The Wheel of Time Companion

by Robert Jordan

  Dapple. A wolf who was the leader of a pack. She was close to black, with a lighter gray patch on her face, and was more willing to help humans than some of her pack. She was traveling with Elyas when Perrin and Egwene first met him, and traveled with the three until their encounter with the Whitecloaks. After Perrin was captured, Dapple let him know that help was coming and that Elyas was alive, though wounded.

  Dar. A gate guard in Baerlon who was involved in letting Moiraine and her party out of Baerlon at night. When they started to leave, a Watchman who agreed to let them out called Arin and Dar to get out there and help him open the gate.

  Dara. A cook’s helper in the Stone of Tear whom Mat found just plump enough.

  dara lily. A night-blooming lily from the Age of Legends.

  darath. An animal from the Age of Legends. The darath was a dangerous creature in molt.

  Darbinda. A name given to Min by Tuon; it was Old Tongue for “girl of pictures.”

  Darea Candwin. One of the girls from the Two Rivers with the spark who were being taken to Tar Valon by Verin and Alanna, whom Rand saw (and terrified) at Culain’s Hound in Caemlyn. Darea was about fifteen, and the granddaughter of Eward, the cooper. She later joined the rebels in Salidar.

  Darein. A village on the west bank of the Alindrelle Erinin, lying at the foot of the west bridge out of Tar Valon. A small, historic village, with small, red and brown brick houses and shops and stone-paved streets, Darein was burned during the Trolloc Wars, sacked by Artur Hawkwing, looted during the Hundred Years War and burned again during the Aiel War. Each time it was rebuilt. Verin, Egwene, Elayne, Nynaeve, Hurin and Mat were stopped there briefly by soldiers at a checkpoint on their way into Tar Valon. Later, negotiations between rebel and Tower Aes Sedai were held there at a table under a pavilion at the foot of the bridge.

  Darelos den Turamon, Argirin. An Illianer nobleman who was a member of the Council of Nine.

  Darengil. A Cairhienin noble family. See Selande and Arimon Darengil

  Darenhold, Innina. See Innina Darenhold

  Daria Gahand. The author of Essays on Reason, a book studied by Min.

  Daricain Annallin. Nobleman of House Annallin, of Cairhien. His con was covered in small red and black squares. He was pale and slender with a long nose, a narrow face and the front of his head shaved. He escaped Cairhien, went to Rand in Eianrod and rode back to Cairhien with a message. He later joined the Band of the Red Hand, and he commanded the Sixth Banner of Horse, his title becoming Lieutenant Lord. His father Dalthanes, the head of his small House, was one of those who met with Colavaere.

  Darin. A man of the Moshaine sept of the Shaido Aiel and the Shae’en M’taal society. He was the son of Maeric, the chief of the sept. Darin was left behind in Kinslayer’s Dagger with the other Stone Dogs who were forming the rear guard when the sept used Sammael’s nar’baha to create gateways.

  Darith. A king in a story about a fallen House.

  Dark, Heart of the. Another name for the Dark One.

  Dark Hunt. Another name for the Wild Hunt.

  Dark Lord of the Grave. A historical Aiel name for Dark One.

  Dark One. The force of evil, imprisoned by his antithesis, the Creator, outside of time and creation, but whose influence reached the world when researchers drilled the Bore, and whose subsequent followers attempted to release him from his prison. He was also known as Bringer of Gales, Caisen Hob, Dark Lord of the Grave, Father of Lies, Father of Storm(s), Grassburner, Great Lord of the Dark, Heart of the Dark, Heartsbane, Heartfang, Leafblighter, Lighteater, Lord of the Grave, Lord of the Twilight, Old Grim, Old Hob, Shadow, Shai’tan, Shepherd of the Night, Sightblinder, Sightburner, Soulblinder, Soulsbane and Stormbringer.

  Dark One’s Eyes, the. A throw of five aces in a dice game.

  Darkfriends. Nonchanneling humans who pledged themselves to the Dark One. Darkfriends could be found anywhere, and most were organized in cells. There were a few independents who were not connected with one of the cells, or perhaps were not accepted because of indiscretions or other concerns. There was no one overall command structure, though with the reappearance of the Forsaken certain Darkfriends were raised up. By and large, though, Darkfriends existed in self-contained organizations which might have numbered several hundred or several thousand, each with its own internal structure and hierarchy. There was a fiction that they were all one, but it was a fiction. These groups long contended against one another in various ways, with one group sometimes gaining ascendancy over another then losing it in yet another struggle, perhaps with a third group.

