Ask A Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer (No AMoL Spoilers)

[Luckers]

Yet the BA Hunters also hold that as an acceptable clause to identify Black Sisters, which indicates they too hold to the idea that one cannot write a lie.

[Sharaman]

Which means that it is true - if first oath-bound AS believe it is, then it is.

 

 

[Val Mickey]

That's why AS don't marry! ;D

[TheDecline01]

That'd sure make the marriage difficult.

 

I see the point for the name pretending or writing lies. Damn, that 1st oath can be useless ...

Still, about writing a lie, I don't see where the impossibility lies (hum...). The 1st oath is to "speak no word that is not true". To me, writing isn't speaking. Maybe they did convince themselves so, or that is a thing that is not a law, but has become as binding as a law by habit.

[Barid Bel Medar]

That'd sure make the marriage difficult.

 

I see the point for the name pretending or writing lies. Damn, that 1st oath can be useless ...

Still, about writing a lie, I don't see where the impossibility lies (hum...). The 1st oath is to "speak no word that is not true". To me, writing isn't speaking. Maybe they did convince themselves so, or that is a thing that is not a law, but has become as binding as a law by habit.

 

Technically writing could be the same as speaking, its the transfer of language, i suppose you could see it like that. I dont think they were masters of gramatical clauses.

 

In any case, it doesnt matter, Moiraine couldnt write a lie in NS, so that settles that for whatever reason

[yoniy0]

No, there is still the possibility that SOME Aes Sedai think that it's okay to write lies, while most don't. It's always a matter of what you believe in with the OR.

[farthammer]

From TGS

 

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.

 

Is there any info out there about 'blightstrain' crops?  How could she look at that and not want to find out what's going on there, it seems if Moridin was turning into a farmer that'd be something pretty important to know?

[Durinax]

From TGS

 

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.

 

Is there any info out there about 'blightstrain' crops?  How could she look at that and not want to find out what's going on there, it seems if Moridin was turning into a farmer that'd be something pretty important to know?

I would imagine the forsaken assuming that it would be used to feed the troops, especially since moving large amounts of troops require supply lines and grain typically stores longer than meat.

 

althouhg since the grain is infected with a physical manifestation of the DO (the blight) could it be put into normal grain supplies to infect people, making them sick or allowing the dark seeds of hatred and greed to grow within people?

[farthammer]

Well I was wondering if that was how the DO was spoiling crops in the first place.  Seems a wasted effort for the forsaken to spend time growing crops just to feed troops since they're spread all over the world and can just hijack everyone elses.

 

Do we know how tall Dragonmount is?  The wot encyclopedia says over ten miles but it's not cited, so I don't know where that number comes from.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Well I was wondering if that was how the DO was spoiling crops in the first place.  Seems a wasted effort for the forsaken to spend time growing crops just to feed troops since they're spread all over the world and can just hijack everyone elses.

 

Do we know how tall Dragonmount is?  The wot encyclopedia says over ten miles but it's not cited, so I don't know where that number comes from.

 

The spoiling crops are Rand. The land is tied to the Dragon's state of well being

[farthammer]

That doesn't actually answer anything, it's useless.

 

Edit: That's kind of an asshole thing to say I guess, sorry.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Blightstrain crops and spoiling crops around the world are two different things.

 

Blightstrain is corrupted with the DO's touch, still alive, but twisted, thus, if they are using it to feed trollocs, would be consumable.

 

The spoiling crops around the world are because of Rand's emotions/wellbeing. They are dying, rotting.

Its two different things, no-one could eat the rotted crops, however, blightstrain is not actually rotted, just twisted.

 

So, to answer, Trollocs couldnt be fed with dead crops as it is not the DO

[farthammer]

Well ok now you are just speculating/making things up.

