Ways

During the Breaking of the World, the Ogier were trapped in their stedding. Some of the male Aes Sedai came to the stedding to temporarily escape the taint on saidin. In return, the Aes Sedai made the Ways, which would allow the Ogier to travel from stedding to stedding. The Ways are entered through Waygates, which are located just outside of stedding or in groves outside of Ogier-built cities. Unfortunately, many of the groves have been destroyed, but not the Waygates. Waygates can be grown using the Talisman of Growing. Waygates are opened by using a key shaped like an Avendesora leaf. There are two keys per Waygate: one on the inside and one on the outside.

During the War of the Hundred Years the Ways started to darken, probably due to the fact that they were built using tainted saidin. Now, Machin Shin inhabits the Ways and destroys all creatures it finds.

Known Waygates at Cities#

References (Possible Spoilers)#

  1. In The Eye of the World
    1. TEotW,Ch44 - The key to a Waygate is in the shape of a trefoil leaf like those of Avendesora.
    2. TEotW,Ch44 - Moiraine and her party enter the Caemlyn Waygate and Loial leads them toward Fal Dara.
    3. TEotW,Ch45 - There is a Waygate at Tar Valon.
    4. TEotW,Ch45 - When Manetheren was destroyed, the nearby Waygate survived. Almost nothing can destroy a Waygate.
    5. TEotW,Ch45 - Moiraine and her party arrive at the Fal Dara Waygate. The key stone is missing so Moiraine burns through the door. The Waygate is a few miles southwest of Fal Dara.
    6. TEotW,Ch45 - The Ways have traps that can destroy Shadowspawn.
    7. TEotW,Ch46 - Moiraine tells Agelmar Jagad to wall up and post a guard at the Waygate.
    8. TEotW,Ch47 - Padan Fain followed them through the Ways.
  2. In The Great Hunt
    1. TGH,Ch16 - According to Selene, Aes Sedai learned to grow the Ways from their study of the Portal Stone worlds and their time differences. There is an ancient book about them called Mirrors of the Wheel.
    2. TGH,Ch32 - Barthanes built his manor house in Cairhien on the site of the Ogier grove. The Waygate is in his backyard.
    3. TGH,Ch33 - Rand and company try to use the Waygate at Barthanes' manor in Cairhien to follow the Darkfriends with the Horn but it is blocked by Machin Shin.
    4. TGH,Ch36 - The Ogier elders have not allowed anyone to use the Ways in over a hundred years.
    5. TGH,Ch36 - Rand and company try to use the Waygate at Stedding Tsofu to follow the Darkfriends with the Horn but it is blocked by Machin Shin as well.
    6. TGH,Ch39 - Liandrin leads Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne and Min through the Ways from Tar Valon to Toman Head.
    7. TGH,Ch40 - They exit the Waygate and, after a conversation with High Lady Suroth, Liandrin departs the same way.
  3. In The Dragon Reborn
    1. TDR,Ch4 - In the wolf dream, Perrin sees a meeting between Rahvin, Be'lal and Ishamael in a place that strongly resembles the Ways.
    2. TDR,Ch42 - Loial accidentally mentions having been in the Ways to Faile.
  4. In The Shadow Rising
    1. TSR,Ch14 - Perrin tells Faile that he plans to have Loial guide him to the Manetheren Waygate so he can arrive at the Two Rivers quickly.
    2. TSR,Ch16 - Faile tricks Loial into promising her first choice of a trip through the Ways.
    3. TSR,Ch18 - Loial leads Perrin, Faile, Gaul, Bain and Chiad to the Waygate near Tear.
    4. TSR,Ch27 - They travel through the Ways from Tear to the site of ancient Manetheren. Loial locks the Waygate by placing both leaves on the outside of the door.
    5. TSR,Ch30 - With the Waygate blocked, Perrin believes no more Trollocs will arrive.
    6. TSR,Ch31 - Perrin tells Verin that the Trollocs are coming through the Ways and she replies that she suspected as much from what Moiraine told her.
    7. TSR,Ch42 - In the wolf dream Perrin learns that the Waygate is open again.
    8. TSR,Ch43 - Perrin tells Loial about the Waygate. Loial says he can close the Waygate permanently by removing both leaves. Loial recalls that it took thirteen Aes Sedai with a sa'angreal to actually destroy a Waygate.
    9. TSR,Ch44 - Early the next morning Loial and Gaul leave for the Waygate.
    10. TSR,Ch53 - Loial and Gaul succeed in permanently sealing the Waygate.
  5. In Lord of Chaos
    1. LoC,Ch10 - Rand has guards stationed at the Waygates in Caemlyn, Cairhien and Tear, but he worries about all the rest of them.
    2. LoC,Ch20 - Rand visits Stedding Tsofu to ask the Elders to let him place guards at the Waygate, but Elder Alar will not listen to a human.
    3. LoC,Ch20 - Rand tells Elder Haman that Shadowspawn are using the Ways. Elder Haman agrees to mark the locations of all Waygates on maps.
    4. LoC,Ch49 - Rand asks Loial if he will help find all the Waygates so they can be guarded.
  6. In A Crown of Swords
    1. ACoS,Ch27 - Rand sends Loial and Karldin Manfor on an expedition to alert the stedding to prevent Shadowspawn from using the Waygates.
  7. In Crossroads of Twilight
    1. CoT,Ch24 - Loial reports that all of the stedding except those in the Borderlands and the Shadow Coast agreed to post guards at the Waygates.
  8. In Knife of Dreams
    1. KoD,Ch3 - Someone masquerading as Sammael sends a hundred Myrddraal and tens of thousands of Trollocs into the Ways.
    2. KoD,Ch20 - The Trollocs and Myrddraal that attack Lord Algarin Pendaloan's manor probably came from the Spine of the World through the Waygate near Stedding Shangtai.
    3. KoD,Ch20 - When Loial returns to Stedding Shangtai to speak at the Great Stump, Elder Haman agrees to take up his task of sealing the Waygates near cities that Rand could not find.
More Category Creatures
Copyright (c) 1998 by Gary Kephart