Simple question: Why don't the Forsaken go after Mat and Perrin personally?  We've heard so often how they demolished whole cities in the AOL and are so greatly feared.  Why then don't they just Travel (they know where Mat and Perrin are), fireball away and split?  What are they afraid of?

 

Ta'veren are dangerous, it would be very risky already because of that + they don't know (or even worse: they DO know) what Mat/Perrin have up their sleeves.

 

Forsaken are just channelers, no superhuman. They are more experienced, yes, but any group of 3+ decent channelers would handle them or stop them long enough to die to weapons.

 

Mat has a medallion that stops direct weaves which means it's a very bad idea to attack him directly.

Perrin has keen senses, is extremely fast and dangerous in battle, has an army and adept guards.

This has been what has been curious to me in the series.  The the AOL we heard "legends" of the Forsaken wiping out hundreds of thousands of people at a time.  Cities fell at their fury.  Was this simply legend? 

"So either Mat got lucky that Semi didn't find out more about him"

That's an understatement. 

Thanks for helping answer this question.  It's been one of the more curious aspects of this series, one where I have found myself disappointed.  The Forsaken are less formidable in person than in legend.  Sorilea and Bair exploited this well and Semi hated it.  I guess my disappointment is from what we saw was possible while Rand visited the AOL through the glass columns in Ruidean and not seeing this possibility play out very often.  It's a place of tension for me in the series where I keep asking more from the OP than is being shown realistic.  Jordan has done a great job of turning legend into something less legendary, through the pettiness of the Aes Sedai, the debilitating selfishness of the Forsaken and even the woolen-headedness of Rand.  I'm an idealist so this has been difficult for me in the series but I'm starting to come around to appreciating its subtle theme throughout the series.

Simple question: Why don't the Forsaken go after Mat and Perrin personally?  We've heard so often how they demolished whole cities in the AOL and are so greatly feared.  Why then don't they just Travel (they know where Mat and Perrin are), fireball away and split?  What are they afraid of?