Gretchen Addlar

Gretchen Addlar
Created by	Matty
Portrayed by	Gretchen Jones
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah
Affiliation	The Grey Tower
Nationality	Tairen
Attributes
OP Strength	7.5
Affinities	Water, Earth, Spirit, Air, Fire

Gretchen Addler is a Tairen Red Aes Sedai of the Grey Tower.

Description

Gretchen is a tall, thin woman who is lean rather than lithe. She wears a serious expression much of the time, and tends to look like she is frowning when she concentrates. Her eyes are sharp and focused; she moves like a woman who knows what she wants and she is going out to get it. This translates to her somewhat direct, to the point way of speaking to her peers. She can be blunt, but she won't apologise for being her most authentic self. She might be Oathsworn but she will not mince her words and mask the truth more than necessary.

Her hair is usually worn tied up out of the way, with a pencil stuck through for when she needs to make notes. Gretchen can and does dress up for an occasion when needed but she much prefers to wear simple woollen clothing cut for travel. She takes minimal care of her appearance without being slovenly. Her clothes, regardless of the occasion, are at least half red, and she is proud to represent her Ajah no matter its reputation.

As an Aes Sedai she is a strict teacher, who does not suffer fools. She is a skilled Earthsinger and deft in the ways of Earth and Water, but she does not tend to stick around the Grey Tower for long stretches of time.

Biography

Born to a Tairen nobody, Gretchen was raised in the back alleys of the muddy streets of Tear with no real home to call her own, and a quiet sense of indignation at her position in life. She knew from an early age that she was born to be more than a mere peasant, and as soon as she was able to she left for the Grey Tower to become a Warder or a channeller, mostly because Tairens did not approve of Aes Sedai and she wanted to get her own back in a private, personal and somewhat petty way. Gretchen was a gangly teen who could be taught to channel, and she never really left that part of her behind until she was well into her Accepted years. She was educated, taught to read and write, and all the usual lessons allowed to those who were not privileged, but Gretchen felt her inadequacy for some time. She knew she was not intelligent, and she knew she could be more, but she was impatient for that moment to come. By the time it did she was already learned, educated and adamant with it.

Perhaps it was her Tairen heritage that made her want to stop those who abused the Power, but Gretchen's own reasons for becoming a Red were more private and related to what she saw in her Arches. She had seen how horrible people could be with too much power, and adding the Power to the mix only served for more suffering and rule breaking. Learning about the Seanchan outraged the woman, and their attack on the Tower was especially difficult for her. Gretchen resolved to stop anyone who thought that being a channeller made them better than their peers, and that is what she spends much of her time doing.

Her time at the Tower is brief and normally used to liaise with her informants, who are actually Aes Sedai in the Blue Ajah. With their superior connections Gretchen can learn where she is needed most, in return for favours to the Blues who prefer to stay in the Grey Tower. Their cowardice is her gain.

Career History

• Novice
• Accepted
• Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah