[SG Faire: WT & Warders] Aes Sedai thread

[Elgee]

Welcome to the White Tower and Warders' little corner of the world Randland Dragonmount! We hope to entertain and intrigue you in this thread, but also feel free to visit us at our home and join in the various threads, games, discussions, competitions, etc we have going there.

 

Before the fun begins, I would like to tell you a bit about our Social Group:
 

The term "Aes Sedai" means "Servants of All" in the Old Tongue. The White Tower and Warders Social Group has used the philosophy of Servants of All to create a social setting based on the hierarchy, purpose and set-up of the White Tower and Warders in the WoT series. This inspires the way in which we interact and some of the activities which we organize, although we are a social community and not a role playing group.

We offer people of varying common interests - related to the books or otherwise - a chance to find their niche with like minded people in one of the Ajahs or the Warders guild. Whether you are a Warder or an Aes Sedai (here males can be Aes Sedai and females can be Warders), at the White Tower and Warders Social Group, you can live out that philosophy and have fun doing it!

 

Now for the fun! As we are 2 halves of a whole, the Warders will be hosting their own thread. Please keep an eye out for that one

To kick off this Aes Sedai part of the WT Faire, Tamerya will lead a discussion on the most useful Talent(s) in the books, and later we can all try to create a new Talent.

 

Have fun!

[Tamerya]

Hi Everyone! Before we start, I just want to introduce myself really quick – My name is Tamerya and I’m an Accepted at the WTSG!

So, Talents. We see and hear a lot about them in the WoT books, so let’s take a look at them.

First, the basic definition of a Talent. It is an ability to use the One Power in a certain way/area beyond what is “normal”. They are rare and not linked to the strength in the One Power - not every channeller will have a Talent.

In the Third Age, there are several talents, here is a quick list of them with a brief description:

- Aligning the Matrix - Ability to make metals stronger
- Blocking a Gateway - Ability to block gateways from closing
- Caressing the Child - Ability to find out health of an expectant mother and child
- Cloud Dancing - Ability to change weather
- Compulsion - Ability to "brainwash" someone
- Delving - Ability to find metals/ores
- Delving (Health) - Ability to determine health
- Dreaming - Ability to Dream of future events
- Dreamwalking - Ability to enter the dreams of another (non-channellers may have this ability)
- Duplicating Ta'veren - Ability to duplicate the twisting effect of ta'veren
- Earth Singing - Ability to control/manipulate the earth (earthquakes, etc)
- Entering Tel'aran'rhiod - Ability to enter Tel'aran'rhiod
- Foretelling - Ability to foretell the future
- Healing - Ability to Heal
- Listening to the Wind - Ability to tell whether good/bad events are coming
- Making Cuendillar - Ability to make Cuendillar
- Making Ter'angreal - Ability to make Ter'angreal
- Reading Residues - Ability to read weave residues to know what weaves were used and if a gateway, they would be able to determine where it was going.
- Reading Ter'angreal - Ability to know what a ter'angreal does or how to use it
- Seeing Ta'veren - Ability to know a Ta'veren (by their "glow")
- Travelling & Skimming - The ability to move from one place to another either instantaneous (Travelling) or slower through space (Skimming)
- Unweaving - Ability to pick apart a weave to leave no trace behind

Whew, that's a long list!!

So now that we know what the Talents are, for the first part of our discussion I would like to know - what do you think is the BEST Talent (if you had one, which would you choose?) and why?

.. For myself, I would want the Travelling Talent! The ability to move from home to work with no rush hour traffic! To go and visit friends in other cities/countries/continents quickly would be awesome. Going on vacation without the long travel, amazing!! Not to mention, make it way easier to pull pranks ...

 

 

For the second part of our discussion - If you could make a new Talent, what would you have it do??

 

.. For myself, I would want some sort of Talent to be able to speak to and understand animals.  I have a fearful dog, and it would be awesome to find out (in "english") what he's so  afraid of and why to help me understand his problems and help him overcome it.  Also, it would be amusing to hear what my cats are saying - are they really trying to trip me and make me fall down the stairs on purpose? :)  Plus, imagine how much easier it would be for vets to find out what's wrong with an animal, or for owners to understand why their pet is sick, etc. (Hmm, on that note, I wonder if the current Delving would work on an animal?? We know Healing works on them... wonder about Delving?  Does anyone remember any passages where that happens?).

[Daruya]

Traveling for me, too. Much faster than cars, much cheaper than airfare ESPECIALLY if you want the whole family to go. And, just think, you could make a career of it, too! You can undercut airlines' prices! "Say, Mr. Smith, the airlines are charging $500 for that flight and it's a two 3-hour legs with a 2-hour layover? I can have you there in moments and will only charge you $400! AND you can take as much luggage as you can push/pull/carry!"

 

 

[Tamerya]

I didn't even THINK of the money making ability!! Several of them could do that, though in the wrong hands it could get ugly.

 

Though the thought of no lost luggage is also appealing!

[Daruya]

Heck, with a Gate, for personal travel you wouldn't even need luggage. You could just Travel back home, change clothes, and then Travel back. It would help you save on lodging, too.

 

Seriously, though, it would be awesome to even be able to just get myself and my family to/from places. My kids would never be late for school, there would be no frustrating commute to/from school and work, and I'd save a fortune on fuel.

[Elaevia]

Travelling would be great, (never having to wait for a delayed train again)-  that would be a dream come true!) but also controlling the weather! Being able to make sure it's sunny when you go to the beach, snowy on Christmas day, that would be awesome too.

[Ryrin]

I would choose healing. Rand would have died and been unable to complete his purpose if he did not have an Aes Sedai on hand to heal him. I value life above all things as well as the alleviating of suffering so that would be my choice.

