DRAGONMOUNT

Inspired by last week's Fan Art Friday article, I've decided to reintroduce a feature. Before, I showed you where you could buy Wheel of Time clothing articles, but now, I shall bring you their fashions and you can let that lead you wherever you wish. Today, I'll be having a look at the fashion of the Borderland nations.   If you want to have a field trip as an Arafellin, don't forget your bells! In the books, we're told that bells play a key part in Arafellin fashion sense. They are worn in the hair, on the clothing, or on boot tops. In regards to their actual clothing, not much is said, but since we could compare the Third Age to the time before the Industrial Revolution, I guess one could see their clothing following that general pattern. All we know is that they wear boots with their tops turned down that reach to the thigh, and that the men wear their hair in two braids, with one braid over each ear.   Have you ever needed an excuse to wear one of those sheer veils behind which you can seductively bat your eyelashes? Well, then let your inner Kandori out! The style of dress for women is brightly colored dresses that are clinched under the breasts. There is embroidery along the belt under the breasts, the cuffs, and the hem. In contrast to the color of the noblewomen in Kandor, the noblemen wear very dull colors with chains and earrings as their accessories. Their one definite feature are their forked beards, so if you want to pull off their look, you need one of those.   Kandori woman   Now, we've heard all sorts of things about the Saldaean farm girls, so perhaps your next sexy costume will be one of those? Let's have a look at what you would need. We are not actually told anything about what they wear, as far as I know, but we are aware of the dress of the nobles. Noblewomen in Saldaea wear high-necked dresses with narrow skirts and wide sleeves. Perhaps we can assume that in an effort to rebel against those quite uptight noble fashions, the farm girls wore more revealing clothing. There is little worse than working and getting hot because of your clothing. If you're wanting your man to wear a matching outfit, all you need do is put him into a short coat and baggy trousers, and have him clean shaven or let him grow one of those dreadful handlebar mustaches.   Saldaean woman   Our last nation I'm going to be looking at is Shienar. There's quite a bit more to these people than their warriors' topknots! The men wear tight breeches and shirts that are wide, but with narrow cuffs and high-collared coats. An image that immediately pops into my mind is that guy from Pride and Prejudice, whatever his name was. The women also have a belted dress, like the Kandori, but their dress is belted at the waist with the chest area often having embroidery of flowers on it. A favored design is to have slashes of colors in the skirts.   Shienaran woman   I think if you were to look at the descriptions and compare them to the fashions found in various historical periods, you might just be able to find the sources of inspiration.

This is the 111th episode of The 4th Age Podcast, in which we continue our read-through of Towers of Midnight with Chapters 8-12. Your hosts for this episode are Andrew, Virginia, and Spencer. Chapter 8 – The Seven-Striped Lass Chapter 9 – Blood in the Air Chapter 10 – After the Taint Chapter 11 – An Unexpected Letter Chapter 12 – An Empty Ink Bottle Warning: SPOILER ALERT! (This episode, like most of our talks, is chock full of spoilers if you haven’t read Towers of Midnight yet!) Be sure to check out Dragonmount.com for forums, comments, and all the latest news in the Wheel of Time world. ATTENTION! THERE ARE NOTHING BUT TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT SPOILERS in this podcast! Also, spoilers on ALL the other books are VERY likely! If you haven’t read all the way through the Wheel of Time, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS of all the previous books! There may be spoilers of other book series, TV series, and movies as well, too, or anything ELSE we can think of in the known and unknown universe. We will try to give warning. We can make no guarantees, however. Hosts: Andrew, Virginia, and Spencer. Editor for this episode: Richard F. Download this Episode now Notes and Addendum: Contact us about the podcast anytime at podcast@dragonmount.com. If you don’t hear from one of us in a day or two, please try again. Normally one or more of us will respond immediately, but if the RW is being difficult, sometimes we do miss things. A HUGE thanks to all our editors, past and present, from all of us here at Dragonmount! We couldn’t make this happen without your help and technical expertise. We are usually in need of editing help, so please, contact Andrew or Virginia at podcast@dragonmount.com if you are interested in volunteering. We aren’t formally holding auditions for podcast co-hosts at this time, but if you are really up on the Wheel of Time and related trivia (or if you just plain know more than we do, LOL), and you love to geek out discussing it, send us an email and a sample mp3 and we’ll give it a listen. In anticipation of future needs, we would like to be prepared, so meet us on the virtual Field of Merrilor and we’ll see what transpires! Music by: Josh Needleman. His website is at www.joshneedleman.net and he has the music available to hear on his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/joshneedleman. Its title is Floodgate. Thanks, Josh! Download this Episode now

