Rebel Aes Sedai

Author: Estyrien al'Halien

This article is about The Rebel Aes Sedai, for the article about Aes Sedai, see Aes Sedai

The Split

Main article: The Tower Split

The deposing of Siuan Sanche in mid 999 NE caused the split of the White Tower. Some of the Sitters had learned that Siuan was helping the Dragon Reborn and had not informed the Hall of his existence. Enough Sitters sat and voted to depose her by the lesser consensus. Elaida lead over a dozen sisters to the Amyrlin's study to shield Siuan and her Keeper of the Chronicles, Leane Sharif. The two women were then tried with treason and found guilty; they were stilled and sentenced to death as punishment. Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan was then raised to Amyrlin Seat and Alviarin Freidhen of the White Ajah became her Keeper (TSR, Ch. 47).

However many saw this as unjust and the Gaidin who taught men to become warders tried to free Siuan and Leane before they could be executed. The Younglings, men who were training to become Warders, fought the Gaidin and stopped them from freeing the two women. Many Gaidin and Younglings, as well as several Aes Sedai, died in the resulting fighting. Many sisters fled the White Tower in fear of their lives and in protest of what some sisters saw as a punishment that twisted the laws out of context (TSR, Ch. 47; TFoH, Ch. 26). It did not help that not every Sitter was informed that the Hall was sitting; only those who were sure to vote for stilling Siuan and Leane were informed (ACoS, Ch. 32).

After fleeing the Tower, Blue sisters began to regroup in Salidar, Altara. A message was sent out to all the Blue Ajah agents: if any Blue approached her she was to tell them the phrase "Sallie Daera." This was a codeword for Salidar so that all Blue sisters knew where her fellow sisters were gathering. However, it was not just Blues who had fled the Tower; sisters of every Ajah except the Red had left as well. Some of these sisters began to gather in Salidar as well; no doubt that agents of the other five Ajahs had some codeword and message to pass on to sisters seeking a safe place (TFoH, Ch. 1; TFoH, Ch. 26).

The sisters in Salidar believed that the deposing and stilling of Siuan was unfair and believed that Elaida had seized power in an unjust manner. This gathering of sisters united to form an opposition to Elaida and the White Tower Aes Sedai. They wanted to pull down Elaida and elect a fairer Amyrlin Seat. Thus the lines were drawn and the struggle began (TFoH, Ch. 26).

The Leaders

Sheriam's Circle

When Salidar was first made the home of the Salidar Aes Sedai there was no Hall of Sitters or Amyrlin Seat to run it. Instead six sisters took it upon themselves to lead the Aes Sedai; they were Sheriam Bayanar and Anaiya of the Blue Ajah, Beonin Marinye of the Gray Ajah, Carlinya of the White Ajah, Morvrin of the Brown Ajah and Myrelle Berengari of the Green Ajah. The leader of the group was Sheriam; she made sure that the group stayed together.

At first, Sheriam and her circle had control over everything that happened in Salidar but that power grew less and less as time went on. When the Hall was newly created, Sheriam and the other five sisters manipulated the Sitters into doing what they wanted. Many sisters thought, not unreasonably, that the Hall in exile was under the thumb of Sheriam's circle. However, the Sitters were not happy about sharing the power in Salidar and so Romanda and Lelaine worked together to decrease the influence that the six sisters had.

However, when Egwene al'Vere was raised to Amyrlin Seat Sheriam was named her Keeper of the Chronicles. This gave Sheriam control over much that happened in Salidar because Egwene was only eighteen and seen as a figurehead, not the leader of the Salidar Aes Sedai. As time went on, Egwene became more and more powerful and consequently Sheriam had less and less power. The final blow came when Egwene discovered that they had sent ten Aes Sedai back to the Tower to act as ferrets without the Hall knowing. She used this to force the six sisters to swear fealty to her. Although they still had power they were forced to help Egwene gain power rather than increase theirs. They were her way to influence events because though they no longer had the power they once had, each sister still had significant influence in her Ajah.

The Amyrlin Seat

Sheriam and her circle summoned Egwene al'Vere to Salidar from Cairhien. She used gateways and Tel'aran'rhiod to travel to Salidar; it was there that she was brought before the Hall to be raised to Amyrlin Seat. The Sitters who stood for Egwene in the first vote were Delana, Kwamesa, Janya and six other Sitters. During the next vote all eighteen Sitters stood in agreement; the Greater Consensus was required for the raising. Egwene was raised to Amyrlin Seat.

Sheriam's circle chose her because she was absent from the Tower when the split occurred and so she could not have been accused of choosing sides without the time to consider her decision carefully. She was strong in the One Power but they believed that she would be easily controlled. The fact that she grew up in the same village as Rand al'Thor was also an important part of making the decision. Unknowingly, Siuan and Leane, who also believed that they could manipulate her, were prodding Sheriam's circle in to choosing Egwene. Once they were convinced of their choice, the six sisters set about manipulating the Sitters into believing that Egwene would be a good Amyrlin Seat. No doubt the Sitters thought of the same reasons that Sheriam's circle had and saw the possibility that they could increase their influence by controlling her. However, Romanda only voted for her to be raised so that Lelaine would not become the Amyrlin Seat and vice versa.

As soon as she was raised, it became apparent to Egwene that no one had any idea of letting her have any control over what happened in the rebel camp. Sheriam, Lelaine and Romanda were all trying to control her in order to increase their own power. She was considered by many to be a mere figurehead that was controlled by the Hall, not least because Egwene had never actually been raised to the shawl. She realized that the only way to survive the initial period after her raising was to let the Hall and Sheriam's circle believe that she had no backbone.

Siuan Sanche, former Amyrlin Seat, was instructed by the Hall to teach Egwene the etiquette of being the Amyrlin. The Hall believed that Siuan was reluctant to do this and so assumed that she would not try to help Egwene. Unbeknownst to them, Siuan had agreed to help Egwene become more powerful and taught her about the Hall and how to manipulate them. By the time that the rebel camp was in northern Murandy everybody in the camp knew that Siuan had sided with Egwene but few guessed that Siuan was not as grudging as she seemed. Siuan became her secretary and this allowed them to meet frequently without any questions being asked.

