Tasil. An Ebou Dari family. See Namine and Quillin Tasil
Tauan. A morat’raken who died when her raken was shot down by Aes Sedai at the Kin’s farm.
Tava. An Aiel girl seen in Aviendha’s viewings of the future in Rhuidean. Her hold was attacked and burned by the Seanchan; her father, Rowahn, picked up a sword and used it to save her and a small child she was protecting. He tried to keep the people of the hold together, but they all walked away; Tava survived, however; she was the greatmother of Norlesh.
Taval din Chanai Nine Gulls. The Sea Folk Windfinder of the White Spray, which carried Atha’an Miere delegations to Andor and Cairhien. Her Sailmistress was Derah din Selaan Rising Wave. Dark-haired, with only three earrings in each ear, she caused Egwene to fall into the water when Egwene attempted to visit the White Spray.
Tavalad. The clan chief of the Goshien Aiel after the Last Battle, seen in Aviendha’s viewings of the future in Rhuidean. Tavalad was at the meeting with Rand and Aviendha’s children when the Aiel decided to go to war with the Seanchan; he took longer to convince than the others.
Tavan Shandare. One of Careane’s Warders. A Cairhienin, he was 5'7" tall, and slim, which made his shoulders appear wider; they were wide enough for his size as it was. He was even quicker than Venr, another of Careane’s Warders. Tavan was not a Darkfriend. He and Careane’s other two Warders were killed when they attempted to rescue her from Lady Shiaine’s house on Full Moon Street.
Tavar, the. A district of Tear where farmers went to sell crops.
Tavolin, Elricain. See Elricain Tavolin
Tazanovni, Pevara. See Pevara Tazanovni
tcheran. An Age of Legends board game, thought of by Moridin and Semirhage. The game used powerful pieces called High Counselors and Spires.
Teacal. A powerful Domani nobleman who was supposed to be following Ituralde. Because Alsalam’s orders sometimes went straight to the men under Ituralde instead of to Ituralde, four pitched battles occurred between different groups of Ituralde’s men, Teacal among them.
Teadra. An ancient name of Birgitte. As Teadra, she foiled Moghedien’s plot to lay Lews Therin by his heels. Teadra did not know who Moghedien was and died before Moghedien could exact revenge, but Moghedien remembered her.
Tear. A nation and its capital city on the Sea of Storms, between Mayene and Illian. Its sigil was three white crescent moons arranged diagonally: the Moons, or the Crescent Moons. Its banner was the Moons slanting across a field half red, half gold; the field was divided diagonally, with the gold part of the banner against the staff. The crescent moons ran down the dividing line; thus the nearest to the staff was the highest.
The nation of Tear was founded in FY 994 (or at least, given the difficulty in determining true dates, supposedly in the year that Hawkwing died) by a group of nobles led by Lord Istaban Novares and Lady Yseidre Tirado. Declaring independence as soon as they had confirmation of Hawkwing’s death, they initially held only the Stone of Tear and the eponymous city, but had the advantage that Tear was one of Hawkwing’s provinces and the Stone the greatest fortress of the day. They were immediately engaged in fighting with those trying to reestablish the nations of Fergansea and Moreina, all of whom wanted the strong port, and also against those trying to seize all of Hawkwing’s empire.
Struggles for power among more than a dozen nobles of roughly equal strength led to the organization of the High Lords well before the end of the war, some accounts claiming that it occurred as early as FY 1050. Not until the end of the War of the Hundred Years did Tear’s borders approach anything near those of Tear at the time of the Last Battle, and the absorption of part of Mar Haddon long after the war increased its size considerably. The city of Tear was always called Tear, and the Stone of Tear was actually built in the last days of the Breaking. The city was the great port of Essenia, and the Stone had permanent apartments for rulers when they visited. After the Trolloc Wars, Tear became the capital city of Moreina. The rooms that had been the apartments of visiting kings and queens of Essenia then became the home of the kings and queens of Moreina. After the War of the Hundred Years, when the city of Tear became the capital of the eponymous nation, no High Lord or Lady ever had power enough to claim those rooms, so they remained empty for nearly a thousand years, with only mice making tracks in the dust until Rand al’Thor took them as his own.
Until Rand and the Aiel between them seized the Stone of Tear, that fortress had never fallen to any army or siege. It even held out against Artur Hawkwing, with a number of Aes Sedai trapped inside, though it was eventually surrendered to his forces as part of negotiations that took that whole part of the land into Hawkwing’s camp.
Tear and Illian had more wars after Hawkwing’s empire collapsed than any other two nations. Illianers and Tairens did not merely dislike one another; it was a matter of spite, contempt, even hatred. Each viewed the other as low and vile, sneaky thieves, without honor—the sort who would stab one in the back to steal one’s purse after one had saved him from drowning, and then try to seduce one’s wife and daughter while wearing the clothes he had taken from one’s still warm corpse.
Tear had one of the three false Dragons who sprang up after Logain was captured and before Rand declared himself. This man gathered his forces in Haddon Mirk, but the Tairens captured him and beheaded him on the spot.
The Defenders of the Stone were the elite unit of the Tairen army—the only permanent formation of that army. They were analogous to the Queen’s Guard in Andor. They also acted as the Watch in the city of Tear. Their duties did not normally take them beyond the city to any great degree, however, except in times of war. They normally numbered between fifteen hundred and two thousand men total.
Unlike armies raised by Tear in time of war, in the Defenders commoners often rose to rank. Their commander—the Captain of the Stone—at the time of the Last Battle was Rodrivar Tihera.
Defenders’ uniforms were black coats with puffy sleeves striped black-and-gold and rimmed helmets with steel bars for faceguards. Plumes on helmets indicated rank for officers. Three short fat white plumes indicated the Captain of the Stone; two short white plumes a captain, one short white plume for a lieutenant and one short black plume for an under-lieutenant. They wore brightly burnished breastplates, and officers had white cuffs on their coats. The Captain of the Stone had three intertwined lines of gold braid in a broad band around his white cuff, a captain had a single narrow line of gold braid around his cuff, a lieutenant had a single narrow line of black braid around his white cuff and an under-lieutenant’s cuffs were plain white. Common soldiers had black cuffs on their coats, squadmen had cuffs that were striped like their sleeves and bannermen had gold cuffs.
“The Stone stands!” and “The Stone still stands!” were battle cries of the Defenders.
The Defenders most often functioned in the field as cavalry, but they also had to be able to function as foot soldiers. Afoot, they used their swords and long spears; they had some archers but no pikes.
Like the armies of other lands, the army of Tear in fact consisted of personal levies raised by nobles, especially High Lords and Ladies. Usually, a lady would have a Master of the Horse who commanded for her in the field, but this was not always so. A lord was expected to lead and command in person. In the Tairen military, commoners seldom rose to a high rank except in the foot, which was largely despised and relatively few in number. Most officers were younger lords, younger sons and the like.