the ground in frustration.
"Why won't it work?" I vented my frustrations on the uncaring grass.
I felt so much more alive. Saidin filled me, and truth be told, if it weren't for the taint placed on the male half of the Power that would eventually drive all male channelers insane, I would have said being able to channel was worth all the discomfort I was being put through.
It scared me, at least a little. It was addictive, always there on the edge of my consciousness, just a moment away. And there was always the temptation to draw in just a little more power, to feel yet more alive.
I wasn't even thinking anymore. Nothing was working, and I needed this.
Verin's lips were moving, but I didn't hear her words. I was so angry at that invisible force that I couldn't pierce.
I had figured out on the first day of my attempts how to feel out a woman's connection to saidar. The threads of Spirit I used to feel it out would... bend around an invisible barrier.
But I couldn't pierce that barrier, no matter what I tried. It shouldn't have been that hard. I was the Dragon, the strongest male channeler in the entire series, and Verin was, while moderately strong for an Aes Sedai, nowhere near strong enough to keep me from Shielding her.
"It's just not working," I said, rubbing my forehead.
Verin settled a hand on my shoulder. "Perhaps you should try something different."
Thank you, Captain Obvious.
"Like what? I don't even know what the Shield ought to look like. I'm just weaving Spirit, nearly at random, hoping to stumble across something useful!"
A fundamentally different weave.
"How do you-" I stopped mid sentence as an idea struck me.
Spirit was woven in a net around Verin's body, meeting that invisible resistance. In an instant, I tightened my hold on the weave and drew more deeply on saidin, before attempting to force that final hole in the net together. The invisible force resisted for but a moment, before the net closed, finishing the weave.
My goosebumps went away.
Verin gasped.
I blinked and looked up.
She looked suddenly frightened. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
I began to laugh. I had been going about it wrong the whole time! Everything I had been trying was like trying to slip a weave of Spirit into her connection and block it that way.
But it was a literal barrier, covering the entire person. Focusing on the point where the connection seemed to be was entirely the wrong way to go about it.
I stared at the barrier, committing everything about it to memory.
"I did it." I grinned and jumped to my feet. "I did it!"
"Y-yes. It seems so," Verin whispered. "W-would you mind?"
She made a vague motion with her hand.
Oh. Right.
I briefly contemplated trying to "tie off" the weave first, but decided against it. I'd have time for other experiments later. And if I succeeded and couldn't figure out how to untie it, I doubted Verin would be at all pleased with me.
The barrier disappeared instantly when I released saidin, and my goosebumps returned. Verin's expression calming down immediately with the return of her ability to channel.
Struck with the sudden onset of fatigue that had been buried under the exhiliration caused by holding the Power, I returned to the ground and lay back against the trunk of the oak that Verin and I had been beneath.
"Go get some sleep, Rand," Verin said. "Channeling is exhausting, and you'll want to be well rested before we try to retrieve the Horn."
"Okay." I stood up on shaky legs and made my to my tent. "Sleep well, Verin."
"Sleep well."
Three
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It was wet and cold, and I was miserable.
My opinion of camping, or any experience that could not be done from the comfort of at the very least a hotel room was not very high. I did do things like go camping on occasion for the benefit of my family who enjoyed it and for no other reason.
Riding a horse along an unpaved dirt track, while rain poured down from a sky so overcast that it was near impossible to determine the direction of the sun, and thus the time, was not in any way my idea of a fun time.
The rough woolen cloak that was supposedly protecting me from the rain was long since soaked from the combined efforts of three days of near continuous rain.
Glaring at everything and nothing, I pulled the hood further forward. I was bored, left with nothing to do but stare out at the land around me, which looked no different to me than the land we had been passing for days.
My thoughts turned to how I was brought here, by some quirk of fate caused by Rand's manipulation of the Portal Stone. It seemed to me that if I had taken his body, perhaps he had gone into mine.
I idly caressed the hilt of Rand's - my - sword. The thought that he might have taken my place, in a warm home with modern convenience was one I couldn't get out of my head. I hated him. It was all his fault I was here, riding towards a conflict I wanted nothing to do with, instead of lazing about on my couch, eating my mother's cooking and playing with my friends.
"Are you okay Rand?"
I tilted my head down and to the left. Perrin was riding up alongside me with Mat.
I grimaced beneath the hood. I had been avoiding them since I arrived. I didn't know how to deal with them, and they were the ones most likely to realize that I wasn't Rand.
Mat didn't have Perrin's sense of tact. "You've been acting weird." He looked to the left and right as though something would appear out of nowhere and jump him.
"Light, Rand, what did Verin say to you? The two of you have been attached at the hip for three days now."
