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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Wow! Thanks for the info. I agree that he has to be
atleast 70, but what I don't get is that most people do not seem to live that
long. Maybe its just that he is the only non-Aes Sedai we've met that has lived
to be that old, but I still have this feeling that there is something rather
large we don't know about him. Anyway, thanks for all the info, that was
quick!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-Josh</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=terez27@gmail.com href="mailto:terez27@gmail.com">Terez</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=wot-l@wikia.com
href="mailto:wot-l@wikia.com">The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, January 21, 2008 1:51
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Wot-l] A question...(a
little off topic--hope you don't mind)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Josh,<BR><BR>How long do you think it really takes to travel to
all the places that he's gone? Not too terribly long...it would probably
take, at most, a year to travel to Shara, for instance - a year taking delays
into account. How much would he have seen simply during the journey
itself worth mentioning? Perhaps a total of 2 or 3 years to visit Shara,
stay a year or so, and return - that's an estimate on the high side, in my
opinion. Longer to stay longer, of course. He was young when he
captured Cowin Fairheart - presumably around 25 or 30, perhaps even younger -
but he was already known then as "Farstrider". But it was implicit in
Agelmar's words that he did much more traveling after that - quite probably
before he wrote his book, which was published 13 years after he captured
Fairheart. He disappeared 13 years after that. We can estimate
that Farstrider is currently between 70 and 80 years old. That's pretty
old, but not old enough that we should wonder how he's still alive. We
know that Ishamael probably caused Noal's current mental state - it appears to
be caused by extensive Compulsion - and though it's unclear, exactly, what he
was Compelled to do, I don't think that the extent of Farstrider's adventures
necessitate the explanation of fabrication, especially considering that we
already know many of his fanciful stories to be true. <BR><BR>It's been
proposed, along the same line of thought as yours, that Farstrider visited the
Tower of Ghenjei when he was young, which is where he got all of his
"adventures" from. Although it's possible, it seems unlikely. Noal
seemed to think that the Tower of Ghenjei was on the Shadow Coast somewhere,
for one thing, and he claimed that Farstrider had always meant to find it, but
never had. For another, the only reason Mat got memories when he visited
the Aelfinn was because he wished for the holes in his memory to be
filled. Why would Noal also get memories from the 'Finns? Why
would Ishamael Compel him to forget his visit to the Tower of Ghenjei?
And again, why must we assume that his travels are fabricated? <BR><B><BR>This
is what we know of Farstrider's adventures:</B><BR><BR>He was "tamed" by
Susa...somehow or another. :) (tEotW, Ch. 4)<BR><BR>He captured
the traitor Cowin Fairheart (tEotW, Ch. 47)<BR><BR>Ishamael claimed to have
used Farstrider to plant the rumors of the Dark One's intention to "blind the
Eye of the World and slay the Great Serpent" in the Ogier Stedding (which
would have been around the time of Farstrider's disappearance). (tEotW,
Ch. 51) <BR><BR>He wrote many books, was the subject of many stories, and he
vanished in 981 NE after having returned from the Blight, where it is rumored
he traveled all the way to Shayol Ghul. (tEotW, Glossary)<BR><BR>He had
<FONT size=2><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,sans-serif">"</SPAN></FONT><FONT
style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,sans-serif"
face="Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>adventures among the Sea
Folk and journeys to the lands beyond the Aiel Waste" (tGH, Ch.
31) <BR><BR>He had a horse named Jeade'en, or "True Finder", that could always
find the way home. (tSR, Ch. 22)<BR><BR>Rhuarc's claim that the Sharamen
were liars and that they had many different names for their land was verified
by Rand's memory of Farstrider's book, though Rand thought the tales "too
fanciful to be true". (LoC, Ch. 17) <BR></FONT><BR>He traveled on a Sea
Folk vessel and learned to bathe in cold salt water (WH, Ch. 19)<BR><BR>He has
been to "Shibouya" (Shara), "where women who could channel had tattooed faces,
over three hundred crimes carried a penalty of death, and giants lived under
the mountains, men taller than Ogier, with their faces on their bellies." (WH,
Ch. 28)<BR><BR>Noal has been to places warm enough to make Ebou Dar seem like
Shienar. Everyone he had cared for in his life is long dead.
