Sana Aravell

[Sana Aravell]

Sana Aravell

Sitter of the Yellow, Lady of House Aravell

Name: Sana Aravell
Age: 93
Gender: Female

Nationality: Saldaean
Place of Birth: Alirycas, Saldaea
Place of Residence: White Tower, Tar Valon or Caemlyn, Andor or Alirycas, Saldaea
Affiliation: Yellow Ajah, House Aravell
Rank/Title: Sitter of the Yellow Ajah, Lady of House Aravell

One Power Level: 6
Air: 6 | Earth: 5 | Fire: 5 | Spirit: 8 | Water: 6
# of Years as Novice: 5
# of Years as Accepted: 5
# of Years as Aes Sedai: 64
# of Years as Sitter: 4

Talents: N/A
Weaves: Healing (Advanced), Healing (Battlefield), Delving (Healing), Touch of Death
(Author Note: She does not know about her affinity for death weaves.)

Weapon Skills:
Martial: 0 | Hand-Held: 0 | Stave: 0 | Thrown: 0 | Ranged: 2 | Mounted: 7

APPEARANCE

Height: 1.72m/5’9”
Weight: 59kg/130lbs
Build/Complexion: Slim/Fair
Eye/Hair Color: Blue/Red

Distinguishing Features:

• Striking red hair that flies long and loose, or sometimes bound with flowers
• Often seen wearing tunics and leggings due to her work in infirmaries
  
• Often with a smile on her face

Text

PERSONALITY

Warm and welcoming as her brother is distant and cold, Sana is not precisely the archetype aloof and all-knowing Aes Sedai. Even though the Sisters of the Yellow Ajah are known for their compassion and their relative openness compared to their peers, it is said that Sana takes this out to the far end. Some would even say that she is eager to please, even towards those who are not initiates, and that is a characteristic that no one would ever normally associate with an Aes Sedai. Perhaps it was a side-effect of being born a bastard, of being looked down upon and shunted aside by her father once he had legitimate children, of trying to please him and knowing that it would never be enough. Not until the day came that her greatmother tested her for the ability to channel and sent her to the White Tower, who managed to break her of the habit ... mostly. But perhaps it is that very trait that made the Head of the Yellows choose her as a Sitter to the Yellow Ajah.

Sana is not weak though, never that. Her training for the Shawl broke her of being a patsy to powers greater than her, but she is more willing to ... accommodate, per se, compared to many of her other peers. To some, that is indicative of a high degree of flexibility in thought, and truly she is not unintelligent and therefore able to see the points in others, but many would also point out that she fails to see their flaws as well. Nonetheless, she is highly liked by Novices and Accepted, and she is also well recognized for her compassion in the hospices that the Yellow Ajah has set up in Tar Valon, Caemlyn and Alirycas. Always willing she is, to see the best in people, even the most depraved and vile. But as the Shadow rises and its influence grows, her innocence regarding the dark impulses of human nature could indeed cost her dearly, for in a manner of speaking, she never quite grew up.

HISTORY

The White Tower is never free of politicking, even in the days after the Last Battle when all seemed won and Cadsuane Melaidhrin as Amyrlin firmly curbed down on all the excesses of the Hall of the Tower. Some among the Yellow Ajah whisper that Sana was raised as a Sitter to the Yellow simply because the First Weaver wanted someone whom she could control and direct more easily than the other Sitters who came before her, while also being a nod to appease the youth movement within the White Tower by those Aes Sedai not considered to be "traditional". And so among the Yellow Sitters, Sana does have a reputation of being but a mouthpiece of the First Weaver, though truth be told the reality is far more complicated. But where there is smoke, there is usually fire, and Sana generally does not vote for motions that the First Weaver disagrees with.

Of course, Sana was always eager to please. Her father Deshion was never around much in her childhood, and when he finally settled down and married, Sana was always thrust aside as an illegitimate child, though the protection of the Matriarch of Aravell prevented her from being cast out entirely. Always conscious that her lot in life was extremely tenuous, Sana became very eager to please, not so much because she was a bootlicker by nature, but out of pure survival instinct. Instinct became ingrained habit, which then became second nature, and even when she was finally tested by Eshara herself for the ability to channel and was sent to the White Tower, Sana never really shook off the scars of her youth.

Her pliability did serve her well during Novice and Accepted training, where she obeyed and rarely misstepped in her demeanor. But the Mistress of Novices, Silviana Brehon (who was reappointed to the position by Saerin Asnobar), had a long and distinguished talk with her in private over her compulsion to roll over for anyone and everyone. It took her a long while to be broken of the habit, spanning her years as Novices and Accepted, but by the time she was raised to the Shawl Sana had mostly been cured of the habit, though she was still considered mild in personality compared to most Aes Sedai. Her strength in the Power did help to alleviate some of the concerns, and over time she did grow used to being deferred to, even if she was very polite about it, and she was always favoured as the Seat of Pardon when a Court among Sisters was convened.

It helped that she never turned such a request down, even if it meant that she had to share in a portion of the punishment if things went south.

However, Sana eventually managed to overshadow this with her reputation for having a first-rate Talent in Healing, that it was almost more an instinct for her rather than something to be learned. She had been courted strongly by the Yellow Ajah ever since she discovered her Talent during her time as Accepted, and she chose to join them to nobody's surprise. Though she never pushed the bounds as Katriene Ziago did, Sana did double duty as a healer alongside the Kin in Caemlyn and Alirycas for more than sixty years after she was raised from the Shawl. Her acceptance of the traditions of the Yellow Ajah (though she did not object to the new ways when they came about) earned her some measure of favour among the traditionalists among the Yellow Sisters.

And thus, soon after Katreine was raised to the Amyrlin Seat, Sana was elected to take her place. Katriene had been the face of the youth movement among the Yellow sisters and had ruffled many feathers in the process, though no one made those sentiments too loudly. As someone who was thought to respect the traditions and mindsets of the older Aes Sedai, Sana was thus raised as a Sitter in the hopes that despite being a young Aes Sedai, she would be more willing to listen to the traditionalists among her peers.

She hasn't quite disappointed them yet.