Verin Mathwin

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EWoT: Verin Mathwin

Verin Mathwin Biographical information Nationality Far Madding Current Status Alive Physical description Gender Female Height Short Build Plump Hair color Brown, with a touch of gray Eye color Dark Chronological and political information First mentioned NS 3 First appeared NS 10 Rank Aes Sedai
	[Source]

Verin Mathwin was an Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah. Verin had grayed hair and was considered to be one of the oldest Aes Sedai alive; likely over 200 years old. Like all members of the Brown Ajah, she devoted herself to knowledge and the pursuit of it; as a result, she had a tendency to go on fruitless tangents in dire conversations, and appear lost in thought at inopportune moments. Unlike other Brown sisters, however, she only appeared to be in these reveries to disguise her intentions, as she is at times very sharp and insightful, a trait very uncommon among true Browns. Moiraine Damodred remembers her particularly fondly from her days as a Novice and Accepted as Verin used to have the cooks leave sweets out for her and Siuan Sanche. Verin also told Morgase Trakand that there was no real need for her to remain in the Tower as she would never be able to do much with her limited talent even with teaching. Her rooms in the Brown Ajahs quarters are located next to a tapestry of two Kings who lived before Artur Hawkwing. Her rooms were full of books, scrolls, maps and skulls. There was also a Brown Owl that sat on a skull to keep the mice down as they chew paper. She wore plain garb, shying away from the finer silks and fabrics the other sisters prefer. She almost always kept a writing case on her belt in order to jot down notes on certain goings-on when she feels it is important. Her notes take up many cupboards and chests in her room in the Tower. The notebooks are written in a cipher to prevent anyone reading what she is really writing about. Her skills in the power were average: her Healing skill is no more than normal, and her skill with Earth is quite feeble; she has, however, discovered a weak form of Compulsion, similar to the form Liandrin of the Black Ajah uses. This was purely an exercise in curiosity at first and was done by piecing together fragments of wilders tricks to get people to do as they wished. She was also one of the Aes Sedai who had the ability to Travel.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early life 1.2 The Great Hunt 1.3 In the Two Rivers 1.4 Helping Rand 1.5 Last Journey 2 Allegiance 3 References

[edit] History

[edit] Early life

Verin was born in Far Madding. She had a fiancé Eadwin before she was exiled for being able to channel the One Power. She went to Tar Valon where she spent 5 years as a novice and 6 years as Accepted before being raised to the shawl and joining the Brown Ajah. She has traveled extensively, even going as far as Falme to look at a Portal Stone^[1] and perhaps even spent a month in Cairhien trying to find the source of Hurin's powers to smell violence and bloodshed. She also at one point found a twisted ring ter'angreal hidden by the Tower's last Dreamer and used it to enter Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams, where she received a physical scar that Anaiya was unable to heal fully^[2]. Her last warder was Tomas.

[edit] The Great Hunt

She was one of the 14 Aes Sedai who accompanied Siuan Sanche to Fal Dara. While there in a meeting with Moiraine and Siuan she correctly guesses that one of the three ta'veren must be the Dragon Reborn, causing Siuan and Moiraine to briefly consider killing her before bringing her into a level of trust^[3]. After an assault by Shadowspawn on Fal Dara, by which the precious Horn of Valere was stolen, she elects to follow the three ta'veren in their attempts to recover the stolen Horn, rather than return to Tar Valon^[4]. This creates an ambiguity as she refers to being asked by Moiraine to accompany them while Moiraine later says she did not ask Verin to do this. During her travels she offers Rand al'Thor a hint at how to activate the Portal Stones, but accidentally results in him propelling the entire party into a series of painful visions about the alternate lives they could have lived^[1]. Upon reaching the cape town of Falme, she sends Rand, with Matrim Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, Ingtar Shinowa and Hurin to recover the Horn as well as Mat's dagger, which incidentally fulfills an aspect of the Karaethon Cycle^[5]. She returns to Tar Valon with Elayne Trakand, Egwene al'Vere, Nynaeve al'Meara and Mat. On returning she becomes the only person other than Siuan to know where Siuan hid the Horn of Valere in the White Tower^[6]. There, along with 9 other Aes Sedai, as well as a powerful sa'angreal, she helps sever Mat's connection to a tainted dagger from Shadar Logoth^[7]. In the meeting with Siuan she had hinted at letting him die so he would no longer be linked to the Horn and some other person could blow it for the Tower. She also becomes aware of Egwene and Nynaeve's search for the Black Ajah. Later she gives Egwene a twisted stone ring ter'angreal used for Dreaming talent. She also fails to give Egwene some notes that could be important to her talent or her search for the Black Ajah^[2].

