Verin Mathwin is a fictional character in The Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels by Robert Jordan.
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Verin is an Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah. Verin has grayed hair and is considered to be one of the oldest Aes Sedai alive; likely over 200 years old. Like all members of the Brown Ajah, she devotes herself to knowledge and the pursuit of it; as a result, she has a tendency to go on fruitless tangents in dire conversations, and appear lost in thought at inopportune moments. Unlike other Brown sisters, however, she may only appear to be in these reveries to disguise her intentions, as she is at times very sharp and insightful, a trait very uncommon among true Browns. Moiraine Damodred remembers her particularly fondly from her days as a Novice and Accepted as Verin used to have the cooks leave sweets out for her and Siuan Sanche. Verin also told Morgase Trakand that there was no real need for her to remain in the Tower as she would never be able to do much with her limited talent even with teaching. Her rooms in the Brown Ajahs quarters are located next to a tapestry of two Kings who lived before Artur Hawkwing. Her rooms are full of books, scrolls, maps and skulls. There is also a Brown Owl that sits on a skull that is kept to keep the mice down as they chew paper. She elects plain garb, shying away from the finer silks and fabrics the other sisters prefer. She almost always keeps a writing case on her belt in order to jot down notes on certain goings-on when she feels it is important. Her notes take up many cupboards and chests in her room in the Tower. The notebooks are written in a cipher to prevent anyone reading what she is really writing about; she recently recorded this cipher and passed it on on with a collection of her notes so that her work would not be lost at her death. Her skills in the power can be counted as average: her Healing skill is no more than normal, and her skill with Earth is quite feeble; she has, however, discovered a weak form of Compulsion, similar to the form Liandrin of the Black Ajah uses. This was purely an exercise in curiosity at first and was done by piecing together fragments of wilders tricks to get people to do as they wished. In The Gathering Storm, we learn that Verin is actually a member of the Black Ajah; however, she had only joined to prevent her own death. She later made the decision to study the Ajah in order to eventually betray them to the Light. Using a loophole in her oaths to the Dark One, Verin poisons herself and then reveals all of her secrets to Egwene al'Vere as she is about to die.
Verin was born in Far Madding. She had a fiancé Eadwin before she was exiled for being able to channel the One Power. She went to Tar Valon where she spent 5 years as a novice and 6 years as Accepted before being raised to the shawl and joining the Brown Ajah. She has traveled extensively, even going as far as Falme to look at a Portal Stone[1] and perhaps even spent a month in Cairhien trying to find the source of Hurin's powers to smell violence and bloodshed. She also at one point found a twisted ring ter'angreal hidden by the Tower's last Dreamer and used it to enter Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams, where she received a physical scar that Anaiya was unable to heal fully.[2] Her warder in recent years is Tomas.
She was one of the 14 Aes Sedai who accompanied Siuan Sanche to Fal Dara. While there in a meeting with Moiraine and Siuan she correctly deduces that one of the three ta'veren must be the Dragon Reborn, causing Siuan and Moiraine to briefly consider killing her before bringing her into a level of trust.[3] After an assault by Shadowspawn on Fal Dara, by which the precious Horn of Valere was stolen, she elects to follow the three ta'veren in their attempts to recover the stolen Horn, rather than return to Tar Valon.[4] It was during this time that she then appears to Perrin, Mat, and Ingtar and states that "Moiraine Sedai sent me". Since later, Moiraine denies sending her, it indicates that Verin may have lied. In their travels she offers Rand a hint at how to activate the Portal Stones, but accidentally results in him propelling the entire party into a series of painful visions about the alternate lives they could have lived.[1] Upon reaching the cape town of Falme, she sends Rand, with Mat, Perrin, Ingtar and Hurin to recover the Horn as well as Mat's dagger, which incidentally fulfills an aspect of the Karaethon Cycle.[5] She returns to Tar Valon with Elayne, Egwene, Nynaeve and Mat. She is the only person other than Siuan to know where Siuan hid the Horn of Valere in the White Tower.[6] Along with 9 other Aes Sedai, as well as a powerful sa'angreal, she helps sever Mat's connection to a tainted dagger from Shadar Logoth.[7] In the meeting with Siuan she had hinted at letting him die so he would no longer be linked to the Horn and some other person could blow it for the Tower. She also knows of Egwene and Nynaeve's search for the Black Ajah. Later she gives Egwene a twisted stone ring ter'angreal used for Dreaming talent. She also fails to give Egwene some notes that could be important to her talent or her search for the Black Ajah.[2]
She later turns up in the Two Rivers with Alanna Mosvani where the two discover many girls with the potential to channel, including one of Mat Cauthon's sisters. In the Two Rivers she helps Perrin fight an immense horde of Shadowspawn that are assaulting Emond's Field. While helping Perrin in his fight she makes notes on the effects that Perrin has through his being ta'veren. During her time in the Two Rivers Verin shows an interest in the hammer that Perrin is carrying with him unlike the last time they met.[8] Just before the final battle with the Trollocs, she wonders when he will forsake the axe for the hammer.[9] One of the Prophecies in the Karaethon Cycle says, "When the Wolf King carries the hammer, thus are the final days known."[10] This makes her understanding of the Prophecies, as well as Perrin's nature very evident and potent as she has deduced something that perhaps only Moiraine may have. She is very interested in the three ta'veren, expressing a desire to split into three just so she could tail all of them, even going as far as to say she would marry one or all of them in order to stay by their side.[9]
Verin sides with the rebelling faction of Aes Sedai centered in Salidar after reaching Caemlyn.[11] She attempts to manipulate other Aes Sedai into confronting Rand and they decide to follow him to Cairhien after they receive a letter from him.[12] On their journey they meet up with Perrin[13] who is leading an army to rescue Rand from the White Tower. Verin takes part in the Battle of Dumai's Wells and she is forced to swear an oath to Rand after the successful outcome of the battle.[14] She then sets about helping Rand by using a weak form of Compulsion on some of the Tower Aes Sedai who had kidnapped him so that they will serve Rand up till the Tarmon Gai'don.[15] She joined the group of sisters who follow Rand; these sisters are led by Cadsuane. Verin was also ready to poison Cadsuane in Far Madding when she thought that Cadsuane would harm Rand.[16] She takes part in the fight at Shadar Logoth when Rand removes the taint on Saidin. During this battle she, while linked with Kumira Sedai and the Windfinder Shalon, encounters the Forsaken Graendal who they are able to fend off, but in exchange for Kumira's life.[17] During Knife of Dreams Verin suddenly leaves Rand, leaving him a letter saying he could trust Cadsuane but no other Aes Sedai no matter what oaths they have sworn to him.[18]
While Egwene is held by the Tower Aes Sedai, Verin sneaks into her room and reveals that she is Black Ajah. She drinks a tea laced with poison and tells Egwene her oaths to the Great Lord bind her until the "hour of her death." Since she is now dying from the poison, she is free of her oaths and tells Egwene she joined the Black in order save her own life, and decided to study them from the inside and learn their ways. She gives Egwene the materials from her years of study, including lists of names revealing many of the Black Ajah. She dies in Egwene's room and her body is later removed by Travelling to conceal her death from the Tower.
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