Isalia Nereth

[Isalia Nereth]

Name: Isalia Nereth
Age: 31

Nationality: Altaran
Place of Birth: Remen
Place of Residence: White Tower
Affiliation: White Tower
Rank/Title: Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah


One Power Strength: 6
Air:6 Earth:2 Fire:5 Spirit: 10 Water: 7


Date they were raised to Novice/Soldier: 99
Date they were raised to Accepted/Dedicated: 105
Date they were raised to Aes Sedai/Asha'man: 110
Date they were raised to any other rank: N/A


Talents: None
Weave Affinities: None


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

APPEARANCE

Height: 5'5
Weight: 125
Build/Complexion: Curvy figure, light olive skin tone.
Eye/Hair Color: Dark brown eyes/Dark brown wavy shoulder length hair

To look at Isalia, one might take her for a sister of the Brown instead of the Blue. While generally fairly neat, her looks matter very little to her. She wears her hair tied away from her face with plain ribbon from which pieces often escape as the day goes by. Her dresses are almost exclusively in unadorned dark blue or navy wool, with high necklines and long sleeves. The severity of her dress can make her seem stern and unapproachable at first, but she is quick to dispel that image with one of her bright smiles.

Distinguishing Features:

• Doesn't use her family name, preferring to be addressed simply by her first name or as "Isalia Sedai" at most.
  
• She has a dislike of jewelry and never wears any except her Great Serpent ring. Even her ring is often worn hidden on a chain inside her dress instead of on her hand.
  

PERSONALITY

Isalia is a curious woman with a love of learning, but she is not the sort to lose herself in studying, ignoring the world around her. Rather, she wishes to apply all of her knowledge to improving the lives of people in need. She's not picky about just how to accomplish this and will happily step in wherever she can do the most good.

She loves people as much as she loves learning and can often be found in the middle of a group. This is partly due to her social nature, but she also seeks out the company of others to avoid drawing attention to herself. Isalia hates being singled out for any reason and has difficulty taking compliments. She is happiest when she can blend in with those around her and be seen as nothing more than another face in the crowd.

While generally a kind person, Isalia bears a deeply rooted suspicion of all nobles which can border on paranoia. She doesn't like them, doesn't trust them, and though she is perfectly polite, her manner in interacting with them is decidedly cool. She has a great deal of trouble believing that anyone claiming a noble title is capable of doing any good, a prejudice she is unaware of having. Her own heritage is a source of shame for her.

For this reason, Isalia doesn't like to talk about her life before the White Tower. She has plenty of friends, and will happily share any aspect of the life she has now. About her childhood, however, she is extremely secretive, even with the closest of her friends. She fears their judgment of her younger self, and has devoted herself to working with the poor largely to atone for her own past failure to act.

HISTORY

From the day of her birth, Isalia Nereth wanted for nothing. The wealth of her family ensured that, and even as children, she and her sister possessed fancy dresses, an abundance of toys, and the best tutors their father could hire. Though all their material needs were more than met, their parents also spoke often of the responsibility and duty the family had to look after the people of Remen. Isalia was very proud when she was old enough to carry out that duty, following her mother through the city streets to distribute food to those in need.

As a girl, this was all Isalia knew, and she was a happy child. As she grew towards womanhood, however, she begin to notice small details that didn't quite fit with the picture of her family as the benevolent rulers her parents had described for her younger self. Why, for example, were there certain parts of town where they never went? And why did there seem to be more people begging every time they went out? Her questions worried her, and Isalia began to pay closer attention when the three of them made their circuit through Remen's streets.

Once she started looking harder, it wasn't difficult for Isalia to identify the numerous flaws in their routine. Some were tiny things, like the way her mother wrinkled her nose and stepped behind her when a beggar approached. Others were so obvious that the young woman didn't understand how she hadn't noticed them earlier, such as how they always took the same route, stopping at the same spots and passing others even though the people there were clearly in just as much need. It all added up in her mind, and Isalia began to worry that what they were doing just wasn't as helpful as it should have been. She dared to approach her mother with her concern, suggesting that perhaps they needed to vary their route, precisely once, and was quite coldly told that they couldn't possibly afford it.

Isalia had only to look into her own wardrobe to fear that her mother's claim might not be the entire truth. The dresses stuffed into it, most of which she never even wore, surely cost enough to feed a whole family for months! And the clothes were the least of it; everything in the house was the best money could buy, something she'd heard both parents say often during her childhood. It didn't seem right that they should have so much while there were people living on the streets, and Isalia made up her mind to do something about it.

