The Aiel are a warrior people who inhabit the Aiel Waste, the harsh desert east of the Spine of the World. Organised into twelve clans, each subdivided into septs and warrior societies, they are the most feared fighters in the known world - tall, grey-eyed, and capable of crossing terrain that would kill soldiers from the Westlands. Their culture is built around ji'e'toh, a complex system of honour and obligation that governs every aspect of life. Women who can channel become Wise Ones, honoured advisors outside the normal clan structure. The Aiel's true history - revealed to Rand in Rhuidean - is one of the series' central revelations and fundamentally changes how they understand themselves. Several Aiel warrior societies, including the Maidens of the Spear, play major roles throughout the story.