What the Storm Means to Me

[Sodas]

Ok, so I sat down and read the prologue. Yes, it was great, but I had to let it sink in before I made some other comments I might have missed. But first, I had some comments and thoughts to share.

This feels like Jordan. The pacing was effortlessly quick. But, at the same time, it still captured the attention to detail and style that has keeped us reading for all these years. The passage really highlights the final shift to a conclussion in the series. I really enjoyed it and will miss Jordan's mastery of the epic.

On to my questions,
Are those clouds real or imagined?

Rand and the aftereffects of Semirhage's capture :

No, not just any man. The sound of his voice stirred the pool of acid in her belly. She made herself turn to face him, made herself meet those cold, hard eyes. They changed with the angle of his head, now blue, now gray, but always like polished gemstones. She had known many hard men, but had she ever known one hard enough to lose a hand and moments later take it as if he had lost a glove? She bowed formally, twitching the a’dam so that Nenci did the same. So far they had been treated well for prisoners under the circumstances, even to being given washwater, and supposedly they would not remain prisoners much longer. Yet with this man, who could say what might make that change? The promise of freedom might be part of some scheme.

I don't think it's normal for Rand's eyes to appear bluish even for a second. LTT had "dark eyes" but not blue. This suggests a physical trait from Moridin in Rand. Of course, it's already been mentioned from Graendal's perspective, that Moridin is looking more like Rand. So it seems they are both are becoming more like each other.

Body switch seems more and more likely, but how RJ pulls it off according to prophecy will be interesting to see.

On to Moridin,
A collection of shoddy huts stood in the shadow of the fortress, and a few patches of blightstrain crops marked fields in the distance. They were probably trying a new strain, coaxing it to grow in the area. Perhaps several different
crops; that would explain the patches. Guards prowled the area, wearing black
uniforms despite the heat. Soldiers were necessary to fight off attacks from the various Shadowspawn that inhabited the lands this deep within the blight. Those creatures obeyed no master save for the Great Lord himself. What was Moridin doing all the way out here?

Great question Graendal.

Ihmo, Moridin should only fear the Dark One and being confused for Rand. Hanging out at Shayol Ghul or near any Trolloc with the attention span of Narg might not be a good idea when Moridin suddenly starts looking or acting like Rand.

He had not dismissed her, and so she remained seated as the other two withdrew. Moridin stayed where he was, one arm leaning against the mantel. There was silence in the too-black room for a time, and then a servant in a crisp red uniform entered, bearing two cups. He was an ugly thing, with a flat face and bushy eyebrows, worth no more than a passing glance.

Doubtful, but could that be Barim Halle?

He pushed through a patch of the dark brush and entered a small clearing. His men followed quickly. They would need food, soon, and he would have to send them hunting. No fires. They couldn’t afford to alert—
"Hello, Masema,” a quiet voice said.

So how did Faile know which patch of dark brush Masema would walk through? Hehe, jk.

Great prologue. Has me eagerly waiting for more original bits from RJ.

[Terez]

TITLE: Great Hunt
CHAPTER: Prologue - In the Shadow

For the third time air solidified into the shape of a young man, this time directly under Ba'alzamon's eye, almost at his feet. A tall fellow, with eyes now gray, now almost blue as the light took them, and dark, reddish hair. Another villager, or farmer. The man who called himself Bors gasped. Yet another thing out of the ordinary, though he wondered why he should expect anything to be ordinary here. A sword swung from the figure's belt, a sword with a bronze heron on the scabbard and another inset into the long, two-handed hilt. A village boy with a heron-mark blade? Impossible! What can it mean? And a boy with yellow eyes. He noticed the Myrddraal looking at the figures, trembling; and unless he misjudged entirely, its trembling was no longer fear, but hatred.

TITLE: Shadow Rising
CHAPTER: 3 – Reflection

"What they least expect." Rand's eyes looked like morning mist covering the dawn, blue-gray with a feverish glow seeping through. His voice had a knife edge. "That is what I have to do in any case. What everyone least expects." Perrin took a slow breath. Rand had a right to taut nerves. It was not a sign of incipient madness. He had to stop watching for signs of madness. Those signs would come soon enough, and watching would do nothing but keep his stomach tied in knots. "What's that?" he asked quietly.

