"My name is Mat Cauthon," Mat began, "and I hail from the Two Rivers, the land that was once called Manetheren."

Before the hordes of Trollocs had crushed it several thousand years ago, Manetheren had been a thorn in the Dark One's side and a bramble in his foot.

He adjusted the black silk scarf around his neck. "And I think the strangest thing I've encountered--other than the blue deer in the wood--was having my weapons taken from me."

Not that he didn't still have a knife in his boot, of course.