Verin Mathwin
Encyclopedia
Verin Mathwin is a fictional character in The Wheel of Time
series of fantasy novels by Robert Jordan
.
of the Brown Ajah. Verin has grayed hair and is considered to be one of the oldest Aes Sedai alive; likely over 200 years old. Like all members of the Brown Ajah, she devotes herself to knowledge and the pursuit of it; as a result, she has a tendency to go on fruitless tangents in dire conversations, and appear lost in thought at inopportune moments. Unlike other Brown sisters, however, she may only appear 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 are full of books, scrolls, maps and skulls. There is also a Brown Owl that sits on a skull that is kept to keep the mice down as they chew paper. She elects plain garb, shying away from the finer silks and fabrics the other sisters prefer. She almost always keeps 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; she recently recorded this cipher and passed it on on with a collection of her notes so that her work would not be lost at her death. Her skills in the power can be counted as 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. In The Gathering Storm
, we learn that Verin is actually a member of the Black Ajah; however, she had only joined to prevent her own death. She later made the decision to study the Ajah in order to eventually betray them to the Light. Using a loophole in her oaths to the Dark One, Verin poisons herself and then reveals all of her secrets to Egwene al'Vere
as she is about to die.
. 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 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. Her warder in recent years is Tomas.
to Fal Dara. While there in a meeting with Moiraine and Siuan
she correctly deduces 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. 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. It was during this time that she then appears to Perrin, Mat, and Ingtar and states that "Moiraine Sedai sent me". Since later, Moiraine denies sending her, it indicates that Verin may have lied. In their travels she offers Rand 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. Upon reaching the cape town of Falme, she sends Rand, with Mat, Perrin, Ingtar and Hurin to recover the Horn as well as Mat's dagger, which incidentally fulfills an aspect of the Karaethon Cycle
. She returns to Tar Valon with Elayne
, Egwene
, Nynaeve
and Mat
. She is the only person other than Siuan to know where Siuan hid the Horn of Valere in the White Tower. 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
. 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 knows 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.
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 his 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. Just before the final battle with the Trollocs, she wonders when he will forsake the axe for the hammer. One of the Prophecies in the Karaethon Cycle says, "When the Wolf King carries the hammer, thus are the final days known." 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.
. She joined the group of sisters who follow Rand; these sisters are led by Cadsuane
. Verin was also ready to poison Cadsuane in Far Madding when she thought that Cadsuane would harm Rand. She takes part in the fight at Shadar Logoth when Rand removes the taint on Saidin. During this battle she, while linked with Kumira Sedai and the Windfinder Shalon, encounters the Forsaken Graendal who they are able to fend off, but in exchange for Kumira's life. During Knife of Dreams
Verin suddenly leaves Rand, leaving him a letter saying he could trust Cadsuane but no other Aes Sedai no matter what oaths they have sworn to him.
External Links=
The Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Time is a series of epic fantasy novels written by American author James Oliver Rigney, Jr., under the pen name Robert Jordan. Originally planned as a six-book series, the length was increased by increments; at the time of Rigney's death, he expected it to be 12, but it will actually...
series of fantasy novels by Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan was the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr. , under which he was best known as the author of the bestselling The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Reagan O'Neal and Jackson O'Reilly.-Biography:Jordan was born in Charleston, South Carolina...
.
Description
Verin is an Aes SedaiAes Sedai
The Aes Sedai are a special society in the fictional universe of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time book series. Aes Sedai means "Servant to All" in the Old Tongue. They are the wielders of the One Power...
of the Brown Ajah. Verin has grayed hair and is considered to be one of the oldest Aes Sedai alive; likely over 200 years old. Like all members of the Brown Ajah, she devotes herself to knowledge and the pursuit of it; as a result, she has a tendency to go on fruitless tangents in dire conversations, and appear lost in thought at inopportune moments. Unlike other Brown sisters, however, she may only appear 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
Moiraine Damodred
Moiraine Damodred is one of the main characters of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan. She is an Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah and is the niece of King Laman Damodred of Cairhien.-Description:...
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
Siuan Sanche
Siuan Sanche is a character of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan.The sharp-tongued daughter of a fisherman from Tear, Siuan Sanche joined the White Tower at the same time as Moiraine Damodred...
