The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
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.
stedding (STEHD-ding): An Ogier (OH-geer) homeland. Many stedding have been abandoned since the Breaking of the World. They are shielded in some way, no longer understood, so that within them no Aes Sedai can channel the One Power, nor even sense the True Source. Attempts to wield the One Power from outside a stedding have no effect inside the stedding boundary. No Trolloc will enter a stedding unless driven, and even Myrddraal will do so only at the greatest need and with the greatest reluctance. Even Darkfriends, if truly dedicated, feel uncomfortable within a stedding.
stilling: The act, performed by Aes Sedai, of shutting off a woman who can channel from the One Power. A woman who has been stilled can sense the True Source, but cannot touch it. So seldom has it been done that novices are required to learn the names and crimes of all women who have suffered it. Officially, stilling is the result of trial and sentence for a crime. When it happens accidentally, it is called being burned out. In practice, the term stilling is often used for both.
Stone of Tear: A great fortress in the city of Tear, said to have been made by use of the One Power soon after the Breaking of the World. Attacked and besieged unsuccessfully countless times, it fell in a single night to the Dragon Reborn and a few hundred Aiel, thus fulfilling two parts of the Prophecies of the Dragon. The Stone contains a collection of an’greal and ter’angreal rivaling that of the White Tower, a collection gathered, some say, in an attempt to diminish the glare of possessing Callandor.
sul’dam (SOOL-dam): Literally, “leash holder.” Seanchan term for a woman with the ability to control, by means of an a’dam, a woman who can channel. Young women in Seanchan are tested for this ability at the same time as the testing for damane and to the same age. A fairly honored position among the Seanchan. Many more sul’dam are found than damane. See also a’dam; damane; Seanchan.
sursa (SUHR-sah): Thin, paired sticks used as eating implements in Arad Doman in place of forks. Some say the difficulty of eating with sursa is the source of Domani merchants’ fabled perseverance; others claim it is the source of the equally fabled Domani temper.
Talents: Abilities in the use of the One Power in specific areas. The best known of these is Healing. Some, such as Traveling, the ability to shift from one place to another without crossing the intervening space, have been lost. Others, such as Foretelling (the ability to foretell future events, but in a general way), are now found rarely. Another Talent long thought lost is Dreaming, which involves, among other things, interpreting the Dreamer’s dreams to foretell future events in more specific fashion than Foretelling does. Some Dreamers had the ability to enter Tel’aran’rhiod, the World of Dreams, and (it is said) even other people’s dreams. The last known Dreamer was Corianin Nedeal (coh-ree-AHN-IHN neh-dee-AHL), who died in 526 NE, but there is now another, known to but a few.
ta’maral’ailen (tah-MAHR-ahl-EYE-lehn): In the Old Tongue, “Web of Destiny.” A great change in the Pattern of an Age, centered around one or more people who are ta’veren. See also Pattern of an Age; ta’veren.
Tarabon (TAH-rah-BON): Nation on the Aryth Ocean. Capital city: Tanchico (tan-CHEE-coh). Once a great trading nation, a source of rugs, dyes and fireworks produced by the Guild of Illuminators, among other things. Now wracked by civil war, as well as by simultaneous wars against Arad Doman and people sworn to the Dragon Reborn.
Tarmon Gai’don (TAHR-mohn GAY-dohn): The Last Battle. See also Dragon, Prophecies of the; Horn of Valere.
ta’veren (tah-VEER-ehn): A person around whom the Wheel of Time weaves all surrounding life-threads, perhaps ALL life-threads, to form a Web of Destiny. See also Pattern of an Age.
Tear (TEER): A nation on the Sea of Storms. Also the capital city of that nation, a great seaport. The banner of Tear is three white crescent moons slanting across a field half red, half gold. See also Stone of Tear.
Telamon, Lews Therin (TEHL-ah-mon, LOOZ THEH-rihn): See Dragon, the.
Tel’aran’rhiod (tel-AYE-rahn-rhee-ODD): In the Old Tongue, “the Unseen World,” or “the World of Dreams.” A world glimpsed in dreams which was believed by the ancients to permeate and surround all other possible worlds. Unlike other dreams, what happens to living things in the World of Dreams is real; a wound taken there will still be there on awakening, and one who dies there does not wake at all.
ter’angreal (TEER-ahn-GREE-ahl): Remnants of the Age of Legends that use the One Power. Unlike angreal and sa’angreal, each ter’angreal was made to do a particular thing. Some ter’angreal are used by Aes Sedai, but the original purposes of many are unknown. Some require channeling, while others may be used by anyone. Some will kill or destroy the ability to channel of any woman who uses them. See also angreal; sa’angreal.
Time of Madness: The years after the Dark One’s counter-stroke tainted the male half of the True Source, when male Aes Sedai went mad and Broke the World. The exact duration of this period is unknown, but it is believed to have lasted nearly one hundred years. It ended completely only with the death of the last male Aes Sedai. See also Hundred Companions, the; True Source; One Power, the.
Torean (toh-ree-AHN): A High Lord of Tear. A man who desires what neither his vast fortune nor his face will gain him.
Traveling People: See Tuatha’an.
Trollocs (TRAHL-lohks): Creatures of the Dark One, created during the War of the Shadow. Huge of stature, they are a twisted blend of animal and human stock. Divided into tribe-like bands, among them the Dha’vol, the Ko’bal, and the Dhai’mon. Vicious by nature, they kill for the pure pleasure of killing. Deceitful in the extreme, they cannot be trusted unless coerced by fear.
Trolloc Wars: A series of wars, beginning about 1000 AB and lasting more than three hundred years, during which Trolloc armies ravaged the world. Eventually the Trollocs were driven back into the Great Blight, but some nations ceased to exist, and others that
True Source: The driving force of the universe, which turns the Wheel of Time. Divided into a male half (saidin) and a female half (saidar), which work at the same time with and against each other. Only a man can draw on saidin, only a woman on saidar. Since the beginning of the Time of Madness, saidin has been tainted by the Dark One’s touch. See also One Power, the.
Tuatha’an (too-AH-thah-AHN): A wandering folk, also known as the Tinkers and as the Traveling People, who live in brightly painted wagons and follow a totally pacifist philosophy called the Way of the Leaf. They are among the few who can cross the Aiel Waste unmolested, for the Aiel strictly avoid all contact with them.
Verin Mathwin (VEHR-ihn MAH-thwihn): An Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah.
Warder: A warrior bonded to an Aes Sedai. The bonding is a thing of the One Power: by it he gains such gifts as quick healing, the ability to go long periods without food, water, or rest, and the ability to sense the taint of the Dark One at a distance. So long as a Warder lives, the Aes Sedai to whom he is bonded knows he is alive however far away he is, and when he dies she will know the moment and manner of his death. While most Ajahs believe an Aes Sedai may have one Warder bonded to her at a time, the Red Ajah refuses to bond any Warders at all, while the Green Ajah believe an Aes Sedai may bond as many as she wishes. Ethically the Warder must accede to the bonding voluntarily, but it has been known to be done against the Warder’s will. What the Aes Sedai gain from the bonding is a closely held secret. See also Aes Sedai.
War of Power: See War of the Shadow.
War of the Hundred Years (FY 994–FY 1117): A series of overlapping wars among constantly shifting alliances, precipitated by the death of Artur Hawkwing and the resulting struggle for his empire. The War of the Hundred Years depopulated large parts of the lands between the Aryth Ocean and the Aiel Waste, from the Sea of Storms to the Great Blight. So great was the destruction that only fragmentary records of the time remain. The empire of Artur Hawkwing was pulled apart, and the nations of the present day were formed. See also Hawkwing, Artur.
War of the Second Dragon (FY 939–43): War fought against the false Dragon Guaire Amalasan. During this war a young king named Artur Paendrag Tanreall, later known as Artur Hawkwing, rose to overwhelming prominence.
War of the Shadow: Also known as the War of Power. Began shortly after the attempt to free the Dark One, and soon involved the whole world. In a world where even the memory of war had been forgotten, every facet of war was rediscovered, often twisted by the Dark One’s touch on the world, and the One Power was used as a weapon. The war was ended by the resealing of the Dark One into his prison. See also Hundred Companions, the; Dragon, the.
weight, units of: 10 ounces = 1 pound; 10 pounds = 1 stone; 10 stone = 1 hundredweight; 10 hundredweight = 1 ton.
Wheel of Time, the: Time is a wheel with seven spokes, each spoke an Age. As the Wheel turns, Ages come and go, each leaving memories that fade to legend, then to myth, and are forgotten by the time that Age comes again. The Pattern of an Age is slightly different each time an Age comes, and each time it is subject to greater change.
Whitecloaks: See Children of the Light.
wilder: A woman who has learned to channel the One Power on her own, surviving the crisis as only one in four does. Such women usually build barriers against knowing what it is they are doing, but if these can be broken down, wilders are among the most powerful of channelers. The term is often used in derogatory fashion.
Wisdom: In villages, a woman chosen by the Women’s Circle for her knowledge of such things as healing and foretelling the weather, as well as common good sense. Generally considered the equal of the Mayor, and in some villages his superior. She is chosen for life, and it is very rare for a Wisdom to be removed from office before her death. Depending on the land, she may instead have another title, such as Guide, Healer, Wise Woman, or Seeker.
Wise One: Among the Aiel, Wise Ones are women chosen by other Wise Ones and trained in healing, herbs and other things, much like Wisdoms. Usually there is a single Wise One to each clan or sept hold. Some Wise Ones are said to have wondrous healing abilities, and to do things that seem miraculous. They have great authority and responsibility, as well as great influence with sept and clan chiefs, though these men often accuse them of meddling.
About the Author
Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina. He taught himself to read when he was four with the incidental aid of a twelve-years-older brother, and was tackling Mark Twain and Jules Verne by five. He was a graduate of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army; among his decorations are the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with “V” and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with Palm. A history buff, he also wrote dance and theater criticism. He enjoyed the outdoor sports of hunting, fishing, and sailing, and the indoor sports of poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting. He began writing in 1977 and continued until his death on September 16, 2007.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE SHADOW RISING
Copyright © 1992 by The Bandersnatch Group, Inc.
The phrases “The Wheel of Time®” and “The Dragon Reborn,” and the snake-wheel symbol, are trademarks of Robert Jordan.
All rights reserved.
Frontispiece by Sam Weber
Maps by Ellisa Mitchell
Interior illustrations by Matthew C. Nielsen and Ellisa Mitchell
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
eISBN 9781429960199
First eBook Edition : March 2012
ISBN 978-1-4299-6019-9
First Edition: November 1992
First E-book Edition: January 2010
Robert Jordan, The Shadow Rising
(Series: The Wheel of Time # 4)