[Tamerya]

Elaevia - I can imagine women everywhere getting that perfect day for their outdoor wedding too. 

 

Ryrin - That is a very "Aes Sedai" wish.  To be a "Servant of All" and have your Talent not for selfish reasons, but to help mankind.

[Elan Sedai]

Compulsion, in this world the possibilities are limitless.. although Traveling would be great too, just because you could use it to help mankind move throughout the universe. Examples include putting raw materials in space, colonizing Mars, etc.

[Elaevia]

Tamerya- and you'd never be dressed wrong either: forgot your coat? Make it warmer! Wearing a lovely big fluffy jumper? Make it cooler!

 

Elan- I like the idea of going to space using travelling, we'd all be instant astronauts! 

[LilyElizabeth]

I'll be the first to admit that I am somewhat twisted. I like the Dreamwalking ability to mess with other people. I also think the Reading Residues would be a good one to have. It's good to know where other people are (particularly those who may mean you harm after you walk in their dreams.;)  )

[LilyElizabeth]

DM doesn't let me edit. That should read "where other people are and what they are up to".

[Tamerya]

Elan - Compulsion could definitely be handy... and if you could pair it with the Travelling.. you could convince people they actually WANT to colonize Mars and then make it so ;)

 

LilyElizabeth - I will admit I like the rather evil side you're going for there.. (just don't tell the White Tower...) .. Knowing where your enemies are could be kind of handy if you're sneaking into other peoples' dreams....

[Moon Sedai]

Traveling. Healing. That's what I want

[LilyElizabeth]

The Ajah I most belong in is definitely Black. lol

[Arez Al'Loke]

You know what. Realisticly, the only thing I would want to be able to do, is to create a tiny little flame floating at the center of the palm. 
Hasn't anyone had one of those moments, either being bored, sad, angry and you just want to make that silly little candle light appear.

I think it's because a candle light has always symbolised hope. Being able to take hope with you wherever you go must be a wonderful feeling 

[Ryrin]

You know what. Realisticly, the only thing I would want to be able to do, is to create a tiny little flame floating at the center of the palm. 

Hasn't anyone had one of those moments, either being bored, sad, angry and you just want to make that silly little candle light appear.

I think it's because a candle light has always symbolised hope. Being able to take hope with you wherever you go must be a wonderful feeling 

 

Yes, that would be good.

[Aiel Heart]

Healing and/or Traveling for me. Both would really come in handy. 

 

Hmmmm... It'd be interesting to have a weave that could speed up or slow down time, or at least ones perception of it. 

[Turin Turambar]

Why isn't Balefire on that list??? 

 

Of the list Travelling has the most practical applications. The ability to move material and people from place to place instantaneously without needing to burn fossil fuels could improve quality of life for much of the world. There would have to be some sort of organisation to make sure that random gateways weren't damaging people and places.

[Elgee]

Why isn't Balefire on that list??? 

 

Of the list Travelling has the most practical applications. The ability to move material and people from place to place instantaneously without needing to burn fossil fuels could improve quality of life for much of the world. There would have to be some sort of organisation to make sure that random gateways weren't damaging people and places.

 

I agree with Turin (even about the Balefire ... lol ... that would work so well on politicians!) in a way. It's amazing how one's perception of things change with time and experience. A few years ago that would have been my without a doubt no 1.

 

Then along came Cloud Dancing, and the farmer / environmentalist in me had the happies. To be able to manipulate the weather so that droughts and floods are averted, to put out massive fires like have been happening in Australia (and to a lesser scale here where I live), would be a wondrous thing. I remember when I was a little girl, there was a severe drought upcountry, resulting in no food to eat for the livestock. Farmers started sending their animals to farmers in other areas so they wouldn't die. We took in a few flocks of sheep. Those poor things were completely emaciated when they reached us.

 

Lately I'm torn between Cloud Dancing and Healing. Actually, especially Delving - a lot of suffering happens because people aren't diagnosed early enough or correctly. How amazing would it be to go to a massive hospital like the one I was at on Thursday, with thousands upon thousands of sick people, and maybe within hours get them all sorted out?

[blank]

Delving is a good one actually mother!

 

I'm still in the camp of travelling though. Not only personally would it be awesome but the practical implications are staggering. Especially in developing countries there is sometimes the aid that they need but the literally can't get it to people. The infrastructure is horrendous but this would eliminate that. 

 

There would also be no need to ambulances or firetrucks cause you could just travel there and get immediate attention. 

 

Or you could work in developing countries helping people and then travel home at night to your own house. 

 

Travelling would be awesome.

[michellem]

I'm torn between several; some for personal gain, others for the good of others

 

But I think I would land on Traveling too. Sure, there's the great personal benefits of going on vacation whenever and whereever you want. But I'm thinking: Enviroment! Think about all the trucks, and trains, and boats, that ship food and stuff around the globe. How much they pollute. With travelling, especially if enough people had it, you could get rid of a lot of that! Insteand of sending a shipment of electronic devices with a truck from somewhere in China, to a place it could be put on a boat, and then on several trucks or planes that would take it different places again... You could have one main travelling hall in an area, that sent stuff to other main travelling halls around the world. And next to it you had a lesser travelling hall, that took the things from far away, and sent it to closer locations.

 

I'm thinking that food especially this would be great for.

[Hallia]

I'm with Ryrin on this one, I'd take Healing for sure.  I've lost a few people in my life early, and gosh would it've been nice to save them, and anyone that could be saved.

[Daruya]

Well, those of us with Traveling can help those with Healing get to where they need to go.  And of course, you'd need someone with Delving to go with the Healer.  What a mission field!

[Tamerya]

Nice thought Daruya - working together with the different Talents to help people out, etc :)

 

So far, it seems that Travelling is the most common one people would want, with Healing coming in a close second :)