  Most groups were not really known to one another, save through identification signs and symbols by which Darkfriends from various groups could recognize one another and display their rank. If someone displayed signals showing themselves to be of a higher rank than you, supposedly you were required to obey them even if they were of another organization. In truth, the cell-organization of each group made it possible to know that a stranger really was from your group; unless he or she was a member of your own cell, allegiance was a mystery. A king had to obey a beggar and a queen a groom, if the proper signals were displayed. Even an Aes Sedai was included in this, though in truth, any Darkfriend would be more comfortable giving his recognition signs to a king or queen than an Aes Sedai. Supposedly only other Darkfriends knew the signs, but it was widely believed among Darkfriends that some Aes Sedai who were not Black had learned some of them.

  The heads of the various groups were considered of equal rank, as were any officers or officials within each, a matter which grated on the Black sisters, and especially on the Supreme Council. There were rarely meetings of these top-ranking Darkfriends, but when there was one, any joint decisions were reached by voting, with each casting between one and five votes depending on the supposed size and strength—not necessarily the same thing—of his or her group. Of course, these meetings were held with nearly everyone masked, hooded or disguised.

  After the Breaking of the World, Black sisters (or the various groups that existed then, since there was no Black Ajah per se) certainly took the lead among Darkfriends, and if there was no real command structure, they provided the nearest equivalent. In fact, over the centuries they made numerous efforts to make their actual command an acknowledged reality. Some of these attempts came close, but all failed; the other groups fought back fiercely, and they were even more hidden than the Black Ajah—an Aes Sedai’s face marked her as potentially one of the Black, but nothing marked out other Darkfriends. A good many sisters died from poison or a knife in the back. The last such attempt, several centuries before the Last Battle, ended badly, and in humiliating fashion, for the Black Ajah. For all of their command of the One Power, they found themselves forced into a position where they had to sue for peace and accept what they considered degrading terms. At a meeting of the top-ranking Darkfriends, the Black representatives (members of the then Supreme Council; they would not have trusted anyone else, though afterward, they may have wished they had) were forced to acknowledge that the Black Ajah was only equal to the other groups, to forswear any further attempts to seize control, and to renounce more than a single vote at any further meetings. This last reduced the Black to an equal status with the smallest and the weakest of the major organized groups. The Black Ajah did not, of course, in truth give over their belief in their own supremacy by right, but they were unable to effect any real claim to it.

  It was considered an honor for a Darkfriend to be contacted by a Fade. A higher honor was to be summoned to Shayol Ghul, even if this did not involve being taken to the Pit of Doom, to the very presence of the Dark One, as it were. The highest honor for a Darkfriend, short of being granted immortality, was to be allowed to speak to, or more properly to be spoken to, by the Dark One himself. With the reemergence of the Chosen, an ancient honor came again, that of being contacted by one of the Chosen in person. This was accounted only a step below speaking to the Dark One, and equal to or perhaps above a visit to Shayol Ghul.

&nbs
p; The Darkfriend Creed: “The Great Lord of the Dark is my Master, and most heartily do I serve him to the last shred of my very soul. Lo, my Master is death’s Master. Asking nothing do I serve against the Day of his coming, yet do I serve in the sure and certain hope of life everlasting. Surely the faithful shall be exalted in the land, exalted above the unbelievers; exalted above thrones, yet do I serve humbly against the Day of his Return. Swift come the Day of Return. Swift come the Great Lord of the Dark to guide us and rule the world forever and ever.”

  Darkhounds. Shadowspawn created from lupine stock corrupted by the Dark One. While they resembled hounds in their basic shape, they were blacker than night and the size of ponies, weighing several hundred pounds each. They usually ran in packs of ten or twelve, although the tracks of a larger pack were once sighted. They made no mark on soft ground, but left prints in stone, and were frequently accompanied by the smell of burned sulfur. They would not usually venture out into the rain, but once they were on the trail rain failed to stop them. Once they were on the trail, they had to be confronted and defeated or the victim’s death was inevitable. The only exception to this was when the victim could reach the other side of a river or stream, since Darkhounds would not cross flowing water, or so it was believed. Their blood and saliva were poison, and if either touched the skin, the victim would die slowly and in great pain. Darkhounds were known to wolves as Shadowbrothers. A hundred wolves could die trying to kill one Shadowbrother; if they failed, the Darkhound could eat the souls of those that were not quite dead and create more Darkhounds.

  Darksbane, Raolin. See Raolin Darksbane

  Darkwood. See Paerish Swar

  Darl Coplin. An Emond’s Field farmer, and a troublemaker. His brother was Hari; Darl was larger, but both had weasel-like faces and tight mouths. After the Winternight Trolloc attack, Darl was among those who confronted Moiraine. Bran thought that Darl had scrawled a Dragonfang on his door. Darl accompanied Luc to tell the Whitecloaks that they were not welcome in Emond’s Field and was part of the group that tried to fight off a group of Trollocs that turned out to be Tinkers seeking shelter. Darl participated in the defense of Emond’s Field and later joined Perrin’s army.

