View source for The Eye of the World: Chapter 19

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''Author: Dinn da Noor''
{{TwoRavensIcon}}
{{title|Shadow's Waiting}}
{{icon|{{TwoRavens}}}}
{{Pov|Rand}}
{{Setting2|Shadar Logoth}}
'''Characters:''' [[Lan]], [[Rand]], [[Moiraine]], [[Nynaeve]], [[Thom]], [[Egwene]], [[Mat]], [[Perrin]]
==Outline==
The boys go treasure hunting and encounter Mordeth, Mat takes a dagger.  Trollocs enter the city and they are forced to separate and flee.
==Summary==
They ride into the city, and although the city was broken, Rand is awed by what's left standing. The largest building in [[Baerlon]] would have disappeared in the shadows of almost everything in the city; marble palaces topped with huge domes, bronze fountains, statues and towers. Rand thinks to himself of how Thom, Lan and Moiraine must have laughed up their sleeves at him, thinking Baerlon was a city. He is so caught up in staring at everything that he is taken by surprise when Lan stops them in front of a white stone building, twice as big as [[the Stag and Lion]]. Moiraine nods, and Lan commands the 'farm boys' to bring the horses inside.

They gather the horses and bring them in where Moiraine is laying. She asks Nynaeve if she has any herbs that will help her sleep an hour and not leave her groggy and the [[Wisdom]] tells her about a tea.

Thom, Mat, Perrin and Rand walk into a chamber where they unsaddle their horses. Mat gets a glum stare on his face and Rand asks him what's wrong. He says that he's thinking of [[Aemon]]'s war cry, and Perrin tells him that maybe he's Aemon reborn when Thom warns him that that is dangerous talk and nothing to be spoken of lightly. The [[gleeman]] then goes back to the front room to have a smoke. Mat asks the others why don't they go and see more of the city, but Perrin asks him if he's forgetting the [[Trollocs]]. Rand says that [[Aridhol]] must have been the greatest city in the [[Trolloc Wars]] for the Trollocs to still be afraid of it. They agree at last and walk out on the streets of Aridhol.

They wander in and out of the biggest buildings they can find and climb into dusty fountains with huge basins, but find nothing more than dust and rubble. After some time even Mat grows tired and they sit down on the steps of a tall building, arguing about what to do next. Rand wants to go back to sleep, but Mat says that there might be treasure. When Rand tells him that it's getting late, Mat says he wants to climb one of the whole towers. A man's voice then speaks and says that the towers are not safe. They ask him who he is and he introduces himself as [[Mordeth]], a treasure hunter. They tell him that they are going to [[Caemlyn]], and he asks them if they would like to help him carry a treasure he's found to his horses. They accept and he leads them into the building and down some steps before they enter a tile-walled room filled with mounds of jewelry, coins, goblets, platters, swords and gems. They decide to come back tomorrow and explain that Moiraine and Lan will understand when they see an axe Perrin is taking with him. Mordeth asks them if they are alone and Mat answers that they're in the company of Moiraine, Lan, Nynaeve, Egwene and Thom and that they're going to [[Tar Valon]].

This causes Mordeth's face to twist in rage and fear and he accuses them of lying to him. Perrin carefully puts the axe back and asks whether they should return tomorrow. When Mordeth is about to answer, Rand figures out what is wrong with Mordeth - he doesn't have a shadow. Mordeth says 'it is decided,' and swells like a balloon. They panic and start yelling then suddenly Mordeth is sitting in the corner of the room clutching his knees to his chest, wailing. He then shouts 'You are all dead!' then disappears.

They run up the steps and get out on the streets. From there they keep in the middle of the street and walk fast back to camp. At twilight, they come in sight of the white stone building and they run to it and through the doorway. Everyone except Lan is there. Nynaeve tells them that he is off looking for them. Moiraine asks them what has happened and they start to tell her, all in different places and none in the order it had happened. Moiraine suddenly grabs Rand's wrist at the mention of Mordeth and asks if he gave them anything or touched them. They say no and Mat says that they thought it was safe in the city since Trollocs wouldn't dare coming in. She tells them a story of thousands of Trollocs, [[Darkfriends]], [[Myrddraal]] and [[Dreadlords]] that had camped in Shadar Logoth late in the Trolloc Wars that never came back out.

She then tells them about how the man Mordeth came to Aridhol when it seemed as though [[the Dark One|the Father of Lies]] must surely conquer. He spoke to [[Balwen]], the King in Aridhol, and soon he was second only to the King. Aridhol started to draw in on itself, and used the battle cry: 'the victory of the Light is all'. She tells them about how Aridhol was destroyed by itself and named Shadar Logoth, Shadow's Waiting.

They then go to sleep but Rand wakes up on Lan's return. Lan tells Moiraine that there are Trollocs inside the gates before he starts waking the others. Moiraine tells them that they will make for the river where she can raise a small ward while they make rafts and cross over, or they may be able to hail a trader's boat from [[Saldaea]]. Lan explains that neither Trollocs or Myrddraal can swim and that they loathe deep water. The [[Aes Sedai]] commands them to get to their horses, as they're not yet over the river.
==Notes==
{{Prophecy}}
{{Viewings}}
{{MatProph}}
*A ruby dagger
[[Min]] had a vison of a [[Ruby dagger]], Mat takes one of these
{{Development}}
;General
*The boys interpret Moiraine's warning that Trollocs are scared of Shadar Logoth as evidence it is safe, not as evidence it is still dangerous. Mat takes the lead, but they don't require much persuading
*When they say what happened, they start at different places, Mat with the treasure, Perrin with why and Rand with Mordeth
{{LanDev}}
*Lan tells Nynaeve to have a care with her herbs - He doesn't entirely trust her
{{MatDev}}
*Mat talks them into going treasure hunting. He looks for a loophole in what she said, despite his earlier mistake of doing so in talking about trollocs in [[Baerlon]]
*Mat takes a ruby dagger
**Min saw a ruby dagger as something of great significance to Mat
{{NynaeveDev}}
*Nynaeve is worried when Lan is away
*She again uses her herbs to help Moiraine
===Nature===
;Plants
Foxtail, Marasin
===Herbs===
Foxtail and Marasin will help a person sleep so that they are not too groggy

==Spoilers==
{{Annotated|
{{Plots}}
;The Ruby dagger
This is a major element for the next couple of books, and the holes that it eventually leaves in Mat’s memories lead to him making the request that gives him his military knowledge. He finally kills Fain with it at the end of the last book.
===Mysteries===
;Why does Mordeth seem unfamiliar with the name Caemlyn
This is unclear. It was initially known as Hai Caemlyn, but that shouldn’t confuse him, It may be that it was just one of several cities of similar size in Coremanda, which was just one nation.  Perhaps he just knew the capital and one or two other major cities for each country
;How can the dead take a living body
We do know the Dark One can give one, but is Thom correct that the dead could just take one? We do know of a general belief in ghosts, or at least ghost dogs.
;What forced the Myrddraal?
This was probably Ishamael, though why he would appear as a flickering body is not clear. He was in the flesh at least a decade earlier, as he put a stop to the Black Ajah purge of male channelers.
;What is Mordeth
Is he human? Or alive? We later learn that he has been trapped for over two thousand years, but do not learn where he came from initially

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