Windrunner. An Atha’an Miere ship, a raker with three tall masts. Its Sailmistress was Malin din Toral Breaking Wave; its Windfinder, Dorile din Eiran Long Feather. Nynaeve, Elayne, Aviendha and Birgitte visited the ship to ask for help using the Bowl of the Winds. After the Seanchan arrived in Ebou Dar, Windrunner, with the Mistress of the Ships aboard, fought a delaying action to allow as many ships as possible to escape. It was taken by the Seanchan, and Baroc and Nesta din Reas were captured; they were impaled and their corpses beheaded for the crime of rebellion.
Winds, Throne of the. The seat of the monarch of Altara at the Tarasin Palace in Ebou Dar.
Wine Riots (of Ebou Dar). Queen Tylin explained why she could not send troops into the Rahad: “It would be the Wine Riots all over again.”
Winespring, The. A spring gushing from a low stone outcrop at the edge of the Green in Emond’s Field, forming the Winespring Water.
Winespring Inn, The. The small two-story inn located in Emond’s Field, Andor, constructed of whitewashed river rock. Master Bran al’Vere, the mayor of the village, was the innkeeper along with his wife, Marin; they raised five daughters there, including Egwene, and the girls helped at the inn while growing up. The inn was a gathering place where the Village Council met.
Winespring Water. A large stream that was formed by the Winespring in Emond’s Field; it flowed east and split into dozens of streams in the swamps of the Waterwood.
Wing. Sheriam’s dappled gray mare.
Winged Guards. See Mayene
Winter Blossom, The. An inn found in Ebou Dar. Mat started to go in, but decided against it when he saw that it was filled with Deathwatch Guards.
Winter Dawn. One of the wolves Perrin communicated with about the location of Fain and the Trollocs when he, Mat and Ingtar were tracking them to retrieve the Horn of Valere.
Winterfinch. A stocky, slow brown mare, with considerable endurance, that belonged to Beonin.
winteritch. An affliction from ancient times, which made Shago barmaids argumentative; Birgitte mentioned it to Nynaeve and Elayne when they were squabbling.
Winternight. A holiday celebrated the night before Bel Tine. Participants spent most of the night visiting one another, exchanging gifts and eating and drinking together.
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. It was a position of great responsibility and authority, both actual and implied. She was generally considered the equal of the Mayor, and in some villages his superior, and almost always was considered the leader of the Women’s Circle. Unlike the Mayor, the Wisdom was chosen for life, and it was very rare for a Wisdom to be removed from office before her death. The Wisdom was almost traditionally in conflict with the Mayor, to the extent that such conflicts often appeared in humorous stories. Depending on the region, she might instead have another title, such as Guide, Healer, Wise Woman, Reader, Advisor, Seeker or Wise One, among others, but under one title or another, such women existed everywhere.
Wise Ones. Aiel women who performed many of the same functions as village Wisdoms. They were selected by other Wise Ones and required to perform an apprenticeship and an initiation at Rhuidean. Most had the ability to channel, though not all. They managed to find every girl who had the inborn ability to channel, although they did not actively test girls for the ability unless the girls wished to become Wise Ones. Those born with the inborn ability typically felt fated and duty-bound to become Wise Ones.
Apprentice Wise Ones made an initial trip to Rhuidean to enter the three rings ter’angreal.
Traditionally, Wise Ones were above and outside all feuds, even blood feuds and water feuds, and all battles and conflicts, to the extent that they were able to walk through the middle of a battle unharmed. That was true until Wise Ones fought other Wise Ones and Aes Sedai at Dumai’s Wells.
Every hold had a Wise One. In a social sense, she was ranked with the roofmistress and chief of the hold she served. Among the Wise Ones, ranking was based on age, leadership abilities, will and especially the amount of ji, or honor, accumulated. All Wise Ones, having made the second trip to Rhuidean and the journey into the spires, knew of the Prophecy of Rhuidean, including that the Car’a’carn was to break them like twigs and only the remnant of a remnant would be saved.
Wise Woman. The term for a healer in Tear and Ebou Dar. In Ebou Dar, Wise Women wore red belts to identify their vocation; they were in truth members of the Kin.
Wit al’Seen. A Two Rivers farmer. He was Jac al’Seen’s cousin and near twin in appearance; both were stocky and square-shouldered, but Wit had no hair at all. Jac sheltered Wit and his family when the Trollocs attacked Two Rivers. Wit participated in the defense of Emond’s Field against the Trollocs.
Wit Congar. An Emond’s Field man married to Daise, the village Wisdom. A scrawny man, always overshadowed, physically and otherwise, by his wife, he was a perpetual complainer. Wit was part of the group that tried to fight off a band of Trollocs that turned out to be Tinkers seeking shelter. He participated in the defense of Emond’s Field against the Trollocs.
wolf dream. The term used by wolves and wolfbrothers for Tel’aran’rhiod. The entrance into and experience of this dream world was different for wolfbrothers than for dreamwalkers. Perrin would often find himself in a wolf dream after going to sleep; in the dream, he would sometimes see windows that opened up into different places and situations. At first, he just experienced the dream, but as he gained experience, he had greater control over where and how he went. In the early period of Perrin’s experiences in the wolf dream, Hopper was there as a guide and managed to keep him out of trouble. Wolves that had been killed in the waking world inhabited the wolf dream, unless and until such time as they were killed there as well. The wolf dream became a battleground in which Perrin fought Slayer on many occasions. Perrin eventually learned how to enter the wolf dream in the flesh.
wobbles. Perrin said that Rand was scooping up kingdoms like a child playing a game of wobbles.
Wolf Guard. A large group of former mercenaries and refugees turned soldiers following Perrin. They were trained by Tam and Dannil after Faile and the others had been rescued from the Shaido at Malden. They fought honorably in the Last Battle under Tam’s command.
wolfbrother. A human, such as Elyas and Perrin, with the ability to communicate directly with wolves, mind-to-mind and over long distances. A wolfbrother was characterized by golden, wolflike eyes and heightened, wolflike senses.
Wolfkin. Term for humans who had wolflike abilities and characteristics, such as Perrin or Elyas.
Wolfhead banner, Red. A red wolf’s head on a field of white, with a red border; used by Perrin’s army.
Wolfspeak. Imagery-based terms used by wolves to describe beings in the world:
horses—hard-footed four-legs
porcupines—Small Thorny Back
Ba’alzamon—Heartfang
Darkhounds—Shadowbrothers
Gray Man—Notdead
Myrddraal—Neverborn
man—two-legs
Trollocs—Twisted Ones
Aes Sedai—two-leg shes who touch the wind that moves the sun and call fire