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!

This week we re-visit the "Features of Dragonmount," a series of articles which we began a few weeks back by looking at the General Discussion forum here at Dragonmount. This time, let's begin exploring the different Social Groups you can take part in.

Social Groups here at Dragonmount are separate sections of our forums, each with it's own identity based on one of the groups of people found within The Wheel of Time books, located under the Social Community part of the forums. Each one tends to have its own theme or themes and its own individual vibe. I'd certainly encourage anyone to explore them all before deciding which one (or ones!) they would like to settle in.

To provide a bit more information, let's take a little look at a couple of them. The Wolfkin Social Group, for example, is loosely based upon the golden-eyed characters in the books. As such, they have tasks you can complete in order to earn your "name" among them, and fittingly, their overall theme is one of nature and travel. Like all the Social Groups, you can find many good friends there and enjoy good conversation with like-minded people.

The Black Tower Social Group is a crazy, crazy place. If you have read far enough in the books to understand the reference in their name, you'll get why we can say that. To reflect this, the Black Tower tends to have a lot of crazy conversations, and a lot of what we call "spam," which is Internet forum-speak for topics without a set direction, or idle, crazy conversation. They do also have ranks you can progress in, however, and their own "dueling system" where you can duke it out with other members to see who is the strongest or canniest saidin wielder! That's a tough one to explain in brief, so if you want to see how it works, you'll just have to go over there and ask them.... And probably never come out alive, or at least sane.

There are many other Social Groups we haven't yet mentioned, like the White Tower and Warder's Guild, Shayol Ghul and others--they'll probably be the focus of a future "Features of Dragonmount" article. In the meantime, dive right in and begin exploring the Social Groups! I guarantee you will meet a bunch of fun, like-minded people with mutual interests and make some good friends.

Have fun!

Until next time, friends!

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!

What does the title of this week's blog mean?! Well, you have more than likely recognized that it is the Old Tongue, a language created by Robert Jordan as the partially lost, yet very intriguing, ancient language in the world of The Wheel of Time. It is used on various occasions by different characters within the books, in some of our favorite scenes--one of my personal favorites is in The Eye of the World when the young characters from Emond's Field remember their heritage and begin speaking in the Old Tongue.... Something which becomes more and more common for one of the most popular characters in the books, as many of you know, I am sure!

The Old Tongue, as we know it, is pieced together mostly by various phrases which Jordan and later Brandon Sanderson translated within the series. There is not (to my knowledge, at least!) a complete language volume anywhere.

However, if, like me, you have more than just a passing interest in languages, and in this one in particular, and find the little snippets we get throughout the books very interesting, there are some online resources that have compiled everything we know about the Old Tongue. One that I like to use is The Old Tongue Dictionary, linked to the following entry in the Wheel of Time Wikia. That page links you to a dictionary of sorts of all the Old Tongue words, both in Old Tongue to English and English to Old Tongue, as well as a list of the phrases they come from.

This is not only very interesting, and a lot of fun for those uber-fans who would love to be able to spout random phrases at times (try it! It's great!), but also can be very useful here at Dragonmount within your posts--especially if you are taking part on the Role Playing forums--and if you're not, maybe you should consider it! In fact, next week I'll be taking a look at them in this blog so that you can get an idea of what they are and how you can join in. Have fun!

Until next time, friends!

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!

As I am writing for Dragonmount, most of my articles will of course focus on The Wheel of Time books. Sometimes, however, we likely have other common interests to discuss.

This week, the overwhelming favorite topic for discussion simply has to be A Game of Thrones the television series based on the A Song of Ice and Fire books by George R. R. Martin. It's fair to say that most fans of The Wheel of Time are aware of, and more than likely love, this ongoing work of epic fantasy fiction. And the television series has been so well done thus far that it has merely added to the enjoyment of the series for fans and spread it's fame and popularity in general.

This week, of course, was a momentous episode in the series, and one which fans of the books have been looking forward to for some time. I won't reveal anything which may spoil the episode for you in case you haven't seen it just yet--but you're in for a televisual treat. Reactions to the episode have made local news in the area of the world I live in!

There is a video clip of people's reactions on YouTube which is quickly picking up views. I can't link to it as it contains some naughty words! But it's quite funny if you want to look it up for yourselves.

Whilst we are on the subject of Game of Thrones in general, here is something interesting I found recently--a mock up of Magic the Gathering style cards featuring Game of Thrones characters.

Have fun! (But beware of spoilers.)


Set One


Set Two


Set Three


Until next time, friends!

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!

This week, I'm resuming a series of articles which will continue to be written in this feature roughly once per month, in which I will write a brief review of another book or series of books I have read. Now, I don't intend to write here a literary critique, but a little summary and taste of the fiction, with the purpose of perhaps tantalizing you into giving it a try if you're looking for something other than The Wheel of Time to read.

As you may have guessed from the title of the article this week, our subject matter is His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik, which was first published in 2005. In the UK it was published under the title Temeraire.

Dragons. Napoleon Bonaparte. Naval Warfare. Gentlemanly behavior and acts of valor! His Majesty's Dragon has it all. This is the first book in the Temeraire series, which is an alternate history/fantasy series set in the Napoleonic wars, with one not-so-subtle difference: the inclusion of enormous flying beasts which fight in the air even as the Navy and the Army wage warfare on the ground! The concept is so simple and yet so brilliant that you wonder that it wasn't thought of before. What if there was an Air Force, long before airplanes were invented, an Air Force composed of mythical creatures and their riders?

I thoroughly enjoyed the first novel in the series and intend to read further. I imagine it will appeal to anyone who liked the Pern series, the Hornblower books or television series, and a lot of fantasy readers in general. It is perhaps gentler in its tone and a little more easy going than large portions of The Wheel of Time and certainly than A Song of Ice and Fire (currently made famous as A Game of Thrones, the television series), but I found it to be such a fun concept and well written regardless that I didn't regret the time I spent reading it at all.

As an added note, it has been reported that Peter Jackson, who is famous for directing the Lord of the Rings movie adaptations, is a big fan of the series and has optioned the movie rights, although he has since considered making it into a mini-series instead. Watch this space, I guess!

If you're looking for something a bit different, then I definitely recommend to give it a go. Have fun!

Until next time, friends!

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!

For many readers of The Wheel of Time, the Blademasters are some of the most interesting characters in the books. Sure, we may fantasize about what it would be like to wield the awesome power and the fine subtleties of saidin or saidar, but skill with the sword, a master of the blade, is something very relatable, something we can cross reference with history and other fantasy series, and even something we can experiment with in real life.

The whole notion of being a Blademaster is a fascinating one. The sword forms are, I think, one of the most interesting concepts that Robert Jordan introduced into the series, and one I can't off the top of my head think of something similar to in another work of fantasy fiction (feel free to leave a comment below if you can think of a parallel idea in another book or series). And the sword forms, it should be noted, whilst possibly learned and of some use to an experienced fighter, are actually the Blademaster's forms, designed to be learned by those seeking to reach mastery of sword fighting, duelists and purists in the use of the the katana-like curved swords of Jordan's world.

One only becomes a Blademaster if they either defeat in single combat another known Blademaster or are judged on their skill by a panel of five Blademasters, being declared as one only by unanimous vote. There are said to be fewer than 100 Blademasters within the Westlands.

A big part of the fantastical desire to earn this title for myself (and, I am confident, many other readers) is being able to carry a Heron-marked sword, one which is designed to proclaim to all your skill as a weapon, a wielder of the sword. You can imagine that to carry one would be the kind of thing to cause a room to fall silent as you enter, to cause your opponents to reassess you with a vague uncertainty, to strike fear into the hearts of your foes. "He carries a Heron-marked sword. Blademaster! Blademaster!" The whispers would almost certainly go along in your wake wherever you passed. Sublime.

So. Where can I get me one of those?

I have selected a link for you to take a look at. I have chosen one from Amazon because it is an officially licensed replica, seems to be at a saving, and of course Amazon is an international supplier. Leave a comment below if you know of a better place to find one or a wider selection online.

If you want to own your very own Heron-marked sword, then have a look online, there are plenty out there. Not only will you look and feel like a total boss, but it would be great for meets and conventions, and in general, anyone who recognized the significance of it would be another Wheel of Time fan, and that would be a great way to meet new fans.

If you do get one, or have one already, please be sure to sign up here at Dragonmount to the forums and spread pictures of you with your gorgeous blade! I would certainly like to see it over at the Warder's Guild! Have fun!

Until next time, friends!

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!

This week, I thought I would begin a series of articles I plan on continuing from time to time in this blog. It will highlight some of the different areas of Dragonmount which you may not yet have begun enjoying, just to see if we can tease you into that direction...

We begin by appealing to you hardcore Wheel of Time enthusiasts out there. First, I'll highlight something which you may enjoy if you have perhaps finished reading the series now, maybe even more than once, and then we will look at something that will appeal to all fans of the series, even if they are on their first incomplete read through.

One of the sections of our Dragonmount forums is the Wheel of Time Discussion area, and within that you can find the Full Spoiler Discussion board for A Memory of Light, the final book in The Wheel of Time series. Now, I won't highlight any of the articles on this board to you in case I spoil something you haven't read yet (and also because I haven't read A Memory of Light myself yet...Shhh...Don't tell!), but if you have completed the series and the final book, or if you are adventurous enough not to mind being told about things you haven't read in the series, then dive right in and see what everyone is discussing! The series may have ended, but the crazy theories from the minds of fans everywhere certainly have not!

Within the same section of Dragonmount, you can also find the General Wheel of Time Discussion forum. This has all sorts of interesting discussions ongoing, and is spoiler friendly to those who may not have finished the series yet. For example, right now, there is an engrossing debate about who the deadliest Blademasters in Randland may be, an interesting discussion on the way Brandon Sanderson wrote compared to Robert Jordan, and a great thread that has been going strong for some years where you can ask a simple question, get a simple answer to anything you have come across in the series you found confusing, and that's just a brief selection of the topics on offer.

There really is plenty to get involved in on these Dragonmount boards and they are one of the most popular features of the site, so feel free to join in and have your say or benefit from hearing other people's opinions.

As a final note, be sure to read the pinned topics at the top of each board to familiarize yourself with any of the posting rules that may apply. Other than that--have fun!

Until next time, friends!

Hello, friends! It's Thursday again, which means two things: the weekend is not too far away, and it's time for our Rotating Features blog!

This week, we are taking a look at another form of Wheel of Time media, for those of you addicted to The Wheel of Time but with no way to get your fix now that the series has ended...