I shrugged and tried to think of something to say. "I..."
I'm not Rand at all, I'm actually a random civilian from an entirely different civilization and probably world brought here and stuffed into this body by dumb luck. And I have no idea how to get back or return Rand.
Somehow, that didn't seem like a good idea. "I can't run away anymore."
There, a suitably vague answer that could mean anything at all. And it was true, in a sense. Trying to run away from what was happening to me like the real Rand would have wasn't something I could reasonably do.
"Can't ru-" Mat spluttered. "Run from what? The Light-forsaken Aes Sedai trying to prop you up as a false Dragon? Why shouldn't you-"
"I am the Dragon." I cut Mat off with a quiet but insistent voice.
Probably. It was almost certain at any rate.
Perrin just sat there, watching us. It was kind of unnerving, seeing a man as big and rough-looking as him quietly contemplating my and Mat's words.
"I don't know what lives you lived during our trip here, or what you learned from it-" I said, before correcting my horse's direction, which had begun to stray from our slightly haphazard column. "-but I don't have it in me to keep running from what I have to do."
I felt like a right ass, saying these things to him. Half of it was bullshit made up on the spot. I wasn't doing this out of some sense of duty, but because I knew that it was my best chance of surviving. Because if I just rejected it entirely I was absolutely certain to die a premature death, either from channeling madness, or by being hunted down by the forces of the Dark One.
So no matter how much I wanted to turn my horse around and flee, I didn't.
Mat rolled his eyes at me and nudged his horse to leave, but I directed my own to keep up with him, and spoke with a fair bit of force.
"We're one day, maybe two away from Falme and the Seanchan, Mat. And if we get in trouble trying to retrieve your dagger, I suspect you'll be grateful that I can keep their channelers from killing us."
Of course, that assumed that I figured out Shielding before we entered Falme. After two days of effort I had little to show for it. Oh, I could feel out Verin's connection to saidar, but shield it? I hadn't found a weave that worked yet.
Before Mat could respond I kicked my horse into a trot and moved up the column. When I looked back over my shoulder, Perrin had caught up to Mat and they seemed to be arguing about something. Probably me.
I sighed and picked up the pace. Verin Sedai ought to have been near the front of the column, and if I was going to figure out a Shield by tomorrow, I'd need every moment of time that could be spared. It was already dangerous for her to channel, and with every step we took it became more and more dangerous for her to even hold the Power.
I leaned my head back and let some of the cold rain splash on my face. Everything was coming to a head. Egwene was in Falme, collared like an animal, Elayne and Nynaeve had devised a plan to save her and Min. mat's Dagger and the Horn of Valere were waiting for us to retrieve them, and Padan Fain was somewhere in the city.
Removing him early would be ideal, but somehow I didn't think it would be possible. And a small war was about to break out between the Children of the Light and the Seanchan.
We were all running out of time.
|=====|=====|=====|
I slammed my fist on the ground in frustration.
"Why won't it work?" I vented my frustrations on the uncaring grass.
I felt so much more alive. Saidin filled me, and truth be told, if it weren't for the taint placed on the male half of the Power that would eventually drive all male channelers insane, I would have said being able to channel was worth all the discomfort I was being put through.
It scared me, at least a little. It was addictive, always there on the edge of my consciousness, just a moment away. And there was always the temptation to draw in just a little more power, to feel yet more alive.
I wasn't even thinking anymore. Nothing was working, and I needed this.
Verin's lips were moving, but I didn't hear her words. I was so angry at that invisible force that I couldn't pierce.
I had figured out on the first day of my attempts how to feel out a woman's connection to saidar. The threads of Spirit I used to feel it out would... bend around an invisible barrier.
But I couldn't pierce that barrier, no matter what I tried. It shouldn't have been that hard. I was the Dragon, the strongest male channeler in the entire series, and Verin was, while moderately strong for an Aes Sedai, nowhere near strong enough to keep me from Shielding her.
"It's just not working," I said, rubbing my forehead.
Verin settled a hand on my shoulder. "Perhaps you should try something different."
Thank you, Captain Obvious.
"Like what? I don't even know what the Shield ought to look like. I'm just weaving Spirit, nearly at random, hoping to stumble across something useful!"
A fundamentally different weave.
"How do you-" I stopped mid sentence as an idea struck me.
Spirit was woven in a net around Verin's body, meeting that invisible resistance. In an instant, I tightened my hold on the weave and drew more deeply on saidin, before attempting to force that final hole in the net together. The invisible force resisted for but a moment, before the net closed, finishing the weave.
My goosebumps went away.
Verin gasped.