[edit] In the Two Rivers

She later turns up in the Two Rivers with Alanna Mosvani where the two discover many girls with the potential to channel, including one of Mat Cauthon's sisters. In the Two Rivers she helps Perrin fight an immense horde of Shadowspawn that are assaulting Emond's Field. While helping Perrin in his fight she makes notes on the effects that Perrin has through him being ta'veren. During her time in the Two Rivers Verin shows an interest in the hammer that Perrin is carrying with him unlike the last time they met^[8]. Just before the final battle with the Trollocs, she wonders when he will forsake the axe for the hammer^[9]. One of the Prophecies in the Karaethon Cycle says, "When the Wolf King carries the hammer, thus are the final days known"^[10]. This makes her understanding of the Prophecies, as well as Perrin's nature very evident and potent as she has deduced something that perhaps only Moiraine may have. She is very interested in the three ta'veren, expressing a desire to split into three just so she could tail all of them, even going as far as to say she would marry one or all of them in order to stay by their side^[9].

[edit] Helping Rand

Verin sides with the rebelling faction of Aes Sedai centered in Salidar after reaching Caemlyn^[11], which is shown by sending the girls from the Two Rivers to Salidar. She attempts to manipulate other Aes Sedai into confronting Rand and they decide to follow him to Cairhien after they receive a letter from him^[12]. On their journey they meet up with Perrin^[13] who is leading an army to rescue Rand from the White Tower. Verin takes part in the Battle of Dumai's Wells and she is forced to swear an oath to Rand after the successful outcome of the battle^[14]. She then sets about helping Rand by using a weak form of Compulsion on some of the Tower Aes Sedai who had kidnapped him so that they will serve Rand up till the Tarmon Gai'don^[15]. She joined the group of sisters who follow Rand, these sisters are led by Cadsuane Melaidhrin. Verin wants Rand to get to the Last Battle but her true allegiance is unclear at this time as it is possible that she has spoken a lie, which should be impossible due to the Three Oaths. Verin was also ready to poison Cadsuane in Far Madding when she thought that Cadsuane would harm Rand^[16]. She takes part in the battle at Shadar Logoth when Rand removes the taint on saidin. During this battle she, while linked with Kumira Sedai and the Windfinder Shalon din Togara Morning Tide, encounters the Forsaken Graendal who they are able to fend off, but in exchange for Kumira's life^[17]. After continuing to travel with Rand Verin suddenly disappears, though she leaves him a letter saying he could trust Cadsuane but no other Aes Sedai no matter what oaths they have sworn to him^[18].

Spoilers: Information ahead comes from The Gathering Storm; please be careful if you have not read that book yet!

