"YOU PLAY LIKE A MASTER SHA'RAH PLAYER."
"I MUST USE ALL THE KNOWLEDGE I CAN TO BE ABLE TO BEAT YOU AS THIS GAME, AND YOU KNOW THAT IT IS INFINATELY MORE COMPLEX THAN SHA'RAH."
"I ADMIRED YOUR OPEINING PLOY. BUT THE CURIOSITY OF YOUR PEOPLE WOULD HAVE RELEASED ME EVENTUALLY. YOU HAD NO REAL HOLD ON THEM AFTER THAT."
"I CHOOSE NOT TO CONTROL MY PEOPLE. I GIVE THEM FREE WILL. WHAT DID YOU GIVE THEM? IMMORTALITY? NO ONE IS IMMORTAL FOR EVER. ONLE WE ARE. I GAVE MY PEOPLE THE FREEDOM TO DO AS THEY WISHED, AND YOU DID WHAT? TWIST THE MINDS OF A FEW PEOPLE, AND YOU CREATE A FACTION THAT HAS LASTED FOR THREE THOUSAND YEARS IN THE PRESENT?"
"I DID NOT TWIST THE MINDS OF ANYONE. I HAD SOME INFLUENCE. A FINGER OF INFLUENCE, WHILE YOU PROVIDED A HAND TO SHELTER THEM."
"DID YOU THINK I DID NOT KNOW WHAT YOU DID? EVER SINCE OUR FATHER CREATED US, I KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. I KNEW WHAT YOU WOULD DO. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT LEWS THERIN TELAOMN EXISTED?"
"YOUR SERVANTS WERE EASILY CORRUPTED. ELAN MORIN SIDED WITH ME BEFORE LONG. HE NEARLY TURNED YOUR CHAMPION TO MY SIDE. IF HE SIDED WITH US, HE COULD HAVE HAD HIS BELOVED ILYENA BACK WITH HIM, AT HIS SIDE.""SOME MEN ARE EASILY CORRUPTED. WOMEN ALSO. I KNEW THAT THEY WOULD BE PEOPLE WHO SIDED WITH YOU, BROTHER, SO I PLACED SOME PEOPLE INTO MY PATTERN WHO WOULD THWART YOUR PLANS. LEWS THERIN TELAMON, WHO WOULD NOT SUBMIT TO THE SHADOW, HE EVEN REFUSING WHEN THE LIFE OF ILYENA WAS OFFERED BACK TO HIM. LATRA POSAE DECUME, WHO SIDED AGAINST LEWS THERIN TELAMON IN THE HALL OF THE SERVANTS, SO THAT SAIDAR WOULD NOT BE TAINTED AS YOU TAINTED SAIDIN. AEMON AL CAAR AL THORIN, THE LAST KING OF MANETHEREN. ONE OF THE BRAVEST MEN WHO EVER WALKED ACROSS THE WORLD. HE FOUGHT AGAINST YOUR SHADOWWROUGHT, AND AS HIS MEN DIED AROUND HIM, HE STILL FOUGHT. RAND AL'THOR, THE REINCARNATION OF THE DRAGON REBORN. THE FISHER KING, WHO FOUGHT AGAINST YOUR SIDE, AND FINISHED THE BATTLE THAT LASTED THREE THOUSAND YEARS. HE WHO CLEANSED THE TAINT OF SAIDIN. MATRIM CAUTHON, THE LEADER OF SHEN AL CALHAR. THE CARRIER OF THE GUARDIAN OF LIGHT, THE ASHENDARAI. PERRIN AYBARA, CALLED GOLDENEYES. THE LEADER OF THE WOLFBROTHERS, WHO WIPED OUT THE FINAL OF YOUR TWISTED ONES. AL'LAN MANDRAGORAN, THE LAST AND THE FIRST OF THE MALKIERI. HIS WIFE WAS NYNAEVE AL'MEARA. ONE OF THE STRONGEST AES SEDAI I EVER CREATED. I COULD GO ON UNTIL OUR FATHER CALLS US BACK. BUT I CAN PERSONIFY THE STRUGGLE THAT WE HAVE FOUGHT OVER THREE THOUSAND IN THREE WORDS, BROTHER."
"WHAT IS THAT THEN BROTHER? I AM INTERESTED NOW."
"THE TWO RIVERS. IN WHAT PEOPLE CALLED THE AGE OF LEGENDS, IT WAS WHERE LEWS THERIN TELAMON'S HOME WAS. IT WAS NEAR THERE, NOW CALLED DRAGONMOUNT, WHERE HE DIED. DURING THE SECOND COMPACT, IT WAS MANETHEREN. THE MOUNTAIN HOME, WHERE AEMON DIED. AFTER MANETHEREN WAS DEVASTATED BY ELDRENE, IT BECAME THE FARMING VILLIAGES IT IS NOW. IT WAS THERE THAT I DECIDED TO PLACE THE MAJOR PIECES IN OUR SHA'RAH GAME, SHAI'TAN. RAND AL'THOR. PERRIN AYBARA. MAT CAUTHON. EGWENE AL'VERE. NYNAEVE AL'MEARA AND TAM AL'THOR. ALL OF THEM HAVE PLAYED A VITAL PART IN OUR GAME."
"KHOP'RA, YOU DO TELL THE TRUTH. YOU PLACED VITAL PIECES ON YOUR SDIE OF THE BOARD, INCLUDING YOUR FISHER KING.AND I WILL ADMIT THAT YOU HAVE PLAYED YOUR GAME WELL, BROTHER. SHALL WE SET THE PIECES UP AGAIN? SHALL WE PLAY ANOTHER GAME OF OUR SHA'RAH?"
"IF YOU PROMISE NOT TO CHEAT, MY DEAR BROTHER."
IN THE INFINITE SPACE OF BEING OUTSDIE THE PATTERN; FOUR HANDS SET UP A GAME ON A CONSTANTLY WEAVING PIECE OF LACE. THE GAME RESEMBLED THE GAME OF SHA'RAH. HOWEVER, THE ODDS WERE ALWAYS STACKED IN THE FAVOUR OF EITHER KHOP'RA, THE CREATOR OR SHAI'TAN, THE DARK ONE. NEITHER BROTHER COULD TELL WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD THE BETTER ODDS, UNTIL IT CAME TO THE END OF THE GAME. BUT UNTIL THEN, WELL, PIECES COULD CHANGE HANDS MANY TIMES. HOW THE GAME TURNED OUT DEPENDED ON WHO OWNED THE BEST PIECES.