Contents
47 More Tales of the Wheel
Overview
The party reaches Fal Dara and finds Shienar bracing for a massive Trolloc assault. Lord Agelmar urges Lan to raise the Golden Crane and Moiraine to aid at Tarwin’s Gap, but they refuse, committed to reaching the Eye. Moiraine reveals she can find the Green Man. Captured infiltrator Padan Fain is exposed as a dangerous, altered pawn of the Shadow, prompting Moiraine to interrogate him immediately.
Summary
Emerging from the Ways near Fal Dara, the group rides through blighted, abandoned farms and reaches the Borderland fortress-town. Shienaran law forces hoods down; guards hail Lan as Dai Shan and honor Loial. Inside, the town is swollen with evacuees and the keep thrums with war preparations.
In Lord Agelmar’s study, Ingtar reports winter-long raids and massing Trollocs. Agelmar begs Lan to raise the Golden Crane to rally the Borderlands and asks Moiraine to aid at Tarwin’s Gap. Lan refuses, bound as Warder to the mission into the Blight; Moiraine insists the true battle lies at the Eye of the World.
Agelmar offers lances, but Moiraine and Lan decline, warning larger parties draw Shadowspawn in the Blight. Moiraine reveals she has previously found the Green Man and can do so again, stressing that only need and intention open the way—and that ta’veren among them strengthen their chances.
At table, talk skirts war; Loial mourns lost Ogier works as Agelmar and Lan reflect on Shienaran austerity. Ingtar then reports a strange infiltrator caught scaling the wall. The man is revealed as Padan Fain, the Caemlyn beggar and former peddler tied to the Emond’s Fielders.
Fain swings between cringing and grandiosity, claiming secret knowledge to defeat the Shadow while displaying hatred and fear of the youths. Recognizing him as something twisted beyond a mere peddler, Moiraine swiftly moves to question him in private, postponing even washing him, and departs with Lan to extract the truth.
Who Appears
- Moiraine DamodredAes Sedai leading the mission; refuses to aid Tarwin’s Gap, insists on reaching the Eye; reveals she’s found the Green Man before; prepares to interrogate Padan Fain.
- Lan MandragoranWarder hailed as Dai Shan; urged to raise the Golden Crane but refuses, bound to the Blight quest; staunchly supports a small, swift party.
- Lord Agelmar JagadLord of Fal Dara; facing massed Trollocs, pleads for aid at Tarwin’s Gap; offers lances, captures an infiltrator; yields to Moiraine’s plan.
- Padan FainCaptured infiltrator; alternates between cowering and arrogant; hates and fears the youths; exposed by Moiraine as dangerously altered, beyond a mere peddler.
- Rand al'ThorObserves Fal Dara’s tensions; urges women to avoid the Blight; recognizes Fain as the Caemlyn beggar; grapples with looming stakes.
- IngtarShienaran officer who greets the party; reports raids and the infiltrator; loyal to Agelmar but masking unease.
- LoialOgier honored as Builder; explains the Green Man; laments lost groves; notes ta’veren influence and supports the quest.
- Nynaeve al'MearaInsists she and Egwene are part of the Pattern and will go; challenges Rand’s protective offer; prepares for the Blight.
- Mat CauthonCold and irritable; calmed by Moiraine when Fain appears; recognizes Fain from earlier encounters.
- Perrin AybaraQuietly perceptive; confirms signs of recent evacuations; identifies Fain with Rand and Mat.
- Egwene al'VereDetermined to continue; notes details proving recent flight from farms; stands with Nynaeve’s resolve.