This particular website holds a special place in my memory because it was something I read avidly in the years I first joined Dragonmount way back when I was in school. It is an unofficial, tongue-in-cheek comic series called WoT now?, which is an especially apt name now that the series has been completed. Its author is known as Burnout, an avid fan of the Wheel of Time series.

The artwork is fairly basic and based on the old Megaman gifs. It can be a little irreverent and as stated, tongue-in-cheek, but it should provide a good giggle to its readers once you get into it. It was definitely done with the best of intentions by a fan who loved The Wheel of Time and Robert Jordan as much as we all do.

Sadly, the series has not been continued for a while now, but there are plenty of panels to read in the meantime.

Have fun!

Hello, friends! It's Thursday, which means two things--the weekend is not too far away and it's time for our Thursday blog!

This week, we are looking ahead to JordanCon, which will be held in Roswell, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta. In case you aren't too sure what JordanCon is, it is a convention held in honor of our late, beloved Robert Jordan, which means of course that it will feature a lot about the Wheel of Time books, among other things.

Things like what, you ask? Well, if you want the full rundown, here is a link to the Schedule of Events. Let me mention a few highlights for you...

This year, JordanCon will be hosting DeepSouthCon. Click on their name if you want to follow a link explaining all about DeepSouthCon, but essentially it is another convention which moves location each year, and this year it is joining up with JordanCon. It's all about Science Fiction, so there will likely be many common interests for those already heading to JordanCon. In particular, it is well known for the Hearts Tournament and the DSC (DeepSouthCon) awards ceremony.

There are a whole host of exciting guests, including Brandon Sanderson and Harriet McDougal, who will be doing book signings. Imagine having your books signed by them both! Artist Michael Whelan, who created a masterpiece for A Memory of Light, the final Wheel of Time book, and award winning author Seanan McGuire will also be on the roll of honor, along with many others. Check out the Special Guests list in the link to the schedule provided above for more information on these Guests and on the rest who will be attending.

Did you have a crazy theory since reading A Memory of Light? Well, it's your lucky day! There will be several, spoiler-permitted panels throughout the day where the books will be discussed and dissected for as long as time allows.

And finally, a nice new feature which will certainly be of use to those of us who are members here at Dragonmount--and to those who haven't joined up yet (hint, hint!)--is the Wheel of Time Speed Friending Service! It's just like speed dating, but instead of looking for romance, you'll be looking for new friends who ALSO love the Wheel of Time series! What more could you ask for? Have your email addresses at the ready.

We really hope everyone who is able to attend fully enjoys JordanCon this year. If you haven't been able to attend this year, fear not. Every year gets better than the last, so start planning now!
 

I have another Admin interview for you this week. This time, I got to chat with Taymist, the Admin in charge of our DR PSW role play boards.

Q: When did you start reading The Wheel of Time?

A: I started reading the series in the early 90's when I was at university, around '91. Someone had given me book tokens as a birthday present, I bought The Eye of the World, and the rest is history.

Q: How did you find Dragonmount and get involved with the Admin/staff?

A: Wow, that's rather a long process. I'll try to condense it lol. I was a member of an online book club back in 2006. Someone there mentioned WoT related sites which had me following a series of links out of sheer curiosity. I ended up at Dragonmount an hour or so later and immediately registered. I then spent some time on the general boards, eventually taking the plunge into the Social Groups by joining the Wolfkin. I hadn't been there very long when I met Goldeneyes, and through him met Twinflower and Auld Manriva. They jointly kidnapped me and carried me off to the Band of the Red Hand Social Group. That was what really hooked me and where my Staff involvement began.

By early 2007, I was involved with all but a couple of the Social Groups and held Staff positions in all of them, most notably as Corki's second in command at the Band. I was always a sucker for punishment though and I plucked up the courage to join the PSW too, thanks to Winter Mist. I started to role play as a Wolfkin and was very quickly offered the position of Division Leader for the Wolfkin by the then RP Admin, Whitewolf. From there, it was a short jump to becoming Assistant Admin and, much to my dismay, an even shorter one to taking over the reins entirely. Being so busy, I gradually divested myself of the majority of my Social Group involvement and focused on the PSW.

Q: Can you share a bit about yourself?

A: I'm an English language/literature graduate. I've been an avid reader all my life and only became an equally avid computer user within the last 11 years or so. I recently became a Grandmother for the first time and I'll be turning 40 in November. It's hard to believe that I've been reading one series of books for 20 of those years. My other hobbies were rather shoved aside when I discovered the seemingly infinite world of the internet but when I'm offline I like cross stitching, paper crafts and genealogy and when I'm online, I play Runescape and have a dreadful addiction to social media. I also have two insane cats, a Maine Coon and a Scottish Wildcat, both of whom I adore.

Q: You are in charge of the DR PSW role play boards. What is that like?

A: Rewarding and frustrating in equal measure. Rewarding to watch the relationships that grow through writing, both in and out of character, and also to see people develop their techniques as writers. When you follow the actual story arcs that members write, you can see them becoming more confident in their craft, particularly those who arrive with very basic skills. I think our members who have English as their second language are especially awesome. I couldn't write as fluently as they do if I had to write in another language, that's for sure.

On the other hand it can be very frustrating in trying to keep activity going. People often fit their writing in between their offline commitments and their other interests. Writing is fairly time consuming which means that RP threads can get delayed or indefinitely stalled when people's lives get hectic. We also tend to have people joining out of curiosity and when they discover it takes a fair amount of commitment, that can be off putting and they don't stay. Unfortunately, although these things may only apply to one individual, their actions, or lack of action, has a knock on effect for every other person they were writing alongside.

Overall, though, it's a fun position to be in 95% of the time and when it gets rough, I have a great team of Staff to back me up and help out.

Q: What are your favorite RP threads?

A: The main plotline threads are always entertaining, but I actually enjoy those which give insight into individual characters and their lives far more than those directly related to the book events.

"Through the Fire and the Flame", a solo RP written by Quibby, is at the top of my favourites list, closely followed by "A time to hunt...again.", written by Rasheta, Rekinu, and Arinth.

Q: Do you actively RP?

A: Yes, I have 3 active characters in the PSW at present. A Wolfkin, an Accepted in the White Tower, and a Band recruit. There's also a 4th in the works who will hopefully be in The Kin.

Q: What faction would you join in Randland if you had to choose only one?

A: I'd be Wolfkin, just like Perrin. Joining the Wolfkin first out of all the Social Groups and then out of all the RP Groups may have given that away lol.

Q: Who is your favorite character in The Wheel of Time?

A: I have a tough time choosing just one. It'd have to be a tie between Aviendha and Verin, both of whom I've loved reading about through the entire series.

Q: What is the most memorable moment for you in The Wheel of Time?

A: It's most definitely Nynaeve's ride to raise support for Lan as he rides for Tarwin's Gap. The way she dumped him in Saldaea, in a typically Aes Sedai fashion, made me laugh, and the heartfelt response of his countrymen when she "requested" their support made me cry. Any scene that raises such emotion in the reader is epic in my opinion.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share?

A: Simply this. Being a member of Dragonmount will open up a multitude of possibilities and opportunities for anyone willing to put into the experience as much as they take out. Make the most of it, have fun, and cherish the friendships you will unavoidably make.

Have you ever wished you could travel through time, or change events that have happened in the past? I know I have, even as recently as the past week.

There may be spoilers for those who are interested in this, but I attempted to keep them vague.

Steins;Gate is an anime about time travel and changing the past. It follows the character Okabe Rintarō, who calls himself Hōōin Kyōma, as he tries to solve the mysteries of time travel. Due to an unfortunate incident, the effects of fiddling with time start to unravel the future. Along the way, Okabe gets more and more people to join his lab, and they start to bond, so everything seems to be going well. However, just when things are looking up for the Future Gadget Laboratory, things start to go horribly wrong. Okabe then refuses to accept things the way they are, so he tries to affect time even more to fix it. They begin to realize that the more they try to change the things that were originally supposed to happen, the worse things got. To fix everything, he had to ask people to give up the things they got in order to fix the bigger picture.

Well, that's about it. I would like to conclude by saying that the more we dwell on our pasts, the more we lose our futures. I hope that line will be of help to some of you.

I have another Admin interview for you. These kind of got sidetracked due to unforeseen circumstances. I have an interview with one of our Role Play (RP) Admins, Winterwinds. He is in charge of the RP Groups.

Q: When did you start reading The Wheel of Time?

A: I started reading The Wheel of Time back in middle school, so around 6th or 7th grade, I borrowed The Eye of the World from my school's library. The rest, as they say, is history.

Q: How did you find Dragonmount and get involved with Admin/Staff?

A: Well, I was made staff actually shortly after I joined Dragonmount. Barm noticed I was greeting everyone, and actually outgreeting the newbie mods, so he offered me a job! That went on for a few years, then Tay approached me to be her 2nd in command.

Q: You are in charge of the RP Groups. How do you balance everything between the groups?

A: Well, for the most part I just try to keep a clear and level head, try and be as fair as I can towards all the RP Groups.

Q: What are your favorite RP threads?

A: Most of my favorite RP threads have been over in the Wolfkin or in the Rev. One board. For instance, I started a thread a long time ago, of which I cannot remember the name but it was nominated for an Empy, which was set in the War of Power.

Q: Do you actively RP?

A: Not as much as I want to here, but elsewhere I am quite an active RPer. My lack of RP here stems from the Wolfkin having just flopped over and gone into hibernation mode.

Q: What faction would you join in Randland if you had to choose only one?

A: Wolfkin, without a shadow of a doubt.

Q: Who is your favorite character in The Wheel of Time?

A: Oddly enough, Mat. I am a big RTS player, and Mat's general abilities have always been something I looked up to.

Q: What is the most memorable moment for you in The Wheel of Time?

A: In the book just before the last book, Towers of Midnight I think, there was a scene where Perrin and Elayne's brother, who is the Lord Captain Commander of the Whitecloaks, find common ground after Perrin saves a Whitecloak who had been accidentally stuffed into a pile of the dead. I just loved how two former foes could find common ground and put aside their differences like that.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share?

A: Um, well, I guess the only thing I would like to share is that I hope some more people decide to wander down to the RP side and say hello, and perhaps stick around or RP in the Rev. One board. It's a fun place to be and we are always welcoming to newcomers.

For my latest Wheel of Time confessional, I'd like to cover Verin. Please note that there will be discussion of events from the entire series up to the end of Towers of Midnight.