I blinked and looked up.
She looked suddenly frightened. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
I began to laugh. I had been going about it wrong the whole time! Everything I had been trying was like trying to slip a weave of Spirit into her connection and block it that way.
But it was a literal barrier, covering the entire person. Focusing on the point where the connection seemed to be was entirely the wrong way to go about it.
I stared at the barrier, committing everything about it to memory.
"I did it." I grinned and jumped to my feet. "I did it!"
"Y-yes. It seems so," Verin whispered. "W-would you mind?"
She made a vague motion with her hand.
Oh. Right.
I briefly contemplated trying to "tie off" the weave first, but decided against it. I'd have time for other experiments later. And if I succeeded and couldn't figure out how to untie it, I doubted Verin would be at all pleased with me.
The barrier disappeared instantly when I released saidin, and my goosebumps returned. Verin's expression calming down immediately with the return of her ability to channel.
Struck with the sudden onset of fatigue that had been buried under the exhiliration caused by holding the Power, I returned to the ground and lay back against the trunk of the oak that Verin and I had been beneath.
"Go get some sleep, Rand," Verin said. "Channeling is exhausting, and you'll want to be well rested before we try to retrieve the Horn."
"Okay." I stood up on shaky legs and made my to my tent. "Sleep well, Verin."
"Sleep well."
It's a shame he's bungling the interactions with Mat/Perrin so much. Just wipe the slate clean and interact with them without worrying about how much you are or aren't like Rand. They're good friends to have and you have the bonus of them being extra-patient with you because of 'your' prior history together.
Of course, it's easy to say looking on the outside in, so it's understandable he doesn't know what to do about it. But I hope he figures out something that works for him.
Of course, it's easy to say looking on the outside in, so it's understandable he doesn't know what to do about it. But I hope he figures out something that works for him.
Nice to see the next chapter, I'm looking forward to seeing whether someone that embraces learning to channel will make a difference, or if things will just go wrong in a different way instead
made my to my tent - made my way to my tent (wasn't sure how I could make a quote with the correction in red as I've seen several do on SB)
made my to my tent - made my way to my tent (wasn't sure how I could make a quote with the correction in red as I've seen several do on SB)
thebrute7
Walker of the Planes
|=====|=====|=====|
Four
|=====|=====|=====|
"Five will ride forth, she says," I muttered under my breath, which condensed before me in a little cloud. "Damn prophecies. I'd feel better if Verin had come along." I would have felt safer with another channeler along, even if she couldn't actually do anything without bringing the Seanchan down on our heads.
The port of Falme, the largest and most prosperous population on Toman Head, drew closer as we rode downhill toward the edge of town..
The five of us, myself, Perrin, Mat, Hurin and Ingtar had departed our camp, hidden in a dense thicket perhaps two miles out from the Falme, at almost first light. We were in a small hurry, events having conspired to make this the ideal time for our attempt at retrieving the Horn of Valere.
The Seanchan were soon to be confronted by hundreds of armed soldiers - the Children of the Light - coming to kill them. Of course, anyone with half a brain wold have known that such a gesture was entirely futile. The Children were going to be torn to shreds by the Seanchan damane.
But their meaningless deaths would provide a distraction that would hopefully keep the Seanchan off of us long enough to get the Horn, Mat's dagger, and ideally find and kill Padan Fain too.
Not that I had any real hope that it would be that easy.
We picketed our horses at a stable just outside of town. The plan was for us to enter Falme separately, so we wouldn't appear a suspicious group, and then meet at the first inn along the main road through town.
I was the last to leave, and before I did, I attached to my belt the bag that held the Dragon Banner. It was a beautiful thing, in bright crimson red with a sinuous golden dragon emblazoned on it. And I knew that if things turned out at all like the book, I would have need of it.
But I intended to change things. I had a plan, of sorts. But I was fairly certain I ought not rely on such things. No plan survives contact with the enemy after all.
When I walked into the town, the thing that struck me most about Falme was the smell. It was awful, almost incapacitatingly so at first. I had never really contemplated just how beautiful sewers are. The city stank of feces, both human and animal, as well as rotting fish - it was only fitting for a port, but that made it no less unbearable.
The road ahead was oddly empty, despite it being almost midday. Only a few of the townsfolk seemed to be out and about, and all of them were studiously ignoring the Seanchan.
I couldn't have missed the Seanchan even if I had been trying to. They made for an impressive sight, four soldiers carrying short spears with swords sheathed at their waists, each with a well-polished breastplate that shone when the sun's rays managed to pierce the dreary curtain of grey clouds above them. But what interested me was not the soldiers, but the pair of women being escorted by them.