  Darlin Sisnera. A High Lord of Tear. He was about six feet tall, with short-cropped dark hair, blue eyes and an overlarge nose. He had a certain feeling toward the Lady Caraline Damodred, and Min saw that he would marry her, but not until after she led him a merry chase. He tried to rouse opposition to Rand in the countryside after the fall of the Stone and began an outright rebellion, gathering strength in Haddon Mirk. He went to Cairhien to meet with the rebel forces there. When Rand was visiting the rebel camp, a fog appeared and started killing people; Darlin and Caraline tried to escape it with Rand, Cadsuane, Min and others. Darlin carried Rand on his shoulders after Rand was wounded by Fain. In the wagon on the way back to the city, he and Caraline overheard Min tell Cadsuane what Galina had done to Rand. On reaching the city, he and Caraline went into hiding, neither entirely willingly, under the protection of Cadsuane at Lady Arilyn’s palace. Dobraine freed the pair. Rand named Darlin Steward in Tear for the Dragon Reborn; Min saw that he would be the King of Tear, and when the rebels demanded it, he became king. Min also saw that he would die in bed and Caraline would survive him; as usual, she was correct. During the Last Battle, Darlin took over command of the battlefield at Thakan’dar when Ituralde, under Compulsion, was “relieved of duty.” He held formation, keeping the Trollocs from entering the valley, until his tent was destroyed. He was found under the tent half dead, but recovered soon enough to attend the Dragon Reborn’s funeral.

  Darluna. A city in southern Arad Doman with twenty-foot walls. Rodel Ituralde ambushed a large Seanchan force there.

  Darmovan. A nation that arose after the Trolloc Wars.

  Darnella Shoran. The innkeeper at The Silver Swans of Heaven in Ebou Dar. She was skinny with gray hair worn rolled on the nape of her neck and a long jaw. She did not like for women and men to meet in her inn, and chided Bethamin when the Seeker sought her there.

  Daronos, Magla. See Magla Daronos

  Dart. Rodel Ituralde’s white gelding.

  darter. The smallest class of Sea Folk ship. Darters could be one- or two-masted and were under one hundred feet in length, sometimes as short as fifty feet. The mast or masts often seemed over-tall for the vessel’s length, and sometimes were raked. Hull proportions, like those of the soarer, varied. They were very fast and agile; a lean darter could match the raker’s 400 miles in twenty-four hours, but most could do no more than 300 to 350 miles in that time. Any vessel smaller than a darter was considered by the Sea Folk to be a boat.

  Darter. The wide rivership owned by Captain Canin. Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve traveled aboard it from above Jurene to Tear.

  Daruo. A member of the Deathwatch Guards able to catch an arrow in flight with his bare hand, as he proved when saving Tuon’s life.

  Darvale, Mother. Wisdom of Runnien Crossing in Altara. She was lean and leathery with white hair. Luca had to make concessions to her and the Mayor before he was allowed to set up his show there. Mother Darvale married Leilwin and Domon.

  Darvan. One of the two men seeking Elmindreda’s hand in the story that Siuan and Min made up to account for Min’s presence in the Tower; the other was Goemal.

  Darvin. The clan chief of the Reyn Aiel after the Last Battle, seen in Aviendha’s view of the future in Rhuidean.

  Daryne Aiel. An Aiel clan; its chief was Mandelain.

  Dashar Knob. A rocky outcrop with cliff walls on the Shienaran side of the River Mora, southeast of Polov Heights.

  Dashiva, Corlan. See Corlan Dashiva

  Daughter of the Night. The translation of Old Tongue name “Lanfear.”

  Daughter of the Nine Moons. The title for the member of the Seanchan royal family selected to be the next Empress; at the time of the Return, the title was held by Tuon.

  Daughter-Heir. The title of the daughter who was the heir to the Queen of Andor.

  Daughters of Silence. A secret group started in 794 NE by two Accepted who had been put out of the White Tower, and who over four years gathered and trained twenty-three other women who were able to learn to channel. Unfortunately, they hardly lived up to their name. They began quietly enough, but that didn’t last. They were found out and punished by the White Tower. It was believed that all of the members were captured; certainly the two former Accepted were. The captives were displayed at every town and village on the way to Tar Valon, and at every village one of the prisoners was selected for public punishment, to drive home that that sort of activity was not permitted. The captives were birched in the White Tower before not only the assembled sisters, but all novices and Accepted; the followers were each birched once, the ringleaders both before the others and again after. The ringleaders were kept in the Tower for almost a year, worked hard at the dirtiest tasks until it was certain that the lesson had been taught sufficiently, and then put out again. The six followers who were eighteen years of age or younger were kept in the Tower as novices; Saerin Asnobar was the only one who managed to reach the shawl. The followers over eighteen were put to work alongside the ringleaders, and each was sent away when it was felt that she had learned better.