Leane Sharif also threw in her lot behind Egwene, passing on information from her eyes-and-ears. No one knew of the connection between Egwene and Leane, just as nobody knew that Siuan and Leane were not really at each other's throats. Faolain Orande and Theodrin Dabei swore fealty to Egwene freely and were sent to spy on Lelaine and Romanda respectively. They used the pretense of accepting the two Sitters' offer of patronage. Myrelle Berengari and Nisao Dachen swore fealty to prevent the passing of Lan's bond to Myrelle becoming public. The rest of Sheriam's circle swore fealty when Egwene confronted them about sending Aes Sedai back to the Tower to spread discontent.

After the Law of War was passed, the Hall realized that Egwene was not just a figurehead any more. Although she was not a strong Amyrlin by any means the Sitters began to pay her a bit more respect. In fact the Sitters were beginning to see her as another Edarna Noregovna, the most politically skilled Amyrlin to wear the stole (TPoD, Ch. 19).

Since Egwene had to punish the Two Rivers novices for disrespect she has had the reputation of being as hard as Sereille Bagand, an Amyrlin Seat who was known for both her strictness and her punishments (CoT, Ch. 18; Ch. 30).

The Hall of Sitters

The Hall of Sitters was organized very much like the Hall of Sitters back in the White Tower. Three Sitters were chosen from each Ajah but since the Red Ajah was not represented in the rebel camp there were only eighteen Sitters in the Hall. They were Lelaine Akashi, Lyrelle and Moria Karentanis from the Blue Ajah; Faiselle, Malind Nachenin and Samalin from the Green Ajah; Salita Toranes, Magla Daronos and Romanda Cassin from the Yellow Ajah; Escaralde, Janya Frende and Takima from the Brown Ajah; Delana Mosalaine, Kwamesa and Varilin from the Gray Ajah; Aledrin, Berana and Saroiya from the White Ajah. The two main leaders in the Hall were Romanda and Lelaine. Each had their group of supporters; Magla, Saroiya and Varilin with Romanda and Lyrelle, Takima and Faiselle with Lelaine. Janya was the only rebel Sitter present before the split who did not side with Romanda or Lelaine. Most of the new Sitters went their own way.

In the early days of the Hall it was commonly believed that they said what Sheriam's circle wanted them to say, not helped by the fact that they met infrequently. Their first "job" was to decide on a suitable candidate to become the Amyrlin Seat but Sheriam and her circle manipulated the Hall into choosing who they wanted them to. However, as time went on the Hall gained more and more power and people began to respect the Sitters for what they were, rather than as puppets of Sheriam's circle. When Egwene was elected to be Amyrlin Seat the Hall gained more power by ordering her about, thinking her to be a child to be ordered about.

Usually the Hall met only after considerable ceremony but the weather conditions on the march made this very difficult, though some formalities were still adhered to. While on the move towards Tar Valon, the Hall often "sat" in the open air with the Sitters standing rather than sitting. Sometimes they used one of the larger tents but that was a bit too crowded. A pavilion had only been put up a couple of times between leaving Salidar and arriving in Murandy. However once the camp have moved to Tar Valon the pale brown pavilion was set up permanently in the camp. In that pavilion there were seven benches; the Ajah benches were arranged in to two lines slanting towards the bench were the Amyrlin Seat sat. The benches stood on boxes that raised them a foot off the floor; each box was covered with cloth the color of the Sitters' Ajah, or in the case of Egwene's, striped with the colors of all the Ajahs.

The Sitters of the Hall in exile produced a pattern in terms of the ages of the Sitters. Rarely was a Sitter chosen who was not over a hundred years old but in the rebel camp there were nine Sitters who could be considered too young: Salita, Aledrin, Berana, Delana, Kwamesa, Samalin, Malind, Escaralde and either Varilin or Faiselle. Egwene believed that the Sitters were chosen because they were more likely to accept change than older sisters would. She also suggested that the Black Ajah was behind it, though she considered it too ludicrous for nine Sitters, half the Hall in exile, to be Black. It should be noted that this has also happened to the White Tower Aes Sedai.

Egwene's Council

After learning that Egwene could wage war by decree the Hall decided that it would be best if she had a council to advise her; Egwene agreed. Unbeknownst to the Hall, Egwene told the sisters who had sworn fealty to her to make sure that they were on the council. Therefore the council was made up of Nisao, Anaiya, Beonin, Morvrin, Carlinya and Myrelle, one sister for each Ajah. This pleased Egwene because she no longer had to pretend that the sisters were not helping her. After Anaiya's death the Blue Ajah chose another sister to take her place on the council; they chose Maigan. The others were loyal to Egwene but Maigan was loyal to Lelaine and was likely chosen to try to manipulate Egwene. The council stood under the Hall in power but when Sitters and the council were in Egwene's presence the council could not be ordered to leave by the Sitters.

The Salidar Aes Sedai

For more information see Rebel Aes Sedai Characters

There were around three hundred Aes Sedai who joined the rebels, approximately one third of all Aes Sedai. They include:

Egwene al'Vere - Amyrlin Seat
Sheriam Bayanar - Keeper of the Chronicles
Tiana Noselle - Gray Ajah, Mistress of Novices

The Town of Salidar

Main article: Salidar

Salidar was a town on the Altaran side of the Altara-Amadicia border. It was one mile east of the River Eldar and Amadicia and fifteen days ride south west of Lugard. Salidar was the birthplace of Deane Aryman, who was Amyrlin Seat from roughly FY 992 to FY 1084. Salidar was abandoned during the Whitecloak War but was reoccupied after the Tower coup. It then became the headquarters for the Salidar Aes Sedai. The Aes Sedai chose to regroup there because they believed that it would be the last place that people would look for them. Salidar was once again abandoned after the rebel sisters decided to lay siege to Tar Valon itself.

The Camp

The Aes Sedai made a decision in late 999 NE to leave Salidar and to march on Tar Valon. They believed that this would show their true intentions and prove that they were serious in their desire to pull down Elaida. Despite this, Egwene had to manipulate the Hall into deciding to move away from Salidar. The appearance of the Band of the Red Hand near the village made the Aes Sedai very nervous. Many feared that if they remained in Salidar for too long rumors would begin to associate the Salidar Aes Sedai with Dragonsworn and the Dragon Reborn. Egwene seized this fear and used it to persuade the Hall to agree to move towards Tar Valon.

