linuxmafia.com 2016/linuxmafia.com.tar/linuxmafia.com/pub/jordan/PLOT-CONTESTS/acos.txt

Text File | 1997-09-12 | 42KB | 917 lines

Subject:      CROWN OF PLOTS: The Entries
From:         [e-mail] (Erica L. Sadun)
Date:         1996/05/30
Message-Id:   <4olh7i$[e-mail]>
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        The Jordan FAQ Dowager Society Presents

                              C R O W N   O F   P L O T S

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After CoS is released, please vote.

Voting categories:
    Most Accurate
        Least Accurate
        Best Skald

Please send in only one nomination per category.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 1: T. Bruening
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  As the novel opens, Rand has forced nine Aes Sedai to swear fealty to him
  and is trying to get the rest of the Aes Sedai to do the same.  He is also
  preparing for the attack on the Forsaken Sammael in Illian,  trying to
  control the political intrigue amoung the lords and nobles in the
  nations he rules, trying to control the Asha'man, and trying to retain
  his sanity in the face of the taint on Saidin.  Meanwhile, at the White
  Tower, Amyrlin Elaida is trying to consolidate her power and organize an
  attack against the Black Tower.  The Salidar Aes Sedai, led by Egwene,
  are marching to the White Tower to oust Elaida.  Nynaeve and Elayne are
  in Ebou Dar to look for a weather control ter'angreal.  Mat is in Ebou
  Dar to protect  then and make sure that Elayne gets back to Caemlyn to
  assume the throne of Andor.  They are unaware that the Seanchan, led by
  the Daughter of the Nine Moons (heir to the Seanchan Throne) are about
  to invade Ebou Dar.  Morgase, the former Queen of Andor, has been
  forcebly allied with the Whitecloaks.  Morgase and the Whitecloaks are
  preparing to march into Andor to oust Rand.  Morgase's older son Galad
  is a fast rising Whitecloak officer, while her younger son Gawyn is
  convinced that Rand killed Morgase, and has vowed to kill Rand.  He is
  in love with Egwene, and is in for a big surprise when he learns that
  she is the Amyrlin of the Salidar Aes Sedai.

  Nynaeve and Elayne finally find the weather control ter'angreal, only
  to be trapped by a Seanchan invasion, led by the Daughter of the Nine
  Moons, the heir to the Seanchan Throne.  Mat persuades the Seanchan to
  ally with Rand by agreeing to marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons.
  Nynaeve, Elayne, Mat, and the Seanchan then set out to join the Salidar
  Aes Sedai army.  Nynaeve also fends off Moghedien's attempts to gain
  vengeance against her for imprisoning Moghedien with an a'dam in LoC.

  Morgase and a Whitecloak army, including fast rising Whitecloak officer
  Galad, invade Andor to oust Rand.  When Rand finds out she is still alive,
  he and the Asha'man capture the Whitecloaks, rescue Morgase, and place
  her on the thrones of both Andor and Cairhein in return for Morgase
  supporting Rand wholeheartedly.  Galad and a few other Whitecloaks also
  decide to support Rand.  Since Morgase had alienated most of her
  supporters by exiling them during the time she was controlled by Rahvin,
  she is dependent on Rand to keep her in power.  Thus she has a strong
  incentive to support Rand.  Elayne is glad her mother is back on the
  throne, since it means that she won't have to be Queen of Andor and can
  thus concentrate on her AS role.  Gawyn, thinking that Rand had killed
  Morgase, had vowed to kill Rand.  Now that Rand has produced Morgase
  alive and well, Gawyn joins Rand's army, marries Egwene, and allows her to
  Bond him as her Warder (after overcoming his initial surprise at finding
  her to be the Amyrlin).

  Elaida sends 50 AS and 200 guards against the Black Tower.  She is confident
  of victory, since she recently had the following Foretelling: "The White
  Tower will be whole again, except for remnants cast out and scorned, who
  cower in fear and hide their faces from the world. Rand al'Thor will face
  the Amyrlin Seat and know her anger.  The Black Tower will be rent in blood
  and fire, and sisters will walk its grounds".  Elaida assumes that the
  Foretelling means that her Aes Sedai will rend the Black Tower in blood
  and fire, and then walk its grounds; that she will defeat the Salidar Aes
  Sedai and cast the survivors out of the Tower to cower in fear, hide
  their faces from the world, and be scorned; and that Rand will face
  Elaida and know her anger.  However, she vastly underestimates the
  number of male channelers in the Black Tower: 400 versus her estimates
  of 2 or 3.  The Asha'man allow the 50 AS to walk the Black Tower grounds,
  and then ambush them, rending the Black tower grounds in blood and fire.
  As a result, the White Tower is significantly weakened.  The Salidar Aes
  Sedai, their armies, Mat's new Seanchan allies, and the Asha'man then
  attack and defeat Elaida's forces, including the Forsaken Mesaana and the
  White Tower is made whole again, except for the remnants of Elaida's
  followers, who are cast out and scorned, who cower in fear and hide their
  faces from the world.  So much for Elaida's Foretelling.  The Amyrilin Seat
  Egwene becomes very angry at Rand when he directs her to swear fealty to
  him.  Boy does he know her anger!  However, when faced with several
  hundred Asha'man, she has no choice but to swear.  All the other Aes
  Sedai also swear fealty to Rand.