She spent an afternoon digging through her clothes, collecting all the items she never wore or had outgrown years ago. On an evening when her parents had guests, she snuck out the servants' door and sold all the fancy silks for more coins than she'd ever seen at once. Her intention was to use that money to feed more people, but Isalia made the mistake of turning it over to her mother. She had naively thought her idea would please the woman who so often lectured her on their family's duty, but instead, her mother merely shrugged and told her it would be put to good use.

Once a few months had passed, a new painting hung over their fireplace, but nothing had changed in the work Isalia, Celora and their mother were doing. Disappointed, Isalia began to eye that painting with an unhappy suspicion that she couldn't quite get out of her mind. She did not want to believe that her mother could have been dishonest enough to keep the sum Isalia had given her for herself, but couldn't think of an acceptable way to ask her about it. With nothing to be done, Isalia tried to forget, but the question continued to nag at her.

When she was fifteen, Celora was married and left home, forcing Isalia to take on a greater role in running their household. Her mother had taught herself and Celora some of what was necessary since both girls were small children, but without Celora, their mother began to delegate more tasks to her younger daughter. Isalia was given responsibility for supervising a handful of the servants and periodically reviewing the family's accounts for accuracy. The work was not difficult, and Isalia was content enough with it until the first time she sat down to go over the account books.

What should have been simple, a project to occupy a few afternoons, turned out to be a tangled mess of numbers as soon as Isalia opened the first book. To make any sense of them, the young woman resorted to copying all the information onto blank pages in a more organized fashion. The copies in her own neat writing were easier to read, but Isalia still had trouble making the columns add up correctly. She reviewed her work countless times, but the results were always the same: there were multiple large sums appearing in the family accounts, income for which Isalia couldn't seem to find a source...until she remembered the aid that was still being sent to the town of Remen. That amount matched up perfectly with the sums she had found recorded in the family income...but that was not where that money should have been going.

Isalia knew that, but she couldn't stand to think that the parents who had been so good to her and Celora had been stealing from the town for years. Not knowing what to do, and unwilling to confront her parents, Isalia hid what she'd written, claiming everything was in order. She never forgot what she'd learned, however, and lost much of her respect for her parents that day.

Two years later, they began to introduce her to acceptable young men with the intention of arranging her marriage in the near future. Getting married wasn't something she objected to, and she didn't mind meeting the men her parents chose, but she also knew that once she married, she would be committed to living a life that was much the same as her mother's. The thought of growing into a woman as dishonest as her mother had proven to be was one Isalia could not stand, and she began to consider how to avoid that fate. Eventually, she decided to leave during the night to travel to the White Tower. She had heard that women could seek shelter there for a short time, time she hoped to use to decide what to do with her life. She didn't expect it would be easy, but Isalia thought she could manage as long as she could find a way to provide for herself without resorting to dishonest means.

The journey was difficult, but Isalia took pride in having made it on her own with the little coin she had. Upon arriving, she was asked if she would test for the ability to channel, and to her surprise discovered she could learn. Instead of trying to find some sort of employment for herself, Isalia eagerly signed the novice book and began the life of her own she had wished to find. It was a hard life, the work harder than any Isalia had known during her childhood, but she enjoyed her lessons and even came to appreciate being able to do chores for herself instead of relying on servants to do them for her.

A devoted student, by the time she reached Accepted Isalia was seriously considering choosing the Brown Ajah. A life spent in pursuit of knowledge held great appeal for her, but as she continued to study, the regret she still bore from her childhood grew worse. It had always been with her, but the work required of a novice had allowed her to keep burying it as she had for much of her life. She began to question whether hiding herself away in the library was really what she wanted, or if she could perhaps continue her learning while taking a different path. She struggled with the question, seeking advice from members of nearly every Ajah, but when the time came, Isalia knew what her decision would be. She chose the Blue Ajah, seeking to dedicate herself to serving the poor and needy in hopes of finally doing some good in the world.

TIMELINE

77-Birth of older sister, Celora

82-Isalia is born the younger daughter of a lesser branch of the ruling family in Remen.

99-Flees Remen to seek sanctuary within the White Tower, and is enrolled as a novice when she proves able to learn to channel.

105-Raised to Accepted.

110-Raised Aes Sedai, choosing the Blue Ajah. Shortly thereafter, leaves for Salidar to assist with the ongoing aid efforts there. She divides her time between Salidar and short stays back at the White Tower.



Books read: All