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Kandor : One of the Borderlands. Bordered on the north by the Great Blight, the east by Arafel, the south by Mosara, and the west by Saldaea.

Karaethon Cycle : See Prophecies of the Dragon.

Keeper of the Chronicles : Second in authority to the Amyrlin Seat among the Aes Sedai, she also acts as a secretary to the Amyrlin. Chosen for life by the Hall of the Tower, and usually of the same Ajah as the Amyrlin.

kesiera : A small gem worn on the forehead, suspended on a chain worn in the hair. A Cairhienin affectation.

Kin, the : Even during the Trolloc Wars, more than [a] thousand years ago, the White Tower continued to maintain its standards, putting out women who failed to measure up. One group of these women, fearing to return home in the midst of the wars, fled to Barashta (near the present-day site of Ebou Dar), as far from the fighting as it was possible to go at that time. Calling themselves the Kin, and Kinswomen, they kept in hiding and offered a safe haven for others who had been put out. In time, their approaches to women told to leave the Tower led to contacts with runaways, and while the exact reasons may never be known, the Kin began to accept runaways, as well. They made great efforts to keep these girls from learning anything about the Kin until they were sure that Aes Sedai would not swoop down and retake them. After all, everyone knew that runaways were always caught sooner or later, and the Kin knew that unless they held themselves secret, they themselves would be punished severely.

Unknown to the Kin, Aes Sedai in the Tower have been aware of their existence almost from the very first, but prosecution of the wars left no time for dealing with them. By the end of the wars, the Tower realized that it might not be in their best interests to snuff out the Kin. Prior to that time, a majority of runaways actually had managed to escape, whatever the Tower�s propaganda, but once the Kin began helping them, the Tower knew exactly where the runaway was heading, and they began retaking nine out of ten. Since Kinswomen moved in and out of Barashta (and later Ebou Dar) in an effort to hide their existence, never staying more than ten years lest someone notice that they did not age at a normal speed, the Tower believed they were few, and they certainly were keeping themselves low. In order to use the Kin as a trap for runaways, the Tower decided to leave them alone, unlike any other similar group in history, and to keep the very existence of the Kin a secret known only to full Aes Sedai.

The Kin do not have laws, but rather rules (called the Rule) based in part on the rules for novices and Accepted in the White Tower, and in part on the necessity of maintaining secrecy. As might be expected from the origin of the Kin, they maintain the Rule very firmly on all of their members.

Kintara : An inland nation. Bordered on the north by Andor, the east by Mar Haddon, the south by Maredo, and the west by Murandy.

ki�sain : A small dot painted in the center of the forehead, worn by married Malkieri women in pledge that they will swear their sons to oppose the Shadow while they breathe. Women with living husbands wear a red dot, widows a white dot.

Knitting Circle, the : The leaders of the Kin. Since no member of the Kin has ever known how Aes Sedai arrange their own hierarchy--knowledge passed on only when an Accepted has passed her test for the shawl--they put no store in strength in the Power but give great weight to age, with the older woman always standing above the younger. The Knitting Circle (a title chosen, like the Kin, because it is innocuous) thus consists of the thirteen oldest Kinswomen resident in Ebou Dar, with the oldest given the title of Eldest. By the rules, all will have step down when it is time for them to move on, but so long as they are in Ebou Dar, they have supreme authority over the Kin, to a degree that any Amyrlin would envy.

ko�di : The Oneness. Also known as the Flame and the Void. A method used by warriors and bladesmen in their training in which one