Faile (fah-EEL): In the Old Tongue, means “falcon.” Name assumed by Zarine Bashere (zah-REEN bah-SHEER), a young woman from Saldaea.
Far Dareis Mai (FAHR DAH-rize MY): Literally “Maidens of the Spear.” An Aiel warrior society which, unlike any other, admits women and only women. A Maiden may not marry and remain in the society, nor may she fight while carrying a child. Any child born to a Maiden is given to another woman to raise, in such a way that no one knows the child’s mother. (“You may belong to no man, nor may any man belong to you, nor any child. The spear is your lover, your child, and your life.”) See also Aiel; Aiel warrior societies.
Five Powers, the: There are threads to the One Power, named according to the sorts of things that can be done using them—Earth, Air (sometimes called Wind), Fire, Water, and Spirit, which are called the Five Powers. A wielder of the Power will have a greater strength with one, or possibly two, of these, and lesser with the others. In the Age of Legends, Spirit was found equally in men and in women, but great ability with Earth and/or Fire occurred much more often among men, with Water and/or Air among women. Despite exceptions, it was so often so that Earth and Fire came to be regarded as male Powers, Air and Water as female.
Flame of Tar Valon: Symbol of Tar Valon, the Amyrlin Seat, and the Aes Sedai. A stylized representation of a flame; a white teardrop, point upwards.
Forsaken, the: Name given to thirteen of the most powerful Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends, thus among the most powerful ever known, who went over to the Dark One during the War of the Shadow in return for the promise of immortality. According to both legend and fragmentary records, they were imprisoned along with the Dark One when his prison was resealed. The names given to them are still used to frighten children. They were: Aginor (AGH-ih-nohr), Asmodean (ahs-MOH-DEE-AN), Balthamel (BAAL-thah-mell), Be’lal (BEH-lahl), Demandred (DEE-man-drehd), Graendal (GREHN-dahl), Ishamael (ih-SHAH-MAY-EHL), Lanfear (LAN-feer), Mesaana (meh-SAH-nah), Moghedien (moh-GHEH-dee-ehn), Rahvin (RAAV-ihn), Sammael (SAHM-may-EHL), and Semirhage (SEH-mih-RHAHG).
Gaidin (GYE-deen): Literally, “Brother to Battles.” A title used by Aes Sedai for the Warders. See also Warder.
Galad (gah-LAHD): See Damodred, Lord Galadedrid.
Game of Houses, the: Name given the scheming, plots, and manipulations for advantage by noble Houses. Great value is given to subtlety, to aiming at one thing while seeming to aim at another, and to achieving ends with the least visible effort. Also known as the Great Game, and sometimes by its name in the Old Tongue: Daes Dae’mar (DAH-ess day-MAR).
Gaul (GAHWL): A man of the Imran sept of the Shaarad Aiel, who have blood feud with the Goshien. A Stone Dog.
Gawyn (GAH-wihn) of House Trakand (trah-KAND): Queen Morgase’s son, and Elayne’s brother, who will be First Prince of the Sword when Elayne ascends to the throne. His sign is a white boar.
Gelb, Floran (GEHLB, FLOHR-an): A former sailor with reasons to avoid Bayle Domon.
gentling: The act, performed by Aes Sedai, of shutting off a male who can channel from the One Power. Necessary because any man who channels will go insane from the taint on saidin and almost certainly do horrible things with the Power in his madness. One who has been gentled can still sense the True Source, but cannot touch it. Whatever madness has come before gentling is arrested but not cured, and if it is done soon enough death can be averted. See also One Power, the; stilling.
gleeman: A traveling storyteller, musician, juggler, tumbler, and all-around entertainer. Known by trademark cloaks of many-colored patches, gleemen perform mainly in the villages and smaller towns.
Gray Man: One who has voluntarily surrendered his or her soul in order to become an assassin serving the Shadow. Gray Men are so ordinary in appearance that the eye can slide right past without noticing them. The vast majority of Gray Men are indeed men, but a small number are women. Also called the Soulless.
Great Blight, the: A region in the far north, entirely corrupted by the Dark One. A haunt of Trollocs, Myrddraal, and other creatures of the Shadow.
Great Hunt of the Horn, The: A cycle of stories concerning the legendary search for the Horn of Valere, in the years between the end of the Trolloc Wars and the beginning of the War of the Hundred Years. If told in its entirety, the cycle would take many days. See also Horn of Valere.
