Sulin

Among the Maidens who move with Rand al'Thor out of the Three-fold Land, Sulin stands as one of the eldest and the most seasoned. Her white hair and the scar seaming one cheek speak of long years carrying the spear, and her leather-dark face is the face of a woman shaped by the Waste itself, by sun, rock, and hard distances. Her pale blue eyes miss little. Where younger Maidens such as Adelin and Enaila share the duty of watching over Rand, it is Sulin who leads them, and her word among the spear-sisters carries the weight of a lifetime.

Her post is a demanding one. The Maidens hold themselves responsible for Rand's safety on the long westward road, through the camps and the dry country toward the Spine of the World, and Sulin takes that charge with unbending seriousness. She holds fast to Maiden custom and to honor as the spear-sisters understand it, and she is not a woman to set either aside for convenience. When she believes the Maidens' duty to protect him is at stake, she will say so, plainly, even to those set above her.

There is nothing brittle in her firmness, though. She knows how to respect authority and how to find the ground where compromise can stand, and beneath the discipline runs a protective concern for the man in her charge. She is a soldier of the Goshien, old in her trade and exactly as steady as she looks.