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Sumeko Karistovan is a Kin and a member of the Knitting Circle.[1] She was once an Accepted who failed her test for the shawl before becoming a Wise Woman in Ebou Dar.

Appearance and age[]

She is stout with a plump and round face, she has glossy black hair[2], and her bosom has been described as massive and heaving. As a Wise Woman she wears a very long red belt[3].

She is younger than Reanne (who was 412 at the moments of her death), but older than the rest of the Kin in Caemlyn, including Kirstian who is known to be around three hundred and fifteen, so Sumeko presumably is more than 350 years old.

This was later confirmed by "The Wheel of Time Companion" where we find that she was born in 598 NE, so she is at least 401 when she first appears.

Strength and abilities[]

She is described as quite strong in saidar, at the same level of some of the most influential Aes Sedai. This is confirmed by "The Wheel of Time Companion" where her strength level is described as 18(6). This strength is enough to open suitable Gateways for Traveling.

She is also extremely talented at Healing, using very effective weaves of her personal invention that even Nynaeve al'Meara is unfamiliar with. She had a natural feel for the nuances of Healing. In fact, although it was forbidden by the Kin's rules, Sumeko for centuries has continued working and experimenting on Healing with the One Power, so she has become very experienced and formidable with it. Sumeko uses a form of Healing very much like Nynaeve's and then she was easily able to teach herself Nynaeve's method of five Powers healing.[4]

History[]

She joined the White Tower in 614 NE. After spending five years as a novice and five years as Accepted, she was tested for the shawl and suffered a breakdown during the test[5]. She wanted so badly to do well that she pressured herself too much. If she had succeeded she would have chosen the Yellow Ajah. She was forced to leave the White Tower and eventually joined the Kin and ended up in Ebou Dar.

Activities[]

She discovers that someone is murdering Wise Women as Callie in Ebou Dar[5].

The Kin Elders including Sumeko are meeting when Elayne returns with the Aes Sedai from Tarasin Palace.[6]

She is one of Kin that accompanies Elayne Trakand and Nynaeve al'Meara to the Rahad to find the Bowl of the Winds[7]. She only just survives when the gholam attacks[4].

Back at the Tarasin Palace Reanne and the five surviving Elders including Sumeko meet with Mat, Elayne, Nynaeve and the Sea Folk Windfinders. Sumeko is the only one of the Kin not flustered by Aes Sedai[8]. Sumeko and the rest of the Kin Elders wait in the Tarasin Palace stable yard to go through Aviendha's gateway to the farm.[9]

She Travels with the the rest of the group led by Nynaeve and Elayne from Ebou Dar to the Kin's farm with the Bowl of the Winds. She seems to have developed some back bone when dealing with Aes Sedai now.[10]

She, along with the rest of the group, travels to Andor[11] and then to the capital city of Caemlyn[12] and now resides there.

Reanne Corly, Chilares Arman, Famelle Juarde and Sumeko Karistovan summon Nynaeve to dinner, probably to lecture her on dealing with the Windfinders[13]. Sumeko faints when she feels the powerful channeling to the south west created by Rand and Nynaeve during the Cleansing of Saidin[14]. She also watches Monaelle perform Caressing the Child on Elayne so she can learn the weave.[15]

With Reanne Corly's death, she has now become Eldest. After a number of Kinswomen deaths, Elayne tries to get the Kinswomen to stay together and the Daughter-Heir meets Sumeko and Alise to enforce it and to calm the rest of the Kin.[16] Later Alise and Sumeko update Elayne on another murder. They listen to what Duhara has to say and then confirm that they believe Elayne is fully Aes Sedai.[16]

She and the Kinswomen are used to help Heal all the injured after the battle outside Caemlyn; In fact during the siege of Caemlyn, Sumeko spends most of her time Healing[17].

After the siege she and Alise Tenjile meet with Elayne discussing about the future of the Kin and they reach an arrangement: the Kinswomen will live in their residence at Caemlyn for free in exchange for offering Healing and Traveling for the Crown of Andor when it needs it. But Sumeko will not join them, in fact she still intends to be an Aes Sedai and to join the Yellow Ajah, so she will ask to repeat her test for the shawl after the Last Battle.[18][18]

Sumeko and Julanya Fote finally get their revenge on the gholam in Caemlyn for the murdering of the Kinswomen in the Rahad: they help create a gateway for Skimming and leave it open for Matrim Cauthon, who lures the gholam to the entrance of it and kicks the creature into the void, letting it fall for eternity.[18][18]

After the destruction of Caemlyn she takes charge of Healing the survivors along fellow Kinswomen and Aes Sedai.

During the Last Battle Sumeko and other Kinswomen help weave gateways for messengers to move between battlefields and help transport specific armies to the war-front they are fighting on. Also provided Healing as usual.

Notes

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