The people of the Two Rivers - the remote, insular region of Andor where the story begins - form the core of the main cast. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, and Nynaeve all come from Emond's Field and the surrounding villages. Two Rivers folk are known for their stubbornness (which they call determination), their skill with the longbow, their suspicion of outsiders, and their fierce loyalty to one another. As the series progresses, the Two Rivers transforms from a forgotten backwater into a significant power in its own right, largely because of the people it produced. Their shared origin is a constant point of connection for the main characters even as their paths diverge across the world.

The Asha'man are male channellers trained by Rand al'Thor as weapons for the Last Battle, based at the Black Tower near Caemlyn. Their name means "guardian" or "defender" in the Old Tongue. Where the Aes Sedai spend years learning to channel safely, the Asha'man are trained at brutal speed - the taint on saidin means many go mad or burn themselves out. They are organised in military ranks: Soldier, Dedicated, and the full Asha'man. Mazrim Taim runs the Black Tower in Rand's name, though his loyalties and methods are a source of growing unease. The Asha'man represent a fundamental shift in the world's power balance - for the first time in three thousand years, male channellers are organised, trained, and dangerous rather than hunted and killed.