Given the political situation in Altara, one could not say that there was any sort of national army. When an army was raised, it consisted of the levies of various nobles, who usually squabbled over the command and were known to take their soldiers away from the army because of such quarrels even in dire circumstances. Altara never had a standing force such as the Queen’s Guards in Andor or the Defenders of the Stone in Tear. Any ruler who attempted to form such a group would have been pulled down immediately by the nobles, jealous of their own power.
Altara had even more regional differences in custom than most other lands. For example, the marriage knife was an Ebou Dari custom, not found more than fifty to a hundred miles from the city; dueling customs, on the other hand, were much more widespread. The marriage knife was one that Ebou Dari women wore on a necklace, hanging hilt-down; it was part of the marriage proposal and marriage ceremony, and was given to the woman with the words “To kill me if my heart proves untrue.” It was sometimes used for just that. A woman in Ebou Dar who killed her husband was presumed to have had justification unless proven otherwise. This extended to other women who killed men, to a large extent. The knife was fairly small, but its four-inch blade could reach vital organs. The necklace alone was worn as a sign that a woman was betrothed. There was a system of colored stones on the hilt of the knife marking sons and daughters, living and dead: a white stone for each son and a red stone for each daughter. A red border around a son’s stone or a red setting indicated that he died from a duel; a white border or white setting did the same for a daughter. A black setting showed that the child died from another cause. Women saw a red or white setting as a source of pride, whether the stones were pearls and firedrops or colored glass. Many Ebou Dari women removed the stones of their children past sixteen who refused a duel, and never acknowledged them again. A widow used a white sheath on her marriage knife to signify that she had no intention of marrying again, a blue sheath meant a widow who was looking, or at least available, a green sheath indicated a married woman with a husband living, and a red sheath indicated a married woman who had forbidden her husband the house. Red and blue together meant divorced and willing to try again.
Ebou Dar was in many ways very matriarchal. In the vicinity of the city, it was women who asked men to marry; for a man to ask was considered incredibly pushy and overbold. Farther out in Altara, either men or women could ask, though in the north, close to Andor, the custom was for men to do the asking. In Altara, it was not at all uncommon for a woman to make arrangements as to who her husband would marry if she died. This custom was more common in the south than in the north, but it was done fairly far north by some.
Altarans as a whole were touchy about their honor. The region around Ebou Dar was where folk were the touchiest. While no more took part in dueling than anywhere else in Altara, both men and women around the city (especially commoners) had a custom of knife, and occasionally whip, duels, surrounded by elaborate custom, and while men rarely challenged women, women could and did challenge men. Elaborate rules and customs governed duels. Lower classes were prohibited from dueling with swords or on horseback. Duels among upper-class men were much more likely to involve swords, but they, too, often used daggers. Duels could be to the death, but most were to first blood. The victor in a mortal duel was required to pay a condolence call on the widow or widower if there was one. These visits could be sticky for a number of reasons, ranging from the bereaved’s desire for revenge to a desire to be consoled in the age-old fashion. It was accepted as gospel that noblewomen did not fight duels, but it was widely known that they did; one was simply not supposed to acknowledge the fact. Women had their own customs and rituals for duels, and shrouded them in deepest secrecy.
Around Ebou Dar, certain crafts, trades and property rights belonged to men and certain others to women. Others were open. For example, wine and ale (though ale and beer were not popular among the locals) could be made and sold by either sex. And while only men could own ships, either sex could act as a broker for the cargoes. Women could own land, keep inns, weave cloth, sell fish or fowl to the public and butcher anything smaller than cows. Men could own or build ships or boats, keep alehouses and taverns that had no rooms to let, fish, weave rugs and butcher cows.
In and around Ebou Dar, death, daggers and the sea were considered female. Ships, swords and trade were considered male.
Altara produced fine lacquerwork and was famed for its lace. It also produced carpets and tapestries, although these were not considered of the best. There were many olive orchards in Altara, providing oil for lamps and cooking. They harvested salt from salt wells. From the waters around Altara came pearls, mother-of-pearl and fish. Shipping and shipbuilding were big business in Ebou Dar, which was a major port, serving a considerable portion of what lay inland. They had a major portion of the trade coming out of Amadicia and Ghealdan, for example, and a good deal from Tarabon as well.
Altara Causeway. A wide, packed dirt road leading from Illian to roads reaching Altara and Murandy. It lay on the other side of the River Manetherendrelle and was reached by ferry.
Altaran Marches. The place where Dyelin’s father died in a skirmish.
Altaran Noon. An expression referring to the pressure applied by Altarans that made the nation too hot to hold an occupying force of Whitecloaks.
Alteima. A High Lady of Tear who was the wife of Tedosian. She was tall and slender with large brown eyes and long black hair hanging halfway to her waist. She was High Lord Carleon’s lover as well as High Lord Tedosian’s wife, and when Tedosian arranged Carleon’s death, she poisoned Tedosian. Tedosian was given into Estanda’s care, however, and recovered. Alteima was given the task of seeing to the transfer of relief supplies to Cairhien by Rand, but she fled instead, knowing that not only would Tedosian try for revenge, but Estanda also hated her and would take any chance to bring her down. She fled to Andor, and became enthralled by Rahvin. She was one of seven women he kept as pets in addition to Morgase. She was in the Royal Palace when Rand took over and she fled, as did Rahvin’s other pets. The death of Rahvin caused the effects of Compulsion to fade; she had the memory of things that happened, but no understanding of why. She was deathly afraid of returning to Tear and her estates, so she became a refugee and found work as a lady’s maid.
Althyn Conly. A Two Rivers novice with the rebel Aes Sedai. She tried to convert two cups to cuendillar at the same time as Bode Cauthon and wound up with an unusable lump.
Aludra Nendenhald. An Illuminator and onetime Mistress of the chapter house in Cairhien. She was born in 959 NE. A pretty woman, slender and about 5'5" tall, she had large dark eyes and a small full mouth that seemed on the point of a pout, or a kiss. She usually wore her dark hair in a multitude of slim braids that went halfway down her back, but later, in Amadicia, she wore it loose because of feelings there about Taraboners. Her Taraboner accent was thick, and, by nature, she kept to herself. She lost her position at the Cairhien chapter house after events which led to riots, the burning of the granaries, the death of the King and civil war. One of the events was the burning of the chapter house when Rand and Loial sought refuge there from Trollocs and accidentally set off a display intended for Galldrian. Aludra fled, pursued by Tammuz and other men from the guild, and in a barn in Aringill was rescued from them by Mat, who was accompanied by Thom. As a reward, she gave Mat some fireworks, which he eventually used to blow an arrowslit in the Stone of Tear wide enough for him to enter. She was an experimenter, and one thing she worked on which she thought would make her fortune was what she sometimes called “strikers” and sometimes “firesticks,” which were kept in holes drilled into a block of wood to keep them from rubbing against one another, which sometimes made them ignite. She joined Valan Luca’s traveling show, where she encountered Thom once again, though she refused to acknowledge him. She also met Elayne and Nynaeve, though she knew them only by their traveling personae, as well as Juilin and Birgitte. With the circus, she was in Ebou Dar when the Seanchan invested the city. The Seanchan were not interested in fireworks, though—something that irritated Aludra no end—since the Sky Lights produced by trained damane were much more spectacular. She met Mat again there, and traveled with him when he left Luca’s show. They developed the idea of “dragons” which fired shells that Aludra called dragons’ eggs. The dragons were transported on wagons called dragon carts. They were used to great effect in the Last Battle.