Age of Legends
As with all things from the Age of Legends little is know of the man who would become the chief of the Forsaken. Born Elan Morin he would become a noted philosopher, one of the foremost of his Age in fact, and gain the third name Tedronai. His works were largely on the subject of the nature of reality. None of his works survive in any form; this is likely a blessing regardless of what any brown Aes Sedai says. As well as his fame a philosopher Elan Morin Tedronai was extremely strong in the One Power; his strength, and likely his skill as well, were on a level with that of Lews Therin Telamon. At some point during the Age of Legends Elan Morin was “humbled” by Lews Therin in the Hall of the Servants. It is unknown what the nature of this humbling was or when it truly occurred.
War of Power
During the period known as the Collapse Elan Morin Tedronai attended a conference on how to deal with the deteriorating situation. It was here that he announced to the world what they faced and made his new allegiance public knowledge. After this he would be know forever as Ishamael, the Betrayer of Hope. He was quite possibly the first of those now known as the Forsaken to turn to the Shadow. Unlike Sammael and Demandred, Ishamael worked as hard to turn Lews Therin to the Shadow as he did to kill him. It is unknown what role exactly he filled in the War of Power; it is likely however, that he served as a sort of Commander in Chief over the forces of darkness until the Dark One himself could be freed.
Post Breaking
It is now widely believed that Ishamael was only partially bound in the Sealing done by the Dragon and his Hundred Companions. Various people claimed to have seen Ishamael as much as forty years after the sealing. He is theorized to have become free for forty years approximately every thousand years after this.
In his first free period Ishamael took on the name Ba’alzamon or Heart of the Dark, the Trolloc name for the Dark One. In this guise he began the Trolloc Wars to destroy the Ten Nations, and he may very well have started the Black Ajah, not that it exists in any form now.
During his second period of freedom it is believed that Ishamael took the name Jalwin Moerad. Moerad became Artur Hawkwing’s closest advisor but one year after his appearance, seemingly from nowhere. None of Moerad’s background is known, but he is reported to have taken frequent absences, to have had a volatile temper (he was in fact called ‘half insane’ by some) and was supposedly the instigator of the Tar Valon campaign. After the High King’s death Jalwin Moerad became the advisor to the three nobles that came close to seizing the empire as a whole. Jalwin Moerad can perhaps be blamed for their failures and so the disarray that became of Humanity after this, something that would suit Ishamael extremely well. Jalwin Moerad eventually disappeared with the same suddenness with which he had appeared forty years earlier.
Ishamael was supposedly giving instructions to Darkfriends as much as fifteen years in advance of the release of the remaining Forsaken. Since his recent freeing he was described to be ‘more than half-mad and less than half-human’ and has been described to have flames in place of his eyes and mouth. These flames may be an advanced form of the saa, a side effect of heavy use of the True Power (a power believed to stem directly from the Dark One). Ishamael faced Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, three times; after each encounter he was believed dead. The forces of the Light however only recovered his body after the third encounter in the Stone of Tear. However, as has become increasingly common with dead Forsaken, Ishamael’s soul has been transmigrated by the Lord of the Grave into a new body. This man takes the name Moridin, death in the Old Tongue. This man is now the unequivocal leader of the Forsaken and uses the True Power exclusively. It is further believed that the man from whom Rand al’Thor received aid in Shadar Logoth when killing Sammael was in fact Moridin. His motives in doing so are unknown.
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