Orbit Books, which produces Robert Jordan's books in the United Kingdom, Australia, and other locations, released their cover for A Memory of Light. Click here, or on the image shown for a larger version.  In addition to the cover, Orbit released the text that will appear on the hardcover jacket: And it came to pass in those days, as it had come before and would come again, that the Dark lay heavy on the land and weighed down the hearts of men, and the green things failed, and hope died.’ From Charal Drianaan te Calamon, The Cycle of the Dragon. In the Field of Merrilor the rulers of the nations gather to join behind Rand al’Thor, or to stop him from his plan to break the seals on the Dark One’s prison – which may be a sign of his madness, or the last hope of humankind. Egwene, the Amyrlin Seat, leans toward the former. In Andor, the Trollocs seize Caemlyn. In the wolf dream, Perrin Aybara battles Slayer. Approaching Ebou Dar, Mat Cauthon plans to visit his wife Tuon, now Fortuona, Empress of the Seanchan. All humanity is in peril – and the outcome will be decided in Shayol Ghul itself. The Wheel is turning, and the Age is coming to its end. The Last Battle will determine the fate of the world.. For twenty years The Wheel of Time has enthralled more than forty million readers in over thirty-two languages. A MEMORY OF LIGHT brings this majestic fantasy creation to its richly satisfying conclusion.  Working from notes and partials left by Robert Jordan when he died in 2007, and consulting with Jordan’s widow, who edited all of Jordan’s books, established fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson has recreated the vision Jordan left behind. A Memory of Light will be published on January 8, 2013 in hardcover and audiobook. The eBook will be published on April 9. Links and other info: Read the opening portion of the AMOL prologue. AMOL info page. Discuss A Memory of Light on our forums. Please consider pre-ordering the book through one of our international Amazon affiliates, and help support our website.    

It's time for another weekly roundup!  Let's see what's going on in our forums. I think it's safe to say that Wheel of Time references can seem very strange to the uninitiated.  Despite this, it's often hard to turn off the part of our brains that thinks about things in a Wheel of Time context.  Embarrassing hijinks may ensue as a result.  What embarrassing things have you done as a result of this series?  Drop by the General Wheel of Time Discussion forum and let us know. Diablo 3 was recently released, so for all you gamers out there who want someone to obsess with when you aren't playing the game, we have just the thread for you in our Movies and Games Discussion forum.  Do you like the game, or does it fail to meet your expectations?    The Aiel Social Group recently released the Spring Edition of their newsletter, The Dedicated Spear.  It's chock full of cool features and information. The Kin Social Group is doing a post card swap for May.  It's still not too late to participate, so hurry on down so you can participate in one of their most popular exchanges. Yet another Social Group has put up a recent newsletter for your enjoyment.  Check out the Wolfkin Social Group's May edition of PawPrints! I've always enjoyed reading role plays of the Accepted test Arches.  The latest one I've seen, A Trip Inside Herself, is well-written and entertaining.  Take a look at it if you're looking for a good read. Until next time, everyone!