Great Lord of the Dark: The name by which Darkfriends refer to the Dark One, claiming that to speak his true name would be blasphemous.
Great Serpent: A symbol for time and eternity, ancient before the Age of Legends began, consisting of a serpent eating its own tail. A ring in the shape of the Great Serpent is awarded to women who have been raised to the Accepted among the Aes Sedai.
hide: A unit of area for measuring land, equal to 100 paces by 100 paces.
High Lords of Tear: Acting as a council, the High Lords are historically the rulers of the nation of Tear, which has neither king nor queen. Their numbers are not fixed, and have varied from as many as twenty to as few as six. Not to be confused with the Lords of the Land, who are lesser Tairen lords.
Horn of Valere (vah-LEER): Legendary object of the Great Hunt of the Horn. Supposedly can call back dead heroes from the grave to fight against the Shadow. A new Hunt of the Horn has been called, and oaths have been administered to the Hunters in Illian.
Hundred Companions, the: One hundred male Aes Sedai, among the most powerful of the Age of Legends, who, led by Lews Therin Telamon, launched the final stroke that ended the War of the Shadow by sealing the Dark One back into his prison. The Dark One’s counterstroke tainted saidin; the Hundred Companions went mad and began the Breaking of the World. See also Time of Madness; Breaking of the World, the; True Source; One Power, the.
Illian (IHL-lee-an): A great port on the Sea of Storms, capital city of the nation of the same name.
Isendre (ih-SEHN-dreh): A beautiful and mysterious woman traveling in the Aiel Waste.
Kadere, Hadnan (kah-DEER, HAHD-nahn): A peddler traveling the Aiel Waste. A man with knowledge to sell, if he can find the right price.
kaf (KAAF): A Seanchan drink, brewed black and drunk steaming hot, sometimes sweetened but often not. A stimulating beverage.
Keille Shaogi: See Shaogi, Keille.
Lan (LAN); al’Lan Mandragoran (AHL-LAN man-DRAG-or-an): A Warder, bonded to Moiraine. Uncrowned King of Malkier, Dai Shan (Battle Lord), and the last surviving Malkieri lord. See also Warder; Moiraine; Malkier.
Lanfear (LAN-fear): In the Old Tongue: “Daughter of the Night.” One of the Forsaken, perhaps the most powerful next to Ishamael. Unlike the others, she chose this name herself. Said to have loved Lews Therin Telamon, and to have hated his wife, Ilyena. See also Forsaken, the; Dragon, the.
Laras (LAH-rahs): Mistress of the Kitchens in the White Tower, the center of Aes Sedai power, in Tar Valon. A woman of surprising knowledge and shocking past.
league: See length, units of.
Leane (lee-AHN-eh): An Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah. Keeper of the Chronicles. See also Ajah; Chronicles, Keeper of the.
length, units of: 10 inches = 1 foot; 3 feet = 1 pace; 2 paces = 1 span; 1000 spans = 1 mile; 4 miles = 1 league.
Lews Therin Telamon; Lews Therin Kinslayer: See Dragon, the.
Liandrin (lee-AHN-drihn): An Aes Sedai formerly of the Red Ajah, from Tarabon. Now known to be of the Black Ajah.
Lini (LIHN-nee): Childhood nurse to the Lady Elayne, and before her to Elayne’s mother, Morgase.
Logain (loh-GAIN): A man who once claimed to be the Dragon Reborn, now gentled and imprisoned in the White Tower in Tar Valon.
Loial (LOY-ahl) son of Arent (AH-rehnt) son of Halan (HAY-lahn): An Ogier from Stedding Shangtai. Would-be author of a book about the Dragon Reborn.
Luhhan, Haral (LOOH-hahn, HAH-rahl): Blacksmith of the Two Rivers, and member of the Village Council of Emond’s Field. His wife Alsbet (AHLS-beht) is a member of the Women’s Circle.
Malkier (mahl-KEER): A nation, once one of the Borderlands, now consumed by the Blight. T
he sign of Malkier was a golden crane in flight.
Manetheren (mahn-EHTH-ehr-ehn): One of the Ten Nations that made the Second Covenant. Also the capital city of that nation. Both city and nation were utterly destroyed in the Trolloc Wars. See also Trolloc Wars.
