DRAGONMOUNT

Here is another holiday filk song by Semirhage and Ishamael.     A XMAS Wish From Demandred (2009)Composed by Sem and Ishamael Channeling Demandred... Too much eggnog? Is there ever too much Eggnog?     Have a holly jolly ChristmasIt's the best time of the year Well I do fear the Last Battle's near But have a cup of cheer. Have a holly jolly Christmas And when you walk down the street Say hello to Darkfriends you know And everyone you meet. Oh there is Dragonmount, big where you can seeThe Dragon waits for you Kill him once for me! Have a holly jolly ChristmasAnd in case you didn't hear Oh bygolly have a holly jolly Christmas This year.   Have a holly jolly ChristmasAnd when you walk down the street Say hello to Myrddraal you know And every Trolloc you meet. Ho ho, the mistletoe hung where you can seeSemirhage waits to torture you, kiss her once for me. Have a holly jolly Christmas, and in case you didn't hearOh bygolly have a holly jolly Christmas This year.   MERRY XMAS TO ALL AND HAPPY HIDING TO FAIN! ~Demandred

This is the first in a short series of filk songs written by Semirhage and her husband, Ishamael.  They are published authors, under their pen names Ciaran and Coal Corby, and host several Yahoo writing groups.      The Dragon got runned over by a reindeer Walking home from Caemlyn Christmas Eve. You can say there's no such thing as Santa, But as for me and Semi, we believe.   He'd been drinkin' too much eggnog, And they'd begged him not to go. But being drunk only enhanced his madness, So he stumbled out the door into the snow.   When they found him Christmas mornin', At the scene of the attack, There were hoof prints on his forehead, And incriminatin' Claus marks on his back.   R: The Dragon got runned over by a reindeer Walking home from Caemlyn Christmas Eve. (On his way home) You can say there's no such thing as Santa, (Say there's no Santa) But as for me and Semi, we believe. (Great Lord, we believe)   Now we're all so proud of Cauthon, He's been takin' this so well. See him in there watchin' Gleemen, Drinkin' beer and playin' stones with Barid Bel.   It's not Christmas for them in Caemlyn. All the nobility's dressed in black. And they just can't help but wonder: Should they open up his gifts or send them back?   R: The Dragon got runned over by a reindeer Walking home from Caemlyn Christmas Eve. (Midnight before Christmas) You can say there's no such thing as Santa, (Say there's no Santa) But as for me and Semi, we believe. (Great Lord, we believe)   Now the goose is on the table And the pudding made of fig. And a blue and silver candle that we can light the Dragon's pyre with! The queen has warned all her friends and neighbors. "Better watch out for yourselves. They should never give a license, To a man who drives a sleigh and plays with elves."   R: The Dragon got runned over by a reindeer Walking home from Caemlyn Christmas Eve. (Minding his own business) You can say there's no such thing as Santa, (What do you mean there's no Santa?) But as for me and Semi, we believe. (Great Lord, we believe)   Oh As for me and Semi, we believe. (We believe in Santa Claus.)

Hello, friends! The Wheel has turned all the way around to Thursday again, which means two things: the weekend is not too far away, and it's time for our Rotating Features blog!   Are you a huge, mega, massive Wheel of Time fan? Oh, yeah?! What do you have to prove it?   In case you're wondering what I'm referring to, it's Wheel of Time merchandise! The internet is full of various Wheel of Time related things for purchase. A little while ago you may remember we discussed where you could procure a heron-marked sword, should you so desire (and if you don't desire, why on earth not?!)   There is so much more available though. One leading Wheel of Time merchandise website I wanted to bring to your attention is Ta'veren Tees.   As you would expect, they sell Wheel of Time T-shirts, such as one with the Golden Crane of Malkier below, which is the one that caught my eye.     But they also do a lot more. From posters to maps, coins to ornaments, calendars to playing cards, they have a wide range of themed merchandise from our favorite series. The artwork looks pretty good on the clothing range. A colleague of mine at the White Tower Social Group here on Dragonmount has a few of their T-Shirts and she really looks spiffy in them. If you have any of their other products, drop us a line below in the comments to let us know what you have and what you think of it!   Me? Well, the spare money I have for such things is still going into my piggy bank to be able to afford that heron-marked sword which I know is coming to me!   That's all for now! Have fun!   Until next time, friends!