The Salidar Aes Sedai left Salidar and marched out of Altara and into Murandy. The sisters moved steadily north through Murandy towards Andor and stopped at the Murandy-Andor border. They remained there for one month before Traveling to Tar Valon. They made camp in a pasture halfway between Tar Valon and Dragonmount. Most soldiers were sent away from the sister's camp to occupy the bridge towns surrounding Tar Valon or were placed in reserve camps from which they could be deployed to stop any attack from the city. Warders scouted the land around the camp for several miles to prevent a sneak attack. People not belonging to the camp stayed away from it unless they wanted to sell something or someone needed Healing.

The camp was surrounded by wagons, carts and horselines and inside those was a sea of tents. Tents were in short supply so everyone but Egwene had to share. The walkways between the tents were made of planks pegged on top of logs and were not particularly stable when a lot of people walked on them. The wells were dug half a mile west of the camp so water was limited to what could be carried. Two Traveling grounds were set up in the camp, each surrounded by a wall of canvas. A patched tent near the Traveling grounds served as the place for making cuendillar items. Tents also served as the Hall of Sitters and the Amyrlin's Study.

The Army

Gareth Bryne was the leader of the Salidar Aes Sedai's army. He came to Salidar to find "Mara", "Amaena" and "Serenla" (Siuan, Leane and Min respectively) and was asked to create and lead an army to lay siege to Tar Valon. He agreed on three conditions: the command of the army was his, the Aes Sedai had to consider carefully what he said about the siege and that the Aes Sedai had to follow through with their intention to overthrow Elaida. Sheriam's circle was reluctant to accept these conditions at first but they did agree. Bryne proved himself to be a very good leader. Once Egwene al'Vere was raised to Amyrlin Seat, Bryne made it clear to the Hall and Sheriam's circle that he followed orders from Egwene.

The Shienarans that followed Elayne and Nynaeve to Salidar were some of the first to join the army. Renowned for their skill with horses they formed the beginning of the cavalry. Bryne sent out soldiers to Ebou Dar and a number of other places to recruit more soldiers. The appearance of the Band of the Red Hand was a gift to the army. Men rushed to join, believing that there was going to be a battle between the two armies and wanting to be on the winning side. The fact that Bryne's army had the support of Aes Sedai seemed to tip the balance in favor of his army though some men joined the Band to avoid the Aes Sedai. Nobles flocked to join the army because they thought that there would be a battle against the Band and they swore oaths of allegiance to the Amyrlin. Just before Traveling to Tar Valon the army numbered thirty thousand soldiers.

The Siege of Tar Valon

The White Tower reacted to the appearance of the Salidar Aes Sedai and their army. Even before they arrived in Tar Valon, the Tower Guard had been increased and things only got worse as time went on. Only eight or nine ships could enter one of the harbors at any given time and only then if the Tower Guards were satisfied that it was not a disguised attack by the rebels. The harbors and bridge gates were crowded with soldiers to prevent an attack but they weren't anywhere else in the city. The Tower Guards sent out raiders to attack the rebels' army though some raiders rode worryingly close to the camp. Every night raiders set fire to the wagons and supplies of the Rebel camp but Bryne's men had little success of hunting down the culprits, especially since White Tower Aes Sedai were aiding them. These sisters hampered the soldiers' efforts by causing the raiders' tracks to disappear and making the weather so bad that efforts had to be halted.

Gareth Bryne, as commander of the army, made a plan to take the city when the sisters were still in Salidar. He knew that a direct assault on the city would result in slaughter so he had to find a different way to capture the city. He would start a siege when they reached Tar Valon with 90,000 to 120,000 soldiers. Ships would be commandeered to block the harbors of the city so that food and troops couldn't reach it. The army would wait until Tar Valon was weakened and would then mount an assault on the city. This plan was changed when Bryne realized the usefulness of gateways and that he could not gather a large enough army. Bryne wanted sisters to open gateways into Tar Valon so that soldiers could move directly in to the city with out having to breach the walls. However, Egwene was reluctant because she feared that it would lead to sisters fighting each other in the streets, something she was determined not to let happen. Bryne advised that they attack sooner rather than later so that fewer people would die.

However, Egwene had her own idea on how to weaken Tar Valon. This was by stopping ships arriving with troops and supplies for the city. Tar Valon's bridges were feet above the water's surface blocking entry to the harbors but could be raised by long iron chains. It was these chains that the Salidar Aes Sedai intended to attack. Since the chains were made of iron they could be turned to cuendillar by a weave of Earth, Fire and Air. This would keep the chains in one position causing the bridge to remain just over the river. In the rebel camp only two Aes Sedai could change such a large structure to cuendillar quickly enough, Leane Sharif and Kairen Stang. It was these two sisters who were ordered to damage the chains. However Kairen's death changed matters. The only other channelers who could perform this feat were Egwene al'Vere and Bodewhin Cauthon, a novice. Since an Amyrlin Seat could not be placed in danger Bode was asked to help Leane. Leane was to take the chain at the South Harbor and Bode the one at the North Harbor. However Egwene knew that she could change the chains in to cuendillar faster than Bode and so took her place. She was rowed to the harbor and changed the chain but then unknown Aes Sedai and soldiers captured her. Leanne managed to turn half of the northern chain to cuendillar before being captured.

With Egwene captured, the rebels were in danger of falling apart, but she was able to meet the Sitters in Tel'aran'rhiod and order them not to rescue her. They continued to maintain the siege, with neither Lelaine or Romanda able to gain an advantage. They had little of importance to consider until Merise and Narishma arrived with an offer from the Dragon Reborn, that they would be allowed to bond 47 men in training to be Asha'man (This passage needs a reference). During this meeting, Aran'gar tried to listen in and was discovered by Jahar. When he announced that a man had tried to listen in, Romanda put this together with his information about a woman channeling saidin at Shadar Logoth to reason that Halima must be arrested (This passage needs a reference).

Romanda was not able to take full advantage of this however, and Lelaine used Egwene's absence to increase her own influence until she was clearly ahead of Romanda. This came to an end though after the Seanchan raid when Siuan brought Egwene back and she ordered an attack on the White Tower. As the troups gathered, the White Tower Aes Sedai arrived to summon Egwene to be raised to the Amyrlin Seat (This passage needs a reference). After ensuring that all the rebels would be re-admitted and the Blue re-instated, Egwene agreed and the conflict was all but over.

