The theory is that Auri can use Greystones to travel and she does so in the SROST to visit the Mauthen farm. Comparing the Mauthen farm to the location she visits is covered How to get to Newarre and what she does there is covered in Warren Widdershins Ways and Woes.
Here we will just be discussing Greystones. First will quickly cover that Auri could use one to visit the Mauthen farm quickly (in mortal time), and then will discuss the larger topic of Greystones in general. If this seems backwards to you, then by all means do them in reverse.
Concisely, Auri would have taken the Greystone near the Omethi bridge, traveled through the Fae, and come out the waystone/door-post*1 around 2 miles north east of Trebon, near the Mauthen farm. Likely the journey took under an hour from when she leaves the Underthing tell when she ends up in the Mauthen Farm. I don't think we can figure out how much distance or time she had to cover in the Fae.
Auri would have taken the Greystone that Kvothe, Wil and Sim use as a place to sober up at, on there way back from Imre to the University, right before the bridge. MWF:36:272
Simmon and I muffled our laughter, and Wilem led us through the trees to a little clearing not fifty feet from the foot of the bridge. To my surprise a tall greystone stood at the middle of it, pointing skyward.
From there, she would travel through the Fae, where time moves slower, and come out at the Greystone Kvothe and Denna dramatically use to take shelter from the draccus. NOTW:74:569:
I grabbed hold of her arm and ran toward the opposite side of the hill. Denna kept up with me at first, then planted her feet when she saw where I was headed. “Don’t be stupid,” she hissed. “We’ll break our necks if we run down that in the dark.” She cast around wildly, then looked up at the nearby greystones. “Get me up there and I’ll haul you up after.”
Clever Pat even calls this chapter "Waystone". Coming out of this Greystone it would be a short trip for Auri to get the Mauthen farm. Which she describes as a Graveyrad in SROST.
Lets cover a similar example of using the Greystones for travel, when Kvothe visits Felurian and enters and leaves the Fae.
We have first hand experience that the Greystones are indeed used as gateways between the fae and the mortal realm. When Kvothe follows Felurian past one on his way into the Fae. WMF:99:633:
Felurian ahead of me. Into the scrub. I dimly remember trees, the smell of earth, the grey of moonlit stone. She laughs. She dodges, dances, pulls ahead.
Where they both make a bit of music, and at the very least 3 weeks later, he exists, in a different place:
She led me through the forest for hours until we came to a pair of tall greystones. She drew up the hood of my shaed and bid me close my eyes. Then she led me in a brief circle and I felt a subtle change in the air. When I opened my eyes I could tell this forest was not the same one I had been walking through a moment before. The strange tension in the air was gone. This was the mortal world.
I say at least 3 weeks, based on the changes in his beard that Dedan notes when they meet again. WMF:107:700:
Before I could say anything Dedan burst in. “What about his beard then? When he ran off three nights ago his face was smooth as a baby’s ass.”
Anything worthy of even remotely calling a "beard" would take 2 weeks, more typically 2-4 months. I suspect much Kvothe stayed much longer, but even this modest guess makes Auri's trip plausible.
We also have visual confirmation that Auri has visited the fae before:
Finally, I suspect the traveling via the way stones is why Auri is able to have surprisingly fresh lettuce:
The head of lettuce was surprisingly fresh, and I wondered where she had found it.
Thanks for reading!
The sections below are a work in progress.
I'm trying to map and categorize the Greystones.
Will use a table and some narrative to better our understanding of waystones. First we have to choose what to categorize:
Bast explaining:
“Most of the Fae don’t come to this world. They don’t like it. It rubs all rough against them, like wearing a burlap shirt. But when they do come, they like some places better than others. They like wild places. Secret places. Strange places. There are many types of fae, many courts and houses. And all of them are ruled according to their own desires …” Bast continued in a tone of soft conspiracy. “But something that appeals to all the fae are places with connections
to the raw, true things that shape the world. Places that are touched with fire and stone. Places that are close to water and air. When all four come together …”
So here is our table:
| Where | Standing/laying | High/low | Type | Rawness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newarre | Titled | Low | Greystone | TODO |
| Trope Stop | Standing | Level | TODO | TODO |
| Post Trope Death | Laying | Level | TODO | TODO |
For another take on waystones I suggest everything by mattytangle. Though, you should try your hand at it first before consulting his works
pictures are all property of world builders
“. . . a pair of matched stone monoliths with a third across the top,” Simmon read. “The locals refer to it as the door-post. While spring and summer pageants involve decorating and dancing around the stone, parents forbid their children from spending time near it when the moon is full. One wellrespected and otherwise reasonable old man claimed . . .” Sim broke off reading. “Whatever,” he said disgustedly and moved to close the book. “Claimed what?” Wilem asked, his curiosity piqued. Simmon rolled his eyes and continued reading, “Claimed at certain times men could pass through the stone door into the fair land where Felurian herself abides, loving and destroying men with her embrace.”
-- TWMF::292
Which is exactly the type of waystone we see at near the Mauthen Farm:
The only thing on the top of the hill was a handful of greystones. Three of the massive stones were stacked together to form a huge arch, like a massive doorway. The other two lay on their sides, as if lounging in the thick grass. I found their presence comforting, like the unexpected company of old friends.
-- NOTW