It was easy to pick out which of the women was the damane, with one walking proudly in a lightning-emblazoned grey wool skirt, while beside her another woman in dull grey walked with her head down, watching the ground and never looking up, or even around.
They were walking towards me, and as they drew closer, I could more easily make out the silver collar around the damane's throat, and also the silver cord that attached the collar to the wrist of her sul'dam.
I stepped to the side of the road and lowered my eyes as the Seanchan came close. I had no desire to start anything. As they passed by, I watched the damane out of the corner of my eye. It was only after the soldiers were gone and the road had begun to fill itself with townspeople that I moved again.
I could see the leash and collar in my mind's eye. Such a powerful tool, but one that I could turn against the Seanchan if I was given a chance. Maybe.
I entered the first inn along the road and was glad to be off the street. The inside of the inn smelled of smoke and beer, and that mostly drowned out the port-town smell. Unfortunately, I was going to have to step right back outside.
Ingtar, Mat, Perrin and Hurin were in the far corner of the inn, and Ingtar nodded to me when I looked over to him.
It was time to begin our hunt.
Together we meandered our way through the bustling streets of Falme, making small talk and generally acting as inconspicuous as was possible. Ingtar had even left his armor and personal signs behind, so that we would appear to be more or less ordinary.
"It's everywhere," Hurin whispered for what seemed to be the thousandth time. "Fain's scent is all over the place. He's been everywhere in this town at some point over the last month, and day or two old scents crisscross so much I can't make out any direction to follow."
"Then we'll search harder," Ingtar ordered. "I will have the Horn before the day ends. I will!"
I said nothing. I was engrossed in my own thoughts, endlessly turning over the events of Falme as described in the Wheel of Time. All I was concerned with was surviving the day. Some of the exact details I couldn't remember. For all I knew we should have already found the place an hour ago, or not for another two hours.
Nynaeve and Elayne and Min were going to free Egwene at some point on this day. If I could find the Seanchan sul'dam's base of operations maybe I could contact them. They had a way out of town that they wouldn't be able to make, and having not just myself, but three... two and half experienced channelers would be a massive advantage.
"Let's go that way," I finally said, pointing down a secondary street. I could see that down that street was the Seanchan Lord's flag over one of the buildings. As I recalled, the Horn ought to be there, and the damane kennel was nearby too. "If Hurin can't track Fain in town, then it doesn't matter what direction we take."
Hurin brushed some stray grey hairs back from his face and grimaced. "If we can find somewhere he's been today, I may be able to track that."
"Then that's what we'll look for," Ingtar said, turning down the street I had suggested.
As we walked down the street, Mat began to get progressively more fidgety, glancing at buildings left and right.
"It's here," he whispered, just barely loud enough to make out. "I can feel it getting closer."
"The dagger?" I asked. That was a good sign that I had remembered correctly. Where we found the dagger, we would find the Horn as well.
"Yeah. I am sure it is..." His voice trailed off suddenly. "Light. What are those things?"
"Lord Rand..." Hurin spoke as well before I could turn to look. "Those are..."
In front of the huge house, topped by the Seanchan Lord's banner - a golden hawk clutching lightning bolts - there were these beasts among the guards. Large, leathery-skinned beasts that appeared nothing less than the bastard children of a very large bear and a grey-green frog. With three eyes.
I swallowed heavily. Grolm. Just one of the Seanchan's unique beasts of war. They will eat anything, even their own dead, and are difficult to put down. And grolm riders are almost a perfect counter to cavalry, since horses fear them.
"Those are-"
"Grolm, yes," I interjected.
"You know these beasts?" Ingtar asked, stopping in his tracks. Perrin and Mat were giving me curious looks. "You as well, Hurin?"
Hurin looked a little panicked.
"It was when we disappeared before Cairhien," I said, talking softly so we wouldn't be overheard. "Suffice it to say those things are vicious, and the only sure way to put one down is to put an arrow - or something - through its middle eye."
Ingtar glanced over his shoulder to stare at one of the grolm. "It doesn't matter," he said, shaking his head. "We are here to find the Horn, not worry about the Seanchan or their tame Shadowspawn."
"Not Shadowspawn," I corrected as we resumed walking.
Mat laughed. "As though it makes a difference. Tame monsters, tame Aes Sedai. Is there anything these Seanchan don't -"
"It's there!" Mat exclaimed, pointing at the building.
Perrin reached out and yanked his arm down.
"Don't draw attention to us," he hissed under his breath.
"It's there I tell you," Mat said again. "The dagger is in there."
