So... How do they know about Cuendillar?

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We heard in the series that Cuendillar is not only indestructable, but that it's believed that things meant to hurt it make it stronger... My question is how do they know that? If it's indestructable, how do they know if it got stronger or not, since they have nothing that destroyed it and now doesn't... Can they use one Cuendillar object to test another? I doubt anyone would do that since they're so rare and expensive, so how would they know?
 
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I'm assuming they are referring to using the one power on cuendillar. If you were channeling into it, I would imagine you would feel the push-back and the strain of directing more into it.
 
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Well considering that the weaves have been rediscovered, I think their value may go down. So, the answers to some of your questions may never be known, unless explained New Spring. :look:
 
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I'm assuming they are referring to using the one power on cuendillar. If you were channeling into it, I would imagine you would feel the push-back and the strain of directing more into it.

Was this ever described in the books? I thought the weaves would simply do nothing, I don't think there's a pushback of sorts...
 
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Honestly, I don't remember if he described it. I'm just combining imagination with logic lol.

Ooh I had an interesting idea. Cuendillar Battle Armor :evil
 
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Cuendillar armor is certainly possible, although tricky.

You have to make each part separately and then lash them together usually.

Anything touching each other fuses together so you have to be quite clever with it, but most armor is possible depending on how you go about it.

Platemail, scalemail, full plate suit, helms or shields should all work pretty well, chainmail wouldn't be worth the effort involving holding the rings apart while changing each ring individually. Bleh to that.
 
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Wow Cuendillar shield could stop Balefire, right? Would have made sense to have those in the armories.
 
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How much does Cuendillar weigh? Or does size define the weight? It would be nice if it was lighter than steel which would make the armor less cumbersome.
 
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Should be reasonably similar to the iron its made from I assume, and it can be made thinner too, so it should theoretically be lighter than than an equivalent steel armor.

The interesting thing to me, is how does cuendillar react when struck, and unfortunately there is precious little evidence on this, if say you had a cuendillar helmet and you bashed someone wearing it would the cuendillar transmit the concussive force through to the wearer, or would it absorb the force into itself?

I mean we know quoted for it to "absorb any force attempting to break it, including the One Power"

There's a lot of different ways that could play out, be worth experimenting on if you had a decent source of iron.
 
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Do you necessarily need a metal skeleton to make cuendillar? What if the armor pieces were made from something else that's lighter, and possibly thinner? That's what I would want to test. The Salidar AS were making stuff into cuendillar with the objects sitting on a table. That implies that cloth pieces of clothing could be formed to a person's physique and transformed without harming the person.
 
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At this point the only material capable of being transformed by Egwene's weave is iron specifically.

Now I hesitate to rule out the possibility of using another base source with a different weave as there's always the "you never know" factor with new weaves and so on.


So I'll just say under currently observed situations, the only currently producible cuendillar needs a iron start point.
 
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As far as I can tell its not explained anywhere, its seems to be informed knowledge that the One Power (even balefire) reinforces the cuendillar.

Moiraine just kind of plonks the info out there


"Cuendillar," Moiraine said. "Heartstone. No one has been able to make it since the Age of Legends, and even then it was made only for the greatest purpose. Once made, nothing can break it. Not the One Power itself wielded by the greatest Aes Sedai who ever lived aided by the most powerful sa'angreal ever made. Any power directed against heartstone only makes it stronger."

Possibly some kind of knowledge kept inside the tower perhaps, but it doesn't seem to be explicit anywhere that I can find.

Certainly RJ seems to respond that it is indeed the case when asked about Cuendillar at various points, although he never did talk much about it other than RAFO's.

The interesting thing is the AoL Aes Sedai seem to restrict its usage. Guess they didn't want landfill filling up with bits of old heartstone rubbish that had gone out of fashion.
 
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Guess they didn't want landfill filling up with bits of old heartstone rubbish that had gone out of fashion.

That's exactly what I was thinking. In a world where time is circular, Cuendillar seems to be the only exception. Since it cannot be destroyed, it basically just stays there turning after turning. This makes things interesting, since the exact same objects can be used time and time again as the wheel turns.
 

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I have to agree with Axis: the Aes sedai must have had information on Cuendillar in the Tower. The Aes sedai have been studying Cuendillar because of its connection with Prophesy. They would have found every scrap of information that mentioned the sword.
 
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The only connection to prophesy for cuendillar that jumps to mind are the seals.
 
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It wouldn't seem that it is no.

The description is all wrong for a start

Callandor sat undisturbed, a sword seemingly of glass, hilt and blade,

not really the milky white of cuendillar.

Not that we know what Callandor is actually made of, could be something similar I guess.
 
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