#Project Altara

[ptgigi]

For a drawing prompt on another site: draw your character trying out magic.

Ended up going with Crystal as a magical girl!

[pmdwildfire]

With less than 5 hours until Art Fight starts, I should probably share my profile!

(also: pausing the Nexomon fusions until the end of the July, I’ll do the last 3 planned ones in August)

[ptgigi]

So cute! Thank you so much for drawing her!! Love the colors! :D

artfight attack for @ptgigi!

[dread-red-queen]

En Garde Ch 21 - Angulation is up on A03

Summary:

The group were celebrating Altara making it to the finals, but Triston, her ex, decides to spoil the mood by getting drunk and causing a scene in the club. Later, Vivian and Altara make a promise to eachother to face eachother in the final, and Altara intends to keep that promise, but first, she needs to get through the finals and defeat Aelia Aurelius, the crimson queen, a fencer from Tevinter who had a reputation for hitting too hard when she scores points and being a bit of a bully on the piste.

READ CHAPTER 21 HERE

Snippet under the cut

"Come on, your bout is in five minutes, let's get you suited up," Lucanis says, his hands resting on her shoulders gently. She looked up at him and grinned.

"Ok, can you help?" She asked with a cheeky grin, making him blush.

"Mi amore, if I help you, you're going to be late for your match." He whispered in her ear, and she nearly melted at the gravely purr.

"Maker, your voice should be illegal." She comments, making him chuckle as they walk to their booth to grab her gear. There is a changing room set up near the piste area.

"Remember, Aelia hits hard, but she isn't that flexible, use that to your advantage." He says as she's changing into her uniform.

"Don't worry, I will," she says, pulling back the curtain. Her pure white uniform looked good on her, they had swapped out her lame for a custom one like Lucanis, adding a little flair. her face guard had her rose insignia painted on it.

The Cantori Diamond was making a show of the finals, using the stage and LED screens to introduce the competitors before they walked down to the piste, their insignias would be projected on the screens behind them, their name in bright lights.

The crowd was earning it up. Enjoying the theatrics of it all. Antivan's were known for putting on a show and being extravagant.

Lucanis takes her hand in his and pulls her close, pressing his forehead to hers.

"You've got this, I know you can win." He says softly, she smiles, kissing him. A wolf whistle breaks them apart. Lucanis blushes slightly.

"Wish me luck." She grins at him, making him laugh.

"You don't need it." He retorts 

READ FROM THE START HERE

[iviarellereads]

The Fires of Heaven, Chapter 16 - An Unexpected Offer

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Sunburst icon) In which we finally catch up with someone who's been a bit of a mystery for a hot minute.

PERSPECTIVE: Nyn wakes and thinks about her nightmares. El wakes and they discuss a plan to go to Tear but can't agree whether to go overland or by ship. They go down to the common room for breakfast, and Galad approaches them. He became a Whitecloak because it seemed the thing to do.(1)

They learn from him that Siuan has been stilled and executed, confirming their prior intel. They're both shocked, and he says it means they're free, and he can escort them to Caemlyn. He says he doesn't have much time before they're called to move, then one of the other Whitecloaks approaches and takes him away.

El makes to leave immediately, before he can find them again. In their room, packing, she says Galad is now faced with a problem: two things that are both right and in opposition. He thinks it right that he tie El up on a horse and bring her to Caemlyn (he couldn't send her unescorted) but he also has vows to maintain as a Whitecloak, and he knows that they're Tower-trained channelers, which is illegal in Amadicia. That might buy them a little time while he decides.

Thom and Juilin show up, and they plan their escape from town. Thom mentions that King Ailron (really, Pedron Niall through Ailron) wants a strip of land the whole length of the border with Altara, from Salidar to So Eban to Mosra. Something in there tickles Nyn's memory, but she can't place it.

Nyn asks Juilin if there are any smugglers who might be able to help them, but no, most thieves lie low here, and mostly they only wanted to talk about whether the menagerie might be allowed to come back and put on a show. Nyn cuts him off and says the menagerie is their ticket out. Luca wants a patron, and she and El can be them.(2) El adds that Galad will never look for them in Ghealdan, he'll expect them to go east. They send Thom and Juilin off to get supplies and a more modest wagon, and they pare down their treasures and belongings as much as they can justify.

