Tora Harad, "The Ways"

[Caelan Arendor]

According to the old myths, both the Ogier and the male Aes Sedai were equally involved in the construction of the Deep Ways. The Ogier contributed their mastery of stonecraft; the design and shaping of the Ways lay in their hands, and they were intended to provide a safe and swift connection between the steddings and the cities of humankind. The male Aes Sedai, for their part, employed the One Power to make the very construction of the Ways possible.

 

This raises the question of how the latter were able to accomplish such a feat, given that saidin had already been corrupted and many—if not all—male Aes Sedai had already lost their sanity, wholly or at least in part.

[DojoToad]

That is never well explained from my standpoint - other then some held onto sanity longer than others.  The taint did not affect them within the stedding.  So if they were fortunate enough to make it to a stedding with little or no affect on their sanity, they could choose their moments to leave the stedding and perform their work.

 

But that also leaves the question of how they coordinated their work (with other male Aes Sedai) when leaving the stedding would bring on the madness.  How would they have built the Chunnel from both the French and English sides with limited or no communication from each side of the Channel?

 

Why would they even build the Ways when putting their minds to the problem of madness might have been a better project to work on?  Even if they were ultimately unsuccessful, they probably couldn't know that at the time...  I guess maybe someone foresaw the world breaking into isolated anarchy of the 'Dark Ages' should technology and Traveling be lost.  Maybe some worked on the madness issue while others did the Ways.

[Tovya]

The male Aes Sedai would shelter in the stedding, but missing the power would always drive them out. The madness was new and unprecedented, and I believe it's stated that they were hoping it would have passed by the time they left the stedding. 

 

They were not quite equally involved, it was a gift from one group of male Aes Sedai who had specialised in the study of Portal Stones. The Ways were living things in a way, and the structures inside are formed from themselves. The male Aes Sedai crafted the world of the ways as well as the ter'angreal Talismans for Growing so that the Ogier could grow the connecting Waygates.

[Mailman]

7 hours ago, Caelan Arendor said:

According to the old myths, both the Ogier and the male Aes Sedai were equally involved in the construction of the Deep Ways. The Ogier contributed their mastery of stonecraft; the design and shaping of the Ways lay in their hands, and they were intended to provide a safe and swift connection between the steddings and the cities of humankind. The male Aes Sedai, for their part, employed the One Power to make the very construction of the Ways possible.

 

This raises the question of how the latter were able to accomplish such a feat, given that saidin had already been corrupted and many—if not all—male Aes Sedai had already lost their sanity, wholly or at least in part.

Saying they were equally involved is incorrect. The male Aes Sedai made the ways and then the Ogier contributed the superficial decoration. It would be like claiming that someone who decals a car was equally responsible for the making of a car as Ford.

 

The Ways were primarily created for the Ogier to be able to travel between stedding without having to deal with the longing and not for travel to human cities even if they ended up using it for that purpose later.

 

The male Aes Sedai sheltered in the stedding where they were cut off from the one power and this was their gift to the Ogier for that sanctuary. It is believed though not confirmed that the befouled power used to create the ways is what caused the corruption.