I'm sure we all know how awesome Verin turned out to be, but how many of us expected that of her when we were reading through the books for the first time? When we first met Verin, she seemed very unremarkable, always lost in thought or taking notes in a notebook. She was the typical Brown Aes Sedai. Throughout the series, we get very subtle hints that there might be more to Verin than we realize.

Early in the series, we get that statement from Verin that is later contradicted by Moiraine. If I'm remembering correctly, we do not know the fact of the oaths being able to be broken by the Black. So, at the time, we probably all shrugged it off as a continuity error. Later in the Aiel camp in Cairhien, we see from Verin's point of view and the things she was saying and doing to the Aes Sedai that were captured after Dumai's Wells, along with the things she was thinking to herself. The thoughts were the most ominous part about it. Later in Far Madding when Verin gives a false name, her thoughts about why she gave her false name really start to make you suspect Verin of being of the Black. That makes you go back and question why Verin had given the dream ring ter'angreal to Egwene. I never could make the facts mesh. Later, we see Verin again when Mat finds her asking after Perrin and him with the charcoal drawings that she said a Darkfriend had given her. She gives Mat a sealed letter and makes him promise to do what the letter says if he opens it. The next time we see Verin after that, she is in Egwene's room and we learn the full truth of everything. Verin was a member of the Black Ajah, but to spy on them for the side of the Light, and she effectively listed almost every Black Ajah member in her notebook that she handed over to Egwene. Verin single-handedly outed almost the entire Black Ajah and warned that Mesaana was in the Tower without ever being suspected by the other members of the Shadow.

When we learned the truth about Verin, it was one of the biggest WTF moments I had ever seen in a book. I had to read the whole section a second time to make sure I read it right. Verin is probably my second most favorite Aes Sedai in the series just for how awesome she is, and for actually being an intelligent Aes Sedai instead of one of the squabblers.

I would like to try something new this week. I am going to do my personal take on certain events or characters in the series. This week, I will be talking about Moiraine. I will cover stuff from New Spring through Towers of Midnight, so there will be spoilers.

I wanted to start with Moiraine for two reasons. The first is that she is one of my favorite characters. The second is that I probably would have lumped her in with Cadsuane had I not started with New Spring.

Moiraine is one of the few Aes Sedai that you get to see interact with people on a personal level without keeping up that serene mask, and it's quite refreshing to see. In New Spring, you get to see some of the childish actions in which Moiraine partakes, as well as why she is so serious about her mission throughout the series. For those of you who started with The Eye of the World, Moiraine was really the only true Aes Sedai you got to experience. Although she wasn't so bad, you sympathize with Rand, Mat, and Perrin about having to deal with a dreadful Aes Sedai. Then you get a couple of pages of Elaida right near the end and start to realize that things could be so much worse. As the series progresses, you get to see things from Moiraine's viewpoint and understand her more. I had a literal "oh, thank goodness" moment when she was rescued in Towers of Midnight; getting to see one of the most pivotal Aes Sedai return after thinking she was dead for so long is just awesome for lack of a better word. I am excited about the possible reunions that we may see occur in the last book.

For those of you hoping for a Wheel of Time related article, I have plans for more of those soon. However, this week will be about video game music. I grew up playing games like the Final Fantasy series, and that music has always made an impression on me. So, this week, I figured I'd share a few of my favorite songs from video games.

I'd like to start with a favorite composer: Nobuo Uematsu. As many people know, he is the composer of most of the Final Fantasy series. The first song I ever heard from Nobuo Uematsu was the Opening theme to FF8, but the name eludes me at the moment. That song was probably the first big push I had into the world of music. I had been slightly involved with chorus and such at that point, but I didn't take music seriously until I heard that. A few other game soundtracks that he composed that I rank up there with it are Terra, which is Terra Brandford's theme from FF6, 1000 Words from FFX-2, To Zanarkand from FFX, Aerith's Theme from FF7, and Distant Worlds from FF11. Some of his work can also be heard if you listen to The Black Mages. They perform several of his more iconic songs.

Another series that had good music was the Zelda series. Regrettably, I am not a fan of the games, so I don't have specifics like I did for Nobuo's work. A new favorite of mine is Jeremy Soule, the composer of the Guild Wars 2 music, namely Fear Not this Night, sung by Asja. If there were anyone that I'd want to see make music for Wheel of Time, it'd be him. One final video game that I felt deserved a mention for its music was Tera Online. While there aren't that many famous songs, the quality of the songs is outstanding. Inon Zur and Rod Abernethy did wonders with their work on the music. Of all the games I've played, these are the games/series that really stood out.

Not long ago, I was given the opportunity to interview the podcasters of The 4th Age Podcast. Due to busy lives, the podcast team hasn't had new episodes recently, but they agreed to sit down and answer some questions. I was able to interview four members of the team. There may be a few spoilers for those who haven't finished the series through Towers of Midnight.

Jayson Tremmel

Q: Can you each introduce yourselves and share a little bit about yourselves?

I am Jay Tremmel and I came up with the idea of a Wheel of Time Podcast because I was simply looking for a good one and found out there weren't any at all. I really wanted to listen to and/or discuss the Wheel of Time with people since I am the only person besides one that I know that enjoys the books as much as I do. I live in North Carolina but I'm originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I moved here 7 years ago for a better job opportunity. I have a ten-year-old daughter and a beautiful fiancée that I will be marrying on August 20th! A lot of my time has been spent over the past few months getting ready for the wedding. I think I understand now that it's a much bigger task than I had thought.

Q: How did you go about getting this podcast started (or joining for those that joined after the initial start)?

I approached Jason of Dragonmount.com about starting a podcast and he was also thinking of doing something along those lines. He knew of Carrie, who also had the idea, and we got together through Skype I believe and discussed details on how we could begin and structure the podcast. It went extraordinarily well and Carrie and I had a good rapport but decided to bring some other podcasters in to help out. By then we had a good group of folks that listened and we added Ben and Andrew shortly after. SInce then we've been fortunate to have lots of people that help both producing, editing, and podcasting for the 4th Age.

Q: What is it like working with people from all over as opposed to being all together in a studio setting? What kinds of challenges does this setup create? What kinds of benefits does this method have?

It's wonderful working with people from all over. Not only have we discussed WoT but we discuss every day things too and we've all pretty much made life long friends through our work on the podcast.

The challenge of course is getting everyone together at the same time in order to record the podcasts. We've tried lots of different things to get the podcast up to par that the WoT fans should expect. It's always a challenge but the reward for me is more than worth the effort.

Q: When did you start reading The Wheel of Time?

I started reading WoT about ten years ago when I was at my mother-in-law's. I had literally JUST finished reading a book that day (don't remember which, probably Lord of the Rings again!) and was looking through my father-in-law's books. I saw The Eye of the World on his bookshelf and the cover really got me interested. I gave it a shot and loved every word of it.

Q: Which book was your favorite, and why?

I am still partial to the first book in the series. That's not to say that the rest aren't amazing as well; I just love to see the characters and the beginning of the series. It's great to go back and see how things got started.

Q: Which book was your least favorite, and why?

I hate to take the high road on this but I don't really have a least favorite book. I can say though that the damane really are my least favorite part of the books but I understand why, of course. There's something about taking a person's will and power that is ugly and disturbing. I know it's supposed to be that way but it makes me uncomfortable reading those sections of the books.

Q: How many times, if any, have you gone to conventions that have Wheel of Time tracks, such as JordanCon or Dragon*Con?

I've been to Dragon*Con twice and attended many of the tracks for WoT. I even did a live podcast from Dragon*Con.

Q: Have you ever met any of the people who listen to you? What was that like?

I have. When I was attending Dragon*Con I met many of the people that listen to the podcast. It was great just meeting other people that read and love WoT as much as I do. It was a few years ago so I don't remember too many of the details but I'm planning my trip to Dragon*Con next year (this year I'm booked) and I hope to meet many new people.

Andrew Gelos

Q: Can you each introduce yourselves and share a little bit about yourselves?

Hello, I'm Andrew Gelos, senior podcaster for the 4th Age. I'm currently a serial student. I have Bachelor's degrees in Psychology and English Literature, and I am working on completing my MFA in Acting. With any luck, you'll see me on stage and television and in movies in the next few years. That or I'll end up running/managing a non-profit theatre program somewhere. I am a fount of (sometimes useless) trivia, and when on a subject I know well, I truly have the gift for talking. I am a giant Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan, which is partially how I came to find the Wheel of Time series.

Q: How did you go about getting this podcast started (or joining for those that joined after the initial start)?

I had been listening to the 4th Age since the beginning. I probably came into listening to it a few weeks following the pilot show. I was huge fan of the series, and as a result I was one of the show's early critical voices in the forums, though I used a different name back then. I would nitpick the team's pronunciations, and grab upon any little bit of evidence that ran contrary to things that were said in the early episodes. I think I was a real pain, but that never seems to be brought up by anyone but myself, so maybe I'm just inflating my own image a bit. One day I was listening to the show while working at a box office for a local theatre, and heard that the show was looking for a third host. I was beginning a second attempt to return to the performing world at that point in my life, and I felt that with my natural charisma and what I felt was a commendable knowledge of the series, I'd make a perfect edition to the cast. I missed that first call deadline by two days, because I was going out of town and didn't have reliable recording equipment where I was headed. I sent in a submission anyway, and was told the part had been filled. A short while later, Jayson, Carrie, and Ben sent out another notice. This time they were interviewing for someone who could stand in when one of the three was going to be absent. I hopped on that call the very next day, and was asked to join the crew for their next show. This was either episode 17, 18, or 19 I believe *Do we have someone who can look that up?* and the show went pretty well. We talked through the various subjects, and when the recording was done Jayson, who was the de facto head of the show then, said something to the effect of, "I think you should just stay on as a permanent member of the show." This announcement didn't get released to the listening audience for another show or two, but from the start I was part of the team. Since then I've been disabused of some of my early notions considering the show, including a few key pronunciation issues, and how in depth my knowledge of the series extends.

Q: What is it like working with people from all over as opposed to being all together in a studio setting? What kinds of challenges does this kind of setup create? What kinds of benefits does this method have?