Important Issues

Logain and the Red Ajah

One of the reasons why the Salidar Aes Sedai decided that Elaida should be pulled down was that Logain, with the support of Siuan and Leane, claimed that Elaida and the Red Ajah had set him up as a false Dragon. His story was as follows:

In 996 NE Logain was found by the Red Ajah in Cosamelle, Ghealdan and the sisters planted the idea of claiming to be the Dragon Reborn in his head. The leader of the six Red sisters was Javindhra and Barasine was one of the others; Elaida was mentioned with the implication that she knew and approved of what they were doing. They shielded him and offered him the choice of proclaiming to be the Dragon Reborn or immediate death; Logain chose to be a false Dragon. The sisters left him but for the next year they sent him warnings when Aes Sedai were near so that he could avoid them. After he proclaimed himself to be the Dragon Reborn they sent him information about the armies opposing him- where they were and how large they were. Javindhra told him when Aes Sedai were sent to hunt him down and where they were going to be; this allowed Logain to kill some of the sisters sent to gentle him. However the Red sisters betrayed him in 998 NE and he was captured and taken to Tar Valon for gentling. Although the sisters did not admit that they had done this before, Logain felt that they had set other channelers up as false Dragons. He did not know why they did it but he suggested that it was because they would have more fame if that gentled a false Dragon or that they wanted to spread turmoil.

The Salidar Aes Sedai believed this tale because Siuan and Leane supported it and they thought that the two ex-sisters were still bound by the Three Oaths. After hearing it, Sheriam's circle agreed that the rebel sisters could not go back to Elaida and that they would have to do something about Logain's claims. They invited nobles from the surrounding countryside to visit Salidar to that they could hear Logain's tales. The nobles were forced to believe them when full sisters agreed that what he said had occurred. This was a wise move for the Salidar Aes Sedai because it reflected very badly on the White Tower Aes Sedai as they were led by a former Red.

An Emissary from the White Tower

Elaida sent an emissary from the White Tower to the Salidar Aes Sedai to try to convince them to return to the Tower; she was Tarna Feir of the Red Ajah. The village was very quiet during her visit, as everybody had been warned not to give anything away, such as that the Salidar Aes Sedai had sent an embassy to Rand. She gave Elaida's message to the Hall but Sheriam and her circle also knew what Elaida wanted. The Hall asked for more time to consider Elaida's proposal, much to Tarna's displeasure, and this was the message that the Red sister carried back to Tar Valon. Also in that message, Tarna told Elaida that the rebel sisters were jumping at shadows and that one third of them were about to break. She placed the size of the army at twenty thousand, an underestimate of the true size of it.

Although the Salidar Aes Sedai stood strong they were worried about how quickly Tarna Feir had arrived. She would have had to leave Tar Valon soon after sisters began gathering in Salidar and so Elaida must have known about Salidar soon after agents began telling sisters where to gather. The most common explanation for this was that Elaida had spies in the village that sent reports to her. However, Siuan was convinced that Alviarin was the reason that the White Tower knew about Salidar. She believed the Alviarin was capable of putting sisters to the question though she did not suspect the Keeper of the Chronicles was in fact Black Ajah.

Rebel Sisters in the White Tower

Main article: Rebel Aes Sedai Spies

Sheriam's circle decided early on to send ten sisters, two from each Ajah in Salidar but for the Blue, back to the White Tower to convince sisters there that Elaida was the usurper. They were also assigned with the job of telling the sisters about what the Red Ajah had done to Logain. The Hall was not told of this for fear that one of the Sitters was Black Ajah. Egwene used this against Sheriam and her circle to get them to follow orders (ACoS, Ch. 8). The sisters sent back included Zerah Dacan and Bernaile Gelbarn of the White Ajah, Meidani of the Gray Ajah and Annharid and Celestin of the Yellow Ajah. However, all ten sisters were discovered by Seaine Herimon and Pevara Tazanovni who were actually looking for the Black Ajah. They have since been forced to swear obedience to Seaine and Pevara and are now hunting the Black Ajah. They no longer spread discontent about Elaida and the Red Ajah (TPoD, Ch. 26).

An Embassy to the Dragon Reborn

One of the first things that the Salidar Aes Sedai did was to send emissaries to the rulers and that included the Dragon Reborn, Rand al'Thor. It was important to reach him before the White Tower Aes Sedai did because they believed that Elaida would mishandle him. When they first wanted to send an embassy they did not know where he was; Rand seemed to have disappeared. Siuan Sanche believed that he was in the Aiel Waste - she was correct - and so the Salidar Aes Sedai sent Kiruna Nachiman, Bera Harkin and their seven Warders to the Waste to find him. However, when they were half way to Cairhien they learnt that he was in Caemlyn and went there instead.

It was in Caemlyn that they met the other embassy that the Salidar Aes Sedai had sent when they heard that Rand was there. The embassy was made up of Kairen Stang, Rafela Cindal, Seonid Traighan, Faeldrin Harella, Demira Eriff, Berenicia Morsad, Masuri Sokawa and Valinde Nathenos with Merana Ambrey as their leader. Bera and Kiruna joined them in Caemlyn, as did Verin Mathwin and Alanna Mosvani. Unfortunately for them that made an embassy of thirteen sisters, the traditional number of sisters used to gentle a man. Min Farshaw was also sent with the embassy. Siuan wanted her to spy on Rand and report to agents in Caemlyn who would send reports back to Salidar. However, Min refused and helped Rand instead. Talks with Rand in Caemlyn did not go well.

When Rand went back to Cairhien he allowed the rebel embassy to follow him there though he told them that their number was to be limited to six. Foolishly, the embassy sent Berenicia, Demira, Kairen and Valinde back to Salidar, thus leaving the embassy at nine, and traveled to Cairhien. They took part in the battle at Dumai's Wells but after it Rand discovered that they had disobeyed his orders. They were forced to swear fealty to him.

The rebel sisters did not know that the embassy members swore fealty to Rand. Rumors reached the sisters through reports from their eyes-and-ears but the Cairhienin agents were hesitant about giving information about the sisters staying in the Sun Palace. What they would say was that the sisters moved freely in and out of the palace and gave the names of some of the sisters. What shocked the Salidar Aes Sedai was that the sisters came from both the Salidar Aes Sedai and the White Tower Aes Sedai. Although no one voiced it out loud, many sisters believed that the Aes Sedai in Cairhien were acting under Compulsion.