TITLE: Shadow Rising
CHAPTER: 7 - Playing With Fire

For the first time in the Stone, Egwene looked for changes in him and found them. How many months before then since she had seen him last? Enough for his face to have grown harder, for the openness that had once been there to fade. He moved differently, too, a little like Lan, a little like the Aiel. With his height and his reddish hair, and eyes that seemed now blue, now gray, as the light took them, he looked all too much like an Aielman, too much for comfort. But had he changed inside?

TITLE: Shadow Rising
CHAPTER: 23 - Beyond the Stone

Egwene stared at him. Kari al'Thor had died while Egwene was barely out of her cradle, but if Tarn's wife had been Aiel, Egwene would certainly have heard of it. She glanced at Moiraine; the Aes Sedai was watching, smooth faced, calm. Rand did look a great deal like the Aielmen, with his height and gray blue eyes and reddish hair, but this was ridiculous. "Not your mother," Amys said slowly. "Your father." Egwene shook her head. This approached madness. Rand opened his mouth, but Amys did not let him speak.

TITLE: Crown of Swords
CHAPTER: 2 - The Butcher's Yard

Rand raised a hand, and her words stopped in their tracks. Maybe it was his stare, like blue-gray stone. Or maybe it was what showed clearly through his torn sleeve, one of the red-and-gold Dragons that wound around his forearms. The Dragon glittered in the sunlight. "Did you swear fealty to me?" Kiruna's eyes popped as though something had struck her in the pit of her stomach.

TITLE: Crown of Swords
CHAPTER: 2 - The Butcher's Yard

"You think something else would be that much worse?" Rand said quietly, and Perrin's skin prickled. He met Rand's gaze directly. "A thousand times," he said in just as quiet a voice. "I won't be part of murder. If you will be, I'll stand in your way." A silence stretched, unblinking blue-gray eyes meeting unblinking golden.

TITLE: Crown of Swords
CHAPTER: 19 - Diamonds and Stars

Undoubtedly it would fall to her now, explaining to Cadsuane the ... compromise ... that had been worked out with the Wise Ones last night, before she and the others were brought to the palace. Annoura did not know—she was no part of it—and Merana had small hope that Rafela or Verin would appear, or anyone else she might somehow foist the duty onto. It was a compromise, in a way, and perhaps the best that could be expected under the circumstances, yet she strongly questioned whether Cadsuane would see it so. She wished she did not have to be the one to convince her. Better to pour tea for those cursed men for a month. She wished she had not been so free with her tongue with young al'Thor. Knowing why he had made her serve tea was no balm for being sealed off from every advantage she might have gained from it. She would rather think she had been caught in some ta'veren swirling of the Pattern than believe that a young man's eyes, like polished blue-gray gems, had set her babbling from pure fright, but either way, she had handed all the advantage to him on a tray. She wished....

…

"Kiss me," she mumbled. When he did not move, she looked up. He blinked at her uncertainly, eyes now blue, now gray, a morning sky. "I'm not teasing." How often had she teased him, sitting on his lap, kissing him, calling him sheepherder because she dared not say his name for fear he might hear the caress? He put up with it because he thought she was teasing and would stop if she believed it did not affect him. Hah! Aunt Jan and Aunt Rana said you should not kiss a man unless you intended to marry him, but Aunt Miren seemed to know a little more of the world. She said you should not kiss a man too casually because men fell in love so easily. "I'm cold inside, sheep-herder. Colavaere, and Master Pel.... I need to feel warm flesh. I need. ...Please?"

TITLE: Path of Daggers
CHAPTER: 27 - The Bargain

"Dobraine can stay," Rand said curtly. Had he hesitated? He did not stand. His eyes like blue ice, he was being the Dragon Reborn for all he was worth. Min had told him these women were his in truth, that all five who had accompanied him to the Sea Folk ship were his, utterly loyal to their oath and therefore obedient to his will, yet he seemed to find trusting any Aes Sedai difficult. She understood, but he was going to have to learn how.