  Late in the book, Rand and his allies, including Asha'man (led by Mazrim
  Taim), Aes Sedai, Galad's Whitecloaks, Aiel, Sea Folk, Seanchan, Tairens,
  Cairhienin, Andorans, Mayeners, and Two Rivers folks, attack The
  Forsaken Sammael and his army of Shadowspawn and assorted Darkfriends
  from all walks of life, including Black Ajah.  After a tremendous battle,
  Rand kills Sammael.  However, Mazrim Taim and at least half of the
  Asha'man suddenly attack Rand.  As many net-Jordanites have feared,
  Mazrim Taim is the Forsaken Demandred in disguise.  Demandred had helped
  Rand eliminate Sammael, since Sammael was a potential rival for the post
  of Nae'blis, just one step below the Great Lord of the Dark.  Now
  Demandred tries to capture Rand and convert him to the Shadow with the
  help of 12 other channeling Darkfriends and 13 Fades.  Now the battle is
  between Demandred, at least half the Asha'man, and other assorted
  Darkfriends on one side, and Rand and his remaining allies on the
  other side.  The battle tears up the landscape.  Near the end, Demandred
  cuts off Rand's hand.  Just as Rand is about to lose, Logain shows up,
  hands Rand Callandor (the sword shaped Sa'angreal from the Stone in Tear)
  and uses the One Power to distract Demandred while Rand uses Callandor to
  stab Demandred through the heart.  Rand and company soon defeat the other
  treacherous Asha'man, and win the battle.  Rand now controls Illian.
  Nynaeve, several other Aes Sedai, and several Asha'man use the weather
  control ter'angreal to end the longest heat wave in recorded history.
  Nynaeve also uses the OP to reattach and Heal Rand's hand.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 2: Flavio C.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1) The AS seen walking on Black Tower grounds by Elaida's foretelling,
  are, in fact, those AS who have begun swearing fealty to Rand as seen
  in the end of LoC.

  2) Morgase and Niall will both be assassinated by a cabal of
  disaffected whitecloak officers and questioners. Without Niall's
  leadership, the whitecloaks will be crushed by the Seanchan tide.

  3) Galad will find out about this plot and leave the whitecloaks,
  completely disillusioned. He will join Rand, and be installed on the
  Cairhien throne, with Berelain as his temporary advisor while Galad
  becomes familiar with the machinery of state.

  Berelain will lose her head over the handsome and remote Galad, who
  will initially spurn her advances. Typically for Berelain, this will
  only inflame her ardor and make her redouble her efforts. All of this
  should have a salutory effect on Perrin and Faile's strained marriage.

  4) The massive army gathering against Illian is a titanic bluff
  designed to fix Sammael's attention. The actual plan against Sammael is
  currently known only to Mat, Rand, and Bashere (all this comes from
  LoC; see the conversations between Perrin and Rand when the latter
  urges him to go to Tear in Mat's stead). Whatever it is, it will be
  something far more subtle, a commando raid designed to take out Sammael
  directly and spare Illian at large the horrors of war.

  5) With Morgase's death, Gawyn will never become reconciled to Rand,
  and continue to believe that Rand is the true author of his mother's
  demise. In the battle to depose Elaida (which I see on similar lines as
  yourself), Gawyn will confront Rand and will die. Poor Egwene. Oh,
  well.

  6) Taim is, in fact, Taim. And being Taim will revolt against Rand and
  seek to replace him as the Dragon Reborn with a considerable portion of
  the Ashaman in support. (I will leave aside my reasons for believing
  Taim isn't Demandred since this has been discussed to death from what I
  can gather).

  As a corollary, we will find out what Demandred's _really_ been up to.

  7) Egwene and Rand will combine against Elaida and depose and still
  her. Elaida and her few remaining followers will be cast out. This
  purge will see most of the Black Ajah flushed out, but not all of it.

  8) Lan and Nynaeve will at long last be united. Maybe Nynaeve will
  become less of a shrew as a result, but even for high fantasy this may
  be too much to hope for.

