High Philosophy: Mashadar and Machin Shin
The University of Cairhien is at this time releasing several manuscripts discovered in the late Herid Fel's room. The manuscripts have gone through minor editing to make them easier to read. The first in the series deals with a potential connection between two entities of immeasurable evil.
Mashadar
When Aridhol destroyed itself (see: A History of Aridhol), Mashadar remained. Mashadar was the combined sum of all the hatred, greed, suspicion and lust that had caused Aridhol to fall. Born out of sentient concepts, Mashadar regressed, or perhaps progressed, into a state of animalistic stimulus/response. Mashadar does not hunt, nor does it stray from the lair.
How it feeds
Mashadar relies upon its prey to come to it. In the beginning, Mashadar's diet was human, Trolloc, Myrddraal and woodland creatures. In time, all learned to avoid the ruins. Since then, Mashadar feasts upon any being unfortunate enough to stumble in unwary or anyone delayed until dark. Once night falls, Mashadar rises from the stones of Aridhol, a swiftly rising tide that threatens to cut off all avenues of escape. Tendrils seek out isolated entities while Mashadar's bulk heads towards concentrations of life. Reacting on impulse rather than thought, Mashadar can be avoided even today simply by planning. If a traveler waits too long, however, they will find all escape routs blocked. Once someone is touched by any part of Mashadar, consumption begins.
How it eats
Mashadar consumes flesh and soul. When a tendril connects with a human body, the bones are instantly turned into a jellylike paste. Internal organs liquefy, muscles run. Soon only a sac of skin contains the fluid. The sac either bursts or is drained. In the former case, Mashadar returns the next night to feed on the remains that lure carrion beasts by their sickly-sweet stench. In the latter, the sac is drained of all fluid, and then the sac itself is consumed. The soul is consumed by Mashadar, heading to the same place as Aridhol's citizens.
Changes and Thoughts
Mashadar was initially much smaller, consisting of thin filaments blocking the city exits and a "body" that quartered the city. In 1325 AB, a large Trolloc army camped in the ruins of the city. Messages written on the wall with their comrades' blood spoke of "walls that cut, and shapes that devour." Prayers to the Dark One went unheeded. Within a few nights, no traces remained. Since then, much has changed. As the city fell into disrepair, Mashadar grew slower to respond to incursions. It also abandoned the thin film along the outer walls in favor of thicker tendrils actively searching for prey. Mashadar has also increased in relative size, now able to cover up to half of the city with varying degrees of success.
These changes have led to a supposition. Mashadar feeds not only on the souls and bodies of those who enter, but also the 'negative' emotions that created it. With each death, Mashadar absorbs more fear, anger and hatred. With each death, Mashadar grows. Unless the cancer is eliminated, it may one day spread beyond Aridhol.
Machin Shin
In the early days of the Breaking, many male Aes Sedai went to Stedding in an attempt to escape the madness. Most left after a few short years, unable to stand the lack of the Power any longer. Those who went granted the Ogier with the Ways. Grown from the Power, the Ways were a method of moving between Stedding while avoiding confrontations with humans. From the moment of their conception onwards, the Ways proved to be one of the most reliable methods of transport.
A Turning Tide
When the Ways were created, life was abundant. Platforms were filled with genetically engineered trees that produced different kinds of fruit. Some nobles even took to stabling their livestock within the Ways, free from threat of theft or famine.
Nearly a thousand years after the Trolloc Wars, all began to change. First the animals sickened, dying on the "lower" levels, often with horrible wounds that the herders could not explain. Then the plantlife itself began to die, sections withering as neighboring platforms performed as usual. Then the final transformation occurred. The Ways lost the mystical light that filled them, and a rising tide of darkness covered them. People who walked through the darkness came out mad or worse, if they came out at all.
A Name
Those who managed to escape had a name for what pursued them. They called it Machin Shin, "the Black Wind." People spoke of air that ripped and tore at them, air filled with murderous words and thoughts. Others wandered out, completely void of anything philosophers might call a soul. The wind pursued victims once it had located them, but it was not everywhere. Stories tell of Mageywn's hellride, going through over twenty platforms with Machin Shin at her very heels. Others rode through without any encounter, but in the end the Ogier determined that it was too dangerous, and shut off passage through their Ways.
Machin Shin
Many attempts have been made to discover its nature. None have truly succeeded. What is known can be summarized quite rapidly:
1. It appears to move as a cloud would, but along the platforms and bridges rather than rising through the air.
2. Roaming randomly, it has never attacked two groups at the same time. Unless you are in the path of its current quarry, you are safe.
3. The danger is not just physical. Machin Shin can literally tear the eyes from your head.
4. Those that Machin Shin devours, it keeps. Voices within the wind speak in many different tongues.
5. The wind is not malevolent in a true sense. It is almost more of a parasite, simply doing what it must to survive. Unfortunately, this does nothing to save its victims.
A Recent Disturbance
Machin Shin has never appeared sentient. It has certainly never obeyed any order. The Lord Dragon has informed me that one man thinks different. Fain, a Darkfriend apparently, walked through Machin Shin and lived. He set it to prevent Rand from passing through the Waygates. Actions of this nature seriously call into doubt the traditional view of Machin Shin as a stimulus/response creature.
The Connection
Two Waygates have fallen to evil unknowable. Near the end of the Trolloc Wars, A Waygate was in danger of being swallowed by the Blight. To prevent this, thirteen Aes Sedai attempted to destroy it. Rather than the destruction they had hoped for, the Waygate collapsed inward on itself, sucking in a few Aes Sedai who were never heard from again. The other sisters quickly left to avoid their sister's fate, and since then no one has seen the site and lived to tell of it. Who knows what of the Blight may have fallen in?
The other Waygate existed at Aridhol. When the city fell to Mashadar, it became a barrier that no one would willingly pass through.
I propose that the two are linked, Mashadar creating Machin Shin in part, with the Blight as the 'mother' in the relationship.
Mashadar resides in the bedrock of the city ruins. It permeates them, coming aboveground to feast. The Waygate is made of stone. Perhaps over time some of Mashadar's influence seeped through into the Ways. In a similar way, the Blight corrupts life. Waygates are in part alive. Over time, the unique conditions in the area may have led to an aspect of the Blight leaking through. Once there, the two entities were somehow forced to merge. Merged, they were a force anathema in existence. Mashadar's part would seek to destroy the Blight, and thus the eventual madness.
A final note: This may explain how Fain managed to survive and even give orders to Machin Shin. He was imprinted with the Dark One's essence and he was partially possessed by Mordeth. Torn in the same way as the Black Wind, he would offer those tortured souls a chance at redemption, and a hope at being free from the shackles that bound it.
[Editor's note: For a detailed description of the merging of Mashadar and the Blight, as well as the Riddle of Fain, please view the forthcoming "High Philosophy: Soul and Religion"]
The University of Cairhien is at this time releasing several manuscripts discovered in the late Herid Fel's room. The manuscripts have gone through minor editing to make them easier to read. The first in the series deals with a potential connection between two entities of immeasurable evil.
Mashadar
When Aridhol destroyed itself (see: A History of Aridhol), Mashadar remained. Mashadar was the combined sum of all the hatred, greed, suspicion and lust that had caused Aridhol to fall. Born out of sentient concepts, Mashadar regressed, or perhaps progressed, into a state of animalistic stimulus/response. Mashadar does not hunt, nor does it stray from the lair.
How it feeds
Mashadar relies upon its prey to come to it. In the beginning, Mashadar's diet was human, Trolloc, Myrddraal and woodland creatures. In time, all learned to avoid the ruins. Since then, Mashadar feasts upon any being unfortunate enough to stumble in unwary or anyone delayed until dark. Once night falls, Mashadar rises from the stones of Aridhol, a swiftly rising tide that threatens to cut off all avenues of escape. Tendrils seek out isolated entities while Mashadar's bulk heads towards concentrations of life. Reacting on impulse rather than thought, Mashadar can be avoided even today simply by planning. If a traveler waits too long, however, they will find all escape routs blocked. Once someone is touched by any part of Mashadar, consumption begins.
How it eats
Mashadar consumes flesh and soul. When a tendril connects with a human body, the bones are instantly turned into a jellylike paste. Internal organs liquefy, muscles run. Soon only a sac of skin contains the fluid. The sac either bursts or is drained. In the former case, Mashadar returns the next night to feed on the remains that lure carrion beasts by their sickly-sweet stench. In the latter, the sac is drained of all fluid, and then the sac itself is consumed. The soul is consumed by Mashadar, heading to the same place as Aridhol's citizens.
Changes and Thoughts
Mashadar was initially much smaller, consisting of thin filaments blocking the city exits and a "body" that quartered the city. In 1325 AB, a large Trolloc army camped in the ruins of the city. Messages written on the wall with their comrades' blood spoke of "walls that cut, and shapes that devour." Prayers to the Dark One went unheeded. Within a few nights, no traces remained. Since then, much has changed. As the city fell into disrepair, Mashadar grew slower to respond to incursions. It also abandoned the thin film along the outer walls in favor of thicker tendrils actively searching for prey. Mashadar has also increased in relative size, now able to cover up to half of the city with varying degrees of success.