…

The Dragon Scepter flew from the floor behind Rand, and he snagged it out of the air without looking. His eyes were not ice any more. They were blue fire. "A Sea Folk ambassador clinging to my heels?" he shouted. "Obey summonses?" He shook the carved spearhead at them, the green-and-white tassel flailing. "There are a people out there who want to conquer all of us, and might be able to do it! The Forsaken are out there! The Dark One is waiting! Why didn't you agree I'd caulk their hulls while you were about it!"

TITLE: Path of Daggers
CHAPTER: 29 - A Cup of Sleep

Min kept her face smooth. She was not going to slap him, and he was too big for her to spank. "Andor is hers, just as you wanted," she said. Calmly. Almost. "None of the Forsaken are going after her now she's torn your banners down." A dangerous light appeared in those blue-gray eyes, but she pressed on. "Just as you wanted. And you can't believe she's siding with your enemies. Andor will follow the Dragon Reborn, and you know it. So the only reason for you to be in a snit is because you think she doesn't want to see you. Go to her, you fool!" The next part was the hardest to say. "Before you can say two words, she'll be kissing you." Light, she loved Elayne almost as much as she did Rand—maybe as much, in a very different way—but how was a woman to compete with a beautiful golden-haired queen who had a powerful nation at her beck and call?

TITLE: Path of Daggers
CHAPTER: 29 - A Cup of Sleep

A stone wall seemed to strike Min from behind; she thought she heard roaring, crashing. And then Rand was turning her over—she was lying on the floor?—looking down at her with the first fear she remembered seeing in those morning-blue eyes. It only faded when she sat up, coughing. The air was full of dust! And then she saw the corridor.

TITLE: Path of Daggers
CHAPTER: 29 - A Cup of Sleep

"Burn you," she breathed. Tangling both hands in his hair, she stared in his eyes. Now blue, now gray, a morning sky just at sunrise. And dry. "You can cry, Rand al'Thor. You won't melt if you cry!

TITLE: Winter's Heart
CHAPTER: 33 - Blue Carp Street

Rand belted his sword over his coat, then settled his cloak with the hood hanging down his back and turned toward her. His face was as hard as Lan's, his blue-gray eyes almost as cold, but in her head that frozen stone blazed with veins of fiery gold. She wanted to tangle her hands in the black-dyed hair that almost brushed his shoulders and kiss him no matter how many people were watching. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and lifted her chin, making her disapproval clear. She did not intend for him to die here, either, and she was not about to let him start thinking she would give in just because he was stubborn. :rolleyes:

[Matoyak]

Right as I opened this topic I hit a part of aCoS that mentioned gray-blue eyes... heheeh. :)

[1Powerslave]

It could be that the clouds are real illusions. That is mirrors of mist if you will. To me it seems that would require less "power" and be easier for the Dark One to accomplish than to have half the farmers of the borderlands hallucinating.

[Terez]

It could be that the clouds are real illusions. That is mirrors of mist if you will. To me it seems that would require less "power" and be easier for the Dark One to accomplish than to have half the farmers of the borderlands hallucinating. Or, it could be just another warping of reality, like the hallways that change places, and the villages that rise up out of the earth, and the dude that threw up his substance in bugs, or various other things that make no sense whatsoever. "Real or imagination" isn't really in it.

[Enigma]

So how did Faile know which patch of dark brush Masema would walk through?

Presumably Perrin's scouts were keeping an eye on Masema to see where he was going and make sure he was not headed to close to Perrin's camp. We know that Masema was a decent enough soldier but I don't think there is anyting to say that he was a scout or tracker. Given the quality of nutters that hang around with the Prophet I doubt if any of them have any skills in concealing their tracks either.

I don't doubt the Aiel could find Masema I would have a quesion over Faile or her followers. Mostly they are the children of nobles who might be decent enough with sword or bow but I don't expect them to be any better at tracking that Maasema.

[Terez]

Presumably Perrin's scouts were keeping an eye on Masema to see where he was going and make sure he was not headed to close to Perrin's camp.
Or Faile's own scouts. She does have an army at her disposal now. At least a few of them are bound to have some skill.

