The Chandrian are a group of seven cursed beings who have existed for thousands of years, feared in folklore but dismissed as myth by most educated people in the Four Corners. Each of the seven bears a distinctive sign - blue flame, rusting metal, decaying wood, and others - that betrays their presence. Their true nature, motives, and origins are among the central mysteries of The Kingkiller Chronicle. What Kvothe knows with certainty is that the Chandrian slaughtered his family and his entire troupe of Edema Ruh performers when he was a child, an event that defines his life and fuels his obsessive search for knowledge about them. Information about the Chandrian is extraordinarily difficult to find - they seem to actively suppress any records of their existence, and those who learn too much tend to die. The fragments Kvothe pieces together suggest a connection to ancient history, the creation war, and powers that most people in his world have long forgotten.