[johthohar]

I have a question that came to mind while I was reading a thread regarding Mesaana getting around the Three Oaths. Someone said that she couldn't have used the Mask of Mirrors while swearing the Three Oaths because they would likely shield everyone while they swore. My question is this: Would tied off weaves dissipate once you were shielded? And if this is the case wouldn't Rand's weaves around Callandor have dissipated when he was captured by Elaida's embassy? Sorry if this was already discussed somewhere and I missed it.

[yoniy0]

A good question, but no, they won't. The reason I'm certain of that is that Liandrin still couldn't channel when we last saw her, which was after Moghedien's been shielded by Nyneave.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Look at the description of the Blight, it is sickly, due to the taint of the DO, that is what the blight is, effects of the DO on the world. It warps the land.

 

the spoilage

 

Q: Is there a connection between the spoilage of food and Rand’s temperament?

 

A: Look at the Fisher King prophecies, and the prophecies in WoT that mention that the “land and the Dragon are one.”

 

The Gathering Storm Book Tour, Dallas Borders 14 November 2009 - Aubrey Pham reporting

The prophecy of the land being one with the Dragon Reborn, and the Dragon being one with the land will play a big role in these last three books.  

 

The Gathering Storm Book Tour, Books and Co., Dayton, OH 11 November 2009 - Tim Kington reporting

Q: How about the food going bad in Bandar Eban? Was that caused by Rand being nearby with his cloud of evil?

 

A: We’ve heard earlier in the books that the Dragon is one with the land, and the land is one with the Dragon. This is an old belief – many kingdoms believed that the wellness of the King was directly tied to the wellness of the land. In WoT, this is quite literally true.

 

 

 

So dont accuse me of making things up because you do not know the answers to things, people do, in rare events of the world, know something you do not

 

Edit: I add more on the nature of the blight, to show that it is a corruption, a disease of the plants

 

Knife of Dreams book tour 24 October 2005 - Tim Kington reporting

 

RJ:  When the Blight receded in The Eye of the World, the plants actually healed (new plants didn't immediately appear from elsewhere).

 

Budapest Q&A - April 2003

 

 

Q:  Was there any time when there was no Blight?

RJ:  Oh, yes.  The Blight is an artifact of the War of the Shadow and the Breaking.  There was no Blight before the Bore was created, and the drilling of the Bore did not immediately create the Blight, but the Blight came into being after that.

Q:  Was the Blight [mumble] from the Dark One, or one of the Forsaken?

RJ:  From the Dark One.  It is land that has been corrupted by the Dark One.

 

Also, this is a reply to the trollocs food supply

 

USAToday Chat - 5 January 2004

 

Holland: What do Trollocs eat and how do they get enough food in the Blight to sustain all those Trollocs?

Robert Jordan: Trollocs eat almost anything, including other Trollocs. They are omnivores with a tendency toward being carnivores.

 

 

 

[yoniy0]

Barid, I think farthammer meant that you have no way of knowing that trollocs can feed on spoiled food. That the DO didn't cause it to go bad isn't proof in and of itself.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Well I was wondering if that was how the DO was spoiling crops in the first place.  Seems a wasted effort for the forsaken to spend time growing crops just to feed troops since they're spread all over the world and can just hijack everyone elses.

 

 

That is the comment i was answering, and the spoiled crops that is in question, its not just weevil riddled and a bit rotten, it is completely destroyed.

 

It would be like eating ash, even though Trollocs and eat many things, that would not be one of them.

 

If you call "Trollocs not being able to eat ash/totally devoid of nutrition and anything else" speculation and making things up, well, I dont know what to say to that.

 

Edit: And, the post did not specify what i was "making up" so I answered to all of the possible things that I could make up. I thought it was just common sense that trollocs could not eat dead crops. Also, I was correct in saying that Blighstrain crops are different from destroyed crops, so what I made up, I cant see.

[yoniy0]

Spoiled food isn't completely destroyed, as it would have been had it been burnt, though. It's not devoid of nutrition, it's rotten, i.e. it contains dangerously high levels of bacteria. Or am I mistaken?

