Do threads and weaves leave the body?

[FortySix]

This is a question that has always bugged me. Do the weaves of the one power need a connection to the channeler? If someone lights a tree on fire does that weave have to touch the channeler, like a cord which runs from the tree back to the person channeling? At some points in the book, I think the description of the one power becomes muddled.

 

I think my question is unclear. Let me try another example.

 

When Graendal lowers a weave of compulsion onto someone, is there a point where that weave meets her body somewhere or does the weave just float in the air where she formed it? Is it connected or unconnected?

 

Take Arrows of Fire. These definitely have a connection from Rand's hand to whatever he's shooting. Are all weaves like this?

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

judging by some of the massive weather weaves, and lightening thingies, i would guess no. but it's just a guess.

[Leyrann]

Maybe it is different per weave. And you double-posted this thread. It looks funny.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

(he knows. you can't remove an OP anymore, though)

[Kahsm]

Week 9 Question: When a person channels, where do the flows appear to originate from? Do they extrude themselves somehow from the person's body, or do they seem to appear out of thin air in the channeler's general vicinity? What do the flows look like to a person who can channel? Are they colored, clear or indeterminate, smooth or rough, wispy or solid?

 

Robert Jordan Answers: To the channeler, the flows seem to originate in his or her very immediate vicinity, not to emanate from themselves, although to another channeler, those flows do seem to be emanating from the channeler. The latter is the actual case, as the One Power is passing through the channeler, one of the reasons for individual limits on how much of the Power a particular person can handle. (And you have seen characters react as if to a blow from having a flow snapped or cut.)

 

A channeler sees the flows as colored very faintly, according to which of the Five Powers is involved (red = Fire, Blue = Water, green = Earth, yellow = Air, white = Spirit), although the "feel" of the flows are also different to a channeler, so that a channeler can tell one from another without actually seeing them. (That is how someone can tell that somebody else has channeled, say, Fire and Earth, in their vicinity without seeing the flows.) It isn't a physical feel; you might almost as well say that they have different flavors. They appear to be smooth and nearly transparent, tinged with color.

 

As for connected to their targets/effects I wrote this in the media form once about how we might show channeling on screen, which seems to apply here:

 

1. The only problem I see with the Saliba image, despite looking cool, is that it's very focused around her arm. And while Aes Sedai do believe they need some sort of "Focus" gesture, like a throwing motion for fireballs, the Wise One channelers need no such motions and could toss fireballs or create a beam without moving anything. So that needs to be factored into the visual. It could look very awkward if you decide on something that works for Aes Sedai, but then it doesn't work if you have Mazrim Taim with his arm behind his back casting fireballs and making gateways without even a flinch.

 

2. This may just be my own impression, but I got the idea that the thickness of the weave was also a factor. What makes a fireball bigger or smaller. The "Weave" so number of threads and pattern to weave would be the same for all fireballs I assume. But if you want a larger one, you'd weave with thicker strands. So if rand was going to make an enormous gateway to move an entire army, as he often has done, his threads would be VERY thick. And when you use thicker strands the pattern you weave would also be larger, just because of the bend radius. That's just how I pictured it.

 

Oh and while i'm on gateways, I also pictured things like that with the strands still attached to the person. I can't remember if it's specifically mentioned (or possibly prove otherwise) in the books. But you weave a gateway, and where the pattern is made is where the gate opens, but then the flows of whatever elements were used will continue to hang like telephone wires blowing in the wind between the channeler and the gate. That's how Avi could unweave it and pull it back into her (since flows originate from the channeler, I'd assume unweaving means they go back in), instead of letting them dissipate. It would make for a pretty visual. And if you combine it with my thick weaves theory, it would make rand look quite impressive while holding open a huge gateway with bridge-cable-sized flows =)

 

This is the image I'm refering to in the quote. It seems to be accurate (for Aes Sedai who use gestures) and given RJ's quote, except for the colours?