Post by Talana Trakand on Apr 10, 2019 16:33:39 GMT
Talana Trakand
Queen of Andor, Aes Sedai of the Blue
Name: Talana Trakand
Age: 60
Gender: Female
Nationality: Andorean
Place of Birth: Caemlyn, Andor
Place of Residence: Caemlyn, Andor
Affiliation: Andor, the White Tower
Rank/Title: Queen of Andor, Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah
One Power Level: 6
Air: 2 | Earth: 6 | Fire: 5 | Spirit: 9 | Water: 8
Date entered as Novice: 66 FA
Date raised to Accepted: 71 FA
Date raised to Aes Sedai: 76 FA
Date crowned as Queen: 100 FA
Weave Affinities: N/A (may change later when I update the Weaves Affinities page)
Weapon Skills:
Martial: 0 | Hand-Held: 0 | Stave: 0 | Thrown: 0 | Ranged: 0 | Mounted: 6
APPEARANCE
Height: 5'9" / 1.73m
Weight: 137 lbs / 62 kg
Build/Complexion: Slim / Fair
Eye/Hair Color: Gold / Blue
Distinguishing Features:
- Red hair (with tinges of gold) and blue eyes that are characteristic of the Trakand line
- An ageless face, the Shawl of an Aes Sedai and the Great Serpent Ring
- Folded arms while standing
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PERSONALITY
The royal line of Andor has long awaited a strong ruler of the likes of Elayne, the Great Uniter and the lover of the Dragon Reborn. In Moranna, the world was disappointed, for she showed little of her mother's political acumen and flexibility of thought, unable to cope with the fallout of the Great Seanchan War that led to the secession of both Cairhein and the Two Rivers from the rule of the Lion Throne. But in Talana comes the Queen that Andor has been desperately waiting for over the last three generations, for she is no longer just a caretaker of the lands of Andor, but a ruler in truth. Wily and cunning in the Game of Houses, those who have underestimated and crossed her have come to regret it, and by sheer force of will she keeps the major nobles of Andor in line. She is not ambitious, however, or at least it is not unchecked, and thus she does not strive for any former measures of glory that Andor once held, but seeks to consolidate and strengthen the roots of Andoran soil in a manner that her mother was unable to during her tenure.
In large part her successes are due to the fact that like her grandmother Elayne, she understands human nature in a way that her mother Moranna never could. Though both of them possessed strong wills and dtermination inherited from Elayne, Moranna (typical to the old stereotypes of the White Ajah) was always cold and distant to her people. Though while she was just, Moranna never understood anything beyond logic and decided to conveniently ignore her people when they could not see. But Talana, as part of the Blue Ajah, understands her people and is able to bring them together, to unite them to a common cause - the strengthening of Andor against the Shadow. The years of rule might have weighed upon her and restrained her emotions, but she is just as compassionate as ever, if strong-willed. But her force of will is rarely, if ever, needed to be brought to bear on any situation. Still, few would dare to question her regardless.
HISTORY
Talana was born the daughter of Moranna and the granddaughter of Elayne, groomed and raised to be the queen that Moranna never could. The Aes Sedai advisor to Moranna found resistance to her advice in Moranna's reign due to a supposed lack of logic in thought, and therefore turned her efforts to ensure that the daughter would not turn out like the mother, but rather embrace the fallibility of human nature within her and the joys of human emotion that Moranna believed to be chains. And so was Talana led astray, learning to balance the logic close to Moranna's heart, but also temper it with the wisdom of the heart. In some circles it was whispered, hoped for, that Talana would ascend to the throne while she was still young, so that Andor would once again be strengthened, but such talk only served to make Talana nervous and sorrowful, who had already felt the distance grow between mother and daughter.
Though Moranna never once indicated that she was jealous, she never outright denied it either. But Talana understood, for her mother had been thrust into her position before her time, and by the time the years had rolled around and Talana was born, her duty had been replaced by a weary resignation of the fact that she would never live up to her mother’s legacy.
But Talana could.
Almost a relief it was, when Talana was sent to the Tower to train and become Aes Sedai, free of the rumours and the whispers and the expectations, and the judging gaze of her peers, who measured her every word against that of her mother’s. For five years and five again, she trained within the Tower, her life harsh in the material but free spiritually. Though not as strong as her greatmother Elayne would be, she still was strong enough that few would ever be able to gainsay her would the need arise. Once she was raised to the Shawl, Talana did not return to Caemlyn to cast her shadow. Instead, within a few days of swearing upon the Oaths, she vanished from the White Tower, only to be found in Caralain helping those affected by the siege of the Black Tower. Soup kitchens and shelters for those refugees hurt by the war, delegating and organizing relief efforts among her peers, Talana displayed a talent for the administrative details that soon brought her attention to the First Selector.