Before Ingtar could make a comment about how we were here for the Horn, I spoke up. "Fain wouldn't let the dagger far from his sight. If the dagger is there, then the Horn is likely there as well."
The Shienaran just stared at the building.
"Come," he said after a while. "Hurin will see if he can smell Fain there in the last day. If so... then we'll have to search there. And do not speak about any of it until we have passed by. We do not want to alert the Seanchan to anything unusual."
As we passed slowly by the house, my attention was drawn to the house across from it. The door was open, and in the entry I could see a pair of women with lightning bolts on their skirts. And beyond I thought I saw another pair of women, at least one of whom was a sul'dam disappear down a hallway.
I felt like the building might in fact be the damane kennels, where the unfortunate women were kept and 'trained' to serve the Seanchan. But I had no way to confirm my hunch, and so put it out of my mind for now. I couldn't plan around it if I wasn't certain.
When we had gotten perhaps halfway down the street from the large house, Ingtar stopped and motioned for Hurin to speak.
"Fain's scent was all over the road in front of that House, my Lord," Hurin said. He sounded jubilant. "It was the most fresh scent yet."
Ingtar breathed in deeply. He seemed almost calm now. "Then that is where we must look. Stay here, I will go alone and look around, to find us a way in." He clenched his fist and looked me in the eye.
"The Horn is within our grasp. I will have it. No matter the cost." He turned to leave.
I grabbed his sleeve before he could.
"Don't do something stupid. I know how badly you want the Horn, Ingtar, but don't go without us." I hoped he would listen. Whenever he thought of the Horn he became frustratingly impulsive.
"We'll get the Horn, but you can't hold the Horn if you get yourself killed."
He didn't speak, just nodded tersely as he strode off, and somehow to me he seemed to look like a proper Lord, even in the torn grey wool he was wearing.
Perrin sighed and sat down on a wooden barrel, leaning back against the wall of the building, what was perhaps a warehouse of some sort.
"We don't have much choice, do we Rand?" Perrin asked, running a hand through his curly hair.
I shrugged. "I suppose not."
Perrin reminded me a lot of, well, me. He was a quiet young man, not prone to outbursts or violence, and spent a lot of time thinking before taking action.
I looked out into the street at the people milling about. "There's no sense in worrying about it. We just have to accept what comes and do what we can."
That had always been my philosophy of life. My father had once remarked that if someone offered me a thousand dollars, I would shrug my shoulders and say "sure". I had always felt that not worrying about what you can't change was a less stressful, more enjoyable way to live life.
Of course, I had never expected to be pulled across worlds into the body of a Hero in his story, and have no real choice but to try and save the world.
It was damn stressful.
Hurin was staring off the way Ingtar had gone, and Mat was-
"Shit." I cursed, breaking into a run.
Mat had for some inexplicable reason dashed across the street and was between the buildings across from us, and grasping the arm of one of four of women, two in dull grey dresses, one with a Seanchan-styled shawl over her less dull dress, and the one he had grabbed in the lightning dress of a sul'dam. As I dashed forward, I had already embraced my Void, saidin filling me to bursting.
And as I reached the middle of the street, I felt the telltale goosebumps of a woman embracing saidar.
Not knowing which of the grey-dressed ones was the damane], and in my panic, I embraced more of the One Power than I ever had before and wove as rapidly as I could, slamming Shields into place first over the woman on the left, and then the one on the right. The one on the left, whose red-gold hair had just come into view, near as not freaked out completely when I cut through her connection to the True Source.
Mat seemed to be arguing with the sul'dam, their voices overlapping each other such that I could barely make out what they were saying, but when I got close, I realized what had happened. The faces of these women were familiar to those vague memories in my head that seemed to be all that remained of Rand Al'Thor in this body.
Elayne. Nynaeve. Egwene. Min.
"Oh, god damn it!" I cursed, suddenly and louder than I had intended. Four pairs of female eyes turned on to me.
Just my luck.
Four
|=====|=====|=====|
"Five will ride forth, she says," I muttered under my breath, which condensed before me in a little cloud. "Damn prophecies. I'd feel better if Verin had come along." I would have felt safer with another channeler along, even if she couldn't actually do anything without bringing the Seanchan down on our heads.
The port of Falme, the largest and most prosperous population on Toman Head, drew closer as we rode downhill toward the edge of town..
The five of us, myself, Perrin, Mat, Hurin and Ingtar had departed our camp, hidden in a dense thicket perhaps two miles out from the Falme, at almost first light. We were in a small hurry, events having conspired to make this the ideal time for our attempt at retrieving the Horn of Valere.
