Atha'an Miere
General
The Atha'an Miere, or Seafolk, are a group of people whose ancestors fled to the sea to escape the chaos of the Breaking and who now live almost exclusively at sea, spending little time on land. Those who do spend time on land, such as the governors of the various Sea Folk Islands will return to sea to give birth, even if this is on a small row boat (TSR, Ch. 18). They have a strict heirachy and each knows their place and would not step beyond it. All their vessels are captained by women, who have the right to say when and where it sails. Trade however, is the province of men, so they usually choose their destination in conjunction with their cargomaster (TSR, Ch. 18).
Traditionally, Aes Sedai or not allowed on board and many believe it is unlucky to do so. The true reason however, is to hide the fact that Windfinders, their navigators, can channel and that the ability to channel is strong amongst the Atha'an Miere. To help further the image of a group who channel only weakly, they occasionally send girls to the White Tower, who are strong enough to become Aes Sedai, but not strong enough to draw attention. At the end of the Aiel War, when Rand was born, there were four Aes Sedai and one Accepted, by the time he has proclaimed himself, the Accepted has been raised and there are three Aes Sedai, Zemaile, Aiden and Nyein. None can channel strongly and all are Brown Ajah, working in the library (This passage needs a reference).
As they spend so much time at sea, manipulating the winds and waves to ensure good sailing, their ability with clouddancing exceeds that of the Aes Sedai. For this reason, and the fact that none of the sisters in Ebou Dar had much ability in the area (This passage needs a reference), Nynaeve and Elayne chose to use them to use the Bowl of the Winds and fix the weather (This passage needs a reference). That this came off badly reflects poorly on them, but in truth, the Sea Folk are famed bargainers, Elayne recalls a joke about a Domani, Sea Folk woman and Kandori merchant (This passage needs a reference).
The Sea Folk consist of a number of clans, each headed by a Wavemistress. The twelve highest of these elect their overall leader, the Mistress of the Ships. Beneath a Wavemistress, a ship is captained by the sailmistress
They are very dark and considered alluring and beautiful. Out of sight of land, both women and men strip to the waist so have more freedom around the rigging, but in sight of land, they abide by mainland customs (TSR, Ch. 18).
Miscellaneous
They refer to their boats as he (TSR, Ch. 8). They consider bathing with a person an honour (TSR, Ch. 8). They pay well for both gleemen and teachers, but teachers at least rank less than a deckhand and are not treated well while on board (This passage needs a reference).
The Coramoor
- Main article: Jendai_Prophecy
Their Jendai prophecy spoke of the Coramoor, who would be the herald of a new age , that they were to wander the waters until his coming then serve him (TSR, Ch. 18). Before Rand took the Stone and fulfilled the prophecy, many of the Sea Folk had started spurning trade and were instead seeking the CoramoorTEotW, Ch. 24). Little was known about the Coramoor, and even the Sea Folk Aes Sedai would say little more than he was coming (TGH, Ch. 4). Once he had proclaimed himself, some felt that the old ways had changed and allowed what they believed to be Aes Sedai on board, though Nesta din Rees disapproved of this quite strongly (ACoS, Ch. 13). The agreement which binds the Sea folk to the Coramoor, was known as the Bargain, and negotiated with Harine, by Merana and Rafela. Neither side was pleased with the outcome (TPoD, Ch. 27; KoD, Ch. 22).
