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The Aiel War
The thousand years following the War of the Hundred Years were a period of growth and prosperity. The nation of Cairhien in particular had a period of unprecedented wealth. The Aiel granted the nation of Cairhien the right to cross the Aiel Waste. This exclusive right allowed the Cairhienin to trade for silks and other exotic goods in the lands beyond the Aiel Waste, a lucrative trade which no other nation could compete with. In addition to granting the Cairhienin the right to cross the Waste, the Aiel gave an offshoot of Avendesora to the Cairhienin. This offshoot, one of the legendary chora trees, was named Avendoraldera. Laman Damodred became king of Cairhien, and decided to cut down Avendoraldera to make a throne which would be unique in all the world. Tens of thousands of Aiel crossed the Dragonwall to punish the Treekiller. The Cairhienin, and indeed the rest of the land, thought that the entire Aiel nation had emerged from the Waste to do battle. In reality, it was only four of the twelve clans that crossed the Dragonwall. Laman’s cutting of Avendoraldera came to be known as Laman’s Sin. All the nations sent troops to help fight the Aiel, but the Aiel continued to follow Laman wherever he went. They followed him to Tar Valon, where the Battle of the Shining Walls took place. The Grand Alliance had emerged to fight the Aiel, and outnumbered the Aiel two to one at Tar Valon. The Battle of the Shining Walls was plagued by snow and bad weather, but the Aiel fought fiercely. At the end of the third day of fighting, Laman was killed. The rest of the world did not understand that the Aiel had crossed the Dragonwall only to find and punish Laman for his crime. With their mission accomplished, the Aiel began to move away from Tar Valon and back toward their home in the Waste. They took with them Laman’s sword, the Power-wrought blade of a blademaster, as proof of their success. Following the Aiel War, the years leading up to the present were fairly calm. Little did most realize that during the Battle of the Shining Walls, on the slopes of Dragonmount, a baby boy was born. This boy was the Dragon Reborn.
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