Great Blight
From A Wheel of Time Wiki
A corruption of the land north of the Borderlands, the Great Blight sometimes expands and retreats, depending on the current strength of the Dark One. It is home to many dangerous flora and fauna, one example being the Stick, a small creature resembling a stick. Its bite is deadly, and the only known cure is amputation of the bitten area.
Despite the fact that the flora of the Great Blight appears to be sickly and dying, it is in fact a deadly trap. During Rand's travel's through the Blight trees attempted to attack them and consume them. These trees do not seem to possess the hardened bark of trees to the south, as their branches are easily cut by a sword.
It is also site of the ruins of Malkier, overlooking which Rand and his friends camped with a Ward Moiraine put up to prevent them from being seen.
The Great Blight extends eastwards across the northern boundaries of both the Aiel Waste and Shara as well, and some theorise that it even extends across the ocean floor (giving rise to the body of water known as the Dead Sea) to the Seanchan continent, where it is known as the Lesser Blight.
