Aviendha

Aviendha of the Nine Valleys sept of the Taardad Aiel is one of the main characters of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan.

Description

She is tall and lovely with blue-green eyes. Her reddish hair was originally short with a tail in the back, and is now just short of her shoulders. She is about 5'9".

Maiden of the Spear

Aviendha enters the story as an Aiel "Maiden of the Spear", a warrior woman who marries her weapon; she is of the Nine Valleys sept of the Taardad clan (though an early authorial error has her listed as being of the Bitter Water sept). She was one of the Aiel who ventured out of the Aiel Waste, across the Spine of the World and into the so-called "wetlands" in search of the "Car'a'carn", the Aiel chief of chiefs, He Who Comes With The Dawn. These Aiel aid Egwene al'Vere, Elayne Trakand and Nynaeve al'Meara on their travels and eventually end up at the Stone of Tear where Rand al'Thor took "Callandor", the crystal sword "sa'angreal". There Aviendha befriended the three women further, especially Egwene and Elayne, who she began to call her "near-sisters" according to Aiel custom.

To Rhuidean

While she would have gladly accompanied Elayne and Nynaeve to Tanchico to hunt Darkfriends, Aviendha was summoned back to Rhuidean in the Aiel Waste for unknown reasons. Making the best of it, she promised Elayne to keep an eye on Rand and departed, arriving in the company of Rand, Egwene, Moiraine Sedai and Lan Mandragoran. There the truth came out; Aviendha had been summoned because she had the ability to channel, and would be trained to join the ranks of the Wise Ones. She is about as strong in the Power as Elayne and Egwene, making her one of the strongest female channelers alive.

With Rand al'Thor

At Rhuidean, Aviendha saw that she was fated to fall in love with Rand, which put her at odds with the promise that she had made to Elayne. Aviendha blamed Rand for her predicament, and became suddenly hostile to him (which, of course, he was completely baffled by). The situation was only made worse when the Aiel Wise Ones made Aviendha teach Rand about the Aiel people. The situation continued this way until one day Rand happened to come into the room they shared (as per the Wise One's orders) while she was naked. Panicking, she made a gateway (incidentally a feat she is not able to reproduce until much later in the series) to the opposite side of the world and fled though it into a blizzard. Rand, realizing that she would not survive long without clothes in a freezing, foreign land, grabbed blankets and pursued her. After fishing her out of a river that she fell into, Aviendha and Rand ended up releasing their pent up sexual frustration. Rand kept her close (albeit awkwardly at times) through the battles with the Shaido and the attack on Rahvin, though Aviendha decided to forgo anything physical again until she could have a talk with Elayne.

Recent Events

During the battle with Rahvin, Aviendha was killed, however Rand used balefire to kill Rahvin, and undid some of the pattern, so it was as if she never died. After Rahvin's demise, Rand foisted Aviendha off on Mat Cauthon--not to break their mutual attraction (at the time he too was having trouble getting used to the idea of loving three women) but rather because any woman near him would be in danger, and he couldn't stand to see her hurt. After they arrived at Salidar, Aviendha agreed to accompany Elayne and Nynaeve to Ebou Dar; she assisted in the use of the Bowl of the Winds once it was found. Now safely in Caemlyn, she has finally had a chance to meet Min Farshaw, the third woman Min saw, who were to fall in love with Rand Al'Thor, and they seem to be getting along. She and Elayne have also formally become first-sisters, an Aiel ceremony that invokes a Power-wrought connection not unlike a Warder bond. Also, Aviendha, along with both Elayne and Min, have Bonded Rand as their 'Warder' in a private ceremony. She remained in Caemlyn, safeguarding Elayne and, according to Min, Rand's newly-conceived twins. In "Knife of Dreams", Aviendha is taken away from Caemlyn by the Wise Ones to resume her apprenticeship, then travels to Arad Doman with the rest of the Taardad Aiel.

The Future

In "Winter's Heart", Min had a vision which strongly suggests that Aviendha will have four children with Rand at some point in the future.

External links

*http://photeus.com:8080/ewot/characters/index.html
*http://www.dragonmount.com