A gleeman - a travelling entertainer of stories, songs, and juggling - who accompanies the group from Emond's Field and becomes one of their most reliable allies. Thom's apparent profession conceals a past as a court bard and political operative of considerable sophistication; he has navigated the highest levels of Andoran and Cairhienin politics and understands power in ways the Two Rivers characters take years to learn. He is older than the others, scarred, and carries a personal grief - his nephew Owyn was a male channeller who was gentled and died, and Thom blames himself and the Aes Sedai equally. His relationship with Moiraine, which develops slowly across many books, is one of the series' quieter and more satisfying arcs.