  9) Wacky Logain theory: he will join Rand and spearhead the assault to
  retake the west from the Seanchan along with the heroes of the horn (to
  be summoned by Mat soon after recovering the horn from Elaida). He will
  not draw Callandoor, however; that's Rand's prize.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 3: Marti (SIDESADL)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1. Egwene's army, Rand's combined forces, and the Whitecloaks will converge
  on Tar Valon, each somehow unaware of, of doubting the existence of the
  others, in typical Jordanian fashion.

  2. Perhaps to liven things up a bit, Elaida will raise an army of her own.

  3. Rand will continue to have trouble with Taim and the Asha'man, probably
  resulting in a Black Tower split which rivals that of the White Tower.

  4. Fain meanwhile, will be pulling strings behind the scenes, trying to
  manipulate everybody.    He will continue to screw up.

  5. It seems fitting that into this mess should march the Seanchan, bent
  on succeeding with the Return.     Rand and Egwene's armies will combine to
  fight them and beat them back into the sea.

  6. Somewhere along the line, Nyn and Elaine & co will gate back from Ebou
  Dar, probably after having successfully located the weather bowl, due to a
  fluke of memory on Nyn's part.

  7. Elaine will then have to deal with Andor and Cairhein, probably
  having to oppose and/or overthrow Morgase as a puppet ruler in the process.
  Her AS training will come in handy in dealing with her mother.

  8. Nyn will save Lan from death, and in the process his bond will be
  transferred to her.

  9. Moiraine and Lanfear may reappear, but both will be in some way
  neutralized, or at least so reduced in the power as to be no longer powerful
  enough to force the course of events.     We will learn more about the
  Aelfinn and Eelfinn in the process.    Moiraine, if she reappears, will be
  revealed to have been a "double agent" - working for both the Dark and the
  Light, for reasons will have heretofore not been revealed.

  10. Perrin and the Tua'than will search for the Song, with the help of
  Loial. He will also reconcile with Faile and she will turn him into a very
  powerful man.

  11. Mat will achieve political power with the Seanchan through the Raven
  markings on his spear and his marriage to the Daughter of the Nine Moons.
  His ability to speak the Old Tongue will be a factor as well.

  12. Rand and Egwene will weild the 2 huge sa'angreals and Break the World
  in the process, but the results will be to the benefit of the Light. In
  the Breaking the DO will be defeated, the Blight will disappear, and Malkier
  will reappear, with Lan and Nyn to rule it. And oh yes, Thom Merrilin
  will prove to be the elusive Jaim Farstrider, and will return to his native
  Malkier.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 4: David Durkee
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Gareth Byne will march his army toward Tar Valon.

  Galad will uncover the fact that his mother is being held captive
  and will lead a split in the ranks of the whitecloaks.

  Rand will meet up with the sea people who will take him and Mat to
  their leader on Trelmalking. There Mat will meet the Seanchen royal
  family, and will turn the Seanchen to Rand's side, as they are
  incredibly impressed by the oath sworn aes sedai's obeidiance to Rand.

  Before Mat goes with Rand he will find the bowl, upstaging Nynaeve and
  Elayne, as they are pretentious bitches. They will then use the bowl
  with Logain to cure the weather.  This will occur right when Gareth
  Bryne is in a tense battle, and will change the course of the battle.

  Thom will then be sycked into Aelfland and will save Moiraine.
  Taim/Demandred will try to kill Rand, but the collar will be used on
  him... but he will escape...

  The female an'gar will attempt to get Egwene, who will be suprised by
  her use of the male half of the source. Someone will save her

  Logain will escape to the black tower...

  Space aliens will kidnap Perrin, who will be taken to the planet of
  Tralfamador, where the beings there see in 4 dimensions... he becomes
  unstuck in time...

  The Ogier meet up with a writer/doctor/sociologist named Jubal
  Harshaw who directs them toward a new lifestyle...

  Ged, the greatest wizard of Earthsea tames the Sea People,
  and conquers his inner ambition and evil...

  The Aiel go into revolution after the Kwasatz Haderach arrives
  and guides them to conquering there oppressors, and mastering the
  gigantic shai-hulud...

  Elyas Machera takes the Ring of Power and throws it into the
  cracks of doom, ending Saurons power forever...