She was castigated within the Ajah by the First Selector in private, and by the Amyrlin and her mother in public for putting herself at such great risk in the war. Andor was one of the strongest allies to the White Tower since the days of its founding, and the Daughter-Heir putting herself at such risk was simply inviting trouble in the form of assassination or kidnapping. Yet, with the second dreamspike planted over the entire Black Tower that prevented unwanted Travelling from those not among the Dragon Pact, such a risk was low, and so they could not gainsay her too far. So in public she was also commended for the risks that she took, but in the end at Moranna’s suggestion was reassigned to the soup kitchens and hospices scattered throughout Andor in preparation for her rule.
It was during her sojourn that she met Calyas Athaidhrin, a Shienarian Asha'man from the Water Legion, and fell in love with him. He had stayed away from the Black Tower in open defiance of Rahlin's mad decrees, a wanted fugitive during the early years of the Tower Wars. But with the siege of Caralain, the threat to him had fallen away, with most of Rahlin's loyalists confined to the boundaries of the Black Tower, and he was free to travel the world, aimless and leaderless until he met Talana. He had no titles to his name, no allegiances to bind him, no loyalties to speak of save to saidin, but Talana brought him to Caemlyn to meet Moranna nonetheless.
And for one of the few moments of her life, Talana saw genuine pleasure spill out from behind the barriers that Moranna had built once they were in private, something that convinced her that she had made the right choice. That Calyas could bring out the light hidden within Moranna, even if it was only once, meant a huge amount to Talana, and it wasn't long before the wedding bells tolled in Caemlyn and throughout Andor, a joyous occasion to celebrate even for the lands ravaged by Rahlin's madness, that the Aes Sedai and Asha'man could fall in love. Yet, there was still a measure of unrest among the nobility that Calyas would fall prey to the madness that Rahlin succumbed, that the taint of the Third Age had returned to plague the Black Tower and the Dragonblooded, for did the Shadow not walk the land again?
And so, to assuage those fears, in the years that Talana had yet left to her as the Daughter-Heir, she made the best use of her position as she could through the soup kitchens and hospices of Andor, pulling Calyas along with her to introduce him to the people of Andor. It helped much that as an Asha'man of the Water Legion, his skills in Healing rivalled that of any of the Aes Sedai or Kin. Tales of the Healing Prince spread like wildfire, and it wasn't long that he earned the favour from the majority of the Andoran's hearts and minds as well. Even when Gareth and Ishara were born, there was much heated debate in the palace whether Talana would be allowed to bring them along when they started to make their rounds with the soup kitchens and the healing hospices again.
Talana made the argument that the people had grown accustomed to seeing the two of them about, and so they must continue, lest the populace grow uneasy after too long and absence. But Moranna feared for the stability of the line, and requested an Aes Sedai escort from the Tower, and limited the number of her visits, much to Talana's chagrin. She understood why her mother feared for her so, and for the line of Andor. If there was one thing that the Great Uniter and the Maiden could be said to have done that weakened Andor, it was to sacrifice themselves and their line to win the Seanchan War, thrusting Andor into a period of instability and Moranna into a position she had not had the time to learn to handle.
Such concerns went unnoticed by Gareth and Ishara, and for the first few years before their formal education began, many of their fondest memories came from the weekly and monthly visits to the soup kitchens scattered around Andoran towns. And Talana had a suspicion that it certainly fed into Ishara's impulsive characteristics. Talana didn't exactly allow either of them free reign, especially due to Moranna's concerns, but with a watchful eye to oversee the proceedings, Gareth and Ishara were often left to explore whatever village the Daughter-Heir had brought them to. More often than not, Ishara got into trouble, dragging Gareth in along with her, with mud on her dress and a rebellious glint in her eyes even as her brother stood downcast, refusing to look Talana in the eye during her scolds.
There were no major mishaps, thankfully, but Talana always took them to task, showing that though she had compassion and emotion, she also knew how to talk with ice in her voice. She rarely reprimanded her children in public, but she always made sure that any parties aggrieved by a child's mischief were always recompensed in full, from paying up for stolen jelly tarts and ensuring apologies, even to the lowest.
But finally the time came for Talana to assume her duties at the Queen of Andor, with Calyas standing by her side to safeguard her. It put a slight strain on their marriage, those first few years, for Calyas had always been a free spirit and his own agent. But now, on top of the responsibilities to his children, he had to protect his wife from the threats to the throne, for though the Shadow was quiet in Andor, it was not gone. Eventually however, they worked out a compromise. With the benefits of the double-bond, Talana and Calyas would remain in contact no matter the distance, and It would now be Calyas who would maintain the presence of the Queen in the outer regions of Andor, from the Braem Woods to the Hills of Kintara. And so the title of the Consort-Prince became more than just an empty title, and Calyas was given purpose again.
And so the years passed, as first Ishara, and then Gareth, began to demonstrate their ability to channel and were sent off to the White and Black Towers. Quiet years without much fanfare they were, as Andor slowly regrew its own boundaries north and south to match the secession of Manetheran, as agreed with the other nations of the Dragon's Compact - Talana's first diplomatic triumph. Under her watch, Andor grows strong to face the coming storm, and she only hopes that when the Shadow and the Seanchan of Seandar both begin to converge on the Dragon's Compact, that Andor will be ready to stand as a leader among nations as it did during Tarmon Gaidon.
