Aviendha

Aviendha
Biographical Information
Nationality	[[Aiel]]
Physical description
Gender	Female
Hair	Reddish
Eyes	Blue-green
Chronological and political information
Rank	[[Wise One (apprentice)]]

[[Category:Aiel (people)]]

"Death comes for us all. We can only chose how to face it when it comes."
   —Aviendha

Aviendha was a Maiden of the Spear of the Nine Valleys sept of the Taardad Aiel until she became an apprentice with the Wise Ones. 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 5'8" or 5'9".

History

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. They aided Egwene al'Vere, Elayne Trakand and Nynaeve al'Meara on their travels and eventually ended up at the Stone of Tear when 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 Rand unattached 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 could learn to channel, and would be trained to join the ranks of the Wise Ones. She is about as strong in the One Power as Elayne and Egwene, making her one of the strongest female channelers alive.

With Rand al'Thor

She remained with the Aiel that accompanied Rand's campaign against the rogue Shaido clan in Cairhien, and assisted in his strike against Rahvin in Caemlyn.

At Rhuidean, Aviendha saw that she was fated to fall in love with Rand, and feared retribution from Elayne: she'd promised to keep anyone from stealing Rand out from under Elayne's nose, only to discover she would do just that herself. Blaming Rand for her predicament, Aviendha became suddenly hostile to him, behaviour that baffled him. The situation was exacerbated when the Aiel Wise Ones instructed Aviendha to teach Rand about the Aiel people, and came to a head when one day Rand happened to come upon Aviendha 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 Rand fished her out of a river that she fell into, Aviendha became the first of Rand's lovers.

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 talk with Elayne. Fortunately, their liaison does not seem to have damaged Rand's love for Elayne, nor Aviendha's and Elayne's friendship.

Learning to love

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 member of Rand's "harem," 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 remains in Caemlyn, safeguarding Elayne and, according to Min, Rand's newly-conceived twins.

Recent events

Aviendha recently discovered a Talent for identifying the function of ter'angreal; shortly after that, she is taken away from Caemlyn by the Wise Ones to resume her apprenticeship.

The future

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