It is a different experience from what I'm used to finding. Normally when I'm working closely with people on a show or shoot, I'm seeing those people 4 to 6 days a week in person and developing a chemistry between characters that translates to a performance for an audience. While working with the 4th Age hasn't changed the development of chemistry, the mechanics are completely different. While the audience members, by and large, have told us that they like the free form show better than our early scripted attempts, it is difficult to get together on air once a week with little pre-show discussion and bang out a finished product that the audience will (we hope) enjoy. We try to have a topic available in advance so we at least have a general idea of what we are doing, but sometimes it is rough figuring out where the other podcasters are coming from with their ideas and thoughts. That isn't saying that the others aren't all brilliant people. They are and at times I feel a bit like a relic when one of the newer members breaks out with something I had never seen or considered. I'm used to visual cues from others, and since we are spread all over the continent there is no way outside of a video conference to pick up on those with a call in show. We've toyed with the idea of making at least one video podcast show a few times, and who can say, maybe for the final release party we can work something out. Who knows? Another hurdle we face is timing. For me personally, before I began my MFA, my time was pretty open. Now that I'm in shows that available time has dwindled. The show can't be recorded without at least two podcasters, and finding time for even two to get together can sometimes be difficult. For a while, the majority of us were all in the same time zone, so it wasn't an issue, but when you have team members on both coasts finding time for a two to four hour discussion, it can be dicey. Real life gets in the way of the hobby no matter how much we love it. In a way, though, our being responsible for our own call in to the show is a blessing as well. If we were reliant on getting two to three of us into a single space every week, the show probably wouldn't happen even as often as it does, and as technology improves, we're able to do more. I was able to join the Towers of Midnight book tour and podcast live with a listening audience, which was a lot of fun, seeing as how we continued our discussion as I drove to my home town following the store's closing.

Q: When did you start reading The Wheel of Time?

The summer of 2001. My fiancee at the time had been pressing me to read the series forever, and I wanted to wait until I finished the degree I was working on. When I graduated, I fell into the series with a rabid hunger. I finished the whole series as it stood at that time (I believe it was 9 books then) in the course of two to three months. Then began the long wait for book 10.

Q: Which book was your favorite, and why?

I don't actually have a favorite book. I have favorite moments through the whole series. Some of the high emotion moments will choke me up as I read them (it is no secret by now that I read the series aloud with my wife so we can share the experience), and to this day I still have a hard time getting through the sequence with Perrin, Faile, Hopper, and the hedgehog. The forging of Mah'alleinir and Egwene's defense of the White Tower during the Seanchan attack seemed like iconic moments. Even things like Rand and Ingtar's final discussion and Rand's blessing to him. And Mat. What list of favorite things is complete without Mat? There are few things involving Mat that I haven't been a fan of, and those few things are barely worth mentioning.

Q: Which book was your least favorite, and why?

Again, I can't claim a least favorite book. I can't even claim to have moments I particularly disliked. I wasn't a huge fan of what we on the podcast call "Emo-Perrin and Emo-Gawyn." "The Shaido took my wife. They took Faile. What will I do without her? They took my wife." Then get up off your burly butt and do something about it already. "Uugh...al'Thor killed my mom. Egwene says he didn't but I'll believe hearsay over the woman I love any day. Elayne says he didn't, but she's pregnant, what does she know?" Open your ears to the people you should be trusting. And while we are on the topic of opening your ears and trusting each other, I can't count the number of times I've wanted to smack the entirety of the "good team" in their heads for not finding a way to talk to each other more, or take it on faith that they know what they are doing.

Q: How many times, if any, have you gone to conventions that have Wheel of Time tracks, such as JordanCon or Dragon*Con?

Sadly, never. I'm hoping to remedy that very soon, but it always seems like the major Wheel of Time cons are scheduled against other life events that take precedence. I do have some friends in the film/theatre industry who try to do Dragon*Con almost annually, and I may see if I can join them to help mitigate expenses the next time they go.

Q: Have you ever met any of the people who listen to you? What was that like?

When I was at the Towers of Midnight book signing at Joseph-Beth booksellers in Cincinnati, Ohio, I was able to meet a few who had heard the show. A couple of my fellow Tower Guard had heard the show before and it was neat to sort of talk about how doing the show worked and share in our respect and admiration of the book series. But the most memorable audience member I've ever met came during the signing itself. While my recording device was parked between Brandon and Harriet, I took a turn at collecting people's numbers as they came through the line. I was chatting with people as they waited to get to the table and generally enjoying the atmosphere. At one point I was talking with a couple and the man coming up the stairs behind them suddenly says, "Waait...You sound familiar...Are you with the 4th Age podcast?" It was like getting celebrity cred based only on the sound of my voice. Since then I've been told that one of my former employers has a daughter whose boyfriend is a fan of the show, and didn't realize that I use a stage name when I record. And I've run into people who know of the show even though they aren't avid listeners. It is a bit odd realizing that my voice has been heard world wide, but hopefully it is just training for my future success.

If you have any follow-ups just let me know.

Otherwise, for myself Andrew Gelos, and everyone here at The 4th Age,

Suravye ninto manshima taishite.

Spencer Powell

Q: Can you each introduce yourselves and share a little bit about yourselves?

My name is Spencer Powell. At 21, I'm the youngest member of The 4th Age Podcast team. Unfortunately, being in college has hindered my ability to be involved recently.

Q: How did you go about getting this podcast started (or joining for those that joined after the initial start)?

I responded to several of the calls for help put out by the podcast. Once the need was great enough, Virginia got in touch with me to help with editing. And then, in an unexpected yet exciting turn of events, she invited me to join her and Andrew for a recording session. I think the first episode I was in on is still hiding somewhere in the backlog.

Q: What is it like working with people from all over as opposed to being all together in a studio setting? What kinds of challenges does this setup create? What kinds of benefits does this method have?

I've never done a "studio" style podcast, so for myself this is what podcasting is. We all sit at our computers, connect to whatever service we're using at the time, and go. Relying so heavily on the internet does provide some interesting experiences - I don't think the three of us will ever forget the "Virginia's Massive Ping" episode - but we've found more solutions than problems along the way.

Q: When did you start reading The Wheel of Time?

During an otherwise boring summer, shortly after my parents had moved us into the middle of nowhere. The "community" library was simply the school library (K-12, all in the same building) that the librarian would open up three days a week over the break. This was very upsetting on the occasions where I would finish a book in one night and have to wait for her to come back in two days.

In terms of actual time frame, this was right before Knife of Dreams came out. That was the first book I had to wait for. So while I don't have the full experience of waiting twenty years for the conclusion, I've still joined with all the fans in the emotional roller-coaster of these last few years. The worry when we heard Robert Jordan was sick, the pain and loss of his passing, the trepidation when Brandon took up the pen, the joy when he did a wonderful job, but still the waiting, always the waiting.

Q: Which book was your favorite, and why?

I don't know that I have a true favorite. I guess Winter's Heart would come closest. It's the one I would haul to school and re-read sections of during boring classes. Always the same two scenes, though. Most obvious is the cleansing of the taint. The imagery of Shadar Logoth and the battle going on around it are amazing. The other scene is less obvious, though it's the first that comes to mind when I think of Winter's Heart, and that's the emotional scene between Rand and his three loves. The more subtle yet powerful writing of the emotions flying around that room before and as they bond him astounds me.

Q: Which book was your least favorite, and why?

This answer may surprise some. I really don't like Lord of Chaos. So much so that I haven't re-read the series. I keep getting hung up on it. Not because of the pacing or characters, but because of Dumai's Wells. Not so much the battle at the Wells itself, but more the scenes leading up to it. I am a very empathetic reader. I put myself squarely into the shoes of those characters I connect with. And I have no wish to be put into a box only to be taken out, tortured, and shoved back in. And so I avoid it.

Q: How many times, if any, have you gone to conventions that have Wheel of Time tracks, such as JordanCon or Dragon*Con?

I wish I had the ability to go to any of these conventions. But, poor college student. What can I do?

I was able to attend the release parties for both The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight, which are like smaller doses of the fan spirit that is found at JordanCon.

Q: Have you ever met any of the people who listen to you? What was that like?

I met many fans of The Wheel of Time during the release parties. However, with my memory being a wet sieve, I don't recall if any of them stood out as listeners of the show. If you did, and I don't recall, I sincerely apologize.

Interacting with the listeners online has been a great experience, though. It's always a positive experience, even when they're giving critical feedback because it's always constructive, rather than degenerating into a flame war.

Virginia O'Connor

Q: Can you each introduce yourselves and share a little bit about yourselves?

Hi, this is Virginia and of course I'm a huge fan of this series. My other favorite authors and books are Colleen McCullogh for her Masters of Rome series, Barbara Hambly's Darwarth, Dragonsbane, and other series, Lord of the Rings, of course. Anything Star Trek as I've been a Trekker since Day One, most Star Wars, Harry Potter, Transformers are a new favorite and pretty much any movie Marvel cares to put out (after The Avengers I can now forgive them for poor Hulk!). I love most sci-fi and fantasy books and movies (except I am not a fan of George RR Martin's work, sorry, though I seem to be standing alone in that line). Otherwise, I'm a compulsive reader on the order of Hermione Granger. I love movies. I tell my friends that if it's a movie a 12-year-old boy is dying to see, Virginia will probably be at the midnight opening! Apart from books and movies, I'm an artist (oils, watercolors and bronze sculpture, and my 30+ year hobby is breeding and showing Smooth Fox Terriers under the Laurelton prefix. I'm probably best known for my dogs - I have dogs from my lines all over the world, and nearly everything in the show ring in the US has one or more of my breeding behind it. Apart from being great pets and my friends, like the podcast, they have opened many doors to travel and meet people and new friends that otherwise I would never had the opportunity to enjoy.

Q: How did you go about getting this podcast started (or joining for those that joined after the initial start)?

I was a fan of the podcast for some time, listening to it on my iPod every day at one of my jobs. I saw a call for host auditions from Andrew Miller, and decided to send in an mp3. I never really thought I'd get in, but what a thrill to find out I'd made it! It's been great fun and very rewarding. My fellow podcasters are awesome people with incredible knowledge and skills!

Q: What is it like working with people from all over as opposed to being all together in a studio setting? What kinds of challenges does this kind of setup create? What kinds of benefits does this method have?

It's great having people from all over, though as we are all fans we share much of the same outlook towards the books. Not a lot of cultural differences, no Illianer vs. Tairen dynamics!

The biggest challenge is logistics. We are all on different time zones, so while on the West Coast I may need to race home from work, the guys in the Midwest are dealing with late hours by the time we finish a recording. We often record for three hours or so! (Some of that might possibly be visiting or unrelated topics, of course.) :-) All the podcasters and editors (indeed everyone associated with Dragonmount) have been incredibly great, and I'm proud to call them friends.

I've never worked in a studio setting, but it seems like it would be almost too easy. We always have challenges making connection and getting decent sound quality; at various times one or more of us have been in rural settings with limited bandwidth and/or phone connectivity. I joke that before I moved I lived in a town more isolated and rural than the Two Rivers, and we didn't even have an inn or a green!

