Bowl of the Winds

Elayne, Aviendha, and Nynaeve around the Bowl of the Winds

For the chapter in A Crown of Swords by the same name, see The Bowl of the Winds. For other uses of the word "wind," see Wind.

The Bowl of the Winds is a ter'angreal recovered from the Kin's Storeroom in Ebou Dar.

It is a powerful bowl-shaped ter'angreal which allows its users to control the weather. It draws both saidin and saidar, no matter which is being channeled at it.

History

During the Age of Legends, the weather was carefully regulated by Aes Sedai using various weather ter'angreal. None of the ter'angreal were strong enough on their own to affect the weather of the entire planet, yet through the use of several, the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends were able to keep close control over the weather.

One of these ter'angreal was held by the ancestors of the Atha'an Miere. They used the bowl to survive the seas during the Breaking of the World. It was somehow lost 2000 years ago. It's whereabouts since becoming lost are unknown, except that it turned up in a storeroom of the Kin in Ebou Dar where it had lain undiscovered for an undetermined length of time. The bowl became a legend among the Atha'an Miere and was thought lost or destroyed. During this time the Atha'an Miere learned to control the weather to a degree that according to Ishamael should have required a weather ter'angreal.

Use

The bowl is activated by channeling a complex weave of all five powers to form a four-pointed star, which turns the bowl blue as a summer sky with clouds floating through it. Then the number of points on the star is increased to five, six, seven, eight, and nine. At each stage the bowl changes colors and reflects a different part of the sky or the sea. After the nine-point star is channeled the bowl begins to draw saidar and saidin on its own in far greater quantities than what was originally channeled into it.

The bowl then shoots a column of power into the sky, a complex mix of saidar and saidin. A new weave is then laid on the bowl to alter the column of power. Eventually the column branches at the top, fanning spiderwebs of power out in all directions. When finished the column evaporates and the bowl turns clear.

Controlling the weather with the bowl is like using the rudder of a ship. The weather is not changed instantly, rather the course of the weather is nudged in the desired direction to produce lasting effects.

Discovery

The bowl was located again by Elayne Trakand and Nynaeve al'Meara in Tel'aran'rhiod using Need. They were sent by the Salidar Amyrlin, Egwene al'Vere, with Matrim Cauthon and several more experienced Aes Sedai to retrieve the bowl. However because the streets of Ebou Dar, particularly in the Rahad, all look the same, they could not easily return to the same spot. Through the use of Mat's ta'veren qualities they were led to the Kin by Setalle Anan, roughly the same time Mat discovered the bowl's location independently. They retrieved the bowl through a confrontation with the Black Ajah, Darkfriends, and a gholam sent by Moghedien and Sammael. During this confrontation, about a quarter of the relics from the Kin's hoard were stolen, and Ispan Shefar was captured.

Bargain

Because the Sea Folk had the knowledge to use the bowl that the Aes Sedai lacked, Elayne and Nynaeve bargained with Renaile din Calon Blue Star of the Atha'an Miere for their help in using the bowl. This was a spectacularly bad bargain for the Aes Sedai, and would have been even worse if Mat had not bullied the Atha'an Miere into agreeing to the final details, including the location of the Kin's farm.

The Aes Sedai received

• Sea Folk knowledge to use the bowl and control the circle.
• Windfinders of strength to be part of the circle.
• Use of the most powerful Windfinders instead of the Windfinders with the highest rank.

The Atha'an Miere received

• Windfinders could learn anything that Aes Sedai could teach, including Traveling and forming a link.
• The bowl itself, after the weather was fixed.
• Twenty sisters going to the Atha'an Miere subject to their laws, required to teach anything the Windfinders wanted to learn and unable to leave until others came to replace them.
• Windfinders allowed to enter the White Tower as guests, allowed to learn whatever they wished and leave whenever they wished.

Use to fix the weather

After fleeing Ebou Dar to the Kin's farm, Aviendha unwove the gateway after seeing the gholam watching her so that no one could follow. They chose the top of a hill as the best place to form the circle. The circle was led by Caire din Gelyn Running Wave who knew more of the Bowl of Winds than anyone else. She led the circle like the captain of a ship, expecting full obedience.

The circle involved women who could channel from all major societies in the Westlands, and was probably the most powerful circle since the Breaking of the World.

The full circle

Atha'an Miere

• Caire din Gelyn Running Wave — In command (level of strength 17-5)
• Tebreille din Gelyn South Wind (level of strength 17-5)
• Naime (level of strength 16-4 or 14-2, depending on sources)
• Rysael (level of strength 16-4 or 14-2, depending on sources)
• Rainyn (level of strength 13-1)
• Metarra din Junalle (potential level of strength 8+5, probably not reached)
• Talaan din Gelyn (potential level of strength 2+11, actual around 4+9) — Using the amber turtle angreal

Aes Sedai

• Elayne Trakand (potential level of strength 8+5, not reached yet)
• Nynaeve al'Meara (potential level of strength 3+10, actual around 4+9) — Using the gold bracelet and rings angreal

Kin

• Kirstian Chalwin (level of strength 14-2)
• Garenia Rosoinde (level of strength 13-1)
• Reanne Corly (level of strength 14-2)

Aiel

• Aviendha (potential level of strength 8+5, not reached yet, probably now she is around level 11+2) — Using the ivory carving of a woman covered by her hair angreal

Effects

The effects of the Bowl of the Winds took effect within days, the prolonged heat of The Fires of Heaven through to A Crown of Swords being quickly dispelled and bringing about a delayed winter at an accelerated pace. As part of The Bargain between Elayne Trakand and Nynaeve al'Meara, acting on behalf of the Rebel Aes Sedai, and the Atha'an Miere, the Bowl of the Winds entered the possession of the Windfinders in return for their expertise in manipulating the weather.

The aftereffects of using the ter'angreal caused both saidin and saidar to exhibit unusual behaviour that manifested in weaves of both halves becoming distorted and jumpy. In Rand's campaign against the Seanchan west of Illian, he and various Asha'man, including Damer Flinn, complain of a "strangeness" in saidin. Rand in particular notes that the Taint seemed more overwhelming than usual, although this may not be related. The effect was most noticeable near Ebou Dar where the Bowl of Winds was used. Furyk Karede notes how it affected the damane, calling it a "sickness" and lamenting that the damane were not able to channel in Ebou Dar, not even to create the sky lights that are normal in celebration of a victory. The Wheel of Time Companion confirms that these side-effects radiated outwards from Ebou Dar as far as the Altara-Illian border.

The cause of these aftereffects was an overcharging and overextension of the Bowl of the Winds beyond what it was designed for. Originally, the Bowl was only applied over a much more local area, rather than the whole of the Westlands, perhaps the whole world. This ended up causing an instability in True Source that would not have occured when it was being used properly. It was the advanced ability of the Windfinders that enabled the Bowl to be used over such a large area. Note that it is not the large amount of Power that is the cause of the instability, as there were no corresponding strange aftereffects that resulted from the Cleansing of saidin, but rather a result of the Bowl of the Winds itself, which draws upon both halves of the source directly to "generate" weaves that affect the weather. The amount of saidar used by the Bowl was much more than the considerable amount held by the circle itself, whose entire strength was bent towards controlling and directing the weaves broadcasted by the ter'angreal. The Bowl cam only be triggered by weaves of saidar.

It is stated by Moridin that weather ter'angreal in the Age of Legends did not need to be channeled into directly. He also states that the ability to work the weather with the Power was something discovered by women of the Third Age. It therefore stands to reason that the Bowl is an artifact of the Breaking or afterwards, something corroborated by the fact that could only be actvated using female half of the One Power and could draw saidin without the need of a male channeler. A male channeler may have been needed to create the ter'angreal in the first place.

The considerable quantity of the One Power wielded by the controlling circle immediately alerted the Seanchan, who dispatched Sul'dam and their damane by raken to The Farm in order to collar any women who were channeling there. The Seanchan sent were all destroyed, however, when Elayne Trakand failed to unweave her gateway properly, causing the weave to blow up on of both sides of the gateway and releasing a huge amount of energy. The Farm itself was destroyed and this began rumour among the Seanchan of an "Aes Sedai weapon" that was the cause of their damane's inability to channel.

Last Battle

The Bowl of the Winds is frequently used during the Last Battle. The Sea Folk Windfinders use it to fight the sudden and constant changes of the weather, namely the darkening of the sky to favor the Shadowspawn.

Trivia

At JordanCon 8, Harriet McDougal was given a large glass 'Bowl of the Winds' as a gift by members of the Waygate Foundation.