Ellisande en'Damier Damodred Antii
| Ellisande en'Damier Damodred Antii | |
|---|---|
| EHL-i-SAHnd en-DAH-ME-air Dah-MOE-dread ON-tee | |
| Created by | Alexandra |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) |
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| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Novice |
| Affiliation | The Grey Tower |
| Family |
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| Nationality | Hama Valoner |
Lady Ellisande en'Damier Damodred Antii is a Hama Valoner Novice of the Grey Tower.
Description
Lady Ellisande en’Damier Damodred Antii of House en’Damier is the eldest child born of Liana Sedai, Lembirt Asha’man, and Caithlan Gaidin.
She was named so for a noble Warder of the Cairhienian House Alendar Ellisande Calara Alendar Gaidar, an archer and contemporary with Sigmund Gaidin as Saphire Sedai’s Warders; for the legendary Queen Eldrene ay Ellan ay Carlan of Manetheren; and because she was born on Sunday, the longest and brightest day of the year. Of her parents’ three Houses she chose her mother’s, placing her as the third in line to ascend the High Seat of House en’Damier after her mother and grandmother.
Ellisande, called “Ellie” by some close to her, and “Little Rose” by her parents, is a very sweet girl who has somehow managed to dodge inheriting any of the various personality defects that run in her family. She is warm-hearted, a touch bookish, with a strong passion for ballads and old romances with valiant knights, sometimes even quoting them. Having been sheltered in her youth and inheriting her mother’s naive streak, Ellisande is innocent in the ways of the world and has difficulty seeing darkness in anybody. Ellisande is very used to being an older sister and tending to her younger siblings. She is golden-haired, emerald-eyed, and will one day join the Yellow Ajah. As a fourth-generation channeler, and third in a sequence of Tower-born children, she demonstrated the spark early and was enrolled in the Novice Book at the tender age of fourteen.
Biography
Ellisande is the only one of her siblings who vaguely remembers life in the Tower before the family retreated to Whitebridge with their great-grandmother and High Seat, Amora en'Damier Sedai, prior to the Rebellion in Mother Crysthia's reign. She enjoyed a happy childhood in Whitebridge until the age of thirteen when her life changed irrevocably. At that time she had been fostered in Ghealdan by House Talvaen and fell ill. Her fathers Caithlan feared, and Lembirt concurred, that she may have been poisoned by Dragonsworn there. Merine Sedai, an intimate of the family and Amora Sedai's Chief Surgeon, Healed the child and discovered the Ellisande had manifested the spark. Shortly after her return to Whitebridge, residing there became impossible as well (See the passages: Legacy, From My Hearth to Yours, and Exodus from Whitebridge).
On her fourteenth nameday, her Sword Day by Shienaran custom through her great-grandfathers' line, she reached her maturity and signed the Mistress of Novices' book. She has practiced shooting a bow and trained with knives, but has never had the heart to kill anything. It's difficult for her to come to terms with what she has heard her elders say of the Last Battle and she is struggling to grow up and take on her responsibilities.
By the hand of Zaria Honast Sedai of the Brown Ajah.
Today is Sunday, my fourteenth nameday, and Sword Day! How old! And yet how far am I from being what I should be. I shall from this day take the firm resolution to study with renewed assiduity, to keep my attention always well fixed on whatever I am about, and to Adium needs attention
I received many fine gifts this day of my maturity! Mama and my fathers have gifted me with many a fine gown and slippers that I may wear on feast days, such as today. And my lady great-grandmother's moonstone, an artifact of Power and a family heirloom, was given a new setting and bequeathed to me to wear as a kesiera in the Cairhienin fashion. Uncle Aric, with his usual impishness, impressed upon me, "I give you this as your uncle, certainly not the First Seeker, who frowns upon indecent use of ter'angreal." His gift appears to be nothing more than a common journal with empty pages, but when one of a set of ribbon bookmarkers is laid across its parchment pages, they take on a collection of stories and songs. There is one for romances, one for tales of brave and heroic knights, and even one with tales and songs from the Age of Legends, both in the common and Old Tongue! He told me in his gregarious way that it was an artifice of his own design and would soak in new stories and songs I may collect in my education. So too has Jerid Asha'man called upon my family with gifts fine enough to impress royalty on Winternight. He gifted me a harp of ashwood and elm, perfectly tuned for my ears, and made of sungwood; a finely-crafted mortar and pestle of heartstone; a curious ter’angreal vial I am told will replenish most mundane herbs or liquids, with the exception of forkleaf, acids, and peachpit juices; and lastly a tome concerning the gathering of herbs in the wild and their preparation, as compiled from the greater research of the finest Healers in the Tower. I was beside myself by his generosity and should I even attempt to capture my affections on this page I shall not do them justice, so I will only confess that I have been told so much about him, and he has endeared himself so graciously, that I shall henceforth call him my uncle too!I look forward to the event of donning the white on the morrow with calmness and quietness. It seems it will occur only too soon for it is upon me to choose which of my parents' three Houses to belong to when I sign my name in the Mistress of Novices' Book; even now I am distressed by the choice. I have conferred with uncle Aric on the matter, and considered that due to the need that each House possess one heir and one spare; and the likely choices of my sisters: Avaritia is probably to follow our father Caithlan, and Svebere to choose our father Lembirt's Adillarn branch. Thus I have decided that it is upon me to select en'Damier for my own inheritance. I think mama and my lady great-grandmother would be glad of my choice to align with their House, as it would no doubt ease their minds on the matter of succession. I only hope that my fathers do not take it for a slight or that my love for them is diminished.