Q: When did you start reading The Wheel of Time?

I started rather late with The Shadow Rising hardcover in 1992. A nice young man at a Borders tipped me off to this great series, and I will be forever grateful to him. Two of the most profound influences in my long (and sadly rather comprehensively misspent) life have been Star Trek and the Wheel of Time. I look forward to A Memory of Light, but it will be hard to see it end. So many years of impatient waiting and anticipatory delight! It had better not be like Perrin's toy wooden horse!

Q: Which book was your favorite, and why?

That's a tough call! I've read and reread them all. They seem like old friends or even family members, and we tend to forgive any little defects or foibles. I'd have to say The Dragon Reborn might be my favorite, with The Shadow Rising, Lord of Chaos, and Knife of Dreams tied for a close second. But then there's The Great Hunt, and Eye of the World, and New Spring...Hmmm. Still, The Dragon Reborn saw so many profound changes in the characters and their lives, and it was that book that made me realize we were in this for the long haul.

Q: Which book was your least favorite, and why?

Wellll, New Spring, but only because Robert Jordan stopped the main sequence to do it, and maybe he would have finished the main series if he hadn't. But then we might not have had the prequel, and otherwise I really like it. Least favorite was always Winter's Heart, but after Leigh Butler's reread and insights, certain of the scenes I liked least (Far Madding, for one) are now viewed in a more favorable light, especially Rand's total bad-assery with the renegade Asha'man, so that now Crossroads of Twilight might be my least favored. But really, I love them all!

Q: How many times, if any, have you gone to conventions that have Wheel of Time tracks, such as JordanCon or Dragon*Con?

In my heart, every one of them! In the so-called Real World, I've been to a number of book signings, with Robert Jordan and with Brandon Sanderson, but sadly I haven't yet made it to either JordanCon or Dragon*Con. Not for lack of desire, I assure you! As a longtime veteran of many Star Trek conventions until recent circumstances have restricted those activities, it absolutely appalls me not to do conventions on something I hold so dear as WoT. I still hold out some small hope for the Memory of Light festivities, if my health will allow!

Q: Have you ever met any of the people who listen to you? What was that like?

Several times! It's funny, like meeting old friends - we have such a lot in common right off the bat. Best was a fellow at the WoT section of the bookstore. He seemed unsure which book to get so, being me with an Aes Sedai's conviction that OF COURSE anyone would want and need my opinion, I butted right in with advice, lol! He had read a few and drifted away, then found the podcast and decided to get back in it again! I was able to point him to the next one he needed. That was fun, we had a lovely chat.

If I could somehow meet Robert Jordan again, I'd tell him again what I said at the Knife of Dreams signing: Thank you for such and amazing and life-changing series of books! Thank you yet again, dear Brandon, for bringing them to completion. Thank you to Jason and Team Jordan and everyone else who has made this such a great community of friends! May the Light ever shine on you!

My reread was postponed until after A Memory of Light was released, so I was kind of stumped about what to do for this week. I've been enjoying some time off from work lately playing Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XI, Final Fantasy XIV, Dragon Ball Online (Taiwan version), and Tera Online. I've played a few others as well, but those are my preferred choices. After checking in on Dragonmount, I decided to go back to one of the games and it hit me--I like MMOs, so why not write an article about them?! I'm not going to get too deep into individual game specifics, but I will touch a little bit on the neat things that make the games stand apart. First, as you can tell, I'm really heavy into gaming. I run multiple accounts in several games so that I have a pocket healer or a place to stash extra stuff. Aside from that, I generally play a legit system, where I'm not running third party applications like the majority of the gaming community that goes endgame.

MMOs need the following things to really hold my attention: an in-depth storyline, better than average graphics, challenging endgame content, intense battle systems, and unique class systems. All of the games I listed above have at least one of those things except Dragon Ball Online (only due to the fact that I can't read it.) Below, I'll go into a little detail about each game.

Guild Wars 2:

I actually had no intention of buying this game. I stumbled across the last collector's edition box at the store the day it was released, and since I was slightly miffed that I did not get the CE of Diablo 3, I bought it on a whim. A good selling point on this game is that it is free to play (or F2P for the gamers out there), so you can play it when you want for however long you want and your pockets aren't getting any lighter unless you are buying Gems from the online store. Some of the big things I enjoy in Guild Wars 2 are the crafting system and music. I'm a bit picky when it comes to crafting systems. Most games get it wrong or make it too hard to get materials; however, Guild Wars 2 makes it easy because each craft other than cooking only has one primary material for each tier. It also allows you to level up your profession as you level your craft. My main character right now is level 40, and about half of those levels came from just capping Jewel crafting to 400. The music is epic, but I won't get too far into that because I plan on doing a video game music article soon.

Final Fantasy XI:

This was the first true MMO I played, and this game is by far my favorite. I have been playing it for six years now, and I still try squeeze in a few hours a week. I bought this game because of the franchise name; I've always been a fan of the Final Fantasy series, so this game was a no brainer for me.The plotline is unique. It's not the same "go here, kill this" type of MMO that some of these newer games are. There are a lot of side quests like that, but the main storylines are something more. The Chains of Promathia and Treasures of Aht Urhgan storylines were two of the greatest storylines I have ever seen, even beating out some of the regular RPGs out there. The music was really good, and so was the job system. There are twenty unique jobs to choose from, and you can go to town and change jobs at any given point so you aren't stuck on the same job throughout the entire game. Seekers of Adoulin will be coming out in 2013. If you don't count the three scenarios and the three Abyssea sets as expansions, this will be the fifth expansion of the game. Although I love this game, I don't recommend picking it up as a new player. Due to the age of the game, it has become not very beginner friendly, and all that's left are the hardcore endgame players. The endgame in this game is rather intricate as well, requiring a diverse set of jobs to successfully clear events.

Final Fantasy XIV:

Like XI, this game was a must have whether it was top notch or a flop. The original release flopped, but Square Enix has made huge improvements since then. Final Fantasy XIV has improved on the job system of XI, and there are several battle mage jobs or attacker jobs with a two tier system. The base class allows for major cross-class customization for solo play versatility. Tier two is more structured for group play; however, you cannot unlock tier two until the base class is 30 with a second class being 15 (based on the base class). Again, like other Final Fantasy games, the music is top notch. The big thing that's new to XIV that XI didn't have is amazing visual graphics. The cutscenes still lack the voiceovers of later MMOs, but sometimes games are better without voiceovers. I recommend getting this game after the big revamp in December if you're going to get it, since it sounds like SE is releasing a lot of new stuff with it.

Dragon Ball Online:

This game was more of just a fanboy type situation. I grew up watching Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, so I had to at least try it. Currently, there is no English release for this game. The last I heard was this game will be released in English sometime in 2013. I play the Taiwan version of the game. It's difficult to play a game you can't read, but not impossible. The Taiwan version at least is free to download and play if you can manage to set up an account on the website. Overall, it's your standard "go kill this and come back" storyline with a few twists, since it allows you to play through some of the iconic scenes from the anime even though your character is technically fiddling with time. The class system is subpar; you get three races to choose from--Human, Namekian, and Majin. From those three races, you get two classes to choose from that have two paths later on in the game (though I'm not that far in the game). Honestly, this game is more suited for the anime fanbase and not the MMO community, which is not a bad thing, but it makes it a different kind of atmosphere in my opinion.

Tera Online:

Tera is another game I played a foreign version of before its English release. Tera is now out in English, but I started on the Korean version. The big thing about Tera is the combat system--it's not a tab target auto-attack system. In Tera, it's hack-and-slash realistic combat. If you stand still in front of a creature, it's going to hit you, and there is no accuracy rating. You need to either block or evade depending on your class. The visual graphics in the game are insane; to play it on max settings, you need a decked out computer. The crafting system is simple but expensive. You have to buy certain materials and buy most recipes. Overall, even though it's your standard "go here and kill this" type of MMO, the combat system makes up for it most of the time. There is also a unique prologue function when you create new characters. You can try them out at level twenty before you really start at level one and it gives a bit of back story to why you're in the starting area.

This week, I'd like to take some time away from my normal ramblings and share an Admin Q&A sesion with you. Barmacral is our Discussions Admin and oversees the discussion forums, including the Mafia forum. Remember to laugh at any jokes he might say. We don't want him to realize he's not as funny as he thinks...I kid, I kid! Here is the Q&A we had.

Q: When did you start reading The Wheel of Time?

A: Back in high school, I think around the time CoT came out? Not sure. Any number of years ago anyways, and I've read the series more than a dozen times since.

Q: How did you get involved with Dragonmount and the Admin position?

A: I stopped playing World of Warcraft and needed something to pass the time, and since I was on one of my many re-reads, I came to Dragonmount looking for a place to discuss the books. As for being an Admin, we'd had some technology changes on the site, and they needed somebody who could dedicate some time to making sure all the users could see the appropriate boards. About the time this position was no longer needed, the Discussion Admin role came open and I was offered the chance to shift my responsibilities. As I've been very active in the past in many of the discussion boards, I took the chance.

Q: Can you share a little bit about yourself with the readers?

A: I am 25, Canadian (gloriously so), and I love to partake in historical re-enacting, specifically the War of 1812, where I portray an American soldier of the US 25th infantry regiment. I read a huge amount of sci-fi and fantasy, and am a casual gamer with a love for novelty board games. Just recently, I had the opportunity to try the Order of the Stick adventure game, and it was a lot of fun.

Q: People seem to think you have jokes. Do you have any jokes offhand you'd like to share?

A: None that are safe for the front page of Dragonmount...The actual running gag is that I am not funny, as a number of years ago I won the Empy award for funniest member of the site, and Emperor, a former Admin, started teasing me that I clearly wasn't funny and that he should have won the award himself.

Q: Where do you picture yourself as far as groups or factions in Randland if you lived there?

A: Probably Andoran, as they have the least alien culture to my own.

Q: Are you a part of the Wheel of Time community outside of Dragonmount?

A: I am lightly active over at TarValon.Net.

Q: Do you have a favorite character in the series? If so, who is it?

A: No, I pretty much like all the characters, even the ones most people tend to dislike. I've never agreed with the hatred for Egwene, Elayne, Faile, and the others. Though I'm totally happy to hate on Elaida.

Q: What is the most memorable moment for you in The Wheel of Time?

A: Dumai's Wells when Taim gives the order, "Asha'man, kill." Very chilling. Very cool.

Q: You are the Discussions Admin; have there been any great discussions during your time in this position?

A: There's been lots of great discussions. General Discussion usually has some awesome reviews by Werthead and others about various books, Debates and Discussions is great for political and other hot button topics, there's always a few discussions I'm following in the Entertainment section of the site, and every once in a while I do love to stop in at the Mafia board for a good mafia game.

Q: Is there anything else you wish to share?

A: I think it bears mentioning that I am awesome. Well, not that it needed to be mentioned, as I am sure most people figured it out from the rest of the interview. I am awesome.

I was at the book store a little while back and happened across the manga version of 5 Centimeters Per Second. I flipped through it a bit because I had never heard of it, and it seemed pretty interesting.This week's article is going to be about the touching story that it told.

The story begins in Tokyo. Akari is a new transfer student in Takaki's class. The two start talking in the library and realize they have a lot in common. Besides moving around a lot, they like the same books and the same places. Naturally, the two start to fall for each other, but Akari's family moves away shortly afterwards. They start writing to each other so that they will stay in touch, then Takaki's family has to move farther away, so he takes a train to go see Akari. Despite several delays, he finds her waiting for him at the designated meeting point. They share an unforgettable evening together just staying beside one another. After moving, Takaki meets a girl named Kanae who falls for him and is too shy to tell him. She always feels that he is looking far off and not seeing the things right in front of him.Takaki had cut himself off from others waiting for Akari, so he wasn't able to connect with the world around him. In the end, after he graduates, he moves back to Tokyo, gets a job, and meets a woman named Risa. In an attempt to move on with his life, he dates Risa for three years. The relationship never progresses; she would try to get close, but he was disconnected from the world. Takaki and Risa break up and he quits his job. Akari had moved on with her life and was engaged. Kanae tries to move on but has regrets, and decides to head to Tokyo for one last attempt to talk to Takaki. Takaki himself was alone, filled with loneliness, but resolved to accept the distance he put between himself and the world so that he could open up to someone in the future. This is essentially how the story ends.

I liked the story; my only issue is there is no real closure for Takaki. You follow his story throughout the entirety of the manga, but finish out in Kanae's, and are left to assume that the guy who just walked by her was Takaki. The story just makes you want to sympathize with Takaki, putting everything on hold for a love that would never be. I almost cried at a few points in this story, and recommend that everyone give it a read or watch the animated movie if they have the time.

I recently had the chance to ask the guys of tWoTcast.com a few questions. For those of you who are not familiar with tWoTcast, it's a Wheel of Time reread podcast. Although they have set chapters that they cover each episode, they also talk about the rest of the series during the show. So, you may be listening to an episode about book one, and something from book five will pop up. As Jono warns in episode 24, "Beware of spoilers. They hide in corners and shadows just like Myrddraal." Some of the answers in this interview might have spoilers, so I will put them at the end after another spoiler warning. I think the guys do a really good job combining jokes with serious talk about the books throughout the episodes. Now, without further ado, here is the interview I had with Jono, Joe, and Tom.

Q: First off, can you introduce yourselves and tell the readers a little bit about yourselves as individuals outside of the podcast?

Hello. I'm Tom--I like drinking, smoking, and watching Megan Rapinoe stick it to Columbians. I hate everyone who didn't like the final episode of Lost. I'm not sure what's wrong with people who don't read Saga. I'll probably end up in prison after I go insane when they cancel Community. My girlfriend’s last name is Bacon, so I'm conflicted about what to do when we get married.

um...Hi, everyone. I'm Joe--I also like drinking and smoking, but only together. I like all my vices wrapped up in one nice package. Tom and I are brothers (just throwing that out there) so a lot of our likes and dislikes are similar excepting the fact that we don't like each other. One of my favorite things to do after recording and drinking is to watch Ocean's 11/12/13 over and over again, and I still play Goldeneye64 on a regular basis.

I'm Jono. I don't actually exist outside of this recording studio. I'm actually an offshoot of Joe's usually rational brain that only comes to fruition after a couple drinks of very cheap vodka. Tom thinks Joe is insane because of me.

In my made up existence, I play soccer as often as I can (frequently trying to injure my knee). I also have a strange but comfortable government job that allows me to do all my reading at work. Really, I do nothing of value in my life. It's pretty sweet. Oh, I also drink and lie to women in a creepy but sometimes erotic manner.

Q: For those who haven't listened to you guys yet, or those who aren't very far into the podcast yet, how did you guys get started on the idea of a podcast for the Wheel of Time?

Tom- It was all my idea. And we were drunk. But Jono and Joe actually pushed to make it happen, and have been dragging me along kicking and screaming the whole time.

Joe- It goes back years before we even started, but it was Tom's idea to do a podcast. I don't know when or how we settled on a tWoT podcast, but it was definitely while all three of us were drinking together one night and just like the three ta'veren in the books, there was originally going to be a fourth member of tWoTcast, but who needs Dav and his badger anyway.

Jono- Well, we got drunk. And talked about books. And then Tom started rambling on about making a podcast and it just somehow snowballed (if you know what I mean) into an actual thing. Joe and I forced him into it at first and then all of the sudden he just gave in to my erotic whisperings and went with it. I have to be honest; the name was my idea. Which means it was a bad idea. And somehow it happened.

Joe- I was against the name. I remember Tom and I had gone out to breakfast and he sat there and spent the entire time convincing me it would be ok.

Q: When did you start reading The Wheel of Time?

Tom- 1992. Damn.

Joe- It was Tom's fault. I hadn't read anything more complicated than Dragonlance at the time, so in 1994, he said "read this" (classic Tom), but it wasn’t until 1995 that I finally got past the first prologue.

Jono- I think 1995. I saw the artwork for Eye of the World and just thought it was awesome. So, Darrell K. Sweet, you win. Nowadays I frequently trash the artwork at the beginning of talking about each book, so that's something.

Q: How many times have you each read all of the books up to Towers of Midnight?

Tom- Probably around ten or so for the first eight books. Somewhere between two and five for the others. These are guesses. Who counts things? Bad Sesame Street joke. Bad Tootsie Pop joke. Hilarious owl sound effect. Laughter. How many licks--never mind.

Joe- I count things. It takes two thousand three hundred and seventeen licks with moderate saliva to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop. Also...about the same as Tom. Around nine or ten for the first six books; books seven and eight drop a bit for me, but book nine comes in around nine times too. I love Winter's Heart. Then books ten through thirteen are three, two, one, and one. We're currently on our Gathering Storm reread and it’s really fun only having read it once unlike everything else so far.

Jono- It should be noted that Joe and I massively disagree on how many licks it really takes, but I have always been able to produce more saliva. It’s work related.

I'm not completely sure of the totals, so I'll guess. I think I've read books 1-7 at least 10 times. I remember I finished book 6 right when book 7 came out, so it's my first hardback. Or was... it's destroyed. For the rest you pretty much countdown one reading per book, so: Path of Daggers 8; Winter’s Heart 7; Crossroads of Twilight 6; Knife of Dreams 5; Gathering Storm 3; Towers of Midnight once about to be twice. And A Memory of Light twice. Don't ask, but it’s good. Like really good.

Q: How many conventions have you gone to with Wheel of Time tracks? Which was your favorite?

Tom- Just Dragon*Con and JordanCon. The first JordanCon was amazing because we got to hear a recording of RJ reading the prologue of book 12. Dragon*Con was ridiculous last year because we had media badges and people thought we were important and we conducted a lot of drunken interviews.

Joe- Most recently LibertyCon, but always JordanCon and Dragon*Con. We've been to all the JordanCons, a source of pride though they are in our backyard, but my favorite was probably JordanCon 4. The LIVE show went off without any technical issues and the audience seemed genuinely entertained, so that's always good.

Jono- I guess we’ve been to six or seven? All four JordanCons, obviously. My most memorable was JordanCon 1 when we heard Robert Jordan read the prologue. Amazing. Also, either Dragon*Con last year or JordanCon earlier this year, as the eminent tWoTcast was LIVE there. And we will be again this year so come to Dragon*Con!

Q: What is the best part of doing a podcast in your opinion? The worst?

Tom- Best- it's a built in excuse to drink with friends and talk about something I love. The same reason people watch sports. Interacting with listeners is a ton of fun, too. Worst- consistent delivery is key. So if you're sick or busy or not in the mood you still have to read and record. That's a minor complaint though. At the end of the day I'm just drinking beer and talking. Joe does all the hard work.

Joe- Best- my favorite part is definitely the stuff that only we get to see, the looks on each other’s faces when someone (Jono) says something waaay over the line or just a really funny comment. Tom makes me laugh a lot but I’ve known him for quite a while and understand his odd sense of humor. Worst- We do try really hard to get a show out every week. The only time we really had a gap over the last year and half or so was last holiday season, I think we took two weeks off. I don't think listeners realize how hard that can get to be that consistent with delivery of the show. But yeah, that's the worst when every once in a million years it becomes a job to get together or to cut the podcast on time.

Jono- We're really good friends getting drunk and talking about books. This literally is what we did before the show started. I mean...it's pretty awesome. And somehow a few people like us despite us being generally [jerks]. Especially Tom. Also, it should be noted that I actually got laid partially because of this podcast. Some chick I knew heard about it and thought it was cool that I was interested enough in some subject to do a show on it. She's on book 2 now. And we're kind of dating. And she'll be at Dragon*Con. So come to Dragon*Con and make fun of her.

The worst is that we live in separate areas and have work the next day. So if we start drinking, then recording and all, it's like 11 before I hit the road. I'm not sure how I haven't gotten pulled over, honestly, so if the show doesn't come out for a bit or I'm not on it, look there. Plus, I feel bad for Joe. We do our best to cover expenses for him, but I have the feeling that unlike me, Joe has things to do besides edit the show.

Q: Can you tell me about the steps you guys take in actually recording/posting the show?

Tom- No. I can't. Joe does it. I show up and drink. A lot.

Joe- Sure. Tom usually chops the books into equal parts for each episode, Jono brings over alcohol and pizza, and then we proceed to get drunk while discussing tWoT. The recording is done on my Mac and edited there too. We use a pretty common host site called Libsyn. A lot of the bigger name podcasts use it as well; it helps us keep track of download numbers and all kinds of other demographic statistics as well as being relatively easy to use. After it's posted, iTunes scans our site and pulls the newest show and adds it to their library at whatever pace they deem necessary.

Jono-Yeah, Tom divides the book into parts. Then we read. Joe and I make notes, Tom looks at us confusedly. We get together, have a couple drinks, then go into the hi-tech studio. From there we just riff off us each other and BS along til it's over. Over the course of the show, Joe and Tom smoke while I keep drinking. It’s all very professional. We do commercials and the very popular Ask the Dark One afterwards while really drunk. It shows. Like Joe said and everyone complains about: it takes between 2 hours and a week for iTunes to put the show up. I have no idea why, but it’s ridiculously annoying.