The Bowl of the Winds and the Atha'an Miere

Elayne and Nynaeve first located the Bowl of the Winds in Tel'aran'rhiod. They were using need to look for something that would help Rand but instead they discovered a storeroom full of angreal, sa'angreal and ter'angreal, including the Bowl of the Winds. This ter'angreal had the power to change the weather back to normal, halting the Dark One's command over the weather. They discovered that the storeroom was in Ebou Dar and told Sheriam and her circle the next day, volunteering to go to fetch it. They claimed that it needed to be used by both male and female channelers, though it didn't, because they wanted to give the Hall a reason to bind themselves to Rand. Unfortunately for them, the Aes Sedai refused to let two Accepted go to Ebou Dar and decided to send a letter to Merilille Ceandevin, a Gray sister in charge of the embassy to Queen Tylin, explaining the circumstances. She was to look for the Bowl of the Winds in Ebou Dar and, at the same time, convince Tylin that their embassy represented the real Tower.

However, when Egwene was raised to the Amyrlin Seat, Elayne and Nynaeve told her about the Bowl of the Winds and asked permission to go to Ebou Dar to find it. Egwene agreed that it was important and the Hall, surprisingly, agreed with her. The group that Traveled to Ebou Dar was quite large; it consisted of Nynaeve, Elayne, Birgitte, Aviendha, Adeleas, Vandene, her Warder Jaem, Thom, Juilin, Mat, Olver, Mat's servant Nerim, Lord Nalesean, Nalsean's servant Lopin, Vanin and a dozen cavalrymen. They Skimmed to a place five or six days north of Ebou Dar and then rode to the city, where they stayed as guests in the Tarasin Palace.

Nynaeve and Elayne found the Bowl of the Winds, with the help of the Kin and Mat, in the Rahad. They took it to the Farm and used it to change the weather with the help of the Atha'an Miere Windfinders. The Windfinders agreed to let themselves be included in the circle when the ter'angreal was used - in fact, Caire din Gelyn Running Wave lead the circle - but at a price. Nynaeve and Elayne did not bargain with the Sea Folk well and so came off worse. The Sea Folk were to be given the Bowl of the Winds after it became evident that the weather had changed; twenty sisters were to teach the Windfinders any weaves that they wanted to learn, where the sisters could not leave until others replaced them. All Windfinders would be welcomed in the Tower as trusted guests and allowed to leave when they wished. When Egwene found out about these conditions, she was extremely angry; so angry that she would have given Nynaeve and Elayne penance if it were not for the fact that she wanted Elayne to claim the Lion Throne as soon as possible. Luckily for all those involved, the Hall has yet to find out that a bargain was struck with the Atha'an Miere, let alone what it contained.

When the first signs that the Bowl of the Winds had been used reached the camp people reacted with joy. The Hall was surprised when though Egwene had already told them that the Bowl of the Winds had been used in Ebou Dar. The day's march stopped at midday and the festivities began. However, the deep winter-like weather that followed provided its own problems. The distance that they could have moved in one day before the change suddenly took five days, if not more, after. The weather became a hindrance to the movement if the camp. Every day sisters had to Heal countless broken bones caused by the ice.

The Hall became interested in the Atha'an Miere gathering in Cairhien and Caemlyn. They wanted to know why the Sea Folk were so far from the sea and though they guessed that it was something to do with Rand al'Thor they didn't know what the Sea Folk wanted from him, nor what he wanted from them. Lelaine believed that Merilille should find out why the Sea Folk were in Caemlyn. They didn't know that part of the bargain with the Atha'an Miere for help with the Bowl of the Winds was that Aes Sedai would have to teach the Windfinders. The Hall also wanted to find out from Merilille why the Aes Sedai included the Windfinders in their circle, believing that Aes Sedai were superior in Cloud Dancing and that it was lack of experience that lead to such a sudden change in the weather.

The Oath Rod and the Kin

When Elayne and Nynaeve were in Ebou Dar they stumbled upon the Kin. The other Aes Sedai in Ebou Dar told them that the Kin were all channelers who had been put out of the Tower or who had runaway from the Tower. When Egwene learned of this she asked Nynaeve and Elayne to tell the Kin that she wanted all women who could channel to be associated with the White Tower in some way. Any member of the Kin who could learn to become Aes Sedai would be given the chance to. What was most surprising about the Kin was that the some of the members were over four hundred years old, far older than any Aes Sedai. The only difference between the Kin and the Aes Sedai was that the Aes Sedai swore on the Oath Rod. It would appear that using the Oath Rod shortens the amount of time a channelers lives.

Once Egwene realized this, she wanted to stop the Aes Sedai from swearing on the Oath Rod. No one wanted to die before they must and she felt that the Oaths accomplished nothing. Aes Sedai could manage to twist the truth so that you believed something different to the truth and this made many people distrust Aes Sedai. The growing Seanchan threat worried Egwene as the Seanchan used the One Power through the damane. An Aes Sedai had to be personally in danger before she could use the One Power as a weapon and so countering the Seanchan threat would be hard at least.

However, Egwene changed her mind about the Oath Rod. Any woman who earned the shawl would have had to have sworn the Three Oaths and there would be no exceptions. Since channelers appear to live longer without the Oaths any sister can have the Oaths removed and retire in to the Kin. The Kin would carry on as it always had with their own rules and hierarchy. The Knitting Circle would be under the Amyrlin Seat if not the Hall; Kinswomen were to stand lower than full sisters. Egwene began feeding the Hall information about the Kin but held back her plans for them. However she told Romanda her intentions the day she was captured; Romanda most definitely did not agree about removing the Three Oaths.

The Law of War

When the Salidar Aes Sedai reached the Murandy-Andor border they found that they faced an army. Andoran and Murandian nobles had gathered together to stop the sisters from moving through Andor. The Andorans did not want the Salidar Aes Sedai passing through Andor because they feared what the White Tower's reaction would be. They felt that not opposing the Aes Sedai and their army would be seen as helping them. The Murandians were there to gain whatever advantage they could from the meeting. The Amyrlin Seat and the Hall met with the nobles near the border to treat with them. Egwene then spoke to the nobles, first stating that she was the true Amyrlin Seat and that Elaida was a usurper; the Salidar Aes Sedai Traveled to Tar Valon to remove Elaida. Egwene then announced, to the surprise of the Hall, what she intended to happen. The camp would stay in Murandy for one month before moving towards Tar Valon; they would not pass in to Andor. The nobles were not particularly happy with this news but had to accept it when faced with so many Aes Sedai; the Hall, especially Romanda and Lelaine, were furious with what Egwene had promised because she had not consulted the Hall on the matter (TPoD, Ch. 17; Ch. 18).

Later that night, Egwene called for the Hall to sit and asked them to vote on declaring war against Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan. She explained that the reason why the nobles dared to confront them was that they did not believe that the Salidar Aes Sedai were who they said they were. If they formally declared themselves at war with Elaida no one could doubt that they were serious in their intent to pull down Elaida. Twelve Sitters stood in agreement for this; those that didn't were Romanda and Magla of the Yellow Ajah, Saroiya of the White, Varilin of the Gray, Faiselle of the Green and Takima of the Brown. This was enough to pass the proposal, as twelve is the Lesser Consensus. Unbeknownst to the Sitters they had just passed the Law of War but then Egwene revealed what they had just done. Takima, prompted by Egwene, told them that under this law Egwene was to wage war using decrees. The Hall had to support every decree with the greater consensus. Egwene then announced that after they had rested in Murandy for one month the camp would Travel to Tar Valon to besiege the city (TPoD, Ch. 19).

The Black Tower

The amount of the One Power wielded when Rand and Nynaeve cleansed saidin worried the Salidar Aes Sedai because they thought that it was the work of the Forsaken. It took several days before the Hall thought the danger had passed enough to send sisters to where the One Power was used. They did not know exactly where this had occurred (Shadar Logoth) but could Travel to it by memory of the direction. The sisters who Traveled to Shadar Logoth were Akarrin of the Brown Ajah, Therva of the Yellow Ajah, Shana of the White Ajah, Reiko of the Blue Ajah, Nisain of the Gray Ajah and an unknown Green sister. Each was chosen for her ability to read residues though Egwene was not told this and only Akarrin leapt at the chance to go. When they arrived they found that a circular hole three miles in diameter and one and a half miles in depth had been created wiping away the city of Shadar Logoth. They read the residues of saidar and came to the conclusion that it had been woven by a man linked with a woman. They also tested for saidin and discovered that enormous amounts of the male half of the One Power had been used. They concluded that the Forsaken had to have been behind it and Traveled back to the rebel camp to make a report to the Hall.

Moria, Malind and Escaralde called for the Hall to sit when they learned that the sisters had returned; it was obvious that they intended to put a proposal before the Hall. After listening to the evidence Moria pointed out that the current method of defending the camp against attack by channelers - forming as many circles of thirteen as possible by including all initiates in them - would not be suitable against someone wielding so much of the One Power. The three Sitters argued that the only way to make the circles strong enough to withstand such an attack was to include men in to them. This would allow the circles to be expanded to include more than thirteen sisters, to such a size that would allow enough of the One Power to be used to counter any attack. They asked the Hall to consider entering in to an agreement with the Black Tower that would allow them to have Asha'man included in their circles at need. Of course this was met with very mixed reactions with many of the Sitters yelling at each other. When the Hall was asked to vote the proposal was passed with twelve votes for; when asked for the greater consensus Delana was the only one of the six sisters who voted "no" to stand.

Though nothing was decided upon concerning the Black Tower, other than that they must be approached, one suggestion was that the Aes Sedai bond the Asha'man using an altered version of the warder's bond. This bond would allow the Aes Sedai to Compel the man and would remove the sharing aspect of the bond to stop the Aes Sedai going mad. This was suggested by Lelaine and supported by Maigan, a member of Egwene's council, but Egwene refused to even consider the idea as it sounded very much like Compulsion. She ordered that any sister who did more than suggest the altered bond was to be birched.

Negotiations with the White Tower Aes Sedai

Every Aes Sedai, not just those in the rebel camp, wished for the White Tower to become whole again with as little blood shed as possible. Some sisters believed that negotiations were the best way to reunite the Tower and so Varilin, Takima, Magla, Faiselle and Saroiya talked about it in the Hall. When Delana asked Egwene to put a stop to it, Beonin argued that the White Tower needed to be whole before the Last Battle came, something that was obviously looming. Egwene sanctioned the negotiations, but only so long as one of the terms to be agreed was that Elaida would retire and go in to exile. Although some sisters were furious that the negotiations were allowed to happen, others believed that it would help the rebels because the sisters saw that something was being done and gave them hope of resolving the situation (CoT, Ch. 16).

Many of the Sitters of the White Tower Aes Sedai supported the negotiations and they were willing to start them without Elaida's permission, even though a decision such as this was the Hall's. Elaida only agreed for the negotiations to occur as long as the terms agreed were that the Blue Ajah no longer existed and every sister must serve penance under Elaida's supervision before she could petition to join an Ajah.

The negotiations took place in Darein, which was a village at the foot of the west bridge from Tar Valon. Saroiya, Varilin, Magla, Takima, Lyrelle and Lelaine managed to join the negotiations. Beonin had been put in charge of them but Varilin had taken over quickly. The negotiations did not go well; the White Tower sisters were sticking to Elaida's demands and the Salidar sisters to Egwene's (CoT, Ch. 30).

Money

There were many problems the Aes Sedai had to face, not least the lack of funds available. Sisters normally received one thousand gold crowns a year but the Salidar Aes Sedai had no access to such funds. A lot of money was required to sustain the camp and as such, what money they did have had to be spent wisely. Items always in constant shortage included tea, salt, candles, coal, nails, iron and oil to name but a few. A brief respite came when Nynaeve and Elayne handed over several letters-of-rights that they had been given but money was always needed. Some Sitters suggested ways to find the money needed - reducing or stopping the soldiers' pay, charging a tax on towns and villages they passed and asking nobles for money - but were all refused. Part of the problem was solved with the rediscovery of the weave to make cuendillar. Those who had the ability in the camp - nine sisters, two Accepted and nearly twelve novices - were asked to turn bowls, cups, goblets, bracelets and other objects made of iron into cuendillar; these were then sold. However the sisters were not happy about having to spend an hour a day making cuendillar and Tiana Noselle, the Mistress of Novices, was not pleased that novices were being asked to perform a weave of such complexity so early on in their training. The cuendillar produced in day could pay the army for a week or more.

