The Ayyad are the people in Shara who can channel the One Power. They live in towns separate from the rest of the Sharan people; other Sharans intruding in these towns are killed. Permission must be granted for the Ayyad to leave these places, although anyone seeing one outside the village would just assume one had permission anyway. They tattoo their faces to allow identification; anyone bearing these tattoos are confined to Ayyad villages.