They discuss El's feelings for Thom for a bit, Nyn recognizing a bit of El trying to become a woman by holding herself up to her mother, including thinking about her mother's former lover. She's seen it before, but never found a way to set the young woman to rights.(3) Finally, she asks El if she's certain Galad would turn them in. El says, absolutely, and if they leave it will only make the decision for him.

=====

(1) Well, he's kinda doing exactly what you'd expect of a man whose entire character and life is founded on the requirement to Do The Right Thing. He's allied himself with the zealots, because he thinks they're doing the right thing, because clearly the White Tower can't be trusted, they stole Elayne away practically in the night with no explanations or way to get in contact with her. He was looking at their literature back in Tar Valon. And, given his moral rigidity, he would gravitate toward the black and white structure of them. It's an easy answer in the face of a complex and rapidly chaos-spiraling world! The Whitecloaks have a lot of present-day comparisons available, but it feels like someone converting to US evangelicalism because this Jesus guy said some good stuff. (2) [hysterical giggling] Right, sure, okay. The guy you offended deeply by the single coin you offered is gonna help. Yep. That totally tracks. Time to go run away and join the circus! (3) I'm just gonna reiterate an "ick, blech, ptooie" here for my own sanity.

[better-off-crazy]

Oooooooooo new my time game announcement! Sweet!

Love the name to, my time at Evershine.

Annd now for the obligatory over anlizing the only picture they have given us! For the record i just learned about it and have no idea the contex or names for anyone.

Its been a hot min since iv played sandrock so i dont rember the name of things but well get thoguh it!

** contains Some spoilers on sandrock and porita.**

Characters look cool as they normally do, and i see avery will be invloved so im guessing that other guy will be to, the one thats doing the building project out in wherever it is. Not like we had an actual name for it when he told us about it, So everlight is fitting Considing its supposed to be a way to help unify altara.- insert something inspiring about it being a light in stopping duvos and bringing a new dawn to altara-. At least it seems Theres gonna be alot of building yay! Ha.

Lots of ruins, hopefully that means alot of fun places to explore!

At first i thgouht it was a floating island but on closer inspection its a giant ass ship so i think the ship we made in sandrock will mostlikly be making an appearance along with other giant ships, war or otherwise. A floating islad would be very cool and unexpected. Mebbe one of the ships will be a type flying island?

Theres alot of planes in the picture, the alliance is deff way more invloved this time.

So much wilderness! And that giant tree! That better be apart of the game im all for giant ancient trees! Hunting might actully be alot more promit then mining from the looks of it. You have the guy with the gun, the corps, the guy with the sword, altho that could just be the basic fighting, and that girl who looks to be either a superhero, villan, or anti hero mebbe all 3 who knows. She gives raised in the wilderness and isnt happy about us trying to build a new town in her home vibes.

Theres smth special about the two twins in the middle or their the player charas. Alot of focus there so you notice them first so high possibility of them being the player charas.

The farmer lookig girl reminds me of Emily. Probly teaches you how to do farm stuff. Obv.

The red head guy next to her reminds me of a scholar, a guy interested in the past and ruins n stuff. He also looks kinda sad like hes unhappy with his current situatio.

The top two might be antagonistic orrrrr another Miguel/logan situation.

Heck if you wanna get real into theorys you could say eveyone facing the left is some type of antagonist and eveyone facing the right is the "good" side and the ones facing and looking at you directilyish, the middle, is neutral.

The guy with the sword couldn't be Aadit could it? The hair style and beard make me suspicious.

The red haired guy seems to be a hunter or smth(obv i know) witch leads to me thinking hes going to have either a "lone wolf" type personality or the "nonchalant happy guy" personality. Then again they could make him have an ego that could overshadow pens, unlikely but that be unexpected.

The older guy above him seems like retired military or leader if some group could be its the local corps or the antagonists. Could be the leader of the new town too.

Guess well know soom! But i love guessing and being suprised! Comeon pathea! Lets go for gold!

Also yes i will absolutely be aiming for avery if hes a option at the start of the game and will probly change that as i play and meet the othere characters.

[dread-red-queen]

My Main Feather Verse AU (Altara De Riva,/Lucanis/Spite

https://archiveofourown.org/series/4584151

My Modern Day Fencing AU

“I’m scared to advertise my fic and recommend it to people” girl if you don’t inject the link to that rookanis fic into my blood stream RIGHT NOW

[pusatagenhosehydraulic]

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[ginsbcrgs]

♡       𝐚𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬  !  

by clicking the source link you’ll be redirected to 74 gifs of german-croatian actor aaron altaras in unorthodox. these gifs were made by me from scratch, so please don’t repost them nor claim as your own. also, please read my guidelines before using them!

cw(s): none.

