Talent Descriptions -
Talent Listing -
Talent Contacts -
Talent Discovery Form
Introduction:
Every channeler can do many basic things with the One Power. Almost from the day we first learn to channel, we can all make spheres of light, we can all lift objects, and we can all throw fireballs, for instance. A Talent is not like these uses, and it is not like being strong in one particular Power, either. A Talent is a specific and complex use of the One Power, to form a certain weave with a certain purpose. Well-known examples include Healing, Cloud Dancing and Illusion. Talents are specific to individuals, so that no two people are likely to have exactly the same Talents.
NB: One confusing thing about Talents is the double meaning of the word 'Talent'. The word can be used to describe an ability such as Healing: 'Healing is a Talent'. Secondly, it can be used to describe an individual's special ability at a Talent: 'She had a Talent for Healing'. Since RJ wrote it that way, we'll just have to live with the confusion- I hope I've made it clear in this page which kind of 'Talent' I mean.
What Is a Talent?
As stated above, a Talent is a specific use of the Power which has been given a name and formally classified as a Talent. Talents are given capital letters to distinguish them from normal uses of the Power. For instance, although shielding someone is a normal use, Stretching Shields is a Talent.
There are all sorts of Talents, both major and minor, using any number of different combinations of the Five Powers, and present in varying degrees of rarity amongst channelers. Healing, for instance, is the most common Talents, while Foretelling is one of the least common. For a list of currently accepted Talents of the One Power, visit the Talent Description Page.
Strength in Talents
Generally, those who are born with a Talent will all use it in similar ways, but there will naturally be variety in terms of strength. This applies to every Talent - there will be those who can just about perform the weaves, and there are those who are more Talented at it. For instance, Healing is a very common Talent, and almost every Aes Sedai and Asha'man is strong enough to make a Heal small wounds or bruises, but there are also channelers who can heal life-threatening injuries, plagues, and even stilling, even though they may not be especially strong in the Power, and this indicates a very strong Talent for Healing. This is expressed in the Tower by a five point scale of strength in Talents:
| Strength |
Description |
Examples |
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Individual has no particular aptitude for this Talent at all - this does not count as one of their Talents. They may have no ability at all, or a very small ability. They may be just able to perform the weave, but only with massive effort. |
Egwene's ability at Healing, Moghedien's ability at Cloud Dancing, Rand's ability at Foretelling
(ie: little or none at all) |
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Individual is Talented, and can form this weave, but has no particular skill with it. This level of control can be taught to a person not naturally Talented. |
Elayne's ability at Healing - can heal large cuts and bruises easily, but little more, Verin's ability at Compulsion - studied for years and can just about get the weave. |
|
Individual can make this weave easily, and seems to know innately how to work the flows. They can accomplish a little more than level 1, and can do it twice as easily. |
Verin's ability at Healing, Rand's ability at Dreamwalking, Moiraine's ability at Earth Singing, Elaida's Foretelling. |
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Individual is strong in this Talent: they can perform these weaves excellently and easily, doing more with the Talent after a little practice than most channelers of lesser Talent could ever hope to do, even with decades of learning. |
Alanna's ability at Healing, Elayne's ability at Cloud Dancing, Elayne's ability at Making Ter'Angreal |
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Individual is exceptionally strong in this Talent: they could weave the flows almost without needing to be shown, and once practiced, can apply this Talent to almost its full potential. |
Moiraine's ability at Healing, Most Windfinders' ability at Cloud Dancing, Moghedien's use of Compulsion, Aviendha's initial ability at Traveling |
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lmost nobody has ever seen the like of the individual's ability at this Talent- they have been weaving it without thought almost from the day they first channeled, and can now accomplish near-impossible feats. |
Nynaeve's ability at Healing,
Graendal's ability at Compulsion,
Moghedien's ability at Dreamwalking
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Strength in a Talent IC depends on a multitude of things - ones gender, ones strength in the Power, ones strengths in the Five Powers, ones experience and ones learning. Theoretically, anyone can have any level of Talent strength in any Talent, but it just generally happens that certain groups are more suited to certain Talents than others. Those who are strong in Earth are usually the best Earth Singers, for instance, and women are generally better Healers than men. This is just a general observation, and of course there is also the occasional strong male Healer, or an Earth Singer who is strongest in Fire.
OOC, anyone can have any strength in any Talent they choose, provided they do not overstep the maximum strength allowances as indicated below.