These changes have led to a supposition. Mashadar feeds not only on the souls and bodies of those who enter, but also the 'negative' emotions that created it. With each death, Mashadar absorbs more fear, anger and hatred. With each death, Mashadar grows. Unless the cancer is eliminated, it may one day spread beyond Aridhol.
Machin Shin
In the early days of the Breaking, many male Aes Sedai went to Stedding in an attempt to escape the madness. Most left after a few short years, unable to stand the lack of the Power any longer. Those who went granted the Ogier with the Ways. Grown from the Power, the Ways were a method of moving between Stedding while avoiding confrontations with humans. From the moment of their conception onwards, the Ways proved to be one of the most reliable methods of transport.
A Turning Tide
When the Ways were created, life was abundant. Platforms were filled with genetically engineered trees that produced different kinds of fruit. Some nobles even took to stabling their livestock within the Ways, free from threat of theft or famine.
Nearly a thousand years after the Trolloc Wars, all began to change. First the animals sickened, dying on the "lower" levels, often with horrible wounds that the herders could not explain. Then the plantlife itself began to die, sections withering as neighboring platforms performed as usual. Then the final transformation occurred. The Ways lost the mystical light that filled them, and a rising tide of darkness covered them. People who walked through the darkness came out mad or worse, if they came out at all.
A Name
Those who managed to escape had a name for what pursued them. They called it Machin Shin, "the Black Wind." People spoke of air that ripped and tore at them, air filled with murderous words and thoughts. Others wandered out, completely void of anything philosophers might call a soul. The wind pursued victims once it had located them, but it was not everywhere. Stories tell of Mageywn's hellride, going through over twenty platforms with Machin Shin at her very heels. Others rode through without any encounter, but in the end the Ogier determined that it was too dangerous, and shut off passage through their Ways.
Machin Shin
Many attempts have been made to discover its nature. None have truly succeeded. What is known can be summarized quite rapidly:
1. It appears to move as a cloud would, but along the platforms and bridges rather than rising through the air.
2. Roaming randomly, it has never attacked two groups at the same time. Unless you are in the path of its current quarry, you are safe.
3. The danger is not just physical. Machin Shin can literally tear the eyes from your head.
4. Those that Machin Shin devours, it keeps. Voices within the wind speak in many different tongues.
5. The wind is not malevolent in a true sense. It is almost more of a parasite, simply doing what it must to survive. Unfortunately, this does nothing to save its victims.
A Recent Disturbance
Machin Shin has never appeared sentient. It has certainly never obeyed any order. The Lord Dragon has informed me that one man thinks different. Fain, a Darkfriend apparently, walked through Machin Shin and lived. He set it to prevent Rand from passing through the Waygates. Actions of this nature seriously call into doubt the traditional view of Machin Shin as a stimulus/response creature.
The Connection
Two Waygates have fallen to evil unknowable. Near the end of the Trolloc Wars, A Waygate was in danger of being swallowed by the Blight. To prevent this, thirteen Aes Sedai attempted to destroy it. Rather than the destruction they had hoped for, the Waygate collapsed inward on itself, sucking in a few Aes Sedai who were never heard from again. The other sisters quickly left to avoid their sister's fate, and since then no one has seen the site and lived to tell of it. Who knows what of the Blight may have fallen in?
The other Waygate existed at Aridhol. When the city fell to Mashadar, it became a barrier that no one would willingly pass through.
I propose that the two are linked, Mashadar creating Machin Shin in part, with the Blight as the 'mother' in the relationship.
Mashadar resides in the bedrock of the city ruins. It permeates them, coming aboveground to feast. The Waygate is made of stone. Perhaps over time some of Mashadar's influence seeped through into the Ways. In a similar way, the Blight corrupts life. Waygates are in part alive. Over time, the unique conditions in the area may have led to an aspect of the Blight leaking through. Once there, the two entities were somehow forced to merge. Merged, they were a force anathema in existence. Mashadar's part would seek to destroy the Blight, and thus the eventual madness.
A final note: This may explain how Fain managed to survive and even give orders to Machin Shin. He was imprinted with the Dark One's essence and he was partially possessed by Mordeth. Torn in the same way as the Black Wind, he would offer those tortured souls a chance at redemption, and a hope at being free from the shackles that bound it.
[Editor's note: For a detailed description of the merging of Mashadar and the Blight, as well as the Riddle of Fain, please view the forthcoming "High Philosophy: Soul and Religion"]