On living in the Grey Tower and our journey from Whitebridge: the country is magnificent here. They have began to cut the corn; it is so golden & fine that I think they will have a very good harvest, at least here. I remember the land had all but died in Whitebridge when my great-uncle Lord Jaisen the Younger took possession in the name of my cousin, Lady Lleyni en'Damier. Here there are also pretty hills & trees here and some very high and very beautiful black mountains, studded with firs, and shrouded in mist all around us. All the young women are very beautiful, and the men quite handsome. They all wear fine gowns and coats of various nations and speak with accents unfamiliar to my ears. It looks so charming to see the common folk of Hama Valon come out of their cottages, knitting, with little white caps, black hats, yellow handkerchiefs, and blue petticoats. The Tower is very old and beautiful; the little old windows jutting in and out and a fine gallery with a dry-rubbed floor and some beautiful busts. Everyone is so serene and kind here. It is easy to forget the trouble we escaped in Whitebridge.
Upon our arrival, mama allowed me to attend her calling upon the Keeper of the Chronicles, Illyria Sedai, to deliver a note of introduction on behalf of my lady great-grandmother. The Administration Hall was marvelous and breathtaking to behold! Yet there I o'erheard troubling news that confirmed what I suspected when Avaritia and I woke the night before we journeyed here. I soon put this out of my head when we attended the Reunion Feast and its grandeur. The tremendous cheering, the joy expressed in every face, the vastness of the Foyer, with all its decorations and exhibits, the sound of the musicians, and Felora Sedai and uncle Aric uniting the industry and art of all nations of the world was quite overwhelming. I also had the honor to meet Celene Sedai, the Mistress of Novices and Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah, and watch her work her Healing art upon a servant who fainted. I like her very much and believe she has taken to liking me as well. She was so very kind to me and I hope she will be my mentor. Yet my parents are most vexed by an altercation with the M'Hael's Warders, which is yet to be resolved. Mama and my father Caithlan are to call upon the M'Hael soon and reach an amicable solution.
Oh, I nearly forgot! Mama has also patiently guided me to embrace saidar as she does! It was wondrous to feel, as if the very Light graced me. I have never known such pure unbridled bliss. I can now see the glow radiating around her, and other Aes Sedai, when they touch it too. They are resplendent with beauty and amaze me with their skill weaving their light to work their will upon the world.
I must rest and afford myself good sleep for the even greater day tomorrow when I kiss my family goodbye and join the other Novices in their Hall. I am obliged to take leave of my siblings and parents, which I am very sorry for, as I do not like to part from them. I am told there will be necessary distance between us when I am enrolled as a Novice. Yet I look forward to the day when I may embrace my sisters and brothers as equals and share my full affections with my family again. I am not quite alarmed at my heritage and my future, and yet I do not suppose myself quite equal to all; I trust, however, that with good-will, honesty, and courage I shall not, at all events, fail.
From the Hall of the Artificer's Ajah of the Grey Tower, by the hand of Ellisande en'Damier Damodred Antii of House en'Damier, on Sunday, my fourteenth nameday and Sword Day, and the longest day of the year in the month of Amadaine.
Career History
- Novice
