Lanfear and her Quest for power

[Morden]

Okay so long before she was Lanfear she was Mierin, we know from the books that she was part of the team that drilled the bore, in part because she was looking for a power source more powerful than the True Source.

 

Having just read the article on the 13th dep. It made me wonder whether she had actually experimented on herself to increase her own natural power outside of an Angrael or Sa'angrael.

 

She was after all one of the most power hungry channellers during the Age of Legends and I dont think its totally unreasonable to assume that if she did find some way to modify herself then she would do so and that she would more than likely keep it to herself so that no one else could benefit from the same process and thus make them her equal or her better.

 

Unless of course she somehow surgically implanted herself with some sort of angrael. Personally I am a bit surprised that this wasnt a more common clandestine routine. Afterall it would not be difficult for instance to make a small angrael and then attach it to the inside of your ribcage and then have someone heal you. You would need someone you trust of course but it is an interesting idea.

[bigdoug1971]

I always liked the idea that she visited the Finns and used her knowledge to the best of her ability. People from the Age of Legends probably knew how to deal with them better than people in the current age. One fact to support this is Moridin's ability to go in and free her. He didn't have any of the problems dealing with them like Mat had in their world.

 

On a side note, I always thought Mordeth went through too looking for a way to fight the Shadow. It would also explain how he survived so many years too.

[Suttree]

Brandon confirmed Mordeth went to the Finns...

[Whizbang]

I like the idea of an Angreal Implant, but maybe there was a reason for it? Like maybe you'll get some sort of blood poisoning, or maybe most people would have difficulties linking with the implant. Many channelers have problems working on things they cannot see, or working on their own bodies. Maybe linking with the Angreal inside of you is not possible for most people to do.

 

As for modifying her self in other ways, I don't think it is possible to increase your power level permenantly. I think I read a quote somewhere that RJ(or maybe Brandon) said, in response to a question about Lanfear, that the Finns cannot increase strength in the OP permenantly. They would need to give an item like an Angreal.

[Hagazussa]

Well there are a few situations where having an angreal you can not remove might be a problem, sometimes artifacts of the Power react poorly to one another so it might be better to have an angreal ring or other jewelery than to have it placed inside your body, thought the idea is rather neat.

 

Now as for experiments to increase her channeling ability I can see a few reasons why this has not been done. First of all it might just not be possible as stated by others above, or if possible she never found out how. Secondly you would have to trust someone very much to let them to experiments on your connection to the Source most channelers are rather, pun intended, attached to that part of their spiritual anatomy. I think that Lanfear would not do that kind of experiments on others as she would fear they would work and make them more powerful than her, and she would not have had someone done them on her as A who would she trust to do it and B I do not think she would be willing to take the chance that they make her less powerful or worse sever her. The only way I can see such experiments being done if if she found a very weak channeler she knew even with enhancements would never get more powerful than her and did tests on them, but even if she did she might not have found anything as it might not be a thing that is possible to do.

 

We know the Finns can make a channeler weaker by more or less feeding on their connection, now that is a lovely idea these guys just suddenly stepped into scary as F*** fairy territory, but I can not remember that interview that state they can not make a channeler stronger, do you know where that interview is so I can read it? Anyway that makes me wonder what exactly the limits to what the Finns can do is. Could they heal a severed channeler for example? Could they grant immortality and can they affect others than the one who is there talking with them, could someone go to them and say I want my wife to conceive a child with the women in question not being present with the Finns but being safely in her home in Andor, do it say anywhere what limits they have?

[Whizbang]

INTERVIEW: Nov 21st, 2009

Driving Mr. Sanderson - Matt Hatch

 

...

 

MATT HATCH

...so Lanfear, the theory goes, that maybe she was accentuated from a beauty and/or power perspective by going to the Finnland previously...

BRANDON SANDERSON

...ok...

MATT HATCH

...would the Finns have the ability to accentuate someone’s beauty and/or quantity or access to the One Power through their own capabilities and talents?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yes, but it might involve third party ter’angreal, angreal, this sort of thing...

MATT HATCH

...so, they don’t have power to affect the soul’s capability of increasing its total channeling?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Certainly not permanently, as far I understand, that is outside the realm of their ability…

MATT HATCH

...from a beauty perspective can they affect the outer body of some individual?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I would say that, yes they can, but they may have to be using some type of ter’angreal or...

MATT HATCH

...some item of power?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Some item of power, something like that...of which they have great stores...[what???]

MATT HATCH

...Really...heh, so the obvious question, where did the Finns get great stores of ter’angreal, angreal, and is that part of the Pact they made.?

BRANDON SANDERSON

RAFO...but if you just think about it, we don’t even have to go to the notes for this if you think about it logically, we know of them providing certain items of power to certain individuals that they were able to match very nicely with certain requests very easily. If you run the statistics on that its either a huge coincidence or they have very many to choose from.

 

[Hagazussa]

Thank you for the information. So the Finns fulfill most of the requests they gets by giving the person they are dealing with some item of Power instead of actually doing something themselves?

[Lacanos]

Thank you for the information. So the Finns fulfill most of the requests they gets by giving the person they are dealing with some item of Power instead of actually doing something themselves?

We can't extrapolate that far. All BS is saying is, looking at the requests we know of (i.e. those of Mat), they were able to supply him with ter'angreal that precisely met his requirements (including the spear here, although not sure it is best described as a ter'angreal, perhaps just some other "object of power" (small p). Either it's hugely coincidental or they have a large supply.

That said, we can't be certain they actually have any powers to do anything for themselves - beyond reading an individual's future etc.

[Suttree]

That said, we can't be certain they actually have any powers to do anything for themselves - beyond reading an individual's future etc.

 

nterview: Jul 19th, 2005

TOR Questions of the Week Part III (Verbatim)

Week 1 Question

Are the Eelfinn limited in their power to grant wishes? To what degree can they affect the outside world? Also, is there any relation between what the Aelfinn do and Min's ability?

Robert Jordan

Oh, yes, there definitely are limits to the powers of the Eelfinn. For one thing, they cannot affect the outside world at all. If you said that you wanted to be King of the World, you might well find that what you received was not what you expected. For example, they might put you out of their world into a world with no other sentient life, where you would be king by default. Then again, you might find yourself with the necessary skills to make yourself King of the World, if you were able. Actually achieving it would be up to you. But then, many of their "gifts" are skewed in this way. You must be very careful as you're asking if you want to receive what you are hoping for. And yet, remember that Mat actually did receive very much what he asked for. Just not in the way that he wanted.

No, there is no connection between what the Aelfinn do and what Min does.

[batcaver]

Wait, Mordeth went to the Finns?  Fain?  When did this happen?

 

I thought Moridin went to get Lanfear, right?  Ok, I'm confused.

[Amandera]

The real Mordeth went to the Finns. When Shadar Logoth was still Aridhol.

[batcaver]

Ah.  Ok, I see now.  That actually explains a lot.  I wonder how I missed that.

[Entreri]

Not with the Finns.

 

I would not entirely rule out the possibilty of increasing one's "natural" OP strength limit. 

 

We know that it can go in the other direction (healing of stilling patients...Finns drainig).  Angreal and sa'angreal can increase one's capacity. 

 

As for Lanfear, she is still a woman and is not beyond any other woman in term's of strength (her POV when confronting Alivia) and every Chosen knew of her strength. 

 

Asmodean related the difference between men and women's strength in terms of physical strength (arm).  In order to increase physical strength, one has to keep pushing and pushing (beyond what they think is impossible).  This might have happened when Rand wielded the Choden Kal and was about to destroy the world, if not, then it is indeed impossible. 

[SylvanFox]

Hmmm... If Mordeth went to the Finns to find weapons to fight the Shadow... I wonder how he could have possibly worded that request so that it doesn't "touch the Shadow". Actually, was it only the Aelfinn you're not supposed to talk to about the Shadow? I don't remember. But what happens if somebody asks something like, "Give me the best weapons to fight the Shadow"? Would he receive some kind of ter'angreal that creates crazy stuff like Mashadar? Is it possible that Mordeth suffered some kind of consequences for mentioning the Shadow around the Finns? I suppose he could have gotten out of mentioning it, but how? It was so important to him to get weapons specifically to combat the Shadow.

[Knivy]

Its only dangerous to ask of the shadow, not impossible, so assuming he was a loyal citizen and willing to do whatever it took to liberate his city, then it is plausible he took the risk of outright asking of the shadow.

[Amandera]

Or asking about it screwed Mordeth up and that's why Aridhol became Shadar Logoth. Btw, I think he went to the Aelfinn throught the doorway ter'angreal not ToG.

[Knivy]

I think it is more likely just 'Finn trickery that the solution they gave him was just as bad as the shadow.

[Whizbang]

Interview: Nov 21st, 2009

Driving Mr. Sanderson - Matt Hatch

Matt Hatch

Ok. You mentioned that Mordeth was a man that had "power". You are reported as saying that his power was that "which he got by seeking out all of the evil things that weren’t related to the Shadow"...

 

Brandon Sanderson

He was seeking things that were related to the Shadow. I think that that might be a misquote. He was looking into the power of the Shadow in order to defeat it, was his goal. He was looking into everything. He was looking into things that were not necessarily related to the Dark One as well. He was looking for everything that he could get...

 

Matt Hatch

..previous to him arriving to Aridhol?

 

Brandon Sanderson

...Yeah...

 

Matt Hatch

...before he went to the King and became the counselor, Mordeth was this guy that went around searching for Power?

 

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, he wanted to defeat the Dark One and he felt that he could find other ways to do it [...] He originally was good. He did not...he wasn’t this terrible person to begin with but he was looking to defeat the Dark One, to find a way to defeat the Shadow. And he looked into a lot of things he shouldn’t have looked into. There are evils that are not necessarily directly related to the Dark One, though everything evil kind of has...just as there are goods that are not related necessarily to the One Power...we are talking much as Perrin runs with wolves. This is a thing older than...there are other evils things that are old in a similar way...

 

Matt Hatch

...is the assumption then that he found one of these?

 

Brandon Sanderson

He did.

 

Matt Hatch

He found one or multiple?

 

Brandon Sanderson

He found many things of darkness. There is one in specific that is driving him but he knew too much. He found things he should not have gotten into and that is what turned him into...when he got there he was already corrupt. He still thought he was doing a good work. He still thought we are going to raise this Kingdom up and it is going to become this bastion against the Shadow, but he was already by then corrupted.

 

Matt Hatch

Is this same corrupting influence what corrupts everyone through the dagger itself?

 

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. Through him, yes. And even through his presence.

 

MATT HATCH

[Hah—Maybe I should have asked if Mordeth was under the influence of the Finns...or at the very least if they were one of the powers he found in his quest... ]

 

Interview: Oct 15th, 2011

NY ComicCon Report - Ted Herman (Paraphrased)

Ted Herman

Did Mordeth go to the Finns?

Brandon Sanderson

YES.

My guess is that Mordeth already had some sort of powers/corruption when he visited the Finns. Then he asked about the shadow. He got his answers/wishes, but they were twisted because of the Shadow connection, plus the Finns are just twisted. I am totally guessing, of course, but this is how I imagine Mordeth became what he was. Some item of power was granted to him, or the Finns twisted him in some way, but this interacted with the corruption he already had, which had unforeseen results.