[ptgigi]

Taru

Like Anteh, no redesign, I just wanted to have some more recent art of her!

[cannoli-reader]

What is their foundational ideology? Because that's why Galad joined them. He regards the other stuff as excesses that do not invalidate the philosophy of their founder. Who says they are the fantasy KKK? Maybe stop projecting your own hangups and issues where they are not intended. The Children of the Light are about fighting Darkfriends and the Shadow. They are not a hate group, they are people with a legitimate grievance, because the Tower is just as bad, and does just as much wrong, and charges of bigotry would stick just as well against them. The Children take it to extremes, but that's a problem to be fixed, a flaw to be corrected. They are hanging around and rather more successfully than so many other institutions in WoT, because of their focus on fighting the Dark One and the Shadow. Because that's what is important. Yes, Niall becomes a little too caught up in trying to extend their political influence, and he falls from power, but so does the ruler of absolutely every country except those, who, like the Children, focus on the fight against the Shadow.

Remember, the Children arose as an order of ascetic preachers during a time when the White Tower was doing some really shady shit. They stilled their own Amyrlin for what she did to Artur Hawkwing, and Hawkwing, a great leader & ruler, who established a government of peace & justice, who was beloved by the common people, and broke the power of the aristocracy, went to war against the White Tower for their mysterious actions. Ronde Macura is violently abused by her Aes Sedai employer for merely asking about the Black Ajah, which is real and exists and is extremely influential in the White Tower. What do you think the much worse version of the Tower that existed when the Children started preaching did, when, inevitably, they brought up the issue of Darkfriends in the Tower? So, yeah, the Children have overcorrected against the abuses and tyranny practiced by the Tower, but in all their history, they have managed to kill one Amyrlin, maybe.

Meanwhile, the Aes Sedai barely regard them as little more than a nuisance. The focus of the Children PoV characters is not all about channeling or the Aes Sedai, those just seem to be a fact of life to them, an evil they can't do anything about. Their main focus is more on what Darkfriends might be up to and how to stop them. And for the most part, when they are not being controlled by objectively evil infiltrators, such as Carridan on the Almoth Plain, or Ordeith in the Two Rivers, we don't actually see them acting against people who are innocent! Everyone who comes into conflict with the Children is actually up to no good, or breaking the law!

Perrin murders two of the Children for the crime of defending themselves against a wild animal attack

Mat assaults Dain and his companions in Baerlon and Rand is more or less complicit in it and all but challenges them to a fight in the street.

They catch the whole party attempting to bribe their way out of Baerlon after curfew, and that's not taking into account that they are trying to sneak away to avoid being linked to a suspicious inn fire.

They spot a known murderer lingering around the area where they are trying to figure out WTF the slave empire and a Darkfriend officer are up to, and believe, not inaccurately, he might be involved in an ambush that wipes out the loyalist forces of the Children on Tomon Head.

They catch Perrin freeing an Aiel murderer from imprisonment for crimes of which he is guilty. The Aiel, not the wetlanders, are the ones who divide the world into Aiel & enemies. The Aiel either murder outright wetlanders they catch in their lands, strip them naked to walk home through a desert or sell them into slavery. For an Aiel to be present in the wetlands is basically an act of war, by their definitions. Gaul belonged in the cage and he really did not belong in Altara (he was supposed to be looking for a guy whose only clue involves Tear - why the fuck was this genius on the wrong side of the two largest rivers in the known world, from Tear?). Perrin had no right to free him.

A group of Tower initiates violate their own laws to assault a group of Children in sight of Tar Valon.

On investigating the Two Rivers, Dain is being adversely influenced by Ordeith/Fain and comes away rather better than most other people who get involved with him, and meanwhile, the Children find themselves under attack by Shadowspawn coming out of nowhere, a Warder is seen sulking around, the people DGAF about the possibility of Darkfriends in their midst or show any of what EVERYONE outside the Two Rivers considers proper respect to powerful authority figures, and the people don't seem at all worried about Shadowspawn attacks, mostly taking the advice of a Hunter for the Horn, whose advice is really bad. From the Children's PoV, the people only start acting sensibly by fortifying the village and concentrating their strength, on the day they decide to push back against the Children's authority.

They may have been involved in expelling a menagerie that caused considerable property damage from a town.

They captured a cell of darkfriends operating in Amador and hanged them.

They supported the people of Andor when they rose up against the malicious influence of the White Tower in their country's government. The Amyrlin Seat not only forced Morgase to withhold protection from the parts of her country that were being raided, in defiance of her sacred duty as queen, she publicly humiliated and threatened Andor's greatest living hero in court for asking questions, again, as is his sworn duty to his queen and his country, and never even giving an explanation or justification for this action. The whole point of a queen and a government is to protect people from this sort of threat, and the Aes Sedai basically told the farmers of Southern Andor to fuck off and die and no, they don't get an explanation.

Do people really hate the Aes Sedai? Why not? What is to love about them? Their refusal to allow any other group to exist that can teach people to channel? Their refusal to allow people who don't fit into their ideal profile to learn to channel? Their forcing channelers to study under their rules, with no consent to following those rules, no consent to the corporal punishment backing the rules, or the unpaid labor demanded of their coerced initiates, and no freedom to leave? Their requirement to risk one's life in ter'angreal the sisters themselves do not understand, just to regain some agency in the use of the abilities they were born with and thus have an innate right to use as they see fit?

Or maybe we are supposed to love how the Tower deals with everyone else? How they claim and exercise authority over the rest of the world, while refusing all accountability? Government is only legitimate with the just consent of the governed, and the Tower refuses to allow the exercise of that consent. They psychologically torture petty criminals in order to keep their city's image up. They interfere with the workings of other governments. They balk at providing aid for preternatural crises and refuse to protect people from preternatural threats, after stripping them of any ability to defend themselves, because they are not allowed to employ their own channelers.

The Tower proves again and again over the course of the series that ALL it is interested in is its own power and authority. They have no interest in getting involved with any other issues, with Tarmon Gaidon looming, unless there is power for themselves involved. The plan of the Amyrlin for Rand involved her establishing herself as Rand's handler and Moiraine was vociferously opposed to any effort by Rand to act in a way that did not conform to Siuan's story that she is in charge. She tries at every turn to prevent Rand from getting any source of power that she does not control, down to knowledge of the prophecies of the Dragon themselves, and even after learning her own understanding is greatly flawed, refused to adjust to adapt or consider any other point of view (The Aiel are not in the prophecies, but then it turns out they ARE in the prophecies, and the most famous prophecy at that, but in the very first book after she learns this, she is telling Rand he has no need to become a leader of the Aiel); after he establishes his leadership, she tried to subvert his authority over the Aiel, to protect the Tower's position and image). Moiraine is potentially one of the major heroes of the story, but spends most of her time in it in conflict with Rand, entirely because she is an Aes Sedai, and as she admits while bound to speak no word that is not true, more loyal to the Tower than to him. The Tower is the single entity most in charge of the world, which is circling the drain as the story starts. The Tower is fine with the world believing they told Malkier to go screw themselves after a thousand years of loyalty to the Aes Sedai. The Tower tells a group of Andorans who express concern about them marching an army through their country that they have no right to object, that they have no right to inquire what the Aes Sedai are doing about the collection of male channelers gathered in their country, which a plurality of sisters believes is their most important duty, and by the way, the country they are currently in, will just have to accept a chunk of their lands being occupied by their larger neighbors, even if that means that chunk of land is lost for good. The better of the two candidates for leadership of the Tower cannot be bothered to even react to a proposal to ally with the Black Tower, because she can't see how it affects her own power. She lambastes and threatens punishment to her most loyal subordinates, after an incredibly successful mission that literally saved the world from the Dark One and hundreds of women from slavery, because it might make her quest for power more difficult. The best members of the White Tower are constantly in conflict with the organization or spend most of their time away from it, and butting heads with the mainstream sisters.

You cannot separate hatred for the Tower from hatred for all channelers, because the Aes Sedai & White Tower themselves have made the two synonymous in the minds of the people of the lands from which the Children come. As Mat says "they can channel and that makes them Aes Sedai. That makes (Rand) Aes Sedai."

Explain to me why hating the Tower automatically makes you bad.

And the bit about Sanderson is a straw man argument. No one says the Children are good just because Galad is in charge. To the extent they say Galad's rise to leadership vindicates the group, it is because they agree when Galad insists they have to put aside their issues with the Aes Sedai & Asha'man to fight the Shadow, and agree to make the man proposing this their leader. This shows what their priorities have been all along. And comes after the rank and file and most officers present back Galad when he accuses their leader of rape. Unlike the Aes Sedai wrt bonding Rand against his will, the Children believes rape makes you unfit to hold authority.