  [EDITOR'S NOTE:  Here' is an entry from the TFOH contest from
  two and half years ago, for comparison
      Rand is approached by one of the Wise Ones.  She gives him a ring
    that was left to him by his uncle.  Together with his friends,
    merry Matrim and grinning Perrin, he go off to fight Sauron...
    I mean the evil one.  The ghost of his desceased mother, who
    was really one of the bene gaes sedai leads him on his way as
    he becomes addicted to spice and rides the sand worms.
    Golem, I mean Padain Fain meets them on the way and slices
    Rand's finger...no! his entire hand off before plummeting
    into Shayol Ghul and his water is retrieved for all.
      Meanwhile when Egwene wakes up from the world of dreams
    with a broken leg and a concussion in a small resthome
    run by two wisdoms, she realizes that one of her eight
    sisters is out to get her to prevent her from taking
    over the throne that her real father has abandoned.  She
    begins to believe that she has been suffering from amnesia,
    that the mayor and his wife are not really her parents and
    that, in fact, she is living in only a shadow of the Real
    World of which Tel'ar'rhiond is just a part. She keeps thinking
    about unicorns. She begins to understand that Lanfear has taken over
    Garnet...Sapphire...something like that and intends to keep her in this
    rest home forever.  She overcomes the wisdoms, dresses in silver
    and black, the colors of house Jhereg, and begins the ShadowWalk
    home through the ter'angreal.
      Elsewhere, the Aiel freemen point Rand in the direction of his
    next conquest over the spine of the world.  He has sired an
    illegitimate child on his hitherto unknown sister.  His marriage
    to Avienda is on the rocks because of this seduction and because
    she was seduced by Lan and betrayed his trust. Meanwhile, he is
    uniting all the countries of the world and giving them the true law.
      Siuan Sanche, cut off from laran, decides to bed Logain now that fear
    for clogging her channels has passed.  However, the fling is so
    electrifying that he is ungentled and starts calling himself Conan.
    Loial decides that he is sick of being just an Ogier and takes
    up assasination, and his best friend Kiera the Thief helps place
    him in the house of the Jhereg when Egwene arrives.  Just as the
    Seanchin are going to blind her and throw her into the dungeon by
    the grace of Lanfear, Mat pleads for her life and sacrifices one
    of his own eyes for her.  Bayle Domon learns that his true name
    is Beldomon and that he is heir to a small island country and is
    destined to rule the west. Egeanin reveals that she is not entirely
    human and is in fact part tree.  Beldomon cuts her up
    and uses her to build a new ship.  He hires crewmen Scotty and Bones to
    help him run this new schooner.
      Nynaeve is busy trying to establish herself as the twin sister of the
    ruler of Illian. She keeps trying to hide her claws and the other evidence
    of her Shanir nature.  Lan, in penitence for his affair with Avienda,
    keeps showing up at the Catteracts, but is not permitted entrance into
    the forbidden tower.
      In the end, Sauron dies.]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  ENTRY 5: Monika Weikel
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Nynaeve will be abducted by the Forsaken who will try to
  bring her over to "the dark side".  She will be rescued by
  Lan, who will realize he is a fool for staying away from her.
  Nynaeve will lose her block, virginity, or both.

  Some of the black tower will turn on Rand.  Egwene and her AS will
  come to his aid.  And give him a brow-beating he will not
  soon forget.  The male and female channelers will be united.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 6: Dennis Higbee
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1- Valda launches the invasion of Andor almost immediately.
  2- The Seanchan do pass through Amador and stomp it, but few
    if any, Children are there.
  3- Mat meets up with the Daughter of the Nine Moons when the
    Seanchan come to Ebou Dar
  4- Sammy dies in Shadar Logoth
  5- Elayne and Nynaeve find the bowl, and lo and behold, it does
    need a man.
  6- Elaida is overthrown before Egwene even reaches the White Tower.
  7- Sheriam loses her job as keeper.
  8- Caemlyn erupts with civil war when the Whitecloaks come.
  9- Morgase dies at some point.
  10- The rest of the Shaido are crushed and Sevanna dies.
  11- Another seal breaks.
  12- Logain does not go to Caemlyn, but ends up in Nyn and Elayne's
    company.
  13- When Nyn nearly dies killing Mog, Logain Heals her, repaying his
    debt.
  14- Lan stays with Myrelle until he is saner.  He goes to Nyn early in
    book eight.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 7: Karl-Johan Noren:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Wake, woman!
      Weird you shall tell
      Your knowledge I need
      Now speak in truth

      Who calls me
      Make journey unsafe
      I will not speak
      Sleep I want

      Speak, woman!
      Weird you shall tell
      What shall come
      Soon to world

  The wheel of time trembles    Turning spokes and burns
  Man's dark days come closer    Dragon's fate shall speak soon
  Servants' faith does falter    From guardians ill blood kill
  Spears lose their sharpness    Sun rise, proud and unwise

      Forced I was
      Weird to tell
      Now sleep I want
      Silent I be

      Speak, woman!
      Weird you shall tell
      What does stars
      Say of gambler

  One who is no longer    Eye's weird pact exact
  Will he bend or wovs end    World soon lost if crossed
  Ravens will be met by    Bow, spear and raven's fear
  Nine moon's daughter is near    Now in victor's vain gain

      Forced I was
      Weird to tell
      Now sleep I want
      Silent I be

      Speak, woman!
      Weird you shall tell
      What is brought
      Brother to wolf