Looking at the bay of Ebou Dar after the Return arrives, he comments that he
has never seen so many ships in one place before. He fishes well, and he
knows how to make a fish and pepper stew from Shara. Noal notices a very
dark-skinned Seanchan with blue eyes, and notes that he has seen the like
before, but he cannot remember where. (CoT, Ch. 1) <BR><BR>Noal has been to
"Co'dansin" (also Shara) and knows of the Ayyad. He recites a quote from
the Prophecies about Mat (Fortune rides like the sun on high/With the fox that
makes the ravens fly/Luck his soul, the lightning his eye/He snatches the
moons from out of the sky). Noal has been trying to remember this bit
for some time. (CoT, Ch. 28) <BR><BR><FONT
style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,sans-serif"
face="Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>Farstrider is believed to
have done a translation of the Karaethon Cycle, which is probably true, since
he quotes the obscure bit to Mat. This bit was dropped in Rand's point
of view, by the way, certainly to give clues as to Noal's identity,
considering the proximity. (CoT, Ch. 35)<BR><BR>Noal tells stories of the
Ayyad to Olver. Mat asks Noal if he is related to Farstrider. Noal
says Farstrider was a cousin. It is obvious that he is lying, because he
tells of Farstrider's abandonment of his wife with deep personal pain.
He also mentions being made a fool by someone - probably Ishamael, since he
shows signs of the post-Compulsion confusion mid-sentence. (KoD, Ch. 6)
<BR><BR>Noal tells of Malkier and other places in the Borderlands. (KoD,
Ch. 9)<BR><BR>Noal talks of Sea Folk women. He says that not many know
the tale of the Tower of Ghenjei any more, and that Farstrider had always
intended to go looking for it, thinking it was along the Shadow Coast.
Noal thinks that he would like to go there..."something Jain bloody Farstrider
never did". He says that he has heard that it gleams like burnished
steel, and that it's 200 ft. tall and 40 ft. thick, and that there is no
opening in the tower that can be seen. He listens to Mat's stories about his
experiences with the 'Finns intently, and asks Mat if he was related to
Farstrider, says that Mat's adventure topped anything he ever did, and
anything Farstrider ever did too, and then asks if he can be the unknown third
person Moiraine spoke of in her letter. (KoD, Ch. 10) <BR><BR>Noal tells of
the walled trading city in Shara, apparently the same one that Rhuarc spoke
of, or perhaps the port that the Sea Folk visit. (KoD, Ch. 25)<BR><BR>He
is said to have traveled to the frozen land north of the Blasted Lands, but he
disappeared on that trip. (BWB, Ch. 15) <BR><BR>Farstrider is one of
three main sources of knowledge about Shara - the bit about the natives lying
to foreigners is repeated. (BWB, Ch.
16)<BR><BR>________________________<BR><BR>From these bits, we can surmise
that Farstrider has: <BR><BR>1. Been to Shara, perhaps more than
once.<BR>2. Been on a Sea Folk ship, perhaps more than once.<BR>3.
Been to the Blight, and perhaps also to Shayol Ghul and north of the Blasted
Lands.<BR>4. Traveled the Borderlands extensively. <BR>5. Probably
been in the Waste, though stories of that wouldn't be so exotic as the others
- perhaps he doesn't tell stories of the Aiel for that reason - nearly
everyone has seen them now. Also, Aiel upset Olver. <BR>6. Been a
prominent member of Borderland society, perhaps a high-profile thief-catcher
(Susa probably fits in here somewhere - perhaps Susa was his
wife).<BR>7. Most likely been Compelled by Ishamael.<BR>8.
Possibly been in Graendal's company and Compelled by her as well - a man
fitting his description was seen in her lair, and she has also been to Shara,
perhaps inspired by his stories. The man fitting Noal's description is
highly suspicious because he does not meet Graendal's standards for her
slaves, yet he sits among them for no apparent reason (tFoH, Prologue).
<BR>9. Probably gone to other places in Randland proper as
well.<BR>10. Possibly been to Seanchan as well, but it seems more likely
that he knew the dark skin and blue eyes from
elsewhere<BR><BR>_________________________ <BR><BR></FONT>I don't see how all
of that is too much for Farstrider to have done before he published his
book. As previously noted, he was already known as Farstrider when he
captured Fairheart, and the book was published 13 years later. With all
the traveling that Mat has done in less than two years, mostly without
assistance from the Power, it seems easy to imagine a determined wanderlust
like Farstrider traveling quite a few places and doing quite a few interesting
things in a period of what appears to be about 20 years. <BR><BR>I hope this
info helps,<BR><BR>Terez<BR>
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