The thing that is interesting about Galad is that he does the right thing no matter what. You want to push back on that, find something he does that is not right, aside from joining an organization you don't like and mischaracterize. Most people leap to believe the assertions of his sister, formed from an immature perspective and perhaps as a side effect of being taught political intrigue too young, which she eventually walks back later in the series, but most of the readers who assume Elayne must be right about Galad, don't follow her in admitting she was wrong. Meanwhile, I want a more coherent argument than two consecutive sentences that contradict each other, one citing the halo effect of good-looking people, and the other assuming most people don't like Elayne, who is constantly being cited as good-looking by even her heterosexual female associates.

With most popular Wheel of Time characters, I get it even if I don’t agree. Like I find Lan boring af but he represents a popular character archetype and is the love interest of a fan favorite so it totally makes sense why he has so many fans.

Galad though? I Do Not Get It. He was fun at first, with his self righteous big brother I’m telling mom energy, but then he joined the fantasy KKK WHILE having a sister who belongs to the group they want to exterminate. And it isn’t qualified appreciation like “wow that’s an interesting storyline that really illustrates how otherwise normal people can become radicalized,” it’s “Galad is a gigachad and the only good one of Morgases kids.” Do people really hate the Aes Sedai so much that they think “the group who thinks channelers should all be eliminated” makes some good points? Is it the halo effect around very good looking people, which Berelain arguably also benefits from, even though it’s words on a page and not a visual medium? Is it because Elayne doesn’t like him and a lot of people hate her?

NOTE: I get that Sanderson did his usual “Galad is a Good Person and is put in charge so the Whitecloaks are now Good too!” routine, but it really doesn’t fit with RJs style, and it doesn’t erase their foundational ideology or what they’re famous for doing.

[dread-red-queen]

Part 2 of the "Feathers" Series

Summary:

The party had been going on for a good few hours, house dellamorte had a lot to celebrate, Lucanis had become the new 1st Talon and every house was there. The crows knew how to throw a party and even Altara who would normally prefer the quiet was mingling with the guests and enjoying the expensive wine, you could count on Catarina to have excellent taste in wine, though that could be said for most crows.

my take on Lucanis's comment that he had other plans for the evening when he asks to slip away from the party after being made 1st Talon coz that line had so many delicious possibilities

[cannoli-reader]

Maybe this should be the Spoiled Children Fandom. Because you know what? Set aside the moderating arguments about Seanchan slavery and the historically illiterate readers who miss what Tear & Cairhien are actually like, stipulate that the people who project their own issues onto the Seanchan and call them hypocrites or bigots (neither of which is true) have a point.

The worst version possible of the Seanchan is better than the SHADOW!!

A world where the Seanchan conquer everything, such as implied in Aviendha's future viewings, is still better than the SHADOW!

Same thing with the Strike on Shayol Ghul. It was a victory for Lews Therin, not a failure, not a mistake, not a defeat. Because the Breaking of the World, and civilization literally knocked back to the Stone age is still better than the SHADOW!

This is the point in the series, about putting aside differences. It's easy for readers with no stake in the game, with no emotional connection to the feud between the Goshien and the Sharaad, or the ill will between Tear and Illian or Tarabon and Arad Domon, to sanctimoniously nod along to Rand's complaints about men fighting their petty battles, with Tarmon Gaidon on the horizon. It's really easy to see how these conflicts are not important, when they are unimportant or irrelevant to you. But they are relevant to someone else. They are important to someone else. And just as they have to put aside the things that are important to them, for something more important to the whole world, the same goes for everyone who is so morally outraged by the Seanchan, and proud of themselves for it.