The Seanchan were soon to be confronted by hundreds of armed soldiers - the Children of the Light - coming to kill them. Of course, anyone with half a brain wold have known that such a gesture was entirely futile. The Children were going to be torn to shreds by the Seanchan damane.
But their meaningless deaths would provide a distraction that would hopefully keep the Seanchan off of us long enough to get the Horn, Mat's dagger, and ideally find and kill Padan Fain too.
Not that I had any real hope that it would be that easy.
We picketed our horses at a stable just outside of town. The plan was for us to enter Falme separately, so we wouldn't appear a suspicious group, and then meet at the first inn along the main road through town.
I was the last to leave, and before I did, I attached to my belt the bag that held the Dragon Banner. It was a beautiful thing, in bright crimson red with a sinuous golden dragon emblazoned on it. And I knew that if things turned out at all like the book, I would have need of it.
But I intended to change things. I had a plan, of sorts. But I was fairly certain I ought not rely on such things. No plan survives contact with the enemy after all.
When I walked into the town, the thing that struck me most about Falme was the smell. It was awful, almost incapacitatingly so at first. I had never really contemplated just how beautiful sewers are. The city stank of feces, both human and animal, as well as rotting fish - it was only fitting for a port, but that made it no less unbearable.
The road ahead was oddly empty, despite it being almost midday. Only a few of the townsfolk seemed to be out and about, and all of them were studiously ignoring the Seanchan.
I couldn't have missed the Seanchan even if I had been trying to. They made for an impressive sight, four soldiers carrying short spears with swords sheathed at their waists, each with a well-polished breastplate that shone when the sun's rays managed to pierce the dreary curtain of grey clouds above them. But what interested me was not the soldiers, but the pair of women being escorted by them.
It was easy to pick out which of the women was the damane, with one walking proudly in a lightning-emblazoned grey wool skirt, while beside her another woman in dull grey walked with her head down, watching the ground and never looking up, or even around.
They were walking towards me, and as they drew closer, I could more easily make out the silver collar around the damane's throat, and also the silver cord that attached the collar to the wrist of her sul'dam.
I stepped to the side of the road and lowered my eyes as the Seanchan came close. I had no desire to start anything. As they passed by, I watched the damane out of the corner of my eye. It was only after the soldiers were gone and the road had begun to fill itself with townspeople that I moved again.
I could see the leash and collar in my mind's eye. Such a powerful tool, but one that I could turn against the Seanchan if I was given a chance. Maybe.
I entered the first inn along the road and was glad to be off the street. The inside of the inn smelled of smoke and beer, and that mostly drowned out the port-town smell. Unfortunately, I was going to have to step right back outside.
Ingtar, Mat, Perrin and Hurin were in the far corner of the inn, and Ingtar nodded to me when I looked over to him.
It was time to begin our hunt.
Together we meandered our way through the bustling streets of Falme, making small talk and generally acting as inconspicuous as was possible. Ingtar had even left his armor and personal signs behind, so that we would appear to be more or less ordinary.
"It's everywhere," Hurin whispered for what seemed to be the thousandth time. "Fain's scent is all over the place. He's been everywhere in this town at some point over the last month, and day or two old scents crisscross so much I can't make out any direction to follow."
"Then we'll search harder," Ingtar ordered. "I will have the Horn before the day ends. I will!"
I said nothing. I was engrossed in my own thoughts, endlessly turning over the events of Falme as described in the Wheel of Time. All I was concerned with was surviving the day. Some of the exact details I couldn't remember. For all I knew we should have already found the place an hour ago, or not for another two hours.
Nynaeve and Elayne and Min were going to free Egwene at some point on this day. If I could find the Seanchan sul'dam's base of operations maybe I could contact them. They had a way out of town that they wouldn't be able to make, and having not just myself, but three... two and half experienced channelers would be a massive advantage.
"Let's go that way," I finally said, pointing down a secondary street. I could see that down that street was the Seanchan Lord's flag over one of the buildings. As I recalled, the Horn ought to be there, and the damane kennel was nearby too. "If Hurin can't track Fain in town, then it doesn't matter what direction we take."
Hurin brushed some stray grey hairs back from his face and grimaced. "If we can find somewhere he's been today, I may be able to track that."
"Then that's what we'll look for," Ingtar said, turning down the street I had suggested.
As we walked down the street, Mat began to get progressively more fidgety, glancing at buildings left and right.
"It's here," he whispered, just barely loud enough to make out. "I can feel it getting closer."
"The dagger?" I asked. That was a good sign that I had remembered correctly. Where we found the dagger, we would find the Horn as well.
"Yeah. I am sure it is..." His voice trailed off suddenly. "Light. What are those things?"
"Lord Rand..." Hurin spoke as well before I could turn to look. "Those are..."
In front of the huge house, topped by the Seanchan Lord's banner - a golden hawk clutching lightning bolts - there were these beasts among the guards. Large, leathery-skinned beasts that appeared nothing less than the bastard children of a very large bear and a grey-green frog. With three eyes.
I swallowed heavily. Grolm. Just one of the Seanchan's unique beasts of war. They will eat anything, even their own dead, and are difficult to put down. And grolm riders are almost a perfect counter to cavalry, since horses fear them.
"Those are-"
"Grolm, yes," I interjected.
"You know these beasts?" Ingtar asked, stopping in his tracks. Perrin and Mat were giving me curious looks. "You as well, Hurin?"
Hurin looked a little panicked.
"It was when we disappeared before Cairhien," I said, talking softly so we wouldn't be overheard. "Suffice it to say those things are vicious, and the only sure way to put one down is to put an arrow - or something - through its middle eye."
Ingtar glanced over his shoulder to stare at one of the grolm. "It doesn't matter," he said, shaking his head. "We are here to find the Horn, not worry about the Seanchan or their tame Shadowspawn."
"Not Shadowspawn," I corrected as we resumed walking.
Mat laughed. "As though it makes a difference. Tame monsters, tame Aes Sedai. Is there anything these Seanchan don't -"
"It's there!" Mat exclaimed, pointing at the building.
Perrin reached out and yanked his arm down.
"Don't draw attention to us," he hissed under his breath.
"It's there I tell you," Mat said again. "The dagger is in there."
Before Ingtar could make a comment about how we were here for the Horn, I spoke up. "Fain wouldn't let the dagger far from his sight. If the dagger is there, then the Horn is likely there as well."
The Shienaran just stared at the building.
"Come," he said after a while. "Hurin will see if he can smell Fain there in the last day. If so... then we'll have to search there. And do not speak about any of it until we have passed by. We do not want to alert the Seanchan to anything unusual."
As we passed slowly by the house, my attention was drawn to the house across from it. The door was open, and in the entry I could see a pair of women with lightning bolts on their skirts. And beyond I thought I saw another pair of women, at least one of whom was a sul'dam disappear down a hallway.
I felt like the building might in fact be the damane kennels, where the unfortunate women were kept and 'trained' to serve the Seanchan. But I had no way to confirm my hunch, and so put it out of my mind for now. I couldn't plan around it if I wasn't certain.
When we had gotten perhaps halfway down the street from the large house, Ingtar stopped and motioned for Hurin to speak.
"Fain's scent was all over the road in front of that House, my Lord," Hurin said. He sounded jubilant. "It was the most fresh scent yet."
Ingtar breathed in deeply. He seemed almost calm now. "Then that is where we must look. Stay here, I will go alone and look around, to find us a way in." He clenched his fist and looked me in the eye.
"The Horn is within our grasp. I will have it. No matter the cost." He turned to leave.
I grabbed his sleeve before he could.
"Don't do something stupid. I know how badly you want the Horn, Ingtar, but don't go without us." I hoped he would listen. Whenever he thought of the Horn he became frustratingly impulsive.
"We'll get the Horn, but you can't hold the Horn if you get yourself killed."
He didn't speak, just nodded tersely as he strode off, and somehow to me he seemed to look like a proper Lord, even in the torn grey wool he was wearing.
Perrin sighed and sat down on a wooden barrel, leaning back against the wall of the building, what was perhaps a warehouse of some sort.
"We don't have much choice, do we Rand?" Perrin asked, running a hand through his curly hair.
I shrugged. "I suppose not."
Perrin reminded me a lot of, well, me. He was a quiet young man, not prone to outbursts or violence, and spent a lot of time thinking before taking action.
I looked out into the street at the people milling about. "There's no sense in worrying about it. We just have to accept what comes and do what we can."
That had always been my philosophy of life. My father had once remarked that if someone offered me a thousand dollars, I would shrug my shoulders and say "sure". I had always felt that not worrying about what you can't change was a less stressful, more enjoyable way to live life.
Of course, I had never expected to be pulled across worlds into the body of a Hero in his story, and have no real choice but to try and save the world.
It was damn stressful.
Hurin was staring off the way Ingtar had gone, and Mat was-
"Shit." I cursed, breaking into a run.
Mat had for some inexplicable reason dashed across the street and was between the buildings across from us, and grasping the arm of one of four of women, two in dull grey dresses, one with a Seanchan-styled shawl over her less dull dress, and the one he had grabbed in the lightning dress of a sul'dam. As I dashed forward, I had already embraced my Void, saidin filling me to bursting.