[GonzoTheGreat]

The hail of arrows which finished off the gang suggests to me that some Two Rivers people were involved. At least some of those do have scouting abilities, even in woodland.

[Terez]

Are there really Two Rivers people that she would ask to keep a secret like that from Perrin, though? I'd say that most of the nobles who are sworn to her probably have decent arching skills.

[1Powerslave]

Yeah, my initial thought was that the arrows meant Two Rivers men. But then I had the same thought as Terez...

"Faile stepped down off her stone and entered the clearing. Two women wearing trousers followed. They looked concerned, but Faile ignored their protests that she stay back. She walked right up to the Prophet, then slid her knife from her belt. It was a fine blade, with a cast hilt that showed a wolf's head. That was well."

When she says those things about keeping it a secret from Perrin, it sounds like she is speaking to these two members of Cha Faile. (I doubt it is Maidens)
Is she speaking to more people in the background though?

Have we seen that knife before?

ETA: Also I assumed that she had Travelled ahead of Masema. As for how she found him, perhaps him climbing that ridge made him visible from afar.

[WinespringBrother]

"Are those clouds real or imagined? "

They seem to have caused real damage, IIRC. Also, they have been seen at other times, notably over Caemlyn during the last battle when Elayne prevailed over her rivals for the throne.

I would agree that Faile was using Cha Faile to finish off Masema's group. They would understand the need for discretion in not letting Perrin know about what they did. And Faile remembers Perrin declaring that he would stop her and Dobraine from killing Colavaere. I wonder if Masema's escape from Perrin's camp was arranged similarly to Logain's from Salidar, except for it being a trap on Faile's part.

[Enigma]

Also I assumed that she had Travelled ahead of Masema. As for how she found him, perhaps him climbing that ridge made him visible from afar.

We are back to would she be able to get the Asha'man to keep a secret from Perrin? They are not sworn to obey Faile.

[Sodas]

Right, I don't think she used Asha'man.

Maybe, she was trained like Aviendha and becomes a ninja off screen (*pokes Tamrylin*)

On the Gathering Storm,
Let's say those clouds and whatever knocked the "wind" around in Chapter 1, are the same. Are we looking at something that could potentially be on par with a Tropical Storm or Hurricane, causing catastrophic damage?

On the eyes,
Lol. I can't believe I always thought they were solid gray. Maybe it was the impression based upon the Aiel in general, but damn ... my bad!

[Terez]

Let's say those clouds and whatever knocked the "wind" around in Chapter 1, are the same. Are we looking at something that could potentially be on par with a Tropical Storm or Hurricane, causing catastrophic damage?
We are looking at something that could be potentially who knows what. It's not as if we have any information to work with beyond 'the Dark One is warping reality in various ways'. It's like the ripples that Perrin and Faile felt in Knife of Dreams - existence itself seemed in danger then, and that's pretty catastrophic.

[creepybob]

The hail of arrows which finished off the gang suggests to me that some Two Rivers people were involved. At least some of those do have scouting abilities, even in woodland.

Umm...either Two Rivers men, who I think would do something for Faile and keep it from Perrin without many qualms, she is a pretty persuasive.

Though, I feel it's more likely to be Maidens who, either on their own or at the Wise One's encouragement, tracked and helped kill Masema.

I DON'T think it was Ash'aman, tbh, because they're a bit militaristic and Perrin is their CO until they report back to Rand or Logain.

[Terez]

I feel it's more likely to be Maidens who, either on their own or at the Wise One's encouragement, tracked and helped kill Masema. Ahh, there you go. Bain and Chiad, after all. And yeah, the Wise Ones were definitely on the 'you need to kill this crazy guy' bandwagon. Part of the support for the Aviendha killed Asmodean theory. :)

You're probably right that Faile could convince some Two Rivers folk, but I think the Aiel more likely, along with Cha Faile. Though I see now that 1PS mentioned them (doubting that it was Aiel) and Enigma also mentioned them (not doubting so much).

I wish I had time to read threads. :(