Last Journey After leaving Rand, she travels to Tear with the intention of then traveling onto Tar Valon. During her journey the ta'veren nature of Mat draws her to Trustair through interruptions while she attempts to Travel and exiting at the wrong place when Skimming through an unintentional comment by Tomas. She then distributes pictures of Mat and Perrin to find out where they are, as she correctly guesses it is one of them pulling her to them. When eventually meeting up with the Band of the Red Hand she offers to take them directly to Caemlyn if Mat will agree to follow a letter of instructions that she leaves with him. The letter is to be opened 10 days after his arrival. Mat negotiates a deal that gives him the choice to either open the letter after 10 days and follow the instructions or not open it but stay in Caemlyn for 30 days. The deal is agreed upon with Mat intending to take the latter option. Before breaking camp, Mat notices that Verin has a stack of sealed envelopes in her bag[19]. Verin next appears in the White Tower. To quickly gain Egwene's attention and gain a private meeting, she says a lie about the color of the dress that Egwene is wearing[20]. She then confirms that she has been a member of the Black Ajah. She reveals that she joined after she was given the choice between that or death, and she secretly had another motivation - to study them. During the meeting she says that to continue her research she became involved with events and followed Rand. She also shows insight into how the Forsaken and the Dark One operate. Verin is able to tell Egwene all of this because she has poisoned herself in order to get around her vow, which allows her to reveal the secrets only at the hour of her death. She does not believe that she will be redeemed and gives Egwene two books, one with details of the Black Ajah and the other with the cipher to decode it[21]. Egwene later uses this information to remove the Black Ajah from the Aes Sedai[22]. After revealing this information Verin dies, and soon after the Battle of Tar Valon begins. Allegiance Verin's actions have led to speculation about her allegiance before it was revealed. The most suspicious act was her lie that, "Moraine sent me." Another suspicious act was hiding the notes of Corianin Nedeal after giving the ter'angreal to Egwene. She also discovered a method of Compulsion that violates Tower Law, though the way she used it does not technically violate the Three Oaths as she phrased it in a way that would not harm the recipient. In Verin's thoughts she refers to the Dark One by that epithet rather than by the title "Great Lord",[verify] which is a practice most Darkfriends observe. She also stays her hand when about to poison Cadsuane when she discovers that Cadsuane's true intentions are to help Rand al'Thor survive to Tarmon Gai'don. She appears to still be bound by the Three Oaths. Verin seems to have most allegiance to the Light, and many of her actions indicate her determination to get Rand to the Last Battle. Verin later reveals to Egwene that she joined the Black Ajah after an ultimatum of joining or dying. She used this chance to study them and passes this information to Egwene after intentionally poisoning herself, while stating she does not think this will redeem herself. Her true motives are unknown as some of her plans have yet to be revealed, in particular her instructions to Mat and the many other letters she held in her bag. This means that her allegiance to either side cannot be completely determined yet.

[edit] References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} The Great Hunt, Chapter 37
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 21
3. ↑ The Great Hunt, Chapter 7
4. ↑ The Great Hunt, Chapter 14
5. ↑ The Great Hunt, Chapter 44
6. ↑ The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 12
7. ↑ The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 18
8. ↑ The Shadow Rising, Chapter 32
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} The Shadow Rising, Chapter 56
10. ↑ Knife of Dreams, Chapter 4
11. ↑ Lord of Chaos, Chapter 42
12. ↑ Lord of Chaos, Chapter 49
13. ↑ Lord of Chaos, Chapter 54
14. ↑ Lord of Chaos, Chapter 55
15. ↑ The Path of Daggers, Prologue
16. ↑ Winter's Heart, Chapter 25
17. ↑ Winter's Heart, Chapter 35
18. ↑ Knife of Dreams, Chapter 20
19. ↑ The Gathering Storm, Chapter 36
20. ↑ The Gathering Storm, Chapter 38
21. ↑ The Gathering Storm, Chapter 39
22. ↑ The Gathering Storm, Chapter 43

Characters
Protagonists	Main: Rand al'Thor · Matrim Cauthon · Perrin Aybara · Egwene al'Vere · Elayne Trakand · Nynaeve al'Meara · Thomdril Merrilin Primary: Aviendha · Faile Bashere · Min Farshaw · Tuon Athaem Kore Paendrag · Moiraine Damodred · Lan Mandragoran · Loial · Birgitte Silverbow
Antagonists	Dark One · The Forsaken · Padan Fain · Couladin · Pedron Niall · Eamon Valda · Mazrim Taim · Sevanna · Galina Casban · Liandrin · Alviarin Freidhen · Suroth Sabelle Meldarath
Major Characters	Aes Sedai: Siuan Sanche · Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan · Verin Mathwin · Leane Sharif Other Allies: Morgase Trakand · Juilin Sandar · Bayle Domon · Elyas Machera · Logain Ablar · Amys · Bair · Melaine · Rhuarc · Berelain sur Paendrag Paeron · Davram Bashere · Gaul · Bain · Chiad · Sebban Balwer · Gawyn Trakand · Galad Damodred · Gareth Bryne · Martyn Tallanvor · Lini Eltring
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