This is also why Egwene is as bad as Dark Rand. Their late-book arcs are parallels to each other, with both of them making mistakes in different ways. Rand is focusing on the wrong aspect of the good fight, while Egwene is fighting the wrong war. Egwene is fighting a war that should not be fought, a petty battle for status and position against other human beings who are equally opposed to the Shadow. But to way too many readers, including, probably, those who were commissioned to finish the series and to adapt it into a TV show, all that means is that Elaida, et al, should cease resistance in the name of the greater good. That Elaida is the obstructive person who can't see that she should be standing with, and not against Our Heroes. But Elaida did not declare war on Salidar. In her dreams, she entertained the idea of disbanding the Ajah that split the Tower, and publicly slandered her to outsiders, but even after they started spreading Logain's lies and forming a renegade Hall that did not have the democratic mandate of Elaida's Hall but claimed its authority & denied its legitimacy, Elaida's emissary was still offering a blanket amnesty to anyone who returned to the Tower. And unlike Our Heroes, Egwene & Siuan, Elaida & Tarna cannot lie. But the readers cheer Egwene on every step of the way, from spurring her army into action, to declaring war on Elaida for crimes she knows to be untrue, to besieging the largest city in the world and destroying its harbors, with the devastating effects that is going to have on all the innocent people in the city who have no say in who the Amyrlin is, and have no recourse against her policies.

Now some fights are necessary, of course. The people of Tarabon have the right to oppose their conquerors, as do the people of Altara and Amadicia. Rand was right to resist the Seanchan incursions into Illian. Putting the Shadow first does not mean rolling over for people who are messing up the works. But that is the point of the truces. To get them to stop interfering in the fight that matters, and if they can do that, if they can set aside their immediate personal interests, they are people with whom you can deal, and they are, ipso facto, better than the SHADOW!

And there are exceptions. Challenging one's own leader who is an unapologetic rapist, is to the benefit of the Light, because that kind of personal evil is how the Dark One wins. That's the sort of thing that required Rand to get his head on straight or his victory over the Dark One would be effectively as bad as a defeat, because it would replace one evil with another. The Shaido are another exception, because they can't be dealt with, can't be reasoned with, and are degenerate impulsive predators. Their leaders know the truth of the legitimate leadership of their people and go along with the pursuit of power and wealth. The Shaido themselves know the truth, with absolutely every other man known beyond doubt to have been to Rhuidean, vouching for what Rand claims he saw, but they reject it out of bigotry. There is no order, no system of rules, no higher idea they follow, just their most base appetites. There are actual Darkfriends, like Taim & Suroth, who are morally superior to the Shaido in many regards. Unlike the White Tower, or the Seanchan, or the High Lords or Tear, or the Children of the Light, or the Consuls of Far Madding, the Shaido are not all that much better than the Shadow.

And the White Tower is objectively evil. If not for the Shadow, they would be the most worthy target in the wetlands for a group of heroes born to set the world to rights. The Tower abducts the heads of state of sovereign nations, it forces members to use the Oath Rod which constrains their behavior and shortens their lifespan, they psychologically torture people with the Chair of Remorse, they make their dependent students go through the Accepted testing arches using pressure to conform, they apply corporal punishment and impose labor on people who are effectively conscripted and forbidden to leave under pain of physical abuse.

The aristocracy of Tear & Cairhien could stand to go. The judicial system of Andor is suspiciously abrupt. But these things are accepted as ordinary human failings. Because even in these flawed or broken or even malicious systems, there is room for humanity, there is room to improve and the possibility of being better. These are things you don't have under the Shadow, that the Dark One would deny. And the same goes for the Seanchan.

The heroes make deals with the Seanchan, because they are here to fight the Shadow, and the Seanchan are better than the Shadow. Slaves and all.

[iviarellereads]

The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 33 - Within the Weave

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Wheel icon) In which, hey, we were warned about this weren't we?

PERSPECTIVE: Perrin stares down at what's become known as the Lugard Road, near the Manetherendrelle river and the border of Murandy. Moiraine said this road had been paved, long ago, and sometimes paving stones work themselves up out of the ground. This one's different.

Perrin would have said it was a footprint of a large hound, if dogs could leave footprints in stone. There are no footprints in any of the rest of the dirt, though, just a faint trace of sulphur in the air. Maybe some kids stole a firework from the village nearby and set it off here. Dogs don't just make footprints in stone.(1)

Moiraine's been pushing them hard since leaving Jarra village. Loial wonders that Perrin can't sleep, but Perrin can't explain that he doesn't dare sleep soundly, because of the dreams. He remembers the one with Egwene and Hopper in it, and hopes Egg is doing well at the Tower. He figures Verin will look after her, and after Mat. He doesn’t think Nynaeve needs looking after, she’s more the kind you need looking after because of.

They've found more traces of Rand's passage, like a village burned entirely to cinders. The townspeople say a lantern dropped in a barn started it, and then everything went wrong: half the buckets in the town had holes in them, every burning wall fell out instead of in spreading the fire to the next houses over, and when the inn started to fall, the flaming timbers tumbled in such a way as to surround the main well, so they couldn't draw water to fight the fires anyway after that.

