Perrin Aybara

Perrin Aybara apprentices under Haral Luhhan at the smithy in Emond's Field, and he is a careful, deliberate young man. When the peddler Padan Fain brings word during Bel Tine of a war in Ghealdan, a man who can channel the One Power, and Aes Sedai riding south from Tar Valon, Perrin worries over what the news could mean for the Two Rivers. He has his own troubling account to add: a black-cloaked rider watching the smithy at twilight. He tells Rand and Mat of it, and Moiraine gives him a coin. When the friends debate reporting the rider to the Mayor, Perrin suggests gathering more witnesses first, and other young men in the village turn out to have seen the stranger too.

The caution proves warranted. Trollocs attack Emond's Field, and Lan and Moiraine say the attack targeted Rand, Mat, and Perrin specifically. With the Dark One's forces marking the three of them, staying in the village would only bring further attacks down on their neighbors, so Perrin must leave his home and his apprenticeship behind for the road to Tar Valon.