Welcome back to another edition of "WoT If?", Dragonmount's weekly theory blog.  We are going to continue our reread of The Eye of the World, only chapter 9 this time, but there's a lot to talk about.    Before we start, I do want to say that there will still be SPOILERS!  With the ending in sight, much of what I point out could allude to things that happen in A Memory of Light, so keep that in mind as you read.  Don't continue if you don't want to be spoiled.   Synopsis Chapter 9, "Tellings of the Wheel"   In a dream, Rand is running through a desolate landscape, unseen pursuers behind him.  He scrambles to the top of a cliff with a long drop below him and no other place to go.  In the valley below the cliff is a single mountain reaching far into the sky.  He doesn't know the mountain, but he remembers it.   Unseen things begin to pull on his body, drawing him towards the mountain.  A familiar voice tells him he must serve.  Rand struggles to resist the pull of voice and fingers and uses his stubbornness and anger as the source.  He curses Shai'tan and suddenly sees a figure hovering over him, a figure in a blood red cloak and a face that is horrible, but not described.  Terrified, Rand throws himself off the edge of the cliff.   He lands in some grass with a different mountain looming over him.  Beside it, there are a river, an island, and a city out of a gleeman's tale.  Rand knows that safety waits in that city, but as hard as he runs, he cannot reach it.  The city gets smaller and smaller and the things chasing him get closer and closer.  He screams, and trips.   He is on paving stones within the city.  Around him are happy faces, people urging him forward, toward the tall tower in the middle of the city.  Rand wants to see a bit more of the city before going to the tower, so he turns down a side road, and sees the tower before him.  He turns down anther road, and the tower is still there.  He tires to run from it, but the people around him gesture him forward.  They need him to go.  He obliges.  He walks to the tower and the crowd sings and dances around him, giving him garlands around his neck.  He dances with them.  He gets to the square outside the tower and the crowd stops.  He continues on alone.  He enters the tower and a Myrddraal waits inside for him.   Rand wakes up at the inn.  Mistress al'Vere has left him some food, so he eats it quickly, then stands beside his sleeping father.  As he touches Tam's forehead, Tam opens his eyes.  Rand tells Tam everything Moiraine had said about the Dark One being after him, Mat, and Perrin.  Tam reluctantly agrees that Rand needs to leave.    Lan arrives and says there is trouble.  Rand starts to take off the sword, but Tam tells him to keep it.  Rand hugs Tam—and unable to ask about the fever dreams—leaves with the Warder.  Mat is waiting outside in the hallway and they all go downstairs together.   In the street in front of the inn, a mob has gathered.  They threaten the inn and the Aes Sedai.  Moiraine raises her wooden staff, which shoots fire out the ends, and tells the villagers about Manetheren.  At the end of her story, the villagers apologize for their behavior and leave.    Lan leads Rand and Mat out to the stableyard and Rand realizes he is actually leaving his home.   My take:   When I read this part the first few times, I felt that the dream sequence was a waste of time.  I wanted to continue with the story—especially the part when Moiraine tells of Manetheren.  Many agree that scene is one of their favorites.  But looking at the dream now, looking at it closely, there is a ton of information we can pick up.   First off, there's a very subtle hint that Lews Therin is present inside Rand.  We typically don't think of Lews Therin emerging until The Fires of Heaven—when small phrases start showing up in Rand's conversation (like calling Moiraine "little sister" (Chapter 2, "Rhuidean")).  But he is clearly here now, if you look close enough.  I'm surprised I've never noticed before.   During the dream sequence, when Rand's looking at Shayol Ghul and the Bore, he thinks:     Just a quick side note on Shayol Ghul.  My understanding of it is that it was created when Mierin and Beidomon drilled into the Bore—we see in the glass-column ter'angreal that the release of the Power from within the Bore brought down the Collam Daan.  So, the land around became barren after it was opened.    Therefore, Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions would have seen Shayol Ghul as it is in Rand's dream.  The source of the memory had to be from Lews Therin!  One strange thing to think about is that Mat and Perrin are seeing these same dreams—after all, Ba'alzamon isn't sure which of them is the Dragon Reborn yet.  To them, would it be just another mountain, since they don't have that "memory" to guide them?   Another thing Rand remembers is the voice calling him.  It says:     Notice that this voice is "familiar" as well.  After this, Rand sees a figure.  He doesn't describe what the figure's face looks like, but we can assume that it's the flame-filled eyes and mouth that Ishamael uses.  It's the form of Ba'alzamon.    