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"The Covenant was the Aiel, and the Aiel were the Covenant; to abandon the Way would be to abaondon what they were."
   — From the memories of Jonai, Age of Legends ancestor of Rand al'Thor[1]
"We must obey. We are Da'shain Aiel, and we obey the Aes Sedai."
   — Jonai, to the other Da'shain Aiel[1]

The Da'shain Aiel are the ancestors of the Jenn Aiel, the modern Aiel, and the Tuatha'an. During the Age of Legends, they were servants of the Aes Sedai and followers of the Way of the Leaf.[2][1]

History[]

The Age of Legends[]

During the Age of Legends, the Da'shain Aiel served the Aes Sedai and followed the Way of the Leaf. This agreement was known as The Covenant, later the First Covenant.[3] They were distinguished by their work uniforms, cadin'sor, and their red hair. Da'shain had a reputation for humility, amiability, and inoffensiveness to such a degree that the idea of harming one, even unintentionally, was appalling, and the possibility of a Da'shain harming anyone for any reason was inconceivable.[1]

An individual Aes Sedai was commonly served by multiple Da'shain. When two Da'shain who served different Aes Sedai married, one of them would request to transfer their service to their spouse's Aes Sedai so that they could be together.[1] During this time, the Da'shain men also helped the Ogier and the Nym sing to groves of plants to help them grow.

The Breaking[]

During the Breaking of the World, the Da'shain were given a great undertaking by Solinda Sedai: they were to bring a vast collection of angreal, sa'angreal, and ter'angreal to a place of safety. Thousands of wagons were loaded with these treasures as well as thousands of cuttings of chora trees. They were to travel and seek refuge from the onslaught of destruction happening in the world.

The forming of the Tuatha'an[]

The first split among the Da'shain Aiel occurred while the Aiel were traveling in the south of the Westlands. Following a raid, some of them, led by Sulwin, decided to forsake the command of the Aes Sedai by abandoning their relics and instead seeking out a place of safety and their long forgotten songs. Outraged, Adan stripped Sulwin's group of the right to call themselves Aiel. These people went on to become the Tuatha'an. They still follow The Way of the Leaf.

Legacy[]

Template:See also Those who kept the promise to the Aes Sedai continued to carry their objects, keeping the Covenant. After the second split they were called "Jenn", meaning "true" in the Old Tongue, and eventually founded the city of Rhuidean. Before they died out, their Aes Sedai built a huge ter'angreal in the middle of Rhuidean to teach future generations and prepare them for the victory of Light over the Shadow. This glass column ter'angreal taught their leaders the true history of the Aiel by allowing them to experience the painful, complicated past through their ancestors' eyes. It also functioned as a test to select new clan chiefs and Wise Ones, if they proved strong enough to bear the truth.

The promises made to the Aes Sedai[]

  1. To keep moving, always moving, until they find a place of safety, where no one can harm them.
  2. To keep the Covenant, The Way of the Leaf.
  3. To preserve the objects given into their charge until they want them again.
"Keep the Covenant, Jonai. If the Da'shain lose everything else, see they keep the Way of the Leaf. Promise me."
   — Solinda Sedai to Jonai, ancestor of Rand al'Thor [1]

Notes

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