Who Has Talents?
Everyone who can channel will have Talents, whether they know about them or not. Non-channelers may exhibit certain unusual characteristics, and these have been listed on the Non-Channeling Abilities Information page. They are not linked to the One Power, and are not formal Talents.
Generally, Talents are inborn, and genetically determined. Some Talents can be learned by one born without a special gift for them, but the taught person will never be as strong in the Talent as a naturally Talented channeler, and will probably never get beyond level one of strength.
As a channeler moves through his or her channeling life, he/she is likely to discover an aptitude for certain uses of the One Power. The discovery of a Talent may be exhibited in many ways, such as:
- A new girl comes to the Tower because sick people around her seem to mysteriously recover. (Healing)
- A Soldier discovers that he can shield Aes Sedai when they try to stop him playing pranks. (Stretching Shields)
- A Dedicated is told he has strength in Earth, and starts training with an Earth-Singing Asha'man to develop his Talent. (Earth Singing)
- An Aes Sedai finds herself in Tel'aran'rhiod one night, without any prior experience of being taught to Dreamwalk, and without using a ter'angreal. (Dreamwalking)
- An Asha'man sits down with a book and reads about a Talent called Illusion. He tries the weaves himself, and discovers that it is the easiest thing he's ever learned. (Illusion)
So a Talent can manifest itself in many ways, at any stage of ones life, and due to any sort of circumstances. Usually, once one has discovered one has a Talent, ones ability in it will improve until one reach ones own potential, which may be any of the five divisions of strength. Although any new Novice can arrive with a little experience of Healing, for instance, she will not be able to control the ability or use it to her full potential until she has had time to study and practice it, by which time she will probably be Aes Sedai. As a result, the most senior channelers generally have more and stronger Talents than the newer members, as they have had more time to discover and improve their abilities, and are also stronger in the Power.
In the Tower, this is represented by different ranks having different allowances of Talents, organised in terms of the above five-point system of strength as follows:
| Rank |
Strength |
Example |
| Novice / Soldier |
4 |
Healing:
Cloud Dancing:
Dreamwalking: |
| Accepted / Dedicated |
6 |
Healing:
Cloud Dancing:
Dreamwalking: |
| Aes Sedai / Asha'man |
9 |
Healing:
Cloud Dancing:
Dreamwalking:
Traveling: |
| Sitter |
10 |
Healing:
Cloud Dancing:
Dreamwalking:
Traveling: |
| Ajah Head |
11 |
Healing:
Cloud Dancing:
Dreamwalking:
Traveling:
Illusion: |
Mistress of Novices /
Master of Soldiers /
Keeper of the Chronicles /
Keeper of the Archives |
12 |
Healing:
Cloud Dancing:
Dreamwalking:
Traveling:
Illusion: |
| Amyrlin / M'Hael |
13 |
Healing:
Cloud Dancing:
Dreamwalking:
Traveling:
Illusion: |
| Indigo Aes Sedai or Asha'man |
+1 |
Indigo members spend years studying talents, and as such get an extra point. |
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Note: Under the rules of the Ajah Benefit system, an Aes Sedai or Asha'man may trade two Benefit Points for one additional Talent Point in addition to any Talent Point increases earned in any other way. So, an Asha'man of the Indigo Ajah would have ten Talent Points because of his one additonal point gained through the Indigo Ajah. Should he exchange two Benefit Points for one Talent Point, he would then have eleven Talent Points, and if he was raised to the position of Sitter, twelve Talent Points.
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The examples shown in this table follow the progress of a fictional GT character called Therysa. This is a little IC story, completely made up, to explain how Talents develop in the Tower.
Therysa entered the Tower knowing nothing of the Power, and attended two classes, one on Healing and one on Cloud Dancing. She tried as hard as she could in the Cloud Dacing class, but had no inborn ability for the weaves. All she could manage was a small raincloud. In her Healing class, however, she found she had an affinity for the weaves, and her teachers realised she would be a strong Healer one day. One day, she also accidentally touched Tel'aran'rhiod, discovering that she also had a Talent for Dreaming, which could be developed as soon as she got over her fear of going to sleep....
Therysa was raised to Accepted, and chose to study Healing with the Yellow Ajah, increasing her strength in the Talent. She also went back to Tel'aran'rhiod with an Aes Sedai Dreamwalker, and improved her control there. The tutor tested her to see if she was also a Dreamer, but her dreams seemed nothing out of the ordinary, except that they touched the World of Dreams. Sadly, although she also strove to improve her ability at Cloud Dancing, she got nowhere.
