Gwyn Daesuro

Gwyn Daesuro
Created by	Aleatha (player)
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Ji'val
Affiliation	The Grey Tower
Nationality	Altaran
Attributes
Weapon Skills	Sword ✦✦✦ Dagger ✦✦ Unarmed ✦✦

Gwyn Daesuro is an Altaran Ji'val of the Grey Tower.

Description

Gwyn is an outgoing girl in the prime of her youth. She is about 5'6" tall, with dark eyes ('violet' according to some, 'muddy' according to others) and brown hair. She has not yet fully fleshed out and, as such, is a bit stick-like in appearance. She smiles often and heartily. Her weapon of choice is a rapier and she'll wear it whenever she's allowed to. Hailing from Ebou Dar, her skin is a deep olive tone tanned by the sun.

Biography

No, just Gwyn. My mother wanted to call me Gwyndolina, but my father quickly took that idea out of her. I am Gwyn, the middle child of the Daesuro family. My hair is dark brown, like my mother's, and my eyes are my father's colour; 'violet', mom would call it, although my brother Yarin insists on 'muddy'. I am tall ­ for a girl ­ over a span and a half. My da often says I have two sets of knees and at least six elbows, but I am sure I have just not fully fleshed out yet.

"Keep up your guard, never let it go, not for a moment. Your opponent knows your weaknesses as well as you know his. Yes, that's right. Parry the attack, softly, do not put your strength into it but lead the point of the sword away from you. That's it. You can attack now, do it when my balance is still off from my last attack. That's right, little sister. And remember, return to your guard, even if your attack should succeed. Retreat and advance, be quick. Anticipate. React. You're a fast learner, Gwynny!"

Yarin is my brother. He is five years older than I am, and I think he has always seen me as a cute little thing to play with, not unlike a kitten. He treats me well and he is proud of me, all Ebou Dari have pride in their family. My family is truly one to be proud of, too. My da is a blacksmith in the better part of the city. He is good at it, too, the Queen's guardsmen wield swords he made. We live in a nice house, not too large but in a good part of the city. The forge is on the ground floor and we live above it. My mom works in our house, most of the time, but sometimes she is gone for days, gathering herbs in the nearby fields and forests. It has always been like that. Yarin is my brother and I have a little sister, Eila.

Maybe I should start my story a few years ago. I was twelve then, and Yarin was seventeen. Little Eila was only four years old, so she won't play a big part in this story. Her story will come later, and I am eager to watch her live it. Anyway, as I told you, my father is a blacksmith in Ebou Dar. Yarin is supposed to take his place in many years, when he is too old to hold a hammer. I don't think it will ever happen. My da only grows stronger as he grows older, that's how it's always been. Yarin got me a present for my twelfth birthday, that's how it really started, I suppose.

"You'll be a woman grown, soon." Gwyn blushed and smiled at her brother. "You know how dangerous the city can be for beautiful lasses like yourself. Here." Carefully, the girl unwrapped the gift, gasping as she saw the gleam of well-made steel. "It's amazing," she gasped, lifting the finger-thin rapier from its wrappings. She had seen weapons like these before; graceful yet deadly, a dancer's weapon. "If you want me to," Yarin said, "I will show you how to use it." Delighted, Gwyn jumped and nodded.

Soon, we spent every free hour training. Yarin had a friend in the Queen's guard, and he had taught him some moves with the sword. He was much larger than me, so he best me most of the time, but he is the kindest man alive so he made sure I learned much, and when I was about to lose focus he would let me hit him a few times, just to boost my confidence. I was a grateful student. You must remember that I was twelve, and spirited as I was I never felt the urge to wear fancy dresses or to play with dolls. These training sessions were exactly what I needed, and I love Yarin for teaching me my true passion.

When Yarin was at work - he helped our da out in the smithy a lot, and although sometimes I enjoyed watching them it got boring from time to time - I ran errands for our neighbour, a kind old woman who lived in the silly impression she was part of some dangerous conspiracy. I really liked Janella Mae, she was an outlander and had the most intriguing stories of Andor, where she came from, and even from Tar Valon where she said she had worked for many years. I do not know if there was truth in those stories, but she made a good cup of tea and her company was always pleasant.

Her errands were intriguing, too. Most of the time, I had to bring letters to other people, Wise Women mostly, some in the good part of the city but often in the Rahad. A child of Ebou Dar, I have never been afraid of the Rahad. Sure, I had some nice clothes, but my mom wouldn't even let me wear them except on very special occasions, sure - and rightfully so - that I would sully them before midday. So, I wore simple skirts and blouses, a city girl with nothing to draw attention except for the rapier on my belt. I was young, and I would often fantasize about the contents of Janella's letters. Maybe they are empty, I thought at first, but the recipients would smile as often as frown when they broke their seals, so I suppose there must be some kind of information in them. Or they could all believe themselves part of the same conspiracy, but I didn't like that thought, for it would lead me to believe there might be some truth in it.

As those things go, time passed. When I was sixteen, I managed to break Yarin's guard on my own from time to time. Sure, he still claimed he did it on purpose, but there was no mistaking his startled look when he found himself with the leather-topped point of the slim sword between his ribs. As it was, I think I must've grown into a woman during those years. My mom began to mention that I might start paying more attention to her profession if I were to ever take over her little herbalist shop, but I had no interest in those drying plants, the meticulous work her fine fingers were so apt with.

I must admit that I started thinking about finding a profession, though. My errands for Janella had become more frequent and sometimes went further than simply delivering messages; the job I remember best was when I had to pick up a brooch from a Wise Woman in the Rahad. Although all houses look the same over there - well, that's not really true, none of them are alike but in that variety one gets lost easily - I never found it very difficult to navigate through the narrow and winding streets. Berna lived in a green, four-story house with a blue door, close to the Pot and Bell inn where I had often been because the innkeeper baked the best bread in the entire city, even the upper city.

Berna opened the door with a warm smile, as Wise Women tend to do when they see a girl in the prime of her youth come to bid for her aid. When she recognized me as Janella's errand girl, she paled a bit and bid me to come in quickly, closing and locking the door behind me. "You see, no one can be trusted these days," she said, glancing over her shoulders a few times while overturning pots and cases and drawers trying to find the brooch Janella needed. "There are many eyes in the city these days. A storm is coming." I nodded, uncertain what she was babbling about, and waited for her to produce the brooch, carefully packed in a leather pouch. I took the brooch to Janella without any further incidents. Still, I remember glancing at the delicate jewellery, curiosity too fierce to resist, and I am sure it was not my imagination that made it glow despite the darkness.

Well, my seventeenth birthday was near and I had decided I would become a stable hand or maybe a saleswoman on the marketplace although I didn't know what I would sell, or maybe I would even join a peddler's business, and go see something of the world.

But then the Seanchan landed.

I will spare you the details of what transpired that day. I was at home, with my parents and my sister, but Yarin was in the city with his friends of the Queen's guard. He fought that day - many young men did, and many died. I suppose Yarin was lucky to survive the battle with nought but a severely wounded leg. Had the Wise Woman been home, he might have even lived through it without any lasting injuries, but Annaele Carand was gone, and so was Mistano Taina. He has a limp now, Yarin does, and it turned out later that all but a few Wise Women had fled the town when the Seanchan came.

My father was stoic, as he always was, and he insisted we stay. We were decent people, after all, and would not run a risk. The Seanchan had merely taken possession of Ebou Dar, but the Queen would rally her allies and they would soon be thrown back. It took him six months to realize that it wouldn't be so, and four more to become willing to consider the possibility of leaving the city. My mother, on the other hand, withdrew into her rooms from the day of the invasion on, and closed her store. She wouldn't tell me why, except that it was dangerous to draw attention to oneself these days. Janella was also gone, it turned out. It puzzled me why a woman her age would choose to leave her comfortable home behind, even with alien invaders taking over the city.

The evening my father stated he would consider going to Illian, perhaps, or to Tear, was the same evening Ilenna arrived. Ilenna was a friend of my mother's and she had stayed in our home before, but it seemed to be different this time, none of the merriness and this time, even the windows remained closed. The slim Mayener girl was wearing a cloak that was several sizes too big, and she looked decades older than she had before, although it had always been difficult to put an age to her smooth face. Mom and she locked themselves up in the kitchen for hours, and I sometimes heard their agitated voices through the door. When they came out, well after midnight, my mother stated we'd have to leave Ebou Dar. My father threw an angry look at Ilenna and nodded much against his will, so it seemed. "Well, I suppose we could. To Illian, perhaps, or to Tear. Those countries are decent, and safe." The normally so unshakable Ilenna looked frightened, and mom slowly shook her head. "You know what they do to women like her," she told my da, nodding to the Mayener girl. "Imagine what would happen if Gwyn has it, or Eila." He grew pale then, the olive skin my whole family shared turning into some sort of pasty blue. "Then we must go with her," he said finally, and I was ordered to my room to pack before I could even begin to ask what was going on.

