Talene was not a woman who liked to defer to anyone, under any circumstances, or to be less in any way whatsoever; she might be said to be almost prototypical of the Green Ajah arrogance in this regard, though she was quite personable and very charming in other ways. She had no Warder, which was unusual for a Green, saying that a Sitter didn’t need one. She had had them in the past, although no more than one Warder at a time; all her Warders had been Darkfriends.
Talene held a record as perhaps the most punished novice and Accepted in the history of the Tower. It was said, facetiously, that she spent as much time in the Mistress of Novices’ study as she did in classes or lectures. It was also said that she could have passed her tests for Accepted and for Aes Sedai sooner than she was allowed to take them, but she was kept back for being such a discipline problem. Talene was friends with Seaine, but only acquaintances with Pevara. Talene was jealous of their being pillow friends; she would have liked to have been Seaine’s pillow friend. It was not really a sexual thing; she just wanted to have her friendship be that much closer. But spreading into threesomes or the like was fairly rare, and in any case, she would not have wanted Pevara to be part of it. At least part of that was because Pevara was stronger than her in the Power while Seaine was weaker. She and Seaine remained friends, although the strains between Ajahs in the White Tower forced some distance between them. Talene stood to depose Siuan Sanche. Afterward, she was given a penance by Elaida; it was a matter of scrubbing floors.
Talene led Saerin, Doesine and Yukiri to confront Pevara and Seaine, though the others went along because of their own suspicions. Talene had been instructed by the Black Ajah to find out why the heads of the Ajahs were meeting in secret while at one another’s throats in public, and she thought Pevara and Seaine sneaking about might have something to do with it.
She was identified as Black Ajah when she refused to reswear the Three Oaths; she was questioned in the Chair of Remorse. She forswore her Oaths to the Shadow and worked with those searching for the Black Ajah. When she was summoned to a meeting of the Black Ajah by Alviarin, she fled.
Talentless. Men dwelling in the Town in the Blight who could not channel.
Talents. Abilities in the use of the One Power in specific areas. The best known of these was Healing. Some, such as Traveling, the ability to shift oneself from one place to another without crossing the intervening space, were lost after the Breaking, and later rediscovered. Others, such as Foretelling, the ability to foretell future events in a general way, were prevalent in the Age of Legends but were later found only rarely if at all. Another Talent thought lost was Dreaming, which involved, among other things, interpreting the Dreamer’s dreams to foretell future events in more specific fashion than Foretelling. Other Talents were Cloud Dancing, the control of weather; Earth Singing, which involved controlling movements of the earth—for example, preventing or causing earthquakes and avalanches; and Delving, finding ores and possibly removing them from the ground.
Minor talents, seldom given a name, included the ability to see ta’veren, the ability to see a weave for the first time and know what it would do before it was complete, or to duplicate the chance-twisting effect of a ta’veren, though in a very small and localized area rarely covering more than a few feet. See Cloud Dancing, Delving, Dreaming, Earth Singing, Healing, Foretelling and Traveling
Talents, lost. Talents from the Age of Legends that were unknown in the subsequent Age. Among these were Aligning the Matrix, a weave used to make metals stronger. Others, whose uses were unknown, were Milking Tears and Spinning Earthfire.
Talha. A slender, dark-haired sul’dam who accompanied Anath/Semirhage when she attempted to capture Rand. She wept after her capture.
Talia. A woman from myth who was awakened by a kiss from the Sun King. While waiting for Birgitte to return from seeing Mat at The Wandering Woman in Ebou Dar, Nynaeve thought that she wanted to forget her worries in sleep until Lan wakened her with a kiss, as Talia was wakened by a kiss from the Sun King.
Talidar. Site of the last of seven major battles between an aging Artur Hawkwing and invading Trollocs, which diminished Trolloc activity along the Blight for fifty years.
Talisman of Growing. A ter’angreal triggered by Ogier Treesinging that allowed the Ogier to expand the Ways that the Aes Sedai had built.
Talkend. A petty House of Andor; its symbol was a golden Winged Hand. See Eram Talkend
Tall Bear. A wolf in Leafhunter’s pack. Perrin spoke with the pack after encountering a scent in the wolf dream that made his hackles rise; he asked them what a wolf would hate more than the Neverborn. When he did so, they all shut him out one by one. The answer, of course, was Darkhounds.
Tallan. A town in Altara, east of Samaha, Willar and the River Boern. Moiraine, Lan, Perrin and Loial passed through Tallan while on Rand’s trail. Everyone in the town had become embroiled in old disagreements, and it took several murders before people settled down—indications that Rand had been there recently.
Tallanvor, Martyn. See Martyn Tallanvor
tallowend. A plant with little pink flowers found in the gardens of the Royal Palace in Caemlyn.
Talmanes Delovinde. A Cairhienin nobleman. His con was three yellow stars on blue, and his banner a black fox. He became a Lieutenant-General in the Band of the Red Hand and was the leader of Talmanes’ Thunderbolts, the First Banner of the Horse. The front of his head was shaved and powdered. Although he wore plain coats, he was entitled to a number of stripes. He was three years older than Mat at most and looked like a coiled whip. His eyes were expressionless, and he didn’t laugh and seldom smiled. Talmanes met Mat while battling the Shaido at Cairhien; impressed with his abilities, Talmanes swore loyalty to him and was instrumental in creating the Band of the Red Hand, becoming one of its leaders. He followed Mat at first because Mat was a winner, but his personal loyalty increased over time. After the Band went to Salidar, on orders from Rand to pick up Elayne, they split up, with Mat going off to Ebou Dar with Elayne and Nynaeve, and Talmanes keeping most of the Band near the Salidar Aes Sedai. As they traveled north, Talmanes met with King Roedran of Murandy and agreed to stay there for a time to help him consolidate his kingdom. Afterward, Talmanes took half the Band back south to find Mat, while the other half went north into Andor. Joined up with Mat again, Talmanes took part in defeating the large Seanchan force trying to take Tuon. Talmanes, Mat and the Band proceeded toward Caemlyn to rejoin Elayne, and their progress there was facilitated by Verin.
Talmanes was a major figure in the Last Battle, evacuating Caemlyn and rescuing the dragons after the city was overrun by Trollocs, despite taking severe wounds. He worked with Aludra and the dragons and was indispensable in actions at Braem Wood, in the defense of Cairhien and at Merrilor.
Talmour. A nation that arose after the Trolloc Wars.
Talmouri. One from the nation of Talmour; an ancient adjective used by Birgitte. She said that Elayne was as proper as a Talmouri maiden except when she was putting her head on the chopping block.