To'raken

To'raken are animals used by the Seanchan in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books.

The to’raken are probably related to the raken, and look a great deal like their smaller relatives. To’raken are larger, though, and are brown in color. Like the raken, it is roughly equal to a horse in intelligence.

To’raken are unable to simply throw themselves into flight, instead requiring a running start. The to’raken are also not particularly agile fliers. Their value instead comes from their strength and endurance. They have been known to fly up to a thousand miles with only a single morat’to’raken in the saddle.

To’raken are typically used to carry valuable cargo or people who need to be transported quickly. With only a single morat aboard, a to’raken is able to carry an additional thousand pounds up to two hundred miles.

When injured, to’raken frequently refuse to fly farther than the safest landing area. But there is often a difference in opinion between the to’raken and the morat as to what constitutes a safe landing area.

Morat capable of handling a raken are able to handle a to'raken as well. However, Seanchan consider morat’raken superior to morat’to’raken. Ordering a morat’raken to fly a to’raken would cause the flier to lose a great deal of face (known to the Seanchan as 'lowering their eyes').