"Long enough," she replies. "Although I am no Brown, I shall do my best to explain."
"It was at the end of the Age of Legends, which the histories say was truly a time of wonders, that the Bore was drilled into the Dark One's prison. Although it was not enough of an opening for him to escape in truth, he was able through the Bore to touch the world and thus to influence matters as the Shadow spread, much as a pond might suffer from the spread of poison that comes from the fall of a peach into its waters."
The Aes Sedai sighs.
"Those who embraced the Shadow became servants of the Dark One; there are many types, from the simplest of Darkfriends to the power of the Dreadlords that were once Aes Sedai - men and women both, at that time - and finally to the most powerful of all, the Forsaken themselves. Eventually, these forces sought to free the Dark One entirely, and thus the War of the Shadow began. Ten years it lasted; ten years of destruction and horror, eventually encompassing the whole world. And at that time, it became clear that something drastic had to be done, else the Shadow would win."
She strokes her index finger lightly over the coils of her ring, but her dark-eyed gaze never leaves his face.
"The Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon, the leader of the male Aes Sedai, proposed a bold and daring plan to close the Bore entirely, using seven cuendillar seals placed at strategic points to focus weaves of the One Power. Many feared it was too risky, and opposition to Lews Therin's plan coalesced around the leadership of Latra Posae Decume. She struck a bargain with the women of the Hall of Servants - the female Aes Sedai - such that none would agree to join Lews Therin's forces in this endeavor."
"It would take far too long to recount what is known of the arguments and alternatives that were presented; suffice it to say that matters came to a point such that Lews Therin determined that the only hope was to proceed with his plan without the aid of those who could wield saidar. He and several of the most powerful Aes Sedai men - the Hundred Companions - journeyed to Shayol Ghul and struck at the Bore, sealing it entirely, and moreover, sealing the Forsaken within as well, as they were for reasons unknown to history were deep within the Pit at the time."
"Forty-five of the Companions perished in the strike; but what turned out to be worse, far worse, was that Lews Therin and sixty-eight others survived. For, you see, at the moment of the sealing the Dark One lashed back in a counterstrike that tainted saidin even as the Companions drew upon it, and they went mad."
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"It was at the end of the Age of Legends, which the histories say was truly a time of wonders, that the Bore was drilled into the Dark One's prison. Although it was not enough of an opening for him to escape in truth, he was able through the Bore to touch the world and thus to influence matters as the Shadow spread, much as a pond might suffer from the spread of poison that comes from the fall of a peach into its waters."
The Aes Sedai sighs.
"Those who embraced the Shadow became servants of the Dark One; there are many types, from the simplest of Darkfriends to the power of the Dreadlords that were once Aes Sedai - men and women both, at that time - and finally to the most powerful of all, the Forsaken themselves. Eventually, these forces sought to free the Dark One entirely, and thus the War of the Shadow began. Ten years it lasted; ten years of destruction and horror, eventually encompassing the whole world. And at that time, it became clear that something drastic had to be done, else the Shadow would win."
She strokes her index finger lightly over the coils of her ring, but her dark-eyed gaze never leaves his face.
"The Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon, the leader of the male Aes Sedai, proposed a bold and daring plan to close the Bore entirely, using seven cuendillar seals placed at strategic points to focus weaves of the One Power. Many feared it was too risky, and opposition to Lews Therin's plan coalesced around the leadership of Latra Posae Decume. She struck a bargain with the women of the Hall of Servants - the female Aes Sedai - such that none would agree to join Lews Therin's forces in this endeavor."
"It would take far too long to recount what is known of the arguments and alternatives that were presented; suffice it to say that matters came to a point such that Lews Therin determined that the only hope was to proceed with his plan without the aid of those who could wield saidar. He and several of the most powerful Aes Sedai men - the Hundred Companions - journeyed to Shayol Ghul and struck at the Bore, sealing it entirely, and moreover, sealing the Forsaken within as well, as they were for reasons unknown to history were deep within the Pit at the time."
"Forty-five of the Companions perished in the strike; but what turned out to be worse, far worse, was that Lews Therin and sixty-eight others survived. For, you see, at the moment of the sealing the Dark One lashed back in a counterstrike that tainted saidin even as the Companions drew upon it, and they went mad."