This week, I had the privilege of interviewing Matt Nicholson of Dim Horizon Studio. Matt and his wife Nicole are the driving force behind this ingenious photography studio, which hooked up with some incredible cosplayers for JordanCon this year in order to bring The Wheel of TIme to life in the backwoods of the Southeastern U.S.   The full gallery for the promotional photo shoot can be found here.   Perrin, modeled by John F. Strangeway (and Odin!)       Q: You were the photographer on the JordanCon shoot, right?   A: That I was! Dim Horizon Studio was contacted months prior to JordanCon 2012 with the idea to host a large photo shoot with a collection of local talent specifically for the JordanCon 2012 art show and convention promotion.     Q: Do you do all the photography for Dim Horizon Studio?   A: Dim Horizon Studio began in 2002 as a creative outlet for me and throughout the years has grown into a husband-wife duo set on tackling our clients’ photography needs with our creative style & vision. We do bring in additional talent from time to time, but primarily it's myself (Matthew Nicholson & Nicole Nicholson).     Q: Have you been a photographer your whole life?   A: I’ve been involved in a myriad of creative pursuits my entire life. From mineral specimen hunting to a dabble in video game design, I’ve done a little bit of everything but settled on photography in 2002 as it enabled me to capture as well as express the world as I see it.     Q: When did you know you wanted to pursue it as a career?   A: In roughly 2008, I incorporated Dim Horizon Studio, as the demands for my services started to branch out from servicing a close circle of friends to quite a wide audience. It was a big choice at the time, as it inspired me to truly take my work to the next level and transition from more of a hobbyist mentality to a true profession.     A Maiden of the Spear, modeled by Paige Gardner Smith       Q: What inspired you to focus on cosplay?   A: We truly focus on creatively addressing the needs of our clients. This lends us to be closely involved in the cosplay / prop production community as their skills enable us to tell rich stories while focusing on their talents in costume design & construction. While there are quite a few companies that may specialize in a more documentation-oriented photography, we aim to take it all to the next level and do more than just capture a good costume--we want to communicate a strong story as well.     Q: How did you get involved with JordanCon?   A: We’ve had the pleasure of working with quite a few of the individuals intimately related to JordanCon. Dim Horizon Studio as a whole bases its business model around supporting locals (specifically in the southeastern USA) as well as supporting our growing network of clients. In the end, one of our clients (Cliff Tunnell) suggested diving into hosting a large shoot for JordanCon and we couldn’t pass the opportunity up!   Rand, modeled by Paul Bielaczyc. The coat had sleeves at the beginning of the shoot!       Q: Are you a big fan of The Wheel of Time?   A: Comically, I’ve never actually read any of the Wheel of Time books but it’s certainly now on my MUST READ list. As a photographer in this community, I get challenged often to try to portray a clients’ character that I may have had no exposure to. We always try to do a little research beforehand and, while it does help, there is always some level of my own personal style or take integrated into the session based upon what I do (or in some cases don’t) know.     Q: Did the models make their own costumes?   A: Yes, each of the models made their own costumes. We had quite a bit of talent on set that day, and here’s a laundry list of where you might find them. · Cliff Tunnell – Talented Gentleman behind Steampunk Ash · James Atkins – Actor/Costumer/Family Man (IMDb profile) · Paul Bielaczyc – Creative Mind behind Aradani Studios · John F. Strangeway – Media Dept. Head at Penny Dreadful Productions · Odin – Dog of the Day!     Q: How did you (the studio and the models) find each other?   A: We find most of our models through our network of professionals and/or messages through our Facebook page or our contact page. For other projects, we occasionally make announcements through our Facebook page on where to access our casting calls. We also use networking sites such as Model Mayhem to specifically target a look or concept. For this specific project, we’ve worked quite a bit with all of the talent previously, with the exception of Paul. We do have quite a bit of plans for collaboration in the future with him, though!     Q: Are they affiliated with the studio?   A: Only as our client. They each have all sorts of talent to offer the community, and if you have any questions you should definitely reach out to each of them in turn!   Mats, modeled by James Atkins (left) and Cliff Tunnell (right). I guess you can never have too many!     By a serendipitious twist of fate, Tor.com just featured Dim Horizon Studio on Wednesday. Check out their article here for more photos from the shoot!

It's time for more wallpaper!  Remember, every other week, Tor.com will post eBook wallpaper for each Wheel of Time book.  It's one of many ways in which they are celebrating the countdown to the final book. This week, the featured eBook wallpaper is for A Crown of Swords. The artwork is by Mélanie Delon. Here is the image: Go here to download different sizes of the wallpaper and to read more about how this art was created. How do you like the art this week?

