Asha'man Guild
The Asha'man is a guild comprised of men who can channel the One Power. The male half of the One Power is called Saidin. Before The Dragon's declaration, men who could channel the One Power were hunted down and killed by the Aes Sedai if they were discovered channeling. Recently, though, The Dragon Reborn (Rand), issued a declaration that all men who could channel could seek him for protection from the Aes Sedai so that he could gather an army for the Last Battle. These are the Asha'man. The Asha'man are an army of men who can channel, taught by Mazrim Taim.
One drawback to being a male that can channel is the taint. The taint came about during the sealing of the Dark One's prison. As the seal was put in place, the Dark One lashed out with one final attack, that attack tainted the male half of the One Power, Saidin. This taint causes men who channel to go insane over an extended period of time, depending mostly on how frequently the One Power is used.
As of yet, the Asha'man are somewhat of an unknown force, people know that the Dragon has declared that men could seek him for protection, but they do not know that he is training them as an army. Only a hand full of people know that the Asha'man exist (a few of the Aiel who guard him and a few others who are close to Rand, mainly those in the palace of Caemlyn). So to the general public, a man who is discovered channeling would be very, very frightening, and would draw undue attention to the Asha'man.
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(Last Updated: Wed Feb 19 02:08:00 EST 1997)