When Davram Bashere was younger, he served under General Cheade. Bashere told Rand al'Thor about the general, in relation to madness. General Cheade, according to Bashere and many more, was mad. He searched his bodyservant for poison twice a day and drank nothing but vinegar and water. He claimed it protected him from the poison that his bodyservant fed him. Despite the "poison," General Cheade ate everything that was prepared for him.