Shadar Logoth
From A Wheel of Time Wiki
Shadar Logoth, (Old Tongue: Where the Shadow Waits, or simply The Shadow's Waiting), was once Aridhol, a great city which destroyed itself during the Trolloc Wars, by becoming more evil than that which it fought against. Now Mashadar, a shapeless evil which manifests as a pale white fog, haunts the city. Shadowspawn will only enter at great compulsion, as Mashadar is drawn to things of the Shadow like the attraction between opposite poles of a magnet. The city is lethal to all who enter, however; Any who take even a pebble will be tainted by that evil, and will eventually spread it like an illness. It is said Shadar Logoth is dangerous under daylight, but deadly at night
[edit] The creation of Mashadar
Aridhol was the capital of the nation of the same name during the Trolloc Wars. The king of the time followed the advice of Mordeth, and used the tactics of the Shadow against it. Their battlecry was, "The victory of the Light is all", and they uttered it more frequently as their deeds became more of the Shadow than the Light. Some would prefer to see the arrival of Trollocs than the soldiers of Aridhol.
Eventually, this distrust led to every man, woman and child of Aridhol slaying each other in a single night. In their demise, they left something behind in the very foundations of the city. And one man had survived.
In the latter days of the Trolloc Wars, a Shadow army - Trollocs, Dreadlords, Darkfriends, and Myrddraal - camped in the ruins of Aridhol.
The next day, they did not come out. Men were sent to find out what had occured. They found walls streaked with blood, pieces of weaponry and armor, and pleas to the Dark One to save them anyhow written in blood in the Trolloc tongue. When they later returned, they found - nothing. All the walls had been scoured away, the weapons and armor had gone.
After the revealing of Mashadar, men named the city Shadar Logoth.
[edit] Latter history of Shadar Logoth
In later years, the city had greatly decayed. The streets and buildings were pitted and cracked, some buildings had collapsed, and others were broken. Any who entered in the daylight felt unseen eyes on them, and any who entered at night felt worse. Someone waited in those damaged buildings; Mordeth, the advisor, who had somehow survived. He waited for someone to come to him, and accompany him to the borders of the city, so he could devour their soul and walk the earth once more in their body. He succeeded (in a way) in 998 NE, when he fused with Padan Fain. It was a place that was mostly avoided by merchants and travellers, though Rand al'Thor and others camped there to avoid a Trolloc force pursuing them, which led to a series of events where Mat Cauthon was 'infected' with the taint on the city.
[edit] Destruction
In 1000 NE, Rand al'Thor used Shadar Logoth to cleanse saidin, by siphoning the taint into the city with a weave of saidar, causing Mashadar and the taint to annihilate each other. This did not lessen the strength of artifacts located outside the city like Padan Fain's ruby-hilted dagger[verify], though it did annihilate the city.
All that now remains of Shadar Logoth is a great hemispherical hole, which may one day become a lake.