Q: What's it like meeting people who listen to the show and are fans of the show?

Tom- Awesome and surreal. We're baffled that anyone listens anyway. But I try to stay humble about our immense fame and popularity, so that's all I'll say about how great everyone thinks we are. Knows we are. I mean, we've always known we were amazing, but it's nice to get validation. Not that we need it.

Joe- We definitely started out with the mindset of "let's do this for ourselves" so it's always a little mind blowing when someone asks "are you from tWoTcast?". Lauren and I recently went to LibertyCon and we showed up a little late Friday, and when JordanCon goers realized we were there amongst the room parties, a lot of drunken cheers of "There’s a tWoT in the hallway!" happened. That made me proud.

Jono- It is completely confusing. In fact, I'm answering an interview right now and am kind of confused as to why. Like we've said: this was something thought up just because it would be funny. We assumed we'd get like 20 listeners and it would fade away in a few months. Maybe it will still? I think the first “whoa…we have fans?!” moment was when iTunes didn’t upload our podcast and we got tweets and emails asking about the delay. It was like we had done something wrong. I think we’ve actually posted the podcast late like maybe half a dozen times in nearly 18 months (which is all Joe’s fault!), but this was one of many times that iTunes screwed us over. It was strange…Meeting fans at JordanCon or Dragon*Con is ridiculous. I’m literally just some tool with a microphone and no internal filter. This is beyond bizarre, really. And it’s awesome. tWoT community in general is awesome. No one's really a [jerk] or anything (except us), so there's no one saying your show sucks or whatever. Because, you know, it doesn't. But still, every piece of email we get or iTunes reviews or Twitter interaction is just really cool. We love it!

Q: Is there anything you'd like to share with the people of Dragonmount?

Tom- um. No?

Joe- Shameless plug time? Just listen to the show and that we love the feedback we get. We're pretty responsive on Twitter but listeners can always email us too. Oh! and if you're coming to Dragon*Con definitely come to the LIVE show recording and say hi. Those are always fun.

Jono- I would love to share my life story with them as I am a fascinating character whose experiences are rivaled by no one. Also, I used to love reading Robert Jordan's blog there before he died. Also, I have real issues with Dragonmount's upper management as Jennifer Liang and Jason Denzel are shady characters.

Spoilers start here.

Q: Which book was your favorite, and why?

Tom- Shadow Rising. Love the Perrin story, love the Aiel. Fires of Heaven is a close second.

Joe- Winter's Heart. Rand just becomes this true hardass here and slightly before he starts really going off the deep end. Rand and Lan batmaning across the rooftops of Far Madding is just perfect. Anyway, I could make a horrible Jono-esque joke here about taints and cleansing and I won’t but the climax is awesome. Showdown at Shadar Logoth. Particularly Alivia glassing over that hilltop with Dashiva on it.

Jono- Book one. It's amazing. It's radically different from the rest of the series to a large degree, but the beginning is all there. The prophecies from Min, the seeds of what each ta'veren will be. Plus, Emond's Field feels amazing. There's something about Rand entering with Tam that feels so damn awesome. I don't know...Second is Winter's Heart: It’s not my fault about taint cleansing being so funny. And integral to the book, Joe…Rand killing Kisman like a hardass. Mat's escape from Ebou Dar. Really, it’s an awesome book. I recommend you read it.

Joe- Why did you both list two books? He clearly asked us for one favorite.

Jono- Because I’m an overachiever, Joe. Get off my case…And also because I’m dumb...

Q: Which book was your least favorite, and why?

Tom- Ten. Ugh. You know why.

Joe- The Path of Daggers. Amazing installment but a tWoT book without Matrim Cauthon might as well not exist.

Jono- This is fairly obvious, unless you’re Joe and deliberately don’t answer the question...Crossroads of Twilight. Did anything happen in that book? It's not a bad book at all obviously, but...nothing happens. In a reread it's quite interesting, but when that book came out and then you go back in time with a bunch of characters? That was obnoxious...

Joe- No, seriously, I liked Crossroads. But I also loved Majora's Mask so...

Q: What was the most memorable scene for each of you in the books? Why?

Tom- Anything that actually gets me in a raw emotional way. Perrin meeting his cousin in The Shadow Rising. Nynaeve getting the Malkieri to follow Lan. Semirhage forcing Rand to attack Min. Those are big.

Joe- We're all really big fans of Min, so Rand's hand on her throat almost made me have a Neverending Story book throwing tantrum. Instead I read faster than I ever had to make sure she lived. I do love pretty much any scene of Mat actually leading a battle; there’s a few in Knife of Dreams towards the end. Just awesome.

Jono- Rand cutting the Black Cords in Eye of the World. The entire chapter of "The Grave is No Bar to My Call" in The Great Hunt sent literal shivers up my spine. Mat sneaking into the Stone in The Dragon Reborn. Perrin in the Two Rivers or Rand wrestling Asmodean for the Choedan Kal (cue Tom laughing) in book four. Couladin's head on a stick or that huge balefire Rand throws at Rahvin while Nyneave is burning him always sticks out from Fires of Heaven. Rand escaping the wagons and everything blowing up at the end of Lord of Chaos? Maybe the best single scene in the series. Min and Rand naked; that's why my old hardback was worn down for Crown of Swords. Wait... Rand nearly killing himself with Callandor or Elayne and Nynaeve and Aviendha using the Bowl of Winds takes the cake in Path of Daggers. Mat leaving Ebou Dar and the huge ball of taint over Shadar Logoth is amazing in Winter’s Heart. Crossroads of Twilight...? Reading the last scene from Winter's Heart from other characters' POV...Knife of Dreams has Mat. Prince of Ravens. Oh, and Rand handless. The Gathering Storm: Rand's hands on Min or when he's on Dragonmount. Or Egwene kicking ass at the Tower. For Towers of Midnight it has to be Mat and Company in the Tower of Ghenjei. A Memory of Light has some awesome scenes, but I can’t go into it. There’s a bunch of nudity, though.

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[Editor's note: Jono, Joe, and Tom will be doing a live podcast at Dragon*Con, so be sure to drop by and heckle them. The live tWoTcast will occur this Saturday, September 1st, at 8:30 p.m. in our Wheel of Time track room. The track room will be in Roswell 1-2 at the Westin hotel.]

I have one of the Dragonmount Admins with me today. Verbal32, the Ewok of the Wheel of Time fandom, has taken some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions. For those of you who don't know, his schedule consists of grooming walking teddy bears, speaking gibberish, and worshiping golden robots. Verbal is the Social Groups Admin, so any and all questions about the Social Groups can be answered by him.

Q: When did you start reading The Wheel of Time?

A: In 2001, when a co-worker slapped a copy of The Eye of the World on my desk and said, "Read it. You'll like it, I promise."

Q: How did you find out about Dragonmount? How did you become part of the Admin team?

A: I was lurking in 2006 for a site that contained Wheel of Time info, and found Dragonmount. I lurked for a while and then joined. Almost a year and a half ago, Kivam PMed me and asked me if I was interested in becoming an Admin. I thought about it for a few days and then decided I'd go for it and blame whatever mistakes I made on Barm. Working as intended thus far.

Q: Can you tell people a little bit about yourself outside of Dragonmount?

A: My name is Steve, and I'm an accountant. God, that sounds like a bad intro at an AA meeting.... >_> I play a TON of ice hockey, and have done so since I was 3. I also play World of Warcraft. And I'm married with a 3-year-old son.

Q: Where did the Ewok joke come from?

A: Valentine's Day of 2008, lol. The Red Ajah hosted a ball in the White Tower & Warders Social Group, and everybody was "attending" with a pic in their post of what they were wearing. Basically, some light RP going on. After a while, I finally posted with a picture of Wicket from Star Wars--and from there, the Ewok references were born. I was always hanging out in the Blue Ajah, so they named me their official mascot.

Q: If you were in Randland, which faction would you prefer to be in?

A: I'd be one of the Chosen. Evil ftw.

Q: Outside of Dragonmount, are you active in any other parts of the Wheel of Time fandom?

A: No, but that's only because of having a kid. If I didn't, my ass would be showing up at every damn *Con out there! But, saving $$ for his college and not making my wife strangle me in my sleep take priority, heh. She's not a big fan of online fantasy communities...oh, well.

Q: Who is your favorite character in the series?

A: Moghedien. Always loved the Spider.

Q: Most memorable Wheel of Time moment?

A: When Ingtar revealed and Rand gave him the blessing from the Borderlands. First time I ever got shivers up my spine from a book.

Q: Can you share a little bit about the Social Groups?

A: h8themall. Kidding, they are awesome. They function like little families, and people grow really close. Each has their own little quirks, which serve to make them unique compared to the others. Great groups, and great leaders. The best leaders are the ones that don't let Barm in their group. He can post there anyway, but we beat him regularly for that.

Q: Is there anything else you wish to share?

A: I love lamp. That is all.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. YOU ARE WARNED!

I decided to start with New Spring for my reread articles because it was the first book I read in the series. I had mistaken it for book one when I bought the whole series on a whim; they were missing The Eye of the World when I went in the first time. I had to go back a day later to buy The Eye of the World. For those of you who haven't read New Spring yet, there will be some spoilers in here. I won't be talking about the whole book, but I will be bringing up points that I felt like mentioning for one reason or another.

I wanted to start with the Aiel's salute to Lan. It doesn't really go into detail about why they do this, but their reasons for calling him Aan'allein are explained elsewhere in the series. When I first read this scene, I thought it was just because of the stand those few men made against the Aiel during those moments. I was impressed by the mood of it. This scene is what really got me hooked on the series.

We see a couple of Foretellings in the series, but none as strange as the Foretelling Gitara has. She basically had a mini-convulsion before she started speaking. I am unsure if this is how her Foretellings usually hit her, but it just seemed odd. Afterwards, she falls over dead, presumably because of the stress of this particular Foretelling. I also wanted to touch on a few more things from the Moiraine point of view section. First, Moiraine has an odd fear of being queen. It does explain her fear, but it really is odd how we see later that Elayne is able to be a queen and an Aes Sedai with no problems. I do like that we get a bit of backstory on her family as well, though, during the hunt for the infant section of the days after the Foretelling. I also have one final sidenote from this section. We see a brief view of Elyas sparring with another Warder, and I like how that was slipped in casually. This wraps up the majority of the Moiraine point of view section except that she completely disobeys the Amyrlin.

