Chapter 30 - The First Toss

Summary

Mat Cauthon escapes his room in the White Tower and descends into the Southharbor district, intending to flee the city but initially spending his time gambling in taverns. He discovers that his luck has been supernaturally enhanced since removing the Shadar Logoth dagger, allowing him to win every bet against overwhelming odds, a fact that frightens him when he reacts violently to a patron invoking the Dark One. After leaving his winnings in the tavern and discovering he still retains the gold in his coats, Mat is cornered by footpads but escapes by climbing across rooftops and a narrow bridge, where he is attacked by a dagger-wielding assailant. In the ensuing struggle, Mat flips both of them over the railing to their deaths; he survives because the attacker's body cushions the fall, though the attacker is killed by his own dagger. Shaken by the violence and his unnatural survival, Mat makes his way to an inn called The Woman of Tanchico.

Characters

• Mat — Escapes his room with stored food and his quarterstaff, gambles extensively in Southharbor taverns with impossible luck, and realizes his connection to the Shadar Logoth dagger is the source. He fights off a verbal threat regarding the Dark One, evades footpads by climbing across roofs, and accidentally kills an attacker by flipping them both over a bridge railing, surviving the fall while the attacker dies by his own weapon. He then seeks refuge at an inn.
• Anaiya (Aes Sedai) — Visits Mat in his room at midday, channels the One Power to place cold chills on his head, and notes his improved health and voracious appetite. She warns him not to leave the city and gives him an amused, skeptical look as he departs for the harbor.
• Raab — A dark-skinned sailor with tight curls, identified as a Sea Folk man, who follows Mat through the taverns arguing to make good his losses. He eventually bets on Mat, staggers away exhausted but with a full purse after Mat wins repeatedly, and disappears from the narrative as Mat continues his night.
• unknown — A large, fat man who stumbles out of a tavern and approaches Mat on the street, muttering disjointedly before moving on without attacking him, prompting Mat to call him a fool.