Eyes-and-Ears

Eyes-and-ears were vital to the Salidar Aes Sedai because they needed to know what was happening in the rest of the world. However all of the Tower's agents were sending their reports to the White Tower, even the Blue's. When Siuan Sanche arrived at Salidar, she told Sheriam's circle that she could get reports from the Blue Ajah eyes-and-ears and the Amyrlin's agents. Leane added that she could contact her informants in Tar Valon and her own personal agents and have their reports sent to Salidar. It was this that meant that Siuan and Leane were allowed to remain in Salidar. Getting in touch with all the agents was not easy nor was it quick; Siuan sometimes complained about how long it took to make contact with her eyes-and-ears, especially the ones in the Borderlands. Some of the eyes-and-ears were lying low because of the split, which made it much more difficult to receive information from them. The eyes-and-ears in Tar Valon could not offer anything but rumors about the goings on the White Tower itself. Moghedien sometimes revealed Darkfriends' plots and information about the Forsaken that Siuan and Leane passed on to Sheriam's circle in the guise of reports from their agents. Reports were sent to the sisters in Salidar by carrier pigeon. When the Salidar Aes Sedai left Salidar, sisters Skimmed back to Salidar nightly to collect messages from the dovecotes and then Traveled back.

However, when Aeldene Stonebridge of the Blue Ajah arrived in Salidar, matters were complicated. Aeldene was in charge of the Blue's eyes-and-ears before the split; she was furious that information from Blue agents was being given out by Siuan and that her position had been revealed. Aeldene took back control of the Blue eyes-and-ears and tried to pry the Amyrlin's from Siuan. She believed that the Blue Ajah should be in control because Siuan was Blue before becoming Amyrlin while the Sitters believed that the Hall should be in charge of the eyes-and-ears. However Siuan retained control of the agents and continued to pass her reports directly to Egwene. Siuan and Egwene studied these reports carefully before information was given to the Hall. Although they passed on most of the information, they kept some back if they decided that it was too dangerous for the Hall to know. Egwene also received reports from the Ajahs and those, combined with Siuan's reports, often drew pictures of what the sisters were likely holding back and what they were trying to get her to do.

Tel'aran'rhiod

Some of the most useful things that Elayne and Nynaeve brought with them to Salidar were the ter'angreal used to enter Tel'aran'rhiod and the knowledge of how to use them. The Aes Sedai quickly realized their value for communicating with the Wise Ones, and Egwene while she was in Cairhien, so that they were able to keep up to date with news about Rand. Nynaeve and Elayne had to teach Sheriam's circle how to use Tel'aran'rhiod to their advantage. They took turns in teaching the Aes Sedai two at a time though they soon progressed to teaching all six at once. They started by teaching the Aes Sedai every night but as they grew more proficient the lessons were only given the night before a visit to the Wise Ones and the night after. Nynaeve agreed to teach Siuan and Leane about the World of Dreams in return for being able to study Siuan and Leane to try to Heal stilling. At the beginning Nynaeve and Elayne taught the former Amyrlin and Keeper without the knowledge of Sheriam's circle; Siuan managed to get hold of the ter'angreal without the Aes Sedai knowing. However, Siuan and Leane were given permission to enter the World of Dreams with Sheriam's circle to aid their work with the eyes-and-ears. Some of the signals that the agents made were visible in Tel'aran'rhiod; that is to say that something was done to an unmoving object, like painting tables and benches blue.

Sheriam's circle also wanted to learn about Tel'aran'rhiod so they could look at Elaida's study in the World of Dreams. Although the papers in the study would not remain for more than a few seconds looking through them gave the Salidar Aes Sedai an idea of what Elaida was up to.

After Elayne and Nynaeve left for Ebou Dar, Leane and Siuan taught sisters in Tel'aran'rhiod. However, Siuan lost her temper several times, which resulted in here being banned from using the dream ter'angreal. Leane could still borrow the ter'angreal when she wanted and often Siuan borrowed it from her, much to Leane's chagrin.

Elayne managed to make four successful copies of the original twisted stone ring, except they didn't work as well as the real thing. The people using them looked misty to anybody else in Tel'aran'rhiod and the ability to channel was dulled. She also managed to make two successful copies of both the amber plaque and small iron disc. The ter'angreal were given to the Hall, only loaned out with the Hall's permission. Two of the dream ter'angreal were lent to Elayne and Nynaeve for their trip to Ebou Dar but the rest remained firmly in the possession of the Hall. Sisters had to ask the Hall for permission to use the dream ter'angreal and since there were lots of sisters wanting to use them, inevitably sisters had to wait.

Novices and Accepted

After fleeing the White Tower, the Aes Sedai naturally wanted to expand the number of novices that they had with them. Aes Sedai were sent out with Bryne's recruiting groups to test women to see if they could channel. This initially had little result; these groups found only three channelers in three months. However, the search gained momentum and soon many new novices began to train at Salidar; most of these were older than the desired mid teens though still within reason. The reason why the sisters let in these older novices was the discovery of Nicola Treehill; Nicola's potential strength was only beaten by Nynaeve, Elayne and Egwene among living Aes Sedai. Due to this success Aes Sedai were sent out to visit each village in the surrounding area to test for channelers. Most Aes Sedai supported this because they were conscious of the dwindling numbers of the Tower but a few still felt that it was better to let the girls approach an Aes Sedai on their own as used to happen.

The numbers of novices in the camp swelled under these recruiting schemes and when the rebel sisters were in northern Murandy the camp held roughly four hundred and fifty novices. Due to this influx of novices most of them had to wear a white skirt rather than the standard novice dress and few white cloaks were available. There were so many novices that they couldn't all be fed at once; instead there were three sittings for each meal. A month before the Salidar Aes Sedai Traveled to Tar Valon Egwene announced that the novice book was to be open to any woman of any age as long as she could channel. Women flooded to be tested and when they Traveled to Tar Valon there were nearly a thousand novices with the Aes Sedai. Despite the flood of novices, the camp only had around twenty Accepted even though many sisters treated Faolain and Theodrin as though they still wore banded white.