  Hawk meets falcon's hate    Hammer's, axe's rash clash
  Sparks hot as smith's oven    Soon their wrath unleashes
  Man in white shall still bring    Salvation, but too late
  Hammer's shaft been broken    Broken down like crown

      Forced I was
      Weird to tell
      Now sleep I want
      Silent I be

      Speak, woman!
      Weird you shall tell
      Tell me all
      Of Mother's weird

  Mothers fights the old fight    Fast colours strife for life
  One - blind by heart and mind    Bars her fool spirit sole
  One - brought by baddest need    Bloom in telltale window
  Servants shall break again    So healing can be gained

      Forced I was
      Weird to tell
      Now sleep I want
      Silent I be

      Speak, woman!
      Weird you shall tell
      Tell me now
      Tower's way

  Brother faces brother    Brother faces sister
  The strifes cold cause all    Know, but is spoken low
  Shadow's forces strives    Strife grow long and strong
  Healer brings stark suffer    Spread for the teacher's lore

      Forced I was
      Weird to tell
      Now sleep I want
      Silent I be

      Speak, woman!
      Weird you shall tell
      What will and can
      Chosen do

  Spider spins fine cut nets    Scarred one build trap and bar
  Thankless train his bonded    The enslaver build her pens
  Saeric's hand sow poison    Servant's scorn fed by right
  Night again drape daughter    Dark board feed Mangin's horse

      Forced I was
      Weird to tell
      Now sleep I want
      Silent I be

      Speak, woman!
      Weird you shall tell
      I need all
      None you hide

  The lovers feast at last    Long-fed lust made content
  Their time for duties not yet    Their wishes bar apart
  Love game in quiet grove    Gift made by both to both
  Life come to both, but    Brought is end with strife

      Forced I was
      Weird to tell
      Now sleep I want
      Silent I be

      Speak, Gitara!
      Weird you shall tell
      Tell me, witch
      Way of Dragon

  Marked by signs, death, scorn    Soul and body fouled
  Fighting flesh and spirit    Foul knife still unseen kill
  Stabs at saviour's bare heart    Stroke fails, but gross is loss
  Dragon's will is vanished    Woe reborn's kin and man

      Now to sleep
      Shall I go
      Leave I will
      Lord of Grave

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 8: Edward "Rat" Measure
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  A SOUND OF CHORDS

      The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass,
  leaving memories that  become legend.  Legend fades to
  myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the  age that gave
  it birth comes again.  In one Age, called the Third Age by
  some, (and the Fourth age by others with more durable myths
  and other equally confusing things by still others unaware of
  the paradoxical difficulties of closed time-like curves), an
  Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind arose in the great
  bore of the Pterion Bank.  The wind was not the beginning --
  but it was a beginning, and all stories, circular or not, ought to
  have one.

       South and East the wind blew, propelling the little cylinder
  before it.  The cylinder came to rest with a loud "kerchunk,"
  and Randall Thor reached out to take it.  He opened the
  canister and counted out the money.  Four hundred fifty Tar
  Valon Marks.  That would have been a great deal of money in
  his sheep-herding days, but, hey, he was a Wall Street whiz
  kid now, and besides, he had a big weekend planned: dates
  with Alanna, Elayne, Isendre, Else, Berelain, Min, and
  Aviendra, with Selene a possible if she happened to be in
  town.  And he still hadn't gotten around to breaking off  his
  engagement to Egwene.  Replacing the canister, he sought the
  void and darted his little beamer out into traffic.  Ahead
  the light turned red and he was forced to stop behind a poky
  Cadillac with Saldean plates.  "Damn farmers," he muttered.

       Suddenly he recoiled in horror.  A goat-headed Trolloc ran
  out from the side of the road and sprayed some noxious
  substance on his windshield.  Taking out a rag soaked in a
  mixture of mud and motor oil, the Trolloc began slowly
  spreading the mess over the glass.  Cursing, Randy gave him a
  silver penny, and accelerated away as the light changed.

       Pulling into the Mall parking lot, he tried to think of some
  good gift ideas for the girls.  Lets see . . . some beads for
  Isendre, some perfume for Min . . .  Deep in thought, he felt
  the chill of fear before he saw the cause.  Gliding snakelike
  toward him was a large black figure, pasty-faced and wearing
  dark glasses.  Clutched in one gloved hand was a cup and a
  white cane.  The other held the leash of the largest, blackest
  guide-dog Randall had ever seen.   With a shiver he noticed
  that the figure's black cloak didn't seem to blow with the
  wind.

  "A bit'O charity for a disabled vet, guvnr," he rasped.

  With a sigh, Randall dropped a silver penny in the beggar's
  cup. Damn bums are everywhere, he thought.   He stopped to
  watch as the pair glided off.  The dog's paws left deep
  imprints on the cement of the sidewalk.

  "The cane and the dog are overkill,' he called after them.
  "And lose that phony accent."

  Despite their past enmity, he couldn't help feeling some
  compassion for the hideous creatures.  The collapse of the
  FDOE (Former Dark One's Empire), had hit the military
  industrial complex on both sides hard, but the minions of the
  DO had mostly been left with few skills saleable on the
  peacetime job market.  Of course the DO himself had a
  popular afternoon talk show, and a few of the forsaken had
  done pretty well: Semirhage had found it easy to get back into
  medicine, which no longer found her little eccentricity
  objectionable, Asmodean was running a twelve steps program
  and half-way house called Dark Friends Anonymous, and
  Graendal was making a modest living directing Rock videos.
  Even Shadar Haran had gotten on as the doorman at a popular
  downtown nightspot.

        Others had fared less well.  Sammael
  and Pedron Niall were members of  a small cult of tax
  protesters and gun nuts in Idaho.  Rahvin was doing two to
  five years for  chiseling some old ladies out of their
  social-security checks.  A few gray men had gotten
  appropriate jobs as faceless bureaucrats in the Post Office, but
  the worst had to be the Drakhar  crooning pitifully on the
  street corners, usually with a Trolloc for a busker.

       The great war of power had evaporated with an abruptness
  that had taken almost everyone by surprise.  There had been
  some ironic foreshadowing, of course.  Many had noted that
  there seemed to be less and less difference between the tactics
  and characters of the representatives of the light and the dark.
  A few radical Greens had claimed that the One Power was a
  finite resource, in danger of being exhausted.  Historians
  would later agree, however, that the death knell of the DOE
  was sounded when the newly chosen Naeblis had introduced
  some reforms intended to reduce the backbiting and internal
  distrust that had always been the bane of the DO's plans.

  The introduction of market driven mechanisms into the economy
  of the DOE had introduced fatal instabilities, though.   Shadar
  Haran's cynically named Myrdrall Brotherhood Association
  (MBA)  inspired an entirely sincere and much more effective
  Trolloc Liberation Committee , better known as the TLC.
  "There is nothing wrong with the DOE that couldn't be cured
  with a little TLC," was their motto.

       In a matter of months, the DOE and its major opponents
  were each in ruins.  At first Randall (then better known by the
  familiar Rand) wouldn't believe the abrupt turn of events and
  was was lost with all his plans turned to dust.  Still, the
  outbreak of peace was a moment of supreme triumph.  The
  moment when he signed the peace treaty was so emotional
  that when he shook the DO's hand on the slopes of Shayul Ghul he
  got a nosebleed.  After that Rand had drifted aimlessly for a few
  months and even tried going back to sheepherding.

       In a complicated deal a coalition of utilities put together
  by the Tinkers and the Ogier had taken over administration of the
  OP.  The coalition was known as Consolidated Edison (for
  obscure historical reasons dating back to the first age) and
  delivered clean, pure power, unreliably and at great price.

       Everyone had to admit though, that Selene had done well
  in the transition.  Her M&B boring and drilling company had
  been spectacularly successful in Wildcat drilling, and she now
  had a fortune rumored at 20 billion TV Marks.
  .
  .
  .
       By Sunday night Randall was exhausted.  He had taken
  Min out to dinner, and he usually got a big kick out of her
  kidding, but sometimes there is such a thing as too much of a
  good thing.  When they go back to Min's apartment, she had
  insisted that he walk her up the two flights of stairs to her
  door.  At the door, she took off her glasses, shook back her
  hair and said: "Aren't you going to kiss me goodnight."  That
  *Min is such a kidder*, he thought.  He hesitated, and she
  reached up, grabbed his sideburns, and pulled him down into
  a good imitation of a passionate lip lock.  Such a kidder.

       Her voice an octave lower, she breathed hoarsely: "We
  could go inside and get out of these tight clothes."  Grasping
  his tie in her left hand, she ran the magnetic key thru the slot
  with her right and kicked open the door.   A slit of light
  formed and widened, seeming to rotate as it opened.

       "Hey loosen up on the tie, Min, you're twisting my neck."

       With a tug she pulled him into the room, and the tie
  loosend and came free.  Straitening his neck, the room rotated
  back to normal.  With relief he noted that the small room was
  decorated in tasteful earthtone pastels.  Not like the
  oppresively bright white and silver of Selene's mansion.

       She tossed her glasses and the tie at the couch.

       "Don't you think it's awefully hot Randy?"  Her voice was
  still about a third low.

  She stepped up to him, pressing herself against him.  "I know
  I am."

       With a start he pulled himself free.  Min took this kidding
  around stuff to extremes.