Let's cut back to Lan and Bukama traveling back towards the Blight. Bukama basically starts a fight entering Canluum; he makes a promise not to draw his sword while in town. At this point, it's obvious there is going to be a fight in town. The innkeeper practically manhandles Bukama into her bedroom, though, so that was pretty funny. We hear that Edeyn Arrel has raised the Golden Crane, though I'm pretty sure Ryne just about lost his head for mentioning her. The following fight scene was pretty awesome, with Lan against six men alone and only taking a few minor wounds. Lan then decides to go to Chachin.

Moiraine is making visits to people on her list as we cut back to her, and she is also currently in Canluum. Moiraine runs into Larelle and Merean at the inn in which she is staying, and also has a surprise meeting with Cadsuane. I don't much like the meeting, so all I'll say on this is Cadsuane forces Larelle and Merean to travel with Moiraine and threatens Moiraine if she leaves without her. Siuan shows up in Canluum and informs Moiraine of the deaths of the hunters. Moiraine sends Siuan to Chachin ahead of her and plans to leave in the morning to meet up with her in Chachin.

After leaving Canluum, Moiraine follows Lan, Bukama, and Ryne. Moiraine tries sneaking up on Lan and gets thrown into a pond. After that, Bukama swears they will escort her to Chachin. Pranks ensue since Moiraine feels wronged. Upon arriving in Chachin, Lan leaves Moiraine as fast as he can and heads towards the palace while Moiraine searches for Siuan. Lan and Edeyn play her "game"; she wants Lan to marry her daughter. Moiraine enters the palace using her real name to reach Lady Ines. Merean arrives in the palace, talks to Moiraine briefly, and Moiraine goes to Lan. Upon asking Lan to have Bukama follow Merean, she also tells Lan of the failing of the Tower to save Malkier. Merean is Black Ajah and is after Brys' son. Upon finding Merean, she kills Diryk and Brys while holding Moiraine at bay. Lan fights Ryne. While Merean goes to kill Iselle, Moiraine kills her with a knife, but fails to save Iselle. Lan kills Ryne and Moiraine removes all traces of Merean from the area. The book ends with Moiraine bonding Lan.

As some of you may already know, this year is the last year that Dragon*Con will have its own Wheel of Time track. David Gordon, the Senior Director of Fan Track Operations, had this to say about the close:

Every year Dragon*Con examines all of its fan tracks to determine whether their fandom is best represented independently or as part of another fan track. While this is the final year of an independent Wheel of Time fan track, the series will continue to be represented at Dragon*Con as part of our broader science fiction and fantasy literature fan track. We expect this to be a fantastic final year for the Wheel of Time's fan track, with Brandon Sanderson returning to the convention to talk about the conclusion of the Wheel of Time series.

I talked to Jennifer Liang about her thoughts on it since she runs the Wheel of Time track. I will also be mentioning a few events before the Q&A with Jennifer. Dragon*Con this year will be running from August 31-September 3.

A few events that will be good to check out include An Evening at the Winespring Inn, tWoTcast's live show, Robert Jordan's Legacy, and the A Memory of Light Preview. The word from Jennifer is that Brandon Sanderson will be attending the Winespring, Legacy, and A Memory of Light events. There will also be other events to check out, like the costume designing panels. There are two: one for the Westlands and one for the Aiel, Seafolk, and Seanchan. Also, there will be several games: Darkfriend, which is essentially a mafia game; Daes Dae'mar, the great game that tests your Wheel of Time knowledge in a team format; and Illian's 8th Annual Trivia Bee. Also, anyone new to the Wheel of Time track at Dragon*Con should attend The Grave Is No Bar to My Call, which is the opening, introductory panel for the track.

Below is the Q&A with Dragonmount's Jennifer Liang.

How did you get started running the Wheel of Time track at Dragon*Con?

In 2000, I went to my first Dragon*Con with my then fiance, brother, and someone that we knew through the forums here at Dragonmount. We didn't spend a whole lot of time there, just walked around for a day. But we had such a great time. Dragon*Con has single topic programming tracks and Jimmy and I both thought that a Wheel of Time track would be so much fun. We really just wanted it as a place to meet the rest of the folks we knew through Dragonmount. So afterwards, I emailed the convention and suggested it. Somehow that email got passed up the chain to Ed Kramer, who was the chair at the time, and he responded very positively.

This was right about when Kramer's legal troubles started, and as was his habit, apparently, he had neglected to tell anyone at the convention that we had been approved. So there were several months of back and forth of me calling and saying "I'm supposed to run your new track! What do I DO???" and them being confused. But Pat Henry, the new chairman, honored Kramer's commitment to us and we were able to move forward. There was a lot of last minute scrambling and flailing around that first year. It was such a stressful experience, I almost called it quits after that first year. I spent a lot of time throwing up in the bathroom and crying during my first few Dragon*Cons. I'm glad I kept doing it, though. Dragon*Con is where I learned how to run a convention. If I hadn't have stayed with it, I never would have developed the skills needed to create JordanCon.

What were your most memorable events from Dragon*Con in the past years?

In 2005, Robert Jordan was the Guest of Honor for the convention. This was right before the release of Knife of Dreams. Dragon*Con does a very large, annual parade through downtown Atlanta. As far as I know, it's the only sci fi convention to do so. Anyways, I asked Jordan if he'd like to march with us. He declined politely, but said he'd come watch. And he did. I remember walking past the Hyatt in formation with the rest of the Wheel of Time group, and there he was, sitting on one of the planters clapping and cheering as we walked past. How many people can say Robert Jordan clapped and cheered for THEM at a convention?

I also have lots of good memories associated with Brandon Sanderson attending. We had him for the first time in 2008. It was the first Dragon*Con since Jordan had passed and Sanderson had just started working on what would become The Gathering Storm. He tells me now that he was terrified of being eaten alive by us that weekend, but we were just as worried about him. After the first Q&A session with him, I think we all felt better. Not only did he have a lot of confidence in his ability to do the job, but he also expressed so much respect for the series and for Jordan. It was very reassuring to have that. It was also the only time he's been able to be just some guy around Wheel of Time fans. The first time I saw him, actually, he was standing in the back of the track room watching us play trivia games and nobody knew who he was. If he tried that now, everyone would be all "Mr. Sanderson! Let me tell you my theories!" I'll always be glad we had that experience.

Do you have anything big planned for the grand finale of the Dragon*Con Wheel of Time track? How do you feel about the track ending at Dragon*Con? Any future plans now that the track is ending?

Our focus this year is the A Memory of Light release. We will do some retrospective on the track itself, but with the final book coming out, we really have too much to look forward to to spend that much time navel gazing. We do have Brandon coming back, so we'll do one last "Tell your secrets!" panel with him and a reading. This is my twelfth and final year as a Director at Dragon*Con, so obviously there is some sadness. There's also some relief. It's not easy to run two major Wheel of Time events every year, so I'll be glad to have some downtime during the year. I am still on very good terms with all of the Senior Directors at Dragon*Con and Pat Henry. Several of them have started attending JordanCon, just to continue supporting us. They've been very clear throughout this that if they had unlimited resources, they would be happy to keep us forever. But this feels like a good time to end it. The series is ending. JordanCon exists now as a gathering place for Wheel of Time fans. Sanderson is moving on to the projects he set aside to work on the Wheel of Time. I'd rather end it now when we are strong than watch it peter out.

I'll be taking my first break from Dragon*Con next year and will attend WorldCon in San Antonio. WorldCon and Dragon*Con are usually on the same dates, so my opportunities to go to that one have been few. Brandon Sanderson is planning to be at that one as well, so it should be lots of fun. I kinda want to see what Dragon*Con is like when I'm just there to hang out like everyone else, but I'd really like to see Jordan nominated for a posthumous Hugo Award, and the Hugos are awarded by WorldCon. So I need to go there and talk Jordan up to the voters. So probably 2014 is the next time you'll see me at Dragon*Con.

We're all fantasy fans here, or at least I assume we are since we're here on a forum devoted to a fantasy series. So, what is fantasy? I'm not talking about the definition, but about what fantasy is to us. Why do we like fantasy? As my opening article, I figured I'd put my opinion out there.

Fantasy is a world in which we can lose ourselves and escape from our day to day lives. It's a world full of adventures that keeps us wanting more and prepares us for our next adventure. A fantasy world is a place for mythical creatures and powerful magic, where the unexpected happens constantly. It's a world that we can see through someone else's eyes, and maybe add to it with our own imaginations if so inclined. Basically, it's whatever we want it to be, whether it's sparkly vampires, tainted Power, the struggle of good against evil, or just an epic quest.

We are always looking for that next adventure, that new fix for our addiction of reading. As I post new articles, I'll occasionally post a list of current or future books on my reading list. This list may include books you've already heard of or are already reading, but don't let it discourage your chances of finding new books. I'm always stumbling across new books. I have over 200 books in my dorm room and about as many back home in storage, so my list will constantly be updated.

My current reading list:

The Way of Kings

Mistborn series

The Saga of Recluce

The Wheel of Time (reread)

A Game of Thrones

First off, I'd like to thank Tynaal Consen for the hard work she put into this position as my predecessor and for giving me a good base foundation from which to start. As of today, I will be taking over as the Rotating Features Blogger. Here's some information about me for those of you who don't know me. I guess you could call me a bit odd, for lack of a better word. I started reading The Wheel of Time back in November of 2010, and I finished the series around June of 2011. I absolutely loved it; I couldn't put it down, and I even read it at work. Besides reading, I'm an avid fan of manga, anime, and video games. I'm a fledgling mafia player as well. I am pretty active around the Dragonmount forums.

I have quite a few plans for my blog. Some of them have been greenlit already, and some are still in the idea phase. One of my biggest plans that has already been greenlit is a countdown to A Memory of Light series review. Each month, I'll post a brief review of my thoughts on the book I am currently on for that particular month. I'll try not to put too many spoilers in there, as I know not everyone is finished with the series up through Towers of Midnight, and I'll make it obvious in the article title when it's a Wheel of Time book review. Also, I plan to finish up the rest of the Dragonmount Admin interviews from where Tynaal left off. Hopefully, if all goes well, I'll be posting one each month. The rest of my weekly articles will just be random topics of interest. I hope to make these articles interesting for everyone. I realize everyone won't like every article, since that's just personal preference, but I hope to get in something for everyone and am not above taking requests when I can squeeze them in. Keep in mind, though, I will not encroach on the other front page bloggers' territory, so if your request would fall under one of their categories, I won't be able to cover it.

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.