Due to the large number of novices joining the Salidar Aes Sedai it was very hard to keep track of them. That was until Sharina Melloy organized the novices into "families" all by herself; this was because she couldn't bear seeing the camp in such disorder. This was the unofficial name given to the groups of six or seven novices who were put together. Novices in the same family became "cousins" but novices who knew each other before enrolling or who were relatives were put in different families. Families went to their classes together. The families were very useful to the Aes Sedai as they could find out exactly where a novice was and what she was doing. It also made the number of runaways decrease because it became obvious if a family was lacking a novice and novices had their cousins for support when things got too much. However, there was one case where a family helped a novice escape; the novice was Nicola Treehill. They did it because they wanted her to go and not because they liked her and wanted to help. The novices felt the brunt of the Mistress of Novices anger for several days.

Although there were only sixteen Accepted in the camp, few of them had enough of the banded dresses for them to be able to wear them all the time. Instead they wore them for when they were teaching novices. Few of the banded cloaks could be found either. The Accepted were kept so busy that they had trouble finding time for their own studies. Accepted were asked to teach novice classes but with so few Accepted, many sisters were also asked to help.

Novices could not be officially raised to Accepted or Accepted to Aes Sedai because the ter'angreal required for the testing were still in the Tower. Some Accepted who were close to being raised to the shawl were raised to a rank above the Accepted but below the Aes Sedai. They were allowed to wear their own clothes, wear the Great Serpent ring on their right hand and had authority over other Accepted; they weren't full Aes Sedai so they couldn't petition to join an Ajah. However, there was one exception when four Accepted were raised to Aes Sedai by Egwene al'Vere; they were Elayne Trakand, Nynaeve al'Meara, Faolain Orande and Theodrin Dabei who joined the Green, Yellow, Blue and Brown Ajahs respectively. The raisings were supposedly in celebration of the raising of Egwene to Amyrlin Seat but were, in fact, because it meant that Egwene would not stand out by not having sworn the Three Oaths. The four sisters were not considered by many to be proper Aes Sedai since they hadn't sworn upon the Oath Rod or taken the test for raising. It was rumored that they had to beg admittance in to their Ajahs because the sisters did not believe them to be Aes Sedai. It was also rumored that they were given guardians, at least Faolain and Theodrin were.

Accepted

Novices

Novice or Accepted

Angla
Lanita

The Black Ajah and the Forsaken

As with every other group of people, the Salidar Aes Sedai had Darkfriends among their army and servants and Black Ajah among the Aes Sedai. The only Aes Sedai known to be Black Ajah was Delana Mosalaine although there was some speculations that Sheriam also belongs to that Ajah.

Delana Mosalaine, a Sitter for the Gray Ajah, was actually Black Ajah and took her orders from Aran'gar who was posing as her secretary Halima Saranov. Delana was ordered to spread discord amongst the Aes Sedai by supporting all fractions in the Hall. Both Romanda and Lelaine originally thought that Delana sided with them and Egwene believed that she was the only Sitter in the Hall that supported her. Another one of Delana's ways of spreading dissention was to call for Elaida to be declared Black Ajah, which she has done three times. All of the other Sitters opposed it because they feared it would drive the Black Ajah deeper into hiding and because they did not truly believe that Elaida was Black. When Logain was held prisoner in the rebel camp, Delana pressed for his execution or gentling; this was so that Aran'gar would be able to channel saidin without detection though Delana didn't know that this was the reason. This problem was solved when Egwene ordered Siuan to help Logain escape. Egwene and Sheriam's circle became slightly suspicious of Delana, though not suspecting that she was Black Ajah, when Delana mentioned the negotiations to Egwene. Most of them believed the Delana wanted to cause strife between the Ajah Heads and the Sitters as well as between Ajahs.

Aran'gar, Balthamel reincarnated, was sent to Salidar by Moridin to create chaos. She was given the identity Halima Saranov who was supposed to be the friend of Cabriana Mecandes, a Blue sister who supposedly died when she fell off her horse. In fact Semirhage killed Cabriana after she drained the Blue of all the information she knew about Salidar. Aran'gar claimed that Cabriana has confided in her before she died and had told her of the White Tower's plans for Salidar and the Dragon Reborn. Elaida apparently wanted to still half of the rebel sisters and break the rest. She also claimed that Elaida was Black Ajah. Once in Salidar Aran'gar attached herself to Delana Mosalaine who she knew was Black Ajah posing as Gray. She was supposedly Delana's secretary and companion but she was really giving orders to Delana to spread chaos.

Aran'gar used her position as secretary to a Sitter to get close to Egwene al'Vere. Egwene suffered from headaches from the first day she met Halima and Halima "cured" her of them when she got them. However, it is fairly obvious that Halima is in fact causing the headaches in order to get closer to Egwene. By the time the Salidar Aes Sedai were in northern Murandy Halima slept in Egwene's tent on a pallet to be close to Egwene when she got a headache. This was undoubtedly so that Halima could spy on Egwene and to discover what she intended to do. Halima tried to drive a wedge between Egwene and Siuan by suggesting that Siuan was trying to manipulate her but this didn't work. It has also been suggested that Halima is using Compulsion on Egwene to control her; one example being her sudden change of mind about the Oath Rod.

Aran'gar killed two of Egwene's maids, Meri and Selame, for reasons as yet unknown. It is also highly possible that Aran'gar was responsible for the murder of Anaiya, her Warder Setagana and Kairen Stang. Anaiya and Setagana died when solid flows of Air were woven around their heads; Kairen's neck was broken using saidin but her warder Llyw survived. The rebel sisters were told that a male channeler was responsible so that they knew to be careful. It is not known why they were killed but one suggestion was that it was because it made many of the Aes Sedai even more hostile towards the Black Tower. However Aran'gar probably had some other reason to kill the two Aes Sedai if that was the case.

Sheriam is possibly Black Ajah because we learn that she was giving information about Egwene to an unknown channeler. It does not necessarily mean that she was Black Ajah - she might have been forced to give information - but it does suggest that she might be Black. It is not know to whom she was giving the information to but the most likely person seems to be Aran'gar.

Few people knew that Moghedien was held captive in Salidar; these people were Nynaeve, Elayne, Birgitte, Egwene, Siuan and Leane. She followed Elayne and Nynaeve to Salidar in the guise of a refugee called Marigan. However Nynaeve managed to capