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"I submit myself... I was enrolled in the novice book almost three hundred years ago, and ran away less than a year later. I submit myself, and... and beg mercy."
   —Kirstian Chalwin

Kirstian Chalwin was formerly based in Ebou Dar as part of the Knitting Circle in the Kin. Later she confessed to be a runaway from the White Tower so she was forced to be again a novice.

Appearance[]

She has the typical pale complexion of Cairhienin people and appears to be in her middle years. She has black eyes. She is 5'5 tall. She had neither gray hairs nor lines on her face, and looked to be only around 30 while really she is more than 300 years old.

Strength and Abilities[]

She is quite strong in the One Power; she was described by Elayne and Nynaeve as one of the strongest Kinswomen in Ebou Dar, equaling strong Aes Sedai as Sheriam and Pevara; consequently she was chosen to be part of the Circle that controlled the Bowl of the Winds.

This strength is confirmed by the WOT Companion where her level is described as 14(2). This strength is more than enough to open a suitable gateway for Traveling.

History[]

Kirstian was born in Cairhien in 680 NE, making her approximately 25 years older than the oldest living Aes Sedai.[1]

She went to the White Tower as a young woman in 698 NE. She arrived in the spring and ran away before winter the same year, because of impatience with her progress and the discipline.[1]

She began regretting her departure almost immediately and always wanted to go back, but she was terrified by the stories of the punishments given to the runaways. Before reaching Ebou Dar she stayed for a good while of time in Far Madding where her traces had been lost by her chasers, and when she finally joined the Kin, no one was still searching for her. She continued using her real name, as she believed her escape had been so long ago that she was safe.[1]

At the time the Kin was discovered by Elayne and Nynaeve, Kirstian was running successfully a small shop as a weaver, with some women working for her. The shop was not tiny, but also not so large that someone would question how she had earned it at apparently such a young age.

Activities[]

She Travels from Ebou Dar with the the rest of the group led by Nynaeve al'Meara and Elayne Trakand to the Kin's farm with the Bowl of the Winds. She holds the shield on the Black Ajah sister Ispan Shefar. She is part of the thirteen women who link and channel into the Bowl of the Winds to change the weather.

She confesses to Adeleas Namelle that she ran away from the White Tower over three hundred years ago when the Aes Sedai figures out that Garenia was actually Zarya Alkaese. Because Adeleas was not clear about which novice she caught, Kirstian panicked and confessed on the spot, babbling and begging for mercy as she had been frightened ever since the Aes Sedai arrived. Both were put back into novice white. Because Kirstian confessed to this rather than being found out, Adeleas says that the Tower will be slightly more lenient in her punishment.

The two novices work out that the murderer of Adeleas must have been an Aes Sedai. Kirstian is now solely taught by Vandene Namelle.

She is with Vandene when the Aes Sedai tells Elayne the news of Reanne's death.

Errata[]

The Wheel of Time Companion lists her as being the youngest of the Knitting circle, but her birth year is listed as 680 NE whereas Tamarla is listed as being born in 681 NE.[1][2] Kirstian is not named as the youngest in the books, although Elayne uses her as a contrast to the Eldest being signficantly older.[3]

Notes

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