She was raised to Aes Sedai, and developed enough strength in the Power to learn the Traveling weave. Again, she found she had a natural ability for it, and picked it up easily and quickly. She was so busy going out into the world and negotiating (she was Grey), that she had no time to work on her other Talents.
One of the Sitters for the Grey Ajah resigned, and she took up his position. Almost immediately, she was sent out on an important mission, and to cut a long story short, she ran into the Black Ajah and lost her Warder. She was overcome with regret that she hadn't developed her Healing Talent- if she had, she might have saved him. This drove her to study and practice and unlock the last door to her full ability in Healing, and she became a level four Healer, almost unheard of outside the Yellow Ajah.
As a result of her success in the mission, she was appointed Head of the Grey Ajah after the old Head resigned over the mess with the Black Ajah. She discovered a Talent for Illusion when she made a king believe she was ten feet taller in order to get him to sign a treaty.
It was decided that Therysa would make an excellent Mistress of Novices after the old one retired. She improved on her Talent with Illusion to frighten young Novices into obeying her so she wouldn't have to actually hurt them.
Finally, she was raised to the Amyrlin Seat after the old Amyrlin died. She perfected her ability with Illusion, and became one of the most widely Talented individuals in the Tower, as befits an Amyrlin Seat.
NB: If you reach a high position, and apply for lots of Talent points, like Therysa, then susequently resign/step down/are removed from your high position, you can retain the Talents you had, even if it results in having more points than would normally be allowed at your new, lower level. Former officials who have retired do not suddenly forget all they learned!
This is just one example of what you can do with Talents. Of course, it's perfectly possible for a Novice to use up all her four points on Healing, and be a high-level Healer before she has even been trained- like Nynaeve. Obviously, she could reach level 5 once she was raised. Equally possible is an Asha'man who has strength one in nine Talents- that might be how you want your character to be. It's entirely up to you! You might like to look at the Talents Listings to see what others have chosen to do with their Talents allowances. It's okay to try something unusual...like being strength 1 in eight different Talents, or something!
So What Do I Do?
Well, decide which Talents your character is interested in having, and then it is best, but not compulsory, to RP their discovery and development. This does not apply for the rare and very rare Talents! To apply for a rare Talent, a short fanfic should be submitted regarding your discovery or use of it, of about 400 words. For a very rare Talent, either a roleplay thread or a fanfic of at least 600 words must be submitted. The Talents Contact List provides a list of people who are willing to help with discovering and developing your Talents. Of course, you may have a Talent already on arriving at the Tower, a so-called Wilder trick.
Whether you RP it, already have it, or decide to just suddenly discover it, a new Talent must be formalised using the Talent Discovery Form.
- If your character is not listed yet on the Talents Listings, you should look at the two tables above, and work out how many points of strength you are allowed. You should then think about which Talents you want, and how strong you want to be in them. Once you have decided all that, simply fill in one form for each Talent, deciding how strong you are in it, and describing briefly how you discovered it. NB: If you wish to apply for Healing as a Talent, you must do so through the Yellow Ajah. Once the Yellows recognise your Healing ability, it will be added to the Talents Listings.
- If you are already listed, but have increased in rank, you are entitled to more or stronger Talents. Simply send an updated form for the Talent(s) you want to increase in strength in, or a form for any new Talent discovered.
- Please note that you can only increase in strength in a Talent- not decrease. Once you have sent a form, your Talent is added, and will not be removed or decreased in strength. Think carefully before using your points, about how you intend your character to develop in the future. Maybe leave yourself room in terms of points, in case you get an opportunity later to find a new Talent. ie: be careful about using up your maximum points straight away, especially if you're already an Aes Sedai/Asha'man with little room for 'growth'.
- If a form is sent which would take an individual beyond the maximum allowance for his rank, I will mail the sender and ask him/her to ammend it.
- Finally, make sure you make full use of your Talents in your RPs- they will really add depth and personality to your character, as well as providing good RP opportunities. Try not to use Talents you don't have in your RPs- it's more fun running to find another channeler to find help: I do so much running to find Yellows, it seems almost unfair!
If you have any questions about Talents, please mail Aric Cosamaru. Otherwise, go out and discover your Talents!
Back to the Indigo Ajah - Back to the Grey Tower
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