  Dautry, Oren. A Westwood farmer who was Rand and Tam’s nearest neighbor. He was lean and tall and a shameless borrower. He joined Perrin’s army at Malden.

  Dav al’Thone. An Emond’s Field man who guarded Tam’s tent at Merrilor.

  Dav Ayellin. A friend of Mat’s from Emond’s Field. He and Mat competed to see who could get in the most trouble, except when they teamed up to cause trouble. The two caught a badger and planned to release it on the Green during the Bel Tine festivities. Dav helped Perrin defend Emond’s Field. Later, with Ewin Finngar and Elam Dowtry, he ran off to see the world.

  Daved Hanlon. An unsavory Andoran man. He was about 5'10" to 5'11" tall, and on the thin side of a medium build, with ropes of muscles, a hatchet face and elaborate manner
s. He could be rash and impetuous. Hanlon was born in 954 NE, although not under that name, in a village in western Andor not far from Baerlon. As a youth, he was forced to flee his village when he killed another youth in 970 NE. He hired on with a merchant’s wagon train and became a guard about a year later. During his time as a guard, he killed three men in brawls, fought bandits and killed several suspected or supposed thieves. It was also during this time that he became a Darkfriend. By 973 NE, he had tired of being a merchant’s guard and, seeking glory and gold, signed on with a mercenary company before his nineteenth nameday. His first work as a mercenary came when his company was taken in service by Naean Arawn during her opposition to Morgase in the Third War of Andoran Succession. When the Aiel War began in the late spring of 976 NE, Hanlon had been a mercenary for about three years. His company arrived in Cairhien after the Aiel had moved on, and he took part in the looting, rape and murder, as did many mercenaries. The same happened in several smaller cities that the Aiel had overrun during the war. Hanlon was present at the Blood Snow and gave good service there.

  After the Aiel War, Hanlon continued as a mercenary, fighting in various wars and struggles between nobles in Cairhien, Murandy and Altara. In Cairhien he fought in the Reconciliation which put Galldrian Riatin on the Sun Throne. That was Hanlon’s preferred kind of strife, skirmishes and minor battles, but never open civil war. His company switched sides several times. He also fought in wars between Illian and Tear and between Cairhien and Tear, on various sides, several times switching allegiance. He gained command of his own company of mercenaries in 989 NE.

  Hanlon had an eye to the safety of his own hide—he would not stick around to fight to the last in a lost cause, certainly; in fact, he would be willing to sell out as soon as he decided his side would be the loser—but he was not a physical coward. He fought bravely in a number of battles, and had something of a reputation among mercenaries as a soldier, though he was certainly not a great captain by any stretch of the imagination. He was a leader in the rogue White Lions, raised by Lord Gaebril/Rahvin. After Gaebril’s death, Hanlon led the White Lions, as mercenaries, into the employ of the Cairhienin rebels under Lord Toram Riatin. Many, perhaps most, of the White Lions died when a deadly fog descended on the rebel camp outside Cairhien while Rand was visiting, but Hanlon escaped and was ordered to report to the Lady Shiaine in Caemlyn. There he saw the murder of Jaichim Carridin, and also saw the mistreatment of Falion Bhoda, who was then given to him to use as he wished, a matter of punishment for her failure in Ebou Dar. Hanlon did not want an Aes Sedai angry with him and worked out a deal with her to fake relations and to share information. Shiaine asked how he would like to put his hands on a queen; he was eager. He signed with the Queen’s Guards as a lieutenant using the name Doilin Mellar, claiming to have been a merchant’s guard, mercenary and then a Hunter of the Horn. He claimed to have been a great admirer of Morgase and to have returned to Andor hoping to join the Guards, but said when he arrived he found that she was dead and the Guards a disheveled remnant filled with lackeys put there by Gaebril, the man who killed her. He arranged an assassination attempt on Elayne and then foiled it, thus gaining promotion to captain of her personal bodyguard. As captain of Elayne’s bodyguard, he was entitled to three gold knots, to be worn on one shoulder, but he wore three on each shoulder, including three knots of actual gold soldered to each shoulder of his breastplate, so he might appear to the uninformed to outrank Birgitte. He led several sorties against the besieging opponents of Elayne, and thought those should have gained him favor with her. He was furious that they did not, just as he was furious at being called down by her in public. He pinched the bottoms of pretty Guardswomen and disparaged their abilities in taverns. After Hark was able to follow Hanlon visiting the house on Full Moon Street repeatedly, Elayne ordered his arrest and he was imprisoned. When Elayne impersonated a horrific Forsaken to question other prisoners to gather intelligence, Hanlon was freed by Jaq Lounalt and then stabbed Elayne, making away with the foxhead medallion during his escape. In the Last Battle, he killed Birgitte and was about to cut Elayne’s twins out of her womb, when Birgitte returned as a Hero of the Horn and killed Hanlon.