But a couple of untouched villages later, they find one where a spring in the village common is flowing after a year of failed wells and no water source closer than a mile away. Three villages after that, one where every well in town went dry the night before. Another where the crops were as poor as any can remember, but the mayor found sacks of gold that Moiraine says were minted in Manetheren.

Perrin wonders how so many evil things can happen in the Pattern as Rand moves through it, and Moiraine says the Creator is good, the Dark One is evil, but the Pattern is neither and both. A pattern that's all one colour is no pattern.(2)

As they approach the village of Remen, sitting on the Manetherendrelle, Perrin scents something Wrong, but not a Trolloc or a Myrddraal. Unrelated to that, there's a man crouched in a small iron cage, and children are throwing rocks at him. Loial and Perrin agree that someone should stop them. Something about the man tweaks Perrin's recognition.

Everyone in the inn is dressed as if it's a festival day. The innkeeper says some Hunters for the Horn found adventure right nearby, just up the river, fighting wild Aielmen. Imagine, Aielmen, in Altara! Perrin realizes that's what he recognized about the man in the cage. He also remembers Min's vision of an Aielman in a cage, a turning point in his life.(3)

Perrin asks how the Aielman came to be in the cage, and the innkeeper gestures to one he names Lord Orban, a youngish man in a red coat, bandaged in multiple places. He says Lord Orban and Lord Gann faced twenty Aielmen with only ten retainers, six retainers died, and every man took injuries, Orban and Gann worst of all, but they killed many Aiel, and the rest fled except this one they managed to take prisoner.

Lan engages in a skeptical conversation with Orban and Gann, and Moiraine sharply asks to be shown to their rooms. The crowd murmurs about "Lady" and "Ogier" as they pass through, but Perrin feels one pair of eyes in particular, the only woman in the room not in the local fashion of lace, standing apart from the rest of the patrons, in a plain dark grey riding dress. She's no older than Perrin, and tall for a woman. He's sure she's staring at him and him alone as they leave the common room.(4)

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(1) Are you familiar with the mythology this is from? Isn't it funny that Perrin would run into a dog-themed problem? (2) It's interesting that we need to keep reiterating that the Pattern, itself, is neither good nor evil. Like the Force, it has to balance itself out somehow. (3) What will become of this Aielman? Who is he, and why is he important to Perrin's story? (4) And whomst-a are youmst-a?

[darlenelaure]

Merrick Manor tops off early in Coral Gables at over 55% sold

Early? In Miami?

In what amounts to a shocking occurrence for a Miami condo development, the 10-story Merrick Manor has topped of early in Coral Gables, The Astor Companies has announced.

Designed by Behar Font & Partners, the 227-unit project was originally expected to top off early next year. The development is more than 55 percent sold and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018 (up from Q1 2019).

Located at 301 Altara Avenue, remaining units are priced from the $500,000s to $2.5 million and range in size from 747 to 3,400 square feet. The Mediterranean-style building features interiors by Steven G, with Witkin Hults Design Group providing the landscape design.

“We are excited to celebrate this important milestone for our project,” said Henry Torres, President, CEO, and Founder of The Astor Companies. “It is a testament to the incredible team at general contractor Jaxi Builders that we were able to reach this stage so far ahead of schedule – even with the recent interruption from Hurricane Irma. Our buyers will now be able to enjoy the unparalleled lifestyle Merrick Manor offers sooner.”

The project also includes about 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space.

Designed by Behar Font & Partners

Rendering of Merrick Manor

from Curbed Miami - All https://miami.curbed.com/2017/10/24/16506694/merrick-manor-coral-gables-miami-top-off

[veronicakirby]

Merrick Manor condo building completed in Coral Gables (Photos)

Astor Cos. has completed the Merrick Manor condominium in Coral Gables. Located at 301 Altara Ave., the 227-unit project is near the Shops at Merrick Park mall. The 10-story building is the largest residential building completed in Coral Gables in nearly a decade. Astos Cos. said over 65% of the condos in Merrick Manor were sold. The remaining units range from 574 to 3,400 square feet and are priced from $374,990 to $2.6 million. “No detail was spared in conceiving this project, which addresses…

Merrick Manor condo building completed in Coral Gables (Photos) published first on Miami Local News