Mayene (may-EHN): City-state on the Sea of Storms, hemmed in and historically oppressed by Tear. Derives its wealth and its independence from knowledge of where to find the oilfish shoals, which rival in economic importance the olive groves of Tear, Illian, and Tarabon. Oilfish and olives provide nearly all lamp oil. The ruler of Mayene is styled “the First”; Firsts claim to be descendants of Artur Hawkwing. The banner of Mayene is a golden hawk in flight on a field of blue.
Melaine (meh-LAYN): A Wise One of the Jhirad sept of Goshien Aiel. A dreamwalker.
Merrilin, Thom (MER-rih-lihn, TOM): A not-so-simple gleeman.
mile: See length, units of.
Min (MIN): A young woman with the ability to read things about people in the auras and images she sometimes sees surrounding them.
Moiraine (mwah-RAIN): An Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah. Born in House Damodred, though not in line of succession to the throne, and raised in the Royal Palace in Cairhien.
Morgase (moor-GAYZ): By the Grace of the Light, Queen of Andor, Defender of the Realm, Protector of the People, High Seat of House Trakand. Her sign is three golden keys. The sign of House Trakand is a silver keystone.
Myrddraal (MUHRD-draal): Creatures of the Dark One, commanders of the Trollocs. Twisted offspring of Trollocs in which the human stock used to create the Trollocs has resurfaced, but tainted by the evil that made the Trollocs. They have no eyes, but can see like eagles in light or dark. They have certain powers stemming from the Dark One, including the ability to cause paralyzing fear with a look, and to vanish wherever there are shadows. Among known weaknesses is that they are reluctant to cross running water. In different lands they are known by many names, among them Halfman, the Eyeless, Shadowman, Lurk, Fetch, and Fade.
Natael, Jasin (nah-TAYL, JAY-sihn): A gleeman traveling the Aiel Waste.
Niall, Pedron (NEYE-awl, PAY-drohn): Lord Captain Commander of the Children of the Light. See also Children of the Light.
Oaths, Three: The oaths taken by an Accepted on being raised to Aes Sedai. Spoken while holding the Oath Rod, a ter’angreal that makes oaths binding. They are: (1) To speak no word that is not true. (2) To make no weapon with which one man may kill another. (3) Never to use the One Power as a weapon except against Shadowspawn, or in the last extreme of defense of her own life, or that of her Warder or another Aes Sedai. The second oath was the first adopted, in reaction to the War of the Shadow. The first oath, while held to the letter, is often circumvented by careful speaking. It is believed that the last two are inviolable.
Ogier (OH-gehr): (1) A non-human race, characterized by great height (ten feet is average for adult males), broad, almost snout-like noses, and long, tufted ears. They live in areas called stedding. Their separation from these stedding after the Breaking of the World (a time called the Exile by Ogier) resulted in what is called the Longing; an Ogier who is too long out of the stedding sickens and dies. They rarely leave their stedding and typically have little contact with humankind. Knowledge of them among humans is sparse, and many believe Ogier to be only legends. Although thought to be a pacific people and extremely slow to anger, some old stories say they fought alongside humans in the Trolloc Wars, and call them implacable enemies. By and large, they are extremely fond of knowledge, and their books and stories often contain information lost to humans. A typical Ogier life-span is at least three to four times that of a human. (2) Any individual of that non-human race. See also Breaking of the World, the; stedding.
Old Tongue: The language spoken during the Age of Legends. It is generally expected that nobles and the educated will have learned to speak it, but most know only a few words. Translation is often difficult, as it is a language capable of many subtly different meanings.
One Power, the: The power drawn from the True Source. The vast majority of people are completely unable to learn to channel the One Power. A very small number can be taught to channel, and an even tinier number have the ability inborn. These few have no need to be taught; they will channel whether they want to or not, often without even realizing what they are doing. This inborn ability usually manifests itself in late adolescence or early adulthood. If control is not taught, or self-learned (extremely difficult, with a success rate of only one in four), death is certain. Since the Time of Madness, no man has been able to channel the Power without eventually going completely, horribly mad, and then, even if he has learned some control, dying from a wasting sickness that causes the sufferer to rot alive, a sickness caused, as is the madness, by the Dark One’s taint on saidin. See also Aes Sedai; channel; Five Powers, the; Time of Madness; True Source.
Ordeith (OHR-deeth): In the Old Tongue, “Wormwood.” Name taken by a man who advises Pedron Niall.
Pattern of an Age: The Wheel of Time weaves the threads of human lives into the Pattern of an Age, often called simply the Pattern, which forms the substance of reality for that Age. See also ta’veren.
