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Author Topic: female taint
kaidum
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posted May 31, 2003 09:46 PM      Profile for kaidum   Email kaidum    Edit/Delete Post
i was thinking that if a group were playing in the area after the books end and the wheel keeps repeating certain ages that next time the dark one is released and sealed again that it could be done by women and the taint would only apply to saidar.any comments would be helpful.

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I could be wrong but....you know....I'm not.
-Monk
My mind rebels at stagnation...but i abhor the dull routine of existence.I crave for mental exaltation.
-Sherlock Holmes
We may as well live life to it's fullest....We're all going to die anyway
-Personal Quote

From: nomadic | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Generality
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posted May 31, 2003 09:50 PM      Profile for Generality   Email Generality    Edit/Delete Post
I don't see how it would make much difference. Maybe the Dragon would be female.

More likely, it would be just the same as with Saidin but the opposite.

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If the Dark One's name is forbidden, how does anyone know what it is?

From: Here | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged
Moon-Hawk
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posted June 01, 2003 07:57 AM      Profile for Moon-Hawk      Edit/Delete Post
I agree. Since the pattern of each age is repeated, it will be very similar. For example, the prophecies of the dragon should probably still be true; but, Generality said, the dragon would be a woman.
I think the biggest difference would be, what would the Aes Sedai be like if only the men survived to carry on the tradition, instead of the women. Randland Aes Sedai have a very different tradition than Age of Legends Aes Sedai, and the Wheel of Time series is all about gender differences, so what would it be like if men, instead of women, ran the show for a couple thousand years?
Would they be more aggressive, acting more like a police force? Or would the conflict with Artur Hawking still force them into using the Oath Rods? Would they choose the same three oaths?
What would the female dragon reborn's "Asha'man" be like?
Some things, like the Seanchan, would be virtually no different. Damane and Sul'dam would obviously both be men, but otherwise no big difference.
How would this affect the Aiel? Currently, ability to channel affects their society relatively little. True, any woman who can channel becomes a Wise One, but many who can not still become wise ones, if they can dream. And strength in the power does not influence rank among Wise Ones. If the madness gender was reversed, would the Wise Ones live on? Would men become the Wise Ones and women the clan chiefs? I doubt it, I think dreamer women would still be wise ones. Women who could channel would go out into the blight to kill as many trollocks as possible before they go mad and die. What would men who could channel do, though? They would either be incorporated into the wise ones, making it a two-gender society, or need to form their own society. A male Aiel channeling society. That's a scary thought.
There you go, Kaidum, it wasn't many answers, but I hope it gave you something to think about.

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I've learned too many systems. Sometimes I even forget which system is the REAL world uses. Uh-oh.

Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
kaidum
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posted June 01, 2003 09:04 AM      Profile for kaidum   Email kaidum    Edit/Delete Post
i would like to thank you for your input and i will do my best to incorporate as many ideas into my adventures as possible.thank you again.

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I could be wrong but....you know....I'm not.
-Monk
My mind rebels at stagnation...but i abhor the dull routine of existence.I crave for mental exaltation.
-Sherlock Holmes
We may as well live life to it's fullest....We're all going to die anyway
-Personal Quote

From: nomadic | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Moon-Hawk
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posted June 01, 2003 05:09 PM      Profile for Moon-Hawk      Edit/Delete Post
No problem. It was an interesting question.
Let us know what you choose to do, and how it goes.

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I've learned too many systems. Sometimes I even forget which system is the REAL world uses. Uh-oh.

Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
Merclaar
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posted June 01, 2003 09:48 PM      Profile for Merclaar      Edit/Delete Post
One thing about the Seanchan and damane and sul'dam.
The adam's dont work on men (not the same way as women).
And a man cant initiate a circle...

cu

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cu

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Merclaar

Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
Lord Schpungus
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posted June 01, 2003 11:35 PM      Profile for Lord Schpungus      Edit/Delete Post
but would they have made the adam for females? Linking would be an interesting problem, but if adam were made I'm sure they would be made for males to control males. Having males have all the political and magical power in the world would certainly turn it into a more traditional fantasy setting, though...
From: The Global Community | Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
Moon-Hawk
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posted June 02, 2003 07:23 AM      Profile for Moon-Hawk      Edit/Delete Post
An excellent point. So men would be the damane, but they would need to use sad bracelets (i.e. the two bracleted male a'dam) and the Sul'dam would still need to be women. Remember, most Sul'dam never learn to channel (although they do learn to sense flows), so if they never learn to channel, they would never be subject to the taint. The female sparkers would still need to be hunted down, though. And occasionally a Sul'dam could learn to channel somehow, perhaps from an encounter while hunting down one of the female sparkers, and become subject to the taint. Think of the poor man collared by two women going insane from the taint! Yikes.

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I've learned too many systems. Sometimes I even forget which system is the REAL world uses. Uh-oh.

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lostone
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posted June 04, 2003 07:20 PM      Profile for lostone      Edit/Delete Post
The reason for the two braceleted male a'dam is because it takes two women to control the man (although if the man was willing one woman can link with him), and it has to be women controlling a man, because the women have to initiate the link. I don't think it would be possible to create an a'dam that allows a male sul'dam to control a male damane, because two men cannot link under any circumstances without 4 women (at least according to the table in the RPG which seems pretty accurate from what I remember in the novels).

I'm pretty sure it mentioned in the novels that to use the male a'dam it required 2 women to control the collared man.

From: Nebraska | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged
Moon-Hawk
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posted June 05, 2003 05:57 AM      Profile for Moon-Hawk      Edit/Delete Post
Right. Exactly what I just said. One male damane and two female Sul'dam, so that one of the sul'dam can control the link.
I agree that a male-male adam is impossible.

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I've learned too many systems. Sometimes I even forget which system is the REAL world uses. Uh-oh.

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What Would Cthulhu Do?
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posted June 06, 2003 12:19 AM      Profile for What Would Cthulhu Do?      Edit/Delete Post
In the campaign I'm desinging, this is exactly what happened, the female half is tainted, as opposed to the male half. The campaign takes place in the cycle after the one described in the book. The Dragon Reborn is completly nuts, owing to the fact that she has both Lews and Rand in her head. The White Tower dosn't exist, instead, the Black Tower governs channeling, though its traditions have changed a great deal since Rand founded it. Instead of relying on Subtlety, like the White Tower, the male Aes Sedai act like "Big Brother" (For those who know what I'm referencing) They generally stay out of everyone's business, so long as they do what they're "supposed" to be doing, as soon as anyone slips up, The Black Tower moves in to fix things, and they arn't above torching a village or two if that's what's needed. The Aiel society dosn't have channelers at all, all channelers, both male and female are sent into the blight to kill shadowspawn. Ogier society is also divided. There are still Ogier as they appear in the novels, but there is also another warrior society of Ogier that serve as enforcers and shock troops for the Black Tower. The Children of the Light are also not as pure as they'd like everyone to believe, as they commonly recruit female channelers, using their powers until they become to mad to control.

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Sarah Snyder

Wow Trumpy, you can do stupid things!
It's called evil, kid
-MST3K: Pod People

Have YOU seen the Yellow Sign?

From: Canada. Eh? | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged
skyman
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posted June 06, 2003 11:05 PM      Profile for skyman      Edit/Delete Post
Wow, you've got some cool ideas there. You should put that setting online so others can play in it.

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"Death comes sooner or later to everyone unless they serve the Dark One, and only fools are willing to pay that price."
-Lan Mandragoran

From: Olympia, WA | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged
Vazkor Javhovor
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posted June 11, 2003 04:59 PM      Profile for Vazkor Javhovor      Edit/Delete Post
I plan to send soon the PC in a mirror world, via a Portal Stone, where Saidar is tainted (it's the female leader of the pre-Breaking AS who caused the Taint) : so the channelers will taste the taint for a limited time [Evil Smirk]

They'll need to convince a few guys that they're not mad yet, and to convincce at least one of them to follow them to their world. They'll need one, because Darkfriends and Shadowspawn have located a derivative of the stasis box in which is a male AS from before the Breaking, completely mad, and insanely powerful, of course (that will also be the death of a large part of the DF). And there's no AS in the vicinity.

Now, some men in the Reverse World will not be surprised : they've known the way between the two worlds for a long time. I'll connect that with "Purple Ajah / 2nd Foundation" theories, I think. Might make things even more interesting when they'll return to Tar Valon [Devilish]

HTH.

Vazkor

From: Paris, FRA | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
FireAndIce
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posted June 12, 2003 02:43 AM      Profile for FireAndIce      Edit/Delete Post
cool idea, but what is the 'purple ajah' and 'second foundation'?

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And time didn't stop to let me wallow in defeat nor did it stop to let me savour the victory.

From: Ontario | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
The Great Gray Skwid
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posted June 12, 2003 09:04 AM      Profile for The Great Gray Skwid   Email The Great Gray Skwid    Edit/Delete Post
quote:
Originally posted by FireAndIce:
cool idea, but what is the 'purple ajah' and 'second foundation'?

That would be Vazhkor showing off his being old school (or at least reading up on some old school theories).

I'd recommend using Google Groups and searching some old, old articles on rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan for the terms.

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Evan "Skwid" Langlinais
The Humblest Mollusk on the Net
http://www.thehumblest.net/
Ask me for information about the Texas Darkfriends!

From: The Big D | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
FireAndIce
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posted June 12, 2003 01:23 PM      Profile for FireAndIce      Edit/Delete Post
goodness isn't that clever! my game will now officially have a purple ajah!!! thanks for the tip.

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And time didn't stop to let me wallow in defeat nor did it stop to let me savour the victory.

From: Ontario | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
The Great Gray Skwid
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posted June 12, 2003 02:00 PM      Profile for The Great Gray Skwid   Email The Great Gray Skwid    Edit/Delete Post
No problem. I just remembered that both theories are actually in The FAQ's section on Verin.

Enjoy! [Big Grin]

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Evan "Skwid" Langlinais
The Humblest Mollusk on the Net
http://www.thehumblest.net/
Ask me for information about the Texas Darkfriends!

From: The Big D | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Vazkor Javhovor
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posted June 13, 2003 03:22 PM      Profile for Vazkor Javhovor      Edit/Delete Post
Awww sorry to not have answered in time, I should really come here more often [Blush]

What the Skwid said [Smile]

Vazkor

From: Paris, FRA | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
lostone
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posted June 13, 2003 04:13 PM      Profile for lostone      Edit/Delete Post
About the female taint in another age...I don't believe that the Dragon Reborn would be born female, or if he/she was she would still channel saidin, since it seems that not even the Dark One was able to change that Aran'gar channels saidin even though she is female (it could be argued that the DO intentionally left Aran'gar that way, but we don't know for sure)...plus, Rand gets a lot of help from Lews Therin, channeling things he couldn't have even imagined, and it's saved his life many times, I don't think the Dragon Reborn would survive without that help, and I doubt Lews Therin knows more than basic theories on how women channel, the only thing he would know is how to channel saidin and saidar together, which wouldn't really help a female channeler learn.
From: Nebraska | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged
FireAndIce
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posted June 14, 2003 02:52 AM      Profile for FireAndIce      Edit/Delete Post
I donno I think you could reason it out. Things happen in cycles, and with each cycle the 'dragon' gets more powerfull because he has the help of those who have come before, but in order for it to be a cyclical cycle at some point the dragon must go back to having the knowlege of a little dragon hatchling so perhaps Rand will be super powerfull and reweave the pattern like it was in AOL it will be a slightly weaker part of the pattern. Now the dragon must come again and again, but perhaps in the next cycle the 'dragon soul' is born female, so all those voices in her head either aren't there or are useless, so she starts from sratch, cycles come and go and voila the dragon is female, is powerfull and it's the new AOL so the dragon rallies the people (probably in a slightly different way) with the end effect that the dark ones backlash has made the female source tainted.!!

clever solution or stupid cover up. you be the judge!

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And time didn't stop to let me wallow in defeat nor did it stop to let me savour the victory.

From: Ontario | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged


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