And as I reached the middle of the street, I felt the telltale goosebumps of a woman embracing saidar.
Not knowing which of the grey-dressed ones was the damane], and in my panic, I embraced more of the One Power than I ever had before and wove as rapidly as I could, slamming Shields into place first over the woman on the left, and then the one on the right. The one on the left, whose red-gold hair had just come into view, near as not freaked out completely when I cut through her connection to the True Source.
Mat seemed to be arguing with the sul'dam, their voices overlapping each other such that I could barely make out what they were saying, but when I got close, I realized what had happened. The faces of these women were familiar to those vague memories in my head that seemed to be all that remained of Rand Al'Thor in this body.
Elayne. Nynaeve. Egwene. Min.
"Oh, god damn it!" I cursed, suddenly and louder than I had intended. Four pairs of female eyes turned on to me.
Just my luck.
tomaO2
Male
Egwene was already rescued? When is it that Mat needed to save her? Or did he save Elayne and Nynaeve?
Bah, I didn't even remember that Fain had the horn. Main problem I remember for Rand in this one was him getting stabbed by a wound that would NEVER HEAL, and the only reason he got off that well was because of his swordsmanship, which SI is lacking. I'm pretty sure his source severing trick isn't going to help him for that fight.
However, the true terror is about to begin. Bossy women. On the bright side though, it's best girl MIN! Hi Min! Lets get the predictions rolling.
Also, work on your cussing SI, those sorts of phrases will get you called out. Do they even have a word for god? I don't think I've ever heard the word god in this entire story.
On another note, what about becoming a Warder? We already know the compulsion doesn't work on male channelers and it gives some pretty hefty boosts, that are useful for survival.
Bah, I didn't even remember that Fain had the horn. Main problem I remember for Rand in this one was him getting stabbed by a wound that would NEVER HEAL, and the only reason he got off that well was because of his swordsmanship, which SI is lacking. I'm pretty sure his source severing trick isn't going to help him for that fight.
However, the true terror is about to begin. Bossy women. On the bright side though, it's best girl MIN! Hi Min! Lets get the predictions rolling.
Also, work on your cussing SI, those sorts of phrases will get you called out. Do they even have a word for god? I don't think I've ever heard the word god in this entire story.
On another note, what about becoming a Warder? We already know the compulsion doesn't work on male channelers and it gives some pretty hefty boosts, that are useful for survival.
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Oh, what have you done? You had a perfectly sound infiltration-and-sword-duelling mission going - but now you ruined it by prematurely bringing in a bunch of opinionated women who will want to take over the operation.
In the place of the SI, I'd be much more worried about the insane dangers I am going to encounter just about now... never poke a sleeping dragon. Or grolm. Or whatever.
In the place of the SI, I'd be much more worried about the insane dangers I am going to encounter just about now... never poke a sleeping dragon. Or grolm. Or whatever.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Oh, what have you done? You had a perfectly sound infiltration-and-sword-duelling mission going - but now you ruined it by prematurely bringing in a bunch of opinionated women who will want to take over the operation.
In the place of the SI, I'd be much more worried about the insane dangers I am going to encounter just about now... never poke a sleeping dragon. Or grolm. Or whatever.
Tickle, not poke. "Never tickle a sleeping dragon".
Really? I've always heard poke. This is the first time I've come across tickle instead. Also, they're covered in scales that can shrug off swords - I doubt they are ticklish.
As for the Damane though, I don't quite see what he is planning to do with them. Unless he somehow convinces Egwene to take a bunch with them when they leave - put it under terms of rescuing them and they can free them later - I don't really see anyway to get them to follow. Pretty sure that they wouldn't just follow random people... Maybe they are trained to follow anyone who holds their leash even if they can't use it?
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
You haven't read Harry Potter I see. Hogwart's motto is Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus - Latin for "Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon".
As for the damane, don't forget that one must be a channeler to be either damane or sul'dam. Simply switch the collar of the a'dam with the handhold and the enslaver becomes the enslaved.
Yeah but that still doesn't really help when the Damane has been trained and conditioned into what she is. There was even a whole big thing about it in the later books where they freed the Damane that they had and a bunch of them broke down or went crazy.
While there are newly caught damane who will be happy to be free, there's no way to say that they will agree to capture the sul'dam and leave with you instead of simply killing them and any other seachan they come across - which is what they do originally if I remember right, they get free and go on a rampage.
While there are newly caught damane who will be happy to be free, there's no way to say that they will agree to capture the sul'dam and leave with you instead of simply killing them and any other seachan they come across - which is what they do originally if I remember right, they get free and go on a rampage.