Verin Mathwin

Verin Mathwin is a fictional character in "The Wheel of Time" series of fantasy novels by Robert Jordan.

Description

Verin is an Aes Sedai 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 hidden behind a tapestry of two men 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; at present she is considering writing out the cipher so that her work will not be lost when she dies. 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.

History

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 [The Great Hunt, Chapter 37: What Might Be] 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 Alanna was unable to heal fully. [The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 21: A World of Dreams] Her warder in recent years is Tomas.

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. [The Great Hunt, Chapter 7: Blood Calls Blood] 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. [The Great Hunt, Chapter 14: Wolfbrother] 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. [The Great Hunt, Chapter 37: What Might Be] 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. [The Great Hunt, Chapter 44: Five Will Ride Forth] 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. [The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 12: The Amyrlin Seat] 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. [The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 18: Healing] 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. [The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 21: A World of Dreams]

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. [The Shadow Rising, Chapter 32: Questions to be Asked] Just before the final battle with the Trollocs, she wonders when he will forsake the axe for the hammer. [The Shadow Rising, Chapter 56: Goldeneyes] One of the Prophecies in the Karaethon Cycle says, "When the Wolf King carries the hammer, thus are the final days known." [Knife of Dreams, Chapter 4: A Deal] 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. [The Shadow Rising, Chapter 56: Goldeneyes] .

Helping Rand

Verin sides with the rebelling faction of Aes Sedai centered in Salidar after reaching Caemlyn. [Lord of Chaos, Chapter 42: The Black Tower] 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. [Lord of Chaos, Chapter 49: The Mirror of Mists] On their journey they meet up with Perrin [Lord of Chaos, Chapter 54: The Sending] 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. [Lord of Chaos, Chapter 55: Dumai's Wells] 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. [The Path of Daggers, Prologue] She joined the group of sisters who follow Rand, these sisters are led by Cadsuane. Verin wants Rand to get to the Last Battle but her true allegiance is unclear since it could be possible that she has spoken a lie [http://www.wotmania.com/faqtopic.asp?ID=8] , 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. [Winter's Heart, Chapter 25: Bonds] 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. [Winter's Heart, Chapter 35: With the Choedan Kal] 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. [Knife of Dreams, Chapter 20: The Golden Crane]

References

=External Links=
* [http://encyclopaedia-wot.org:8008/characters/uz/verin.html Character chronology]
* [http://www.wotmania.com/faqtopic.asp?ID=8 Did Verin lie?]