. 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 are full of books, scrolls, maps and skulls. There is also a Brown Owl that sits on a skull that is kept to keep the mice down as they chew paper. She elects plain garb, shying away from the finer silks and fabrics the other sisters prefer. She almost always keeps 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; she recently recorded this cipher and passed it on on with a collection of her notes so that her work would not be lost at her death. Her skills in the power can be counted as 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
Black Ajah
An Ajah is a sub-organization within the Aes Sedai of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series. The Black Ajah is a secret society of Aes Sedai who have forsaken the Three Oaths. This Ajah supports the Dark One, and its members are also active members of the other seven Ajahs to keep their...
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. In The Gathering Storm
The Gathering Storm (novel)
The Gathering Storm is the 12th book of the fantasy series The Wheel of Time. It was incomplete when its author, Robert Jordan, died on September 16, 2007, from cardiac amyloidosis...
, we learn that Verin is actually a member of the Black Ajah; however, she had only joined to prevent her own death. She later made the decision to study the Ajah in order to eventually betray them to the Light. Using a loophole in her oaths to the Dark One, Verin poisons herself and then reveals all of her secrets to Egwene al'Vere
Egwene al'Vere
Egwene al'Vere is one of the main characters of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan.-Description:She is described as beautiful, with large brown eyes and long dark hair. Like all adult women in her home village of Emond's Field, she initially wore her hair in a long braid, but as soon...
as she is about to die.
Early life
Verin was born in Far Madding. She had a fiancé Eadwin before she was exiled for being able to channel the One PowerOne Power
In The Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan, the One Power is the force that maintains the continuous motion of the Wheel of Time. It comes from the True Source, and it is separated into two halves: saidin , the male half, and saidar , the female half. It is used in the series by people...
. 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 and perhaps even spent a month in Cairhien
Cairhien
Cairhien is a country set in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series of fantasy fiction novels. Cairhien is located in the east central part of The Westlands, on the east it borders with the Spine of the World. The sign of Cairhien is a golden sun rising on a field of deep blue...
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. Her warder in recent years is Tomas.
The Great Hunt
She was one of the 14 Aes Sedai who accompanied Siuan SancheSiuan Sanche
Siuan Sanche is a character of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan.The sharp-tongued daughter of a fisherman from Tear, Siuan Sanche joined the White Tower at the same time as Moiraine Damodred...
to Fal Dara. While there in a meeting with Moiraine and Siuan
Siuan Sanche
Siuan Sanche is a character of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan.The sharp-tongued daughter of a fisherman from Tear, Siuan Sanche joined the White Tower at the same time as Moiraine Damodred...
she correctly deduces that one of the three ta'veren
Ta'veren
Ta'veren is a term used in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.Ta'veren : "A person around whom the Wheel of Time weaves all surrounding life-threads, perhaps ALL life-threads, to form a Web of Destiny." -Notable Ta'veren:*Current...
must be the Dragon Reborn, causing Siuan and Moiraine to briefly consider killing her before bringing her into a level of trust. After an assault by Shadowspawn on Fal Dara, by which the precious Horn of Valere
Horn of Valere
The Horn of Valere is a fictional object in Robert Jordan's fantasy series The Wheel of Time. It is a horn that is able to call the heroes that are linked to it back from the grave. Sounding the Horn bonds the horn to its sounder. Until that person's death, only he can use the Horn of Valere to...
was stolen, she elects to follow the three ta'veren in their attempts to recover the stolen Horn, rather than return to Tar Valon. It was during this time that she then appears to Perrin, Mat, and Ingtar and states that "Moiraine Sedai sent me". Since later, Moiraine denies sending her, it indicates that Verin may have lied. In their travels she offers Rand 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. Upon reaching the cape town of Falme, she sends Rand, with Mat, Perrin, Ingtar and Hurin to recover the Horn as well as Mat's dagger, which incidentally fulfills an aspect of the Karaethon Cycle
Dragon (Wheel of Time)
In the fictional Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan, the Dragon is the champion of the Light and the Creator against the evil Dark One. Although the Dark One was imprisoned by the Creator at the moment of creation, he continually seeks to break free of his prison. In each Age, the Dragon...
. She returns to Tar Valon with Elayne
Elayne Trakand
Elayne Trakand is one of the main characters of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan. She bears a resemblance both in name and appearance to Ilyena, the doomed wife of Lews Therin Telamon from the Age of Legends.-Description:...
, Egwene
Egwene al'Vere
Egwene al'Vere is one of the main characters of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan.-Description:She is described as beautiful, with large brown eyes and long dark hair. Like all adult women in her home village of Emond's Field, she initially wore her hair in a long braid, but as soon...
, Nynaeve
Nynaeve al'Meara
Nynaeve al'Meara is one of the main characters of The Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan.-Personality:Nynaeve's personality often runs a gamut of emotions, meek at times before more experienced women but also able to stand up and run down others. While she will deny it, Nynaeve is...
and Mat
Mat Cauthon
Matrim "Mat" Cauthon is a fictional character in Robert Jordan's fantasy series The Wheel of Time. He is one of the primary protagonists and has moved over the course of the series from his beginnings as a mischievous farm lad into the role of a powerful, shrewd and successful general and...
. She is the only person other than Siuan to know where Siuan hid the Horn of Valere in the White Tower. 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
Shadar Logoth
In the fictional world of Robert Jordan's fantasy series The Wheel of Time, Shadar Logoth, formerly known as Aridhol, was a city located in what is now Andor...
. 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 knows 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.
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 PerrinPerrin Aybara
Perrin t'Bashere Aybara, or Goldeneyes, is one of the main characters of Robert Jordan's epic fantasy The Wheel of Time. Character is largely based on Slavic god Perun. In addition to the name similarity Perrin's choice of weapons include the axe, hammer, and bow...
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 his being ta'veren
Ta'veren
Ta'veren is a term used in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.Ta'veren : "A person around whom the Wheel of Time weaves all surrounding life-threads, perhaps ALL life-threads, to form a Web of Destiny." -Notable Ta'veren:*Current...
. 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. Just before the final battle with the Trollocs, she wonders when he will forsake the axe for the hammer. One of the Prophecies in the Karaethon Cycle says, "When the Wolf King carries the hammer, thus are the final days known." 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.
Helping Rand
Verin sides with the rebelling faction of Aes Sedai centered in Salidar after reaching Caemlyn. 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. On their journey they meet up with Perrin 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. 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'donTarmon Gai'don
Tarmon Gai'don, or the Last Battle, is an event set in the world of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time fantasy series. The event is both feared and anticipated in the lands of the Wheel...
. She joined the group of sisters who follow Rand; these sisters are led by Cadsuane
Cadsuane Melaidhrin
Cadsuane Melaidhrin is a fictional character in The Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels by Robert Jordan.-Description:Cadsuane is an Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah. She has nearly black eyes and wears her iron gray hair in a bun with many gold ornaments. The ornaments in her hair are angreal and...
. Verin was also ready to poison Cadsuane in Far Madding when she thought that Cadsuane would harm Rand. She takes part in the fight at Shadar Logoth when Rand removes the taint on Saidin. During this battle she, while linked with Kumira Sedai and the Windfinder Shalon, encounters the Forsaken Graendal who they are able to fend off, but in exchange for Kumira's life. During Knife of Dreams
Knife of Dreams
Knife of Dreams is the 11th novel in the fantasy series The Wheel of Time by American author Robert Jordan. It was published by Tor Books in the U.S. and Orbit in the UK and released on October 11, 2005...
Verin suddenly leaves Rand, leaving him a letter saying he could trust Cadsuane but no other Aes Sedai no matter what oaths they have sworn to him.
Death
While Egwene is held by the Tower Aes Sedai, Verin sneaks into her room and reveals that she is Black Ajah. She drinks a tea laced with poison and tells Egwene her oaths to the Great Lord bind her until the "hour of her death." Since she is now dying from the poison, she is free of her oaths and tells Egwene she joined the Black in order save her own life, and decided to study them from the inside and learn their ways. She gives Egwene the materials from her years of study, including lists of names revealing many of the Black Ajah. She dies in Egwene's room and her body is later removed by Travelling to conceal her death from the Tower.External Links=