       "Uh I've got to go, Min.  I've got to uh -- check out the
  performance of some derivatives on the Shaingtai market."

       He ran though the hall, and rushed down the stairs, Min's
  not too playful sounding curses ringing in his ears.  He almost
  tripped on his pants, which he suddenly realized were falling
  down.  Damn.  Min had gotten his belt.  There was such a
  thing as carrying kidding too far.

       Once on the street he slowed down, trying to remember
  where he had parked the BMW.

       There it was: a shiny red beauty, with the distinctinve gold
  letters  spelling out  DRAGN RB (seven letters, max) on his
  green Andoran vanity plates.  A lot of his Wall Street friends
  thought the Heron and Dragon decals on the front and rear panels
  were pretentious, but so what? Duty is heavier than a mountain.

        He would never understand women.  Sometimes he
  wished he could be more like Matt, a regular on the Celebrity
  Dating Game.   He guessed he was better off than Perry,
  though.  Oh sure, Perry's weekly Two Rivers Wolf show was
  a big hit, but his public spats with his beautiful, rich, but
  pathologically jealous wife had left him hopelessly
  ObTabloidBait.

       .   .   .


       Rand tried to ignore her but found that was pretty difficult
  as Aviendra started doing her aerobics.  He hated to admit it,
  but he could see why she and Egwene had made such a
  fortune with The Aiel Warrior Maiden Nude Workout Tapes.   The
  quaintly named forms were part of the appeal, of course.
  Weight on her toes, arms folded in the canonical position,
  spears erect, she started in *Two melons sitting on the
  countertop*.  Spears whirling past her ears, she dipped quickly
  forward into *Heron wading gingerly through polluted
  swampwater*, back straight, one leg extended.  Next a quick
  headstand to *Bird's nest in forked branch*, dropping to a
  rolling, spear-flashing *Hedgehog blown by a hurricane*.

  (To be concluded)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 9: Steve Maddn
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1)  The collar ter'angreal that Domon and the Seanchen were going to throw
  into the sea reappears....

  2)  El and Ny find the bowl, but Mat gets taken by Seanchen.

  3)  It is discovered that Morgase is still alive, but Gawyn doesn't hear of
  it and puts Egwene in jeapordy because of his hatred for Rand.

  4)  Sammael dies.  Moghedian causes major trouble.

  5)  Moir reappears.

  6)  Lanfear reappears.

  7)  Rand is captured a second time by AS, this time by the Salidar AS.

  8)  Masema dies.

  9)  Galad figures significantly in the Whitecloaks' position towards Rand.
   (this may be too soon.)

  10)  Or Galad takes the Cairhien throne....

  11)  El assumes the throne.

  12)  Perrin returns to Two Rivers.

  13)  Logain helps Rand overcome Taim.

  14)   And most important....this will NOT be the last book in the series....
        (I had to have _one_ I knew would be correct !)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 10: Hohn Cho
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1)    We see sexual tension between Mat and Elayne.
  2)    Elayne and Nynaeve get captured by the Seanchan, and Mat has to
  bail them out.
  3)    Mat meets the DotNM.
  4)    Sammael gets killed/Illian is liberated.
  5)    Loial gets married to Erith, but both remain Outside the
  steddings.
  6)    Rand finally realizes Min loves him as more than just a friend.
  7)    Egwene and Gawyn fight about Rand.
  8)    Logain pulls Callandor.
  9)    The asha'man kick some serious AS butt.
  10)   Perrin and Faile finally work out their marriage troubles.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 11: Erica S.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1. The Seanchan are beaten back during this book. (Reasoning: SeaFolk
     saying that the Seanchan have already been beaten back once. I figure
     they will have to be beaten back two or three times).

  2. The Daughter of the Nine moons does show up, but only at the end
     (ala Bashere for TFOH)

  3. Nynaeve is captured & collared, but escapes when her anger goes away.
     Mat, Thom & Birgitte are captured. Elayne&Aviendha are not captured.
     They and Uno meet up with Rand and Min.  Fireworks ensue.

  4. Rand returns to Shadar Logoth with Elayne  The whole lost hand incident
     occurs.

  5. Elaida goes totally wacky, and ends up in a padded room. Egwene
     becomes new amyrlin.

  6. Logain shows up at the Black Tower.  He and Taim fight to the death.

  7. The weather bowl is found, but its the wrong color so they exchange it
     for a nice blender.

  8.  Rand will finally meet up with the Sea Folk.

  9.  Nynaeve's block will be broken when she has MPS with Lan.

 10.  We do not see the Aelfs/eelfs in this book.

 11.  Berelain's "Man in White" shows up--and is no one we have already
      met.  Meanwhile, Berelain and Faile become near sisters.