This is the 110th episode of The 4th Age Podcast, in which we continue our read-through of Towers of Midnight with Chapters 4-7. Your hosts for this episode are Andrew, Virginia, and Spencer. Chapter 4 – The Pattern Groans Chapter 5 – Writings Chapter 6 – Questioning Intentions Chapter 7 – Lighter than a Feather Warning: SPOILER ALERT! (This episode, like most of our talks, is chock full of spoilers if you haven’t read Towers of Midnight yet!) Be sure to check out Dragonmount.com for forums, comments, and all the latest news in the Wheel of Time world. ATTENTION! THERE ARE NOTHING BUT TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT SPOILERS in this podcast! Also, spoilers on ALL the other books are VERY likely! If you haven’t read all the way through the Wheel of Time, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS of all previous books! There may be spoilers of other book series, TV series, and movies as well, too, or anything ELSE we can think of in the known and unknown universe. We will try to give warning. We can make no guarantees, however. Hosts: Andrew, Virginia, and Spencer. Editor for this episode: Richard F. Download this Episode now Notes and Addendum: Contact us about the podcast anytime at podcast@dragonmount.com. If you don’t hear from one of us in a day or two, please try again. Normally one or more of us will respond immediately, but if the RW is being difficult, sometimes we do miss things. A HUGE thanks to all our editors, past and present, from all of us here at Dragonmount! We couldn’t make this happen without your help and technical expertise. We are usually in need of editing help, so please, contact Andrew or Virginia at podcast@dragonmount.com if you are interested in volunteering. We aren’t formally holding auditions for podcast co-hosts at this time, but if you are really up on the Wheel of Time and related trivia (or if you just plain know more than we do, LOL) and you love to geek out discussing it, send us an email and a sample mp3 and we’ll give it a listen. In anticipation of future needs, we would like to be prepared, so meet us on the virtual Field of Merrilor and we’ll see what transpires! Music by: Josh Needleman. His website is at www.joshneedleman.net and he has the music available to hear on his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/joshneedleman. Its title is Floodgate. Thanks, Josh! Download this Episode now

Yesterday was Mother's Day in the USA, so I hope all the mothers out there had a chance to relax and feel special.  I'd like to give a shout out to my mother, who is an absolute saint and the best mother in the world.   If you are looking for a good fan-made Wheel of Time RPG to play, check out A Game of Stones.  It's a free, browser-based RPG.  For more information directly from one of the game designers, be sure to check out the thread I linked above in our The Wheel of Time in Other Media forum.   Speaking of games, if you enjoy playing Mafia and haven't been to our DM Mafia Games forum yet, stop on by!  If things look overwhelming at first, read this handy introductory guide.  There are also plenty of experienced players who would be happy to help orient you.   The May Challenge for the Artists, Crafters, and Writers Guild is Journeys.  What journeys have you taken in life?  Show us through your favorite artistic medium.   It's time to send in your nominations for the Black Tower Social Group's May Shockwave Competition.  The deadline for submissions will be May 24th.   Come one, come all to the Ogier Social Group's Ice Cream Social and Rank Advancement Celebration!  This group is reviving itself under new leadership, so be sure to keep an eye on them for exciting changes!   That's it for now.  Stay tuned, because the 4th Age Podcasters will have new episodes for us soon!

"He scared me," Rand said faintly. "He just looked at me, and…" He shivered. "No need for shame, sheepherder. They scare me, too. I've seen men who have been soldiers all their lives freeze like a bird facing a snake when they confronted a Halfman. In the north, in the Borderlands along the Great Blight, there is a saying. The look of the Eyeless is fear." ~Chapter 8 ("A Place of Safety"), The Eye of the World   Oh, for the days when Rand was still afraid of things. But that's a topic for another day. Today, the Fan Art Friday spotlight is on the eyeless, soulless captains of the Dark One's army known alternatively as Myrddraal, Lurks, Fades, Halfmen, or Ringwraiths (Whoops, wrong series!). These spine-chilling, slithery monster-men are my favorite Wheel of Time minions.   ...Or should I say "mini-ons?"     1. Chibi Myrddraal by John Michael Emanuel Harfouche (Jonmkl):   This daunting beastie sends soldiers running with a single toss of his carefully arranged emo hairstyle.         2. Myrddraal in Tree by Heather Soiferman:   Even Myrddraal need downtime sometimes. I mean, it's not like they're going to cook the soldier stew themselves. That's what trollocs are for.         3. Myrddraal Fella by swidhalm:   Apparently the deviantArt mascot (Fella) is a fan of The Wheel of Time. He'd better be, since I'm always featuring work from his site!         4. Myrddraal by firheruwen:   Nothing says "sinister" like Sculpey®!         5. Myrddraal by hmuraS:   This Australian fan artist's playful style is pitch-perfect, as always.  

It's time for another audiobook giveaway! Here are the rules again for those who aren't familiar with our giveaways:   This month, we will be giving away a copy of The Dragon Reborn. Click here for a clip from the audiobook.   This month's question is: If you could join an Ajah from the books, which one would you choose and why? You have until Wednesday, May 16th to answer in the comments section. Good luck!