Questioners, the: An order within the Children of the Light. Avowed purposes are to discover the truth in disputations and uncover Darkfriends. In the search for truth and the Light, their normal method of inquiry is torture; their normal manner that they know the truth already and must only make their victim confess to it. Refer to themselves as the Hand of the Light, the Hand that digs out truth, and at times act as if they were entirely separate from the Children and the Council of the Anointed, which commands the Children. The head of the Questioners is the High Inquisitor, who sits on the Council of the Anointed. Their sign is a blood-red shepherd’s crook.
Rendra (REHN-drah): A woman of Tarabon. Innkeeper of the Three Plums Court, in Tanchico.
Rhuarc (RHOURK): An Aiel, clan chief of the Taardad Aiel.
Rhuidean (RHUY-dee-ahn): A place in the Aiel Waste to which must go any man wanting to be a clan chief and any woman wanting to be a Wise One. Men may enter only once, women twice. Only one man in three survives his journey to Rhuidean. The survival rate for women is considerably higher for both visits. Its location is a secret closely guarded by the Aiel. The prescribed penalty for a non-Aiel entering the valley of Rhuidean is death, though some who are favored (such as peddlers or gleemen) might simply be stripped naked, given water-skins, and allowed to attempt to walk out of the Waste.
sa’angreal (SAH-ahn-GREE-ahl): Remnants of the Age of Legends that allow channeling much more of the One Power than would otherwise be possible or safe. A sa’angreal is similar to, but more powerful than, an angreal. The amount of the Power that can be wielded with a sa’angreal compares to the amount that can be handled with an angreal as the Power wielded with the aid of an angreal does to the amount that can be handled unaided. The making of them is no longer known. As with angreal, there are male and female sa’angreal. Only a handful remain, far fewer even than angreal.
sa’sara (sah-SAHR-rah): An indecent Saldaean dance, outlawed by a number of Saldaean queens, but to no avail. Saldaean history records three wars, two rebellions, and countless unions and/or feuds between noble houses, as well as innumerable duels, sparked by women dancing the sa’sara. One rebellion was supposedly quelled when a defeated queen danced it for the victorious general; he married her and restored her throne. This tale is not found in any official history and has been denied by every queen of Saldaea.
saidar( sah-ih-DAHR); saidin( sah-ih-DEEN): See True Source.
Sandar, Juilin (sahn-DAHR, JUY-lihn): A thief-catcher from Tear.
Sea Folk: More properly, the Atha’an Miere, the People of the Sea. A secretive people. Inhabitants of islands in the Aryth (AH-rihth) Ocean and the Sea of Storms, they spend little time ashore, living most of their lives on their ships. Most seaborne trade is carried by Sea Folk ships.
Seana (see-AHN-ah): A Wise One of the Black Cliffs sept of the Nakai
Aiel. A dreamwalker.
Seanchan (SHAWN-CHAN): (1) Descendants of the armies Artur Hawkwing sent across the Aryth Ocean, who conquered the lands there. They believe that any woman who can channel must be controlled for the safety of everyone else, and any man who can channel must be killed for the same reason. (2) The land from which the Seanchan come.
Seekers for Truth: A police/spy organization of the Seanchan Imperial Throne. Although most are property of the Imperial family, they have wide powers. Even one of the Blood (a Seanchan noble) can be arrested for failure to answer any question put by a Seeker, or for failure to cooperate fully with a Seeker, this last defined by the Seekers themselves, subject only to review by the Empress.
Servants, Hall of the: In the Age of Legends, the great meeting hall of the Aes Sedai.
Sevanna (seh-VAHN-nah): A woman of the Jumai sept of the Shaido Aiel. Widow of Suladric (soo-LAH-dric), who was clan chief of the Shaido, and thus roofmistress of Comarda Hold until a new clan chief is chosen.
Shaogi, Keille (shah-OH-ghe, KEYEL-lee): A peddler traveling the Aiel Waste. A woman with plans even larger than she is.
Shayol Ghul (SHAY-ol GHOOL): A mountain in the Blasted Lands, the site of the Dark One’s prison.
Siuan Sanche (SWAHN SAHN-chay): Daughter of a Tairen fisherman, she was, according to Tairen law, put on a ship to Tar Valon before the second sunset after discovery that she had the potential to channel. Formerly of the Blue Ajah.
Soulless: See Gray Man.
span: See length, units of.
Spine of the World, the: A towering mountain range, with few passes, which separates the Aiel Waste from the lands to the west.
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