Suraya Ashalde, Aes Sedai of the White Ajah

Character Background:

Suraya Ashalde was born well close to two hundred years ago and is considered one of the leading lights of the White Ajah, one of the smallest Ajah in the Tower. Domani by birth, she was born of fisherfolk in the walled city of Gerzain near the Almoth border. Her father was sea-captain, her mother was the merchant who owned the ship. Her early life was one of comfort and security, the youngest of three daughters, with two strapping brothers as well. Although her mother and aunts saw to it that Suraya was schooled in sensuous arts of manipulation and enticement, most of their mercantile advice went to her elders sister Sharmad and Careane, with little time left for the youngest girl, born long after her siblings.

Upon her adolescence she knew that she wanted more from life than to tend a small seaside shop and engage in trade. She longed for a life of excitement and intrigue, a life of travel, something. When she was sixteen she agreed to accompany her aunts on a trading journey to Bandar Eban, a city that seemed a world away. Once in the thronged Domani capital Suraya experienced a taste of the life she craved, wealthy and powerful transacting in the trade-halls and canopied bazaars, fleeting glimpses of scandalously clad ladies and proud martial lords, and once she even encountered a Prince of House Daide who winked and tossed her a pearl.

She knew that she was never going to return to Gerzain, so she persuaded her aunt Rayad to allow her work as a clerk in her small lumber factor's shop, and there she met and fell in love with Hasan, a carpenter. They planned to marry until Hasan was caught up in the patriotic fervor and the King's call to arms against the traditional enemy, the vile Tarabonners. Leaving her with title to his house and coffer of gold, he left to fight for King and Country.

Suraya never saw him again nor was sure of his fate. Reports she was able to piece together said that he was slain on the coasts near Bin Lamierin in Tarabon, or he drowned when the Royal Fleet was taken by a storm. Despondent, she again sought fulfillment by travel, so she purchased a small coach, and engaged a maid and footman, and proceed about the long journey to Caemlyn, then to Cairhien, and finally to Tar Valon. Eventually, she enrolled as a novice, kept the maid, Tima, in service with her, and transferred her small house to her footman for her have upon her return to Arad Doman.

In time, Suraya acquired an affinity for the dispassionate White sisters, so able to seclude themselves from their emotions and their desires, and work serenely about their callings. When she deemed ready to be Raised to the Shawl, she chose White. During her lengthy residency in the Tower, she taught Reasoning and Ancient Philosophy, although she is known to have a wild streak, carrying on a passionate love affair with the Saldaean Ambassador to the Tower, Lord Adram t'Savedra ni Zadnere of House Zadnere.

Suraya currently holds a Seat in the Hall for the White, and is curiously active in her interest in the politics of Cairhien, as her closest friend in the sisterhood, Carmara Belantes, is currently the advisor to Queen Healle of House Cordaevell. She is in the upper echelon of Aes Sedai potency, very strong in Air and Water, as well as having a surprising adeptness in Healing. In her exploits as a young sister, she took part in an explosive battle in a campaign to subdue a False Dragon, Amil Farad, in Tarabon, greatly impressing her sisters with her valor. Her warder is Roel Bernoiven, a slim, intense Cairhienin. She remains a close friend of Simoene Alvaewhin and is an icily bitter rival of Malinde Alleron, another Sitter for the White.

Students and Associates of Suraya Sedai:

Jiellen Kerwein
A quiet, pensive young girl, Jiellen is Murandian, the daughter of middling successful merchants. Suraya has taken an interest in her studies as a novice.
Taresia Hurad
A morose, introverted young woman, Taresia is an Accepted from Shienar, one of the few survivors on a Trolloc raid on her home town. Quite skilled in working with Fire, Taresia is being courted by the Greens, for all that she is appalled by the idea of war and violence. Taresia is favored by Suraya, and often serves as her secretary and traveling companion.
Varella Obajian
Tempermental and surly, Varella is one of the most adept Healers in the Tower, specializing in battle wounds and other significant trauma. Unfortunately for her patients, she is less than gentle as she Heals, for although she feels fulfilled as a Healer, she blames the wounds on the men who sustain them, always resorting to brawn and blades, in her view.
Aifey Dewall
Motherly and well-liked, Aifey looks very much like a goodwife plucked from a quiet country hamlet or farm. Although she is well regarded by her sisters, she is more aloof than even most Whites and spends long periods away from the Tower, often returning with sun-bleached hair and tanned skin. She is believed to have the Talent of Fate-Twisting, able to replicate the ta'veren effect to a lesser degree, and the more shrewd suspect that her Talent is at the heart of her mysterious journeys.
Marande Belora
A sophisticated, charming woman, Marande often is mistaken for a noblewoman or fashionable marchande, for she is newly raised and lacks the ageless features. Affecting a sleek, elegant style, she is far from the usual Brown sister, hosting poetry readings and discussions on literature. Indeed her cause among the Browns in the classification of fine literature and poetry from the famed scholars of old Essenia, and she hopes to compile them into a definitive series of reference works.

Suraya's Description:

A tall strapping woman with a smooth bronze complexion and long russet hair, with veins of silver near starting at her temples and running through, Suraya Ashalde looks clearly to be Domani born, although she largely eschews her birthright of feminine wiles and seductive languor. She is handsome with bright copper-colored eyes and full lips, islands of emotion in a serene Aes Sedai face. Her dress is cut from flowing silk, a rich cream color, with wide sash of brocade belted off-center on one hip. Thick silvery embroidery along her hems and sleeves, a rich scrolling pattern mimicked in silver and seed pearls on the left side of her bodice breast. Her hair is worn loose and flowing after being gathered in an intricate looping knot at the back of her head, and pinned with pearls. Around her slender hips, atop the sash, she wears a belt of bleached leather from which hangs her purse and jambiya, the hilt wrapped in silver wire, with a coin-sized ice-ruby set in the hilt. She wears a necklace of carved ivory around her slim throat, and her Great Serpent ring shines on her dusky finger. She wears her shawl slung over her shoulders, the Flame of Tar Valon picked out against a white disc only by black stitching, hanging the midst of her back, and long silky white fringe swaying with her movements.

White Ajah Resources:

Perseinde's White Ajah Page
Simoene Alvaewhin's Personal Page

White Tower Links:

The White Tower Page.
The Tales of Taveren homepage.
The Chronicles of the Gray Ajah.
Perseinde's The Blue Ajah Page.
Perseinde's The Red Ajah Page.
Rigan and Tianan's Battle Roster of the Green Ajah page.
Katherielle's Archives of the Brown Ajah.

Tales of Ta'veren Remnants on the Web:

NEW! Light's Official Tales of Ta'veren Memorial.
Sarah Hough's Tribute to Tales of Taveren.
House Vanderode and House Moendivell of Cairhien.
House Cordaevell, Royal House of Cairhien, and its vassals, House Alixandred and House Roseillin.
House Dhamsid of Arad Doman.
House Sulamaad of Tarabon.
House Versyr, Royal House of Andor.
House Hune of Andor.
House Roesone of Andor.
Raziah ibn Sulamaad, Aes Sedai of the Gray Ajah.
Lilavaere Vanderode's archives.
Callandor's Index of Tales Organizations.

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