Our flight from Ebou Dar wasn't pretty. Ilenna took us to the Rahad, where a dusky smuggler's boat was waiting for us to enter. We had to hide under the cargo, which was Mayener fish oil and smelled worse than rotten eggs. I tried my best and shut everything out, but I noticed both mom and Eila had been sick during that terrible nightly flight from our home. We were summoned to the deck in the morning, and Ilenna looked better, colour returned to her cheeks. "I'm sorry for putting you through this," she told mom and da, and her voice sounded as if something terrible was still brewing in the sky above them. "They would take you if they found you, Ayanne, even with your limited capacities. I believe your oldest daughter has stayed clear of it, but the other is too young to tell. It isn't safe for you and your family any more. Elman's Creek is a decent place. It is ever growing, and a blacksmith couldn't wish for better business. You could work in the Halls, with your knowledge, maybe even teach some of the younger initiates. It isn't customary, but rules change as time does."

I was suspicious about her, and when I overheard mom and da talking ­ by accident, of course ­ and they called her Ilenna Sedai all pieces fell together. We were going to the White Tower! Janella's stories all came to mind again and for a moment, I didn't mind leaving Ebou Dar behind, looking out to a bright future. I spoke to Yarin about it, of course.

"Do you think I could be Aes Sedai, brother?" Yarin grinned at his little sister, a proud expression on his face. "You? No way. You couldn't lie a word, and their fabled serenity would not stay on you for a second. No, if I were you I would sign up to become a Warder, and if they won't allow a girl I'm sure you can make them see things yours way." There was a wry edge to his grin, and Gwyn realized that for him, all chances of ever becoming a great warrior were gone because of his injury. "Thanks, brother," she said, embracing the young man with renewed vigor. No matter what happened, she still had Yarin.

It took the boat a very long time to get wherever it was headed, and the further west we went the more my doubts began to grow. Perhaps we weren't going to Tar Valon after all. Maybe things weren't going to be as great as I had imagined. It was colder here, and the people we met when making short stops in harbours for food and water were cold and aloof. In Jehannah, the Ghaeldanin capitol, the smuggler finally put us ashore and I never remember feeling more lost and more alone than that day. Still left in uncertainty about our destination, I didn't even dare ask Yarin about it any more, afraid to make a fool of myself again, and to embarrass him further.

The next morning, our trip through the mountains began. You must believe me when I say there were moments I was sure I wouldn't survive. Eila cried all day and refused to eat, saying she was too cold to eat and that she wanted a bed. Yarin didn't speak much, but I could see his leg was causing him pain as he limped through the mountains. My mom and Ilenna spoke in hushed tones sometimes, but mostly walked on quietly, and although my father sometimes tried to break the silence by singing songs, or by carrying Eila and showing her the wild animals that were abundant here, his glee reached neither his voice nor his eyes.

On a windy night, we sat in the shelter of an overhanging rock and our sparse dinner had just been distributed when Ilenna cleared her voice and asked for a moment's attention, which we promptly gave her. She looked thinner than she had before, her cheeks gaunt and her eyes slightly glassy. "We will reach the Grey Tower tomorrow," she said. I didn't know where to look. The Grey Tower? Surely she must be kidding, there was no such place, for sure? "Thank you, for accompanying me and keeping me safe. I hope I have helped you in the same way by taking you out of Ebou Dar. It is too dangerous, with the Seanchan running free. I'll see to lodging in the Tower for you, until a new house can be arranged. There will be a good life for you, and prosperity, rest assured, and should it ever grow safe again and should you wish to return, I will not stop you." She looked at each of us, at me last. I normally never had trouble finding the right words, but for some reason, now that I knew Il enna was Aes Sedai, I was struggling not to insult her.

"Gwyn," Ilenna said, and the girl felt smaller than she had in years. "You look like you have questions you dare not ask. Be not afraid to speak to me, we are on the same side." Swallowing a lump in her throat, Gwyn opened her mouth to speak her questions, then closed it again. "I am Ilenna Sedai, of the Yellow Ajah. Your mother was a part of my network, that's why I visited your home from time to time." Looking to her brother for support and finding none, Gwyn swallowed again and nodded. "Thank you, Aes Sedai," she managed, thinking it was a stupid thing to say that would make her look even more foolish. "Can you use that sword?" Ilenna asked, pointing at Gwyn's sharpened rapier. "She can," sounded Yarin's voice from behind Gwyn's shoulder, and the girl felt a smile creep up on her face. "The Grey Tower accepts female trainees, girl. Think about it."

I held that thought until we arrived, and with her words still in mind, I asked the way to the Master of Training's office. Think about it, girl. And so it will be.

Career History

• Drin
• Ji'val