Sea Folk
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Pronunciation: ah-thah-AHN mee-EHR

aka: Sea Folk

The Atha'an Miere or Sea Folk spend their entire lives on their ships. In particular, they consider it important to be born and to die on the water. This is tied into the Jendai Prophecies. They have very dark skin, straight black hair and black eyes. Men and women have tattoos and piercings. The tattoos identify their Clan. The number of piercings identify their rank. Men are clean shaven.

The ruler of the Sea Folk is the Mistress of Ships, currently Nesta din Reas Two Moons. The Mistress of Ships holds as much power as many queens. The Master of the Blades, currently Baroc, is sometimes married to the Mistress of Ships and is responsible for trade and defense of the Sea Folk.

Like the Aiel, the Sea Folk are divided into numerous clans each headed by a Wavemistress. Her Swordmaster serves the same role within the clan as the Master of the Blades. Within a clan, each ship is captained by a Sailmistress. Her Cargomaster is responsible for the trade and defense of the ship. The Wavemistress of a clan is also the Sailmistress of her ship.

Each ship also has a Windfinder. Windfinders are able to channel and are highly skilled in Cloud Dancing which they call Weaving of Winds. (ACoS,Ch13)

Clans#

  • Catelar
  • Dacan
  • Rossaine
  • Shodein
  • Somarin
  • Takana

Wavemistresses#

Sailmistresses#

Windfinders#

Swordmaster#

Cargomaster#

Gift of Passage#

"Let us talk, Sailmistress, of sailings and ports, and the gift of passage."

The Sea Folk do not charge for passage. It is a gift, which just coincidentally is exchanged for a gift of equal value.

References (Possible Spoilers)#

  1. In the Guide - A great deal of basic information on the Sea Folk.
  2. In New Spring
    1. NS,Ch3 - There are only four Sea Folk Aes Sedai and two of them are quite old.
  3. In The Eye of the World
    1. TEotW,Ch24 - Bayle Domon notes that the Sea Folk only seem interested in searching for their Coramoor.
  4. In The Great Hunt
    1. TGH,Prologue - Sea Folk men wear tattoos on their hands, a six-pointed star on the right and symbols of his clan and line on the left.
    2. TGH,Ch4 - There are very few Aes Sedai from the Sea Folk. Those few say that their Coramoor. is coming.
    3. TGH,Ch4 - The Sea Folk refuse to cross the Aryth Ocean. They say the Isles of the Dead lie on the other side.
    4. TGH,Ch26 - Thom and Dena plan to visit the Sea Folk islands.
    5. TGH,Ch31 - Jain Farstrider recounts his visit to the Sea Folk in The Travels of Jain Farstrider.
  5. InThe Dragon Reborn
    1. TDR,Ch48 - When Nynaeve asks Mother Guenna about the weather, she answers that she is no Sea Folk Windfinder. First mention of Windfinders.
  6. In The Shadow Rising
    1. TSR,Ch1 - The Sea Folk of the islands around Cantorin have been subdued by the Seanchan (People).
    2. TSR,Ch2 - A Sea Folk raker, the Wavedancer, arrives at Tear.
    3. TSR,Ch19 - A great deal of basic information on the Sea Folk.
    4. TSR,Ch21 - Moiraine hopes that Elayne and Nynaeve will be able to confirm her suspicion that that Windfinders can channel.
  7. In Lord of Chaos
    1. LoC,Ch5 - A Sea Folk ship, the White Spray, docks at Aringill and Wavemistress Zaida din Parede Blackwing and her Swordmaster disembark.
    2. LoC,Ch9 - Balwer reports to Pedron Niall that many Sea Folk ships are congregating in southern ports.
    3. LoC,Ch17 - A Sea Folk ship, the White Spray, docks at Cairhien.
    4. LoC,Ch26 - Wavemistress Zaida din Parede Blackwing and her retinue arrive in Caemlyn and request an audience with Rand.
    5. LoC,Ch27 - Erian tries to visit the Sea Folk ship at Cairhien but she is refused boarding.
    6. LoC,Ch28 - The Wavemistresses both write to Rand requesting audiences. They address him as the Coramoor. and seal their letters with a symbol, two things like flattened bowls with a thick, ornate line running from one through the other.
    7. LoC,Ch32 - Egwene tries to visit the Sea Folk ship at the Cairhien docks but the Windfinder detects her channeling ability and drops her overboard.
    8. LoC,Ch48 - Tylin asks Elayne and Nynaeve if they know why there are so many Sea Folk ships gathered in the Ebou Dar harbor.
  8. In A Crown of Swords
    1. ACoS,Ch6 - When Rand returns to Cairhien, Berelain is staying on the Sea Folk ship.
    2. ACoS,Ch13 - Elayne, Nynaeve, Aviendha and Birgitte meet with the Sea Folk to ask for the assistance of Windfinders in using the Bowl of the Winds.
    3. ACoS,Ch18 - Rand is crucial in Sea Folk prophecies but they will not say how.
    4. ACoS,Ch23 - Elayne is worried what Egwene will say about the bad bargain they made yesterday with the Sea Folk.
    5. ACoS,Ch37 - Nynaeve and Lan are married by the Mistress of the Ships
    6. ACoS,Ch37 - Twenty Windfinders return to the Tarasin Palace with Nynaeve and Lan to complete their bargain.
    7. ACoS,Ch39 - Because of Mat's ta'veren influence, the Windfinders agree to accompany Elayne and Nynaeve to a place of their choice, the farm, to use the Bowl of the Winds.
  9. In The Path of Daggers
    1. TPoD,Ch2 - The smallest and least important Sea Folk ships are called darters.
    2. TPoD,Ch6 - Caire din Gelyn leads the circle of thirteen that uses the Bowl to fix the weather.
    3. TPoD,Ch20 - When it begins to snow Renaile din Calon claims the Bowl and Merilille as a teacher to complete their bargain.
    4. TPoD,Ch20 - In a Sea Folk marriage, when one spouse must obey the other in public, it is the reverse in private.
  10. In Winter's Heart
    1. WH,Ch11 - According to Sea Folk protocol, when a Wavemistress or Mistress of the Ships dies or retires, her Windfinder is demoted to the lowest rank and must start over.
    2. WH,Ch11 - There are only three Sea Folk Aes Sedai and they are weak. The Aes Sedai believe that channeling is rarely found in the Sea Folk.
    3. WH,Ch11 - Showing any sign of family favoritism in public is a serious crime.
    4. WH,Ch11 - Three of the Sea Folk clans are Clan Dacan, Clan Rossaine and Clan Takana.
    5. WH,Ch17 - Half the damane in Ebou Dar are captured Windfinders.
    6. WH,Ch23 - The Sea Folk use sextants to navigate, but they keep them a closely guarded secret. The shorebound are never allowed to even see them.
    7. WH,Ch24 - The First Twelve Sailmistresses of a Clan chose the Wavemistress. The First Twelve Wavemistresses elect the Mistress of the Ships.
    8. WH,Ch31 - Mat remembers taking a Sea Folk ship from Allorallen to Barashta.
    9. WH,Ch35 - Even the Sea Folk governors have left Tremalking to search for the Coramoor..
  11. In Crossroads of Twilight
    1. CoT,Ch1 - The captive Windfinders jump the gun and escape before Mat expected. In the battle that follows, hundreds of Windfinders die and many ships, both Sea Folk and Seanchan (People), are destroyed.
    2. CoT,Ch11 - The Windfinders and the Kin are seriously agitated by the powerful channeling.
    3. CoT,Ch12 - The Wavemistresses of the Sea Folk will hold a conclave in Illian to elect a new Mistress of the Ships.
    4. CoT,Ch12 - The Windfinders who lost their ships at Ebou Dar are now something of second class citizens.
    5. CoT,Ch18 - The Salidar Aes Sedai learn that there are hundreds of Sea Folk Windfinders in Illian.
    6. CoT,Ch23 - There are nearly as many Sea Folk as Tairens in Tear for the conclave to elect a new Mistress of the Ships.
  12. In Knife of Dreams
    1. KoD,Ch22 - The Sea Folk meet in Illian and elect Zaida din Parede Blackwing the new Mistress of the Ships.
    2. KoD,Ch22 - Shortly after the Breaking, the Sea Folk pledge to protect the Amayar. They take the mass suicide as a failure on their part.
    3. KoD,Ch22 - Rand sends Logain to call on the Bargain. The Sea Folks are to put all their efforts into shipping food to Arad Doman.
  13. In The Gathering Storm
    1. TGS,Ch5 - Harine and several other Sea Folk arrive in Arad Doman via gateway. Rand is angry that so few ships have arrived in Bandar Eban. Harine counters that the Seanchan (People) are harassing them.
    2. TGS,Ch29 - There are still only a few Sea Folk rakers in the port of Bandar Eban.
  14. In Towers of Midnight
    1. ToM,Ch25 - There are Sea Folk ships in the port of Bandar Eban, but the dockmaster Iralin will not let them unload until Rand returns, purifying the foodstuffs.
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Copyright (c) 1998 by Gary Kephart