[Barid Bel Medar]

It could be, and you are most likely right, I just re-read the part.

 

So yeah, but i am still saying that trollocs would not be able to eat it, but I can see where it is speculation, so i wont go into it.

 

But I was basing all of that on evidence of Blightstrain crops, and how the crops had failed, not just thinking, nar trollocs cant eat it.

 

AS i See it, Trollocs are like dogs and other such animals, they can eat almost anything in the sense that they can eat humans (not raw, they cook them in their cookpots, suggesting some level of tolerance) although they could also eat them raw, not sure on that. They can eat stuff that would repulse humans, but they still cannot eat bacteria ridden spoiled crops, just as a dog or any other animal would get sick, so would trollocs, it would be like eating poison. Trollocs are resistant to poison (I am not sure on this), so i dont see how this is any difference.

 

As to how they can eat Blightstrained Crops, as my point earlier made clear, they are not the same. It is a corruption of the Dark One, another kind of poison if you want, but the same poison that created the trollocs.

 

Anyway, thats my take on it, I just dont appreciate people saying I have made my posts up.

[yoniy0]

I get that.

By the way, cooking isn't necessarily a sign of delicate taste, it actually increases the nutrition value of meat. That's the main reason that the discovery of fire was such a big deal for our ancestors.

And some animals do have a higher tolerance to spoiled meat than ours. Dogs and cats are the obvious examples. I don't know regarding crops, though. I think there're rotten bananas in what we feed cows with, but I'm not sure.

[Barid Bel Medar]

I get that.

By the way, cooking isn't necessarily a sign of delicate taste, it actually increases the nutrition value of meat. That's the main reason that the discovery of fire was such a big deal for our ancestors.

And some animals do have a higher tolerance to spoiled meat than ours. Dogs and cats are the obvious examples. I don't know regarding crops, though. I think there're rotten bananas in what we feed cows with, but I'm not sure.

 

I meant tolerance to spoiled food, as you say, cooked meat increases the nutrition of meat, and also kills harmful bacteria

 

thats what i was getting at. Anyway, I think it is pointless thinking on it anyway, they can eat their blightstrain crops and RJ has (apparently, in the quote above) said that trollocs just live of meat captured in raids (people) and when they get real hungry, just eat eachother.

 

In the BWB it says trollocs are omnivores, yet prefer to be carnivorous, so i doubt they eat much crop anyway

[Sharaman]

Just a thought. The Blight has existed for 3K years.

Trollocs live in the Blight. While their food chain is mysterious, they are creatures that need to eat and there are a lot of them.

"Blightstrain" crops suggest crops bred to be capable of surviving in the Blight.

Presumably they are used to feed either trollocs, or meat animals eaten by trollocs.

Aginor for example, was a biogenetic researcher of genius.

Trollocs are bright enough to have developed tribal societies, which read, make their own weapons, etc.

Fades are around average human levels in intelligence.

 

No reason why Aginor or somebody trained by him, who wasn't trapped in the Bore, could not have developed food crops that survive in the Blight. Fades and trollocs and fades would be more than capable of sustaining that agrarian link in the food chain. Especially if Baalzamon was around to prod them every so often.

 

So, I'd guess Blightstrain crops are either trolloc-edible, or edible by some meat animal trollocs eat.

Aginor (or somebody who was a biogenetic researcher) may also have found a way to breed crops that could be winnowed/ boiled/ treated in some simple way to remove the "spots of blight taint" and make them edible for the trolloc food chain.

 

All the above is pure speculation. of course. 

[farthammer]

So dont accuse me of making things up because you do not know the answers to things, people do, in rare events of the world, know something you do not

 

Well you are because my question was about blightstrain crops and specifically if I had missed any other references to it in any of the books or RJ Q/A's.  None of your responses actually cite anything about farming in the blight, and that's a problem when trying to figure out if they are something new being introduced in the story.

[Luckers]

Farthammer, you were abrasive and deserved the answer you got. Let it go.