 12.  Gawyn dies. (please!)

 13.  Padan Fain finally locates his staff.

 14.  Sammael dies. (I might as well try for *something* likely)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 12: Paul Khangure
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Did you get my post about Rand's severed Hand?

  Losing it in ARidhol, to escape the taint given by Padan Fain?

  What I noticed while reading TEotW, is Rand's dreams while in Aridhol.

  <TEotW, pg 245-246> Hardback

  "He had no idea what had awakened him fom his unpleasant dream. He had
  been a little boy again, carrying Tam's sword and wiht a cradle strapped
  to his back, running through empty streets, pursued by Mordeth, who
  shouted that he only wanted his hand. And then there had been an old man
  who watched them and cackled with mad laughter the whole time."

  Now one possibility is that he is just having nightmares, a combination of
  what Moir told him, what Min told him, and the general atmosphere of
  Aridhol.

  A second possibility, and one I favour, is that it is foretelling of some
  kind.

  Here's where the spoiler come in.

  The ACoS dust jacket mentioned Rand and Sammael slogging it out in
  Aridhol, or preparing to. That would be the perfect opportunity for
  Mordeth, if any of him still lives in Aridhol, as I believe does, to go
  after him. Or Fain could be there.

  Now hypothesising a viable scenario,

  Suppose Rand wins out against Sammael, but at the cost of being severed.

  Then ensues a run away from Fain, who has followed him and is chasing him.

  Somehow, Fain manages to catch up, and grabs Rand's hand. He instantly
  severs it to avoid the taint spreading, and at this stage, either the
  Asha'man or Aes Sedai intervene and save him. Nyn can unstill him then.

  I know bits of it are tenuous, but I like the general idea.

  Fain after Rand in Aridhol, for whatever reason. And Rand losing a hand
  then.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 13: Dean West
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Rand will fight Sammy at Shadar with Logain at his side.

  Logain will kill Taim/Demandred and the reason for the halo will thus
  be made known to all man/ogier kind.

  Egwene will reunite the White Tower with the aid of Suzy and
  Leane.(E. will be killed)

  Nyn. and Elayne will find the bowl thingee and turn the wheather right
  with the aid of Mat. And, kill off,uhhh...hmmm, 3 BA , and 1
  forsaken(don't know which, but probably mesanna or moggy).

  Mat will finally meet the daughter of the eleven moons because she will
  attack him in the city to E.D. In the end I think he'll get him some! go
  Mat!

  Hmmm...more to it,than that but my crystal ball is growing darker and
  darker and ....damn, it went out...gotta run to Home Depot to replace
  the bulb..be back in a few...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENTRY 14: JaCPal
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  I believe that Rand will go back to Andor... and from there try to make
  the attack on Sammael. But Mat is not going to be with him, he will (I
  think) come back just in time to go with Rand, the Aiel, Asha'man +++
  who will use waygates to go to attack on Sammael, but they *will* meet
  some nasty surprises, triggered my Rand's and the other's channeling. I
  think Perrin and Fayle will become King and Queen, and rule together...
  and I believe that the plot withMin / Elayne / Aviendha will continue to
  develop. Aviendha is pregnant, and will therefore be the one Rand would
  choose, but he loves all of them... and Aviendha will not marry him
  unless he also marries Elayne, who will not leave Min out of it... I
  don't think any of them will be married during this book. Mat will meet
  the famous daughter of the nine moons, a seanchan high lady, who
  I think is the "Queens" (don't remember the correct title) daughter. He
  will meet her after having been in a big battle with them, where he does
  NOT loose one eye. I don't believe the prophecy about giving up half the
  light in the world to save it (or something like that) will happen. Rand
  will be linked with that strange a'dam thing somewhere during the book,
  and Perrin will save him by cutting off one of his hands by the wrist.

  Mat's band will become a part of Egwene's army, and Mat will probably
  lead them, together with the general that currently leads them, against
  the white tower. Here they will be met by 100 or more Asha'men, lead by
  Taim (who is NOT Demandred) and Rand... the result will be that Elaida
  loose, but the building (the white tower) will be destroyed while it
  happens. Afterwards, Egwene and Rand makes a treaty, where she, as the
  Amyrlin Seat of the only Tower, supports him. I think Arthur Hawkwings
  armies are the Seanchan, and the return will start in this book.

  Okay, could u just add (if I forgot) that Callandor will be drawn by
  Logain
--
=================================ERICA SADUN==================================
"JavaScript Cookbook" forthcoming from Charles River Media. ISBN 1-886801-35-5
US & Canadian Orders: 1-800-382-8505 (9-5 EDT)      Fax ordering: 703-689-0660
      [Never Forget: http://www.wiesenthal.com/children/spaolo.htm]
=============================[e-mail]==============================