They're everywhere!!! They're everywhere!!!

[GrandpaG]

How many Tinkers are there in Randland?

 

 

 

They're vegetarian...healthy hearts.

 

Plenty of manual labor exercise...healthy hearts.

 

Maybe a little Two Rivers Tabac once in a while...only bad if abused.

 

Probably an occasional nip of brandy or watermelon wine?

 

Healthy mental attitude toward life in general.

 

Dancing, music...good for what ails a soul.

 

Probably rely on herbs for medicine.

 

Overall, it seems that they should thrive.

 

They've been around as long as the "so called Aiel".

 

The Aiel eat meat, live in the Waste, kill each other, and yet there are countless thousands of them.

 

Shouldn't Randland be saturated with wagon trains of Tuatha'an?

 

 

P.S.

For anyone who is interested, this link will take you to a recently created RP in celebration of the Traveling People...all are welcome to these fires.  Enjoy!

 

http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,52697.msg1438363.html#msg1438363

 

Love,

Gramps

[Entretamis]

the travelign people are hippies. How many hippies there are in the world? Not a whole lot, but still, that is way to many.

[OptimusPrime]

Not a whole lot, but still, that is way to many.

 

Depends whose PoV you look at it from

[sketching sedai]

Dude, are you kidding me?  Hippies are awesome. Sing all day, dance all night, smoke a little something...

[matrulz]

the aiel took up arms and defended themselves....during a time like the breaking that could have made a difference. also they found a place of safety from outsiders in the waste, the traveling people just kept "truckin" ;D, which could lead to more interactions with folks that would kill, rape, pillage and plunder.

[The Fisher King]

There actually probably ARE a ton of Tinker Folks and its just that they drive around so much and are so spread out that its very hard to get an accurate Head-Count as oppposed to if they were all gathered in one place like most the folks in Randland.

 

Also, I do not think Tinkers ever need to worry about being killed because they don't use weapons, because...NOBODY (Except for like the Meanest Darkfriends Ever) would ever harm a Tinker Person.

 

Thats just how it is.

 

 

Fish

[GrandpaG]

I'm guessing that there are a LOT of them wandering about Randland.

 

 

I'm still hoping that the Pattern will lead them all to Rhuidean to rejoin with their "lost" halves (the Aiel) and walk hand-in-hand through the glass columns to relearn the lost song of the Jenn Aiel.  Enter a few hundred thousand pairs...exit a few hundred thousand song singers...add in the Tree of Life (slightly scorched)...go to the Blight to retrieve the Green Man oak tree...have Loial sing to the oak tree again in Rhuidean under the Tree of Life...and VOAH-LAH...they're ready to sing to the fields again just like in Rand's ancestral viewing...all along the shores of Lake Rhuidean...the newest oasis in the Waste.  ;D

[mellojoe]

How many Tinkers are there in Randland?

...

Shouldn't Randland be saturated with wagon trains of Tuatha'an?

 

...

Love,

Gramps

Much like any of these dedicated lifestyles (of which you could probably find parallel's in the real world), it is not an easy choice. 

 

I'm sure the Tinker's lose followers a lot quicker than they gain them.  I'm sure that Aram isn't the first to pick up a sword.  Just like the Aiel of old did, I'm sure that the stream of those giving up the Way probably still continues to this day.

 

Its probably why the Tinkers "recruit" so determindely.  Well, that, and their complete belief in the Way.

[Crael123]

they are not satisfied with eachothers bodies.

[Crael123]

aeil, on the other hand, like to have sex and have multiple wives.more reproduction.

[Balefire to da face!]

The Way of the Leaf would lend itself to diminishing numbers after the Breaking. The only way a completely pacifistic culture could thrive is in an envirionment like the Age of Legends where even those not dedicated to it were dedicated to respecting it. Rmember how horrified the guy was in the flashback that he had showed agression towards one of the Aiel?

 

It's not just a matter of Tinkerers getting killed off that would cull thier numbers, it's the fact that you put them in a situation where thier philosophy becomes harder and harder to maintain. The obvious example used in the series more then once is that the death of one Tinker does just mean Tinkers -1. It had a profound effect on all of the Tinkers in that group. And some will decide the Way of the Leaf isn't possible.

 

In addition to the outside stress, I also think that the nature of humanity would keep the numbers relitively low. People call the Tinkers hippies, but that's not really accurate. Being a hippy is a hell of a lot easier then a completely pacifistic culture. I can be as idealistic as the next guy, but humans are hardwired for violence. We can try to control it and mold it with civilization. And that's a good thing. But you can't change the fact that the first reaction to aggression is aggression. Some can struggle against that in the name of a higher philosophical calling. But generally humans are better at going with the flow. Which is why the Aiel's way of life would thrive while the Way of the Leaf would diminish.

[GrandpaG]

Then there's the inbreeding thing.  Unless they happen to bump into another train of Tinkers (as will happen in my RP thread in the future), the choice of mates could be limited.  Their beliefs would not permit mating outside of the People.  Remember that this is fantasy, not reality.  Things like actually living the Tuatha'an lifestyle really are possible there.  My hope is that there are LOTS of Tinkers to congregate at Rhuidean for the rejoining with the Aiel.  :)