Whose voice is it actually?  It isn't really the Dark One—because he speaks in ALL CAPS.  So, this has to be the voice of Ishamael.  His voice would only be familiar to Lews Therin.  And Rand knows that if he listens hard enough, he would remember the voice.  This could be the first time that Lews Therin's personality is trying to dominate Rand's.  What would have happened if Rand had let him, if Rand would  have listened hard enough?  Would he have realized that Ba'alzamon was really Ishamael?  Would Lews Therin and Rand merged sooner?  Would it have cause peace or sown more chaos?   And that makes me wonder about Rand's childhood.  There's many studies that suggest that children are more sensitive to supernatural presences—or more perceptive to things that are unseen.  Would Rand have been more susceptible to Lews Therin's personality as a child?  Would it have made things easier if they had merged back then?  Or would it have erased the good ethics Rand learned from Tam and the Two Rivers?  Did Rand every have an imaginary friend who was actually Lews Therin?   I know these questions sound silly, but reading this one scene made them all likely possibilities.   When Rand dreams of Tar Valon, I wonder about the purpose of it.  Was Ishamael trying to scare him away from the Tower by showing a Myrddraal inside?  Rand actually does take a lot of the things Ba'alzamon says as being true—mostly about Aes Sedai and the Tower.  This could be the beginning of that seed of doubt.   Also, when he's going towards the Tower, he thinks as he dances with the crowd that, "his feet were lighter than they had ever been, dancing with... He could not remember the name, but it did not seem important."  I wonder who he was thinking about dancing with.  Could it have been Egwene, or maybe Ilyena?   There's one last thing about these dreams.  We didn't really find out about dreamshards until A Memory of Light (prologue), but it seems to me that all this time Ishamael has been using them when he pulls Rand, Mat, and Perrin into his Dreams.  In my opinion, this is confirmed when Rand realizes he's in a dreamshard, and it leads him to Ishamael (Chapter 4, "Advantages of a Bond")—the same way he was usually called into Dreams of Ishamael's making during The Eye of the World through The Dragon Reborn.   Moving on past the dreams, and I know I've brought this up before, but I'm still completely flabbergasted that Tam didn't even suspect the Rand might be the Dragon Reborn.  Tam says, "What would Trollocs want with you boys? Or the Dark One, the Light help us?"  I know, and I think Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson have both commented on, how no one really believes they are a part of prophecy, but when Tam finds out Shadowspawn are after his adopted son, why wouldn’t he think back to where he found Rand?  That should have stirred some memory.  He should have some idea, even if it's only a gut feeling.  The Dark One wouldn't be hunting people just for the hell of it.   I still tear up when I read Moiraine's account of Manetheren.  Wheel of Time—one of its major themes, at least—is about bravery in the face of defeat.  We see this continually with many of the characters, and nations.  The Borderlanders, the Aiel (past and present), the people of Manetheren.  All show unspeakable bravery when called upon.  And I love that this tale is our first taste of what the people of the Two Rivers are capable of.   But Moiraine's speech has more purpose than just inspiring us—the readers—and captivating the Two Rivers' folk.  This hidden piece of their history prepared the Two Rivers to pick up their bows, pitchforks, and axes—this made them ready to follow Perrin.  If they never learned about how ordinary shepherds and farmers fought for Manetheren, they never would have found that inner vein of bravery and courage.  They would have assumed the troubles of the world would pass them by.  But Moiraine rekindled that part of the Old Blood within them.  In just a few pages, she turned them into warriors.   And one last bit about Manetheren.  When Moiraine is speaking of the hoard of Trollocs and Dreadlords, she says:     Besides the prologue, "Dragonmount," this is the first evidence we see of Ishamael not being completely sealed within the Bore.  He brags later that he caused all sorts of chaos along history's timeline—making Hawkwing hate Aes Sedai, forming the Black Ajah, etc.—but here is proof.  Notice Moiraine's use of the word "some evil."  There had to be more than just Dreadlords there.  In fact, Ishamael would be necessary to recruit Dreadlords.  With only shadowspawn working for him, how could the Dark One let channelers know he was looking for help?  People would need to be convinced or coerced.  And that would most likely require Ishamael.   I'm really hoping the Encyclopedia will give us more information on the nature of Ishamael's half-caught abilities.  It's hard to sum up all he was capable of.   But that's all I've got for today.  It's incredible how much you can squeeze out of one chapter.  Join us next time for more of The Eye of the World.  Thanks for reading!

Hello, friends! The Wheel has turned all the way around to Thursday again, which means two things: the weekend is not too far away, and it's time for our Rotating Features blog!   Just a quick one this week folks, as I haven't had much time to write. I wanted to briefly draw your attention to something which might just slate your thirst for that bit more Wheel of Time goodness, if--like me!--you were not aware of its existence, and perhaps have finished the series and are looking for something else to fill your fan needs!   I came across it recently and found it fascinating. To cut to the chase, it's a little background story, written by Robert Jordan himself, which better explains the attack on Shayol Ghul and the sealing of the Bore by the Hundred Companions. If you're a hard core Wheel of Time fan, you probably know of it already! And shame on me for only just having found out about it. If you haven't heard of it before, though, then I'm doing the world a service by spreading the word about this extra bit of Robert Jordan goodness.   You can read it on Dragonmount itself by clicking on this link.   Below is the excerpted forward Jordan wrote for this little background story. It's such a shame his ideas for future tidbits of extra information will never fully come to fruition.     I hope you enjoy reading it! Let me know if there is any other parts of the series I have somehow managed to live my life without up until now!   That's all for now! Have fun!   Until next time, friends!

Welcome to another Edition of Dragonmount’s Fantasy Review. This review will contain slight spoilers.   Night’s Rose By Annaliese Evans   Synopsis: Rosemarie Edenberg, who is known by the name Briar Rose, hunts down the ogre tribes who hunt the humans of the earth. Like Sleeping Beauty, she slept for (almost) a hundred years. She did not wake up to a kiss from a perfect prince, however, but to something much darker.   From that moment, she worked to eliminate the ogres. She has two men who hunt with her: Ambrose, her fey advisor, and Gareth, a vampire. The story is more mature than what I’d expected to find: the romance starts within the first chapter.   Hot Button Issue/Spoiler: In her past, Rose was raped, and one of her two men involved in her love triangle ‘let it happen.’ It made the romance between the two a little more sordid, a little less appreciable.  This issue right here made it harder for me to complete the book.   Pros: The story does is an interesting mix of history and Sleeping Beauty, a fairy tale with romance. The relationships are complex, and the adaptation of the fairytale are intriguing. Rose herself is a strong woman, and I think she was a fascinating character.   Cons: The book was really hard to get into. While I ordinarily enjoy historical fictions, and I love the story of Sleeping Beauty, it was very hard for me to get started with reading the book. Perhaps it is because of the inclusion of vampires in the tale. I have recently read far too many vampire stories in recent years. Or, it could be that the tale hit into the steamy romance almost from the beginning.   My Rating: 2/5 Mostly because of the hot button issue.   If this book seems to spark your interest, you can purchase it through Dragonmount’s eBook store.

Below you will find a short interview of the immensely powerful, the personification of organized chaos, the Dark One himself by the esteemed John Lipton..       (Source)

The Wheel Turns, and November has passed. I trust we all had an excellent Thanksgiving! The Holiday season is upon us, and the year is drawing to a close. That can only mean one thing: time for another Weekly Roundup!   Have you seen Catching Fire yet? Do you like Jennifer Lawrence? Visit the Movies and Games Discussion and talk about it!   Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? If so, did you reach the 50,000 word goal? If so, the ACW Tuathan’an have a NaNoWriMo Brag thread!   Are you anticipating Christmas? If so, the Band of the Red Hand has an amazing Advent Calendar, sponsored by the Band’s own BFG and tonnalea!   Finally, an update from the Dragonmount Twitter feed:     Remember, you can get daily updates on Dragonmount and Wheel of Time related news by subscribing to Dragonmount’s Twitter and Facebook pages!   And a final note, as it is now December: don’t forget to go sign in at your social groups and have a fantastic Holiday season!

Hello, friends! The Wheel has turned all the way around to Thursday again, which means two things: the weekend is not too far away, and it's time for our Rotating Features blog!   We're almost halfway there! Where you ask? To the next season of the hit television series A Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice And Fire books by George R. R. Martin. It airs once per year, for ten weeks only, and then it seems like such a long wait till the next season! But it should be back beginning of April 2014 so we're getting closer.   If you know anything about the books or the series, you will know that it is one of the most brutal stories you will come across. It seems no character is safe from serious injury or some form of untimely demise. This reputation caused one fan to create the following image:     That, is the series of books so far and each of those colored pieces of paper represent the point of death of a named character within the series. It's quite a body-count. All in all, if you get the chance to fulfill your dream of living within a fictional world, Martin's may not be your wisest choice.   I wonder how that body-count stacks up against other works of fiction, or our own dearly beloved Wheel of Time series. In the comments below, see who you can name who died--permanently!--within the series. (Beware of spoilers in that list if you haven't yet completed the books) and let's see how many we can collectively come up with.   As a bonus feature after such a morbid topic, here is a selection of Game of Thrones heroines as art nouveau paintings.   That's all for now! Have fun!   Until next time, friends!

Ever wanted to know how much planning and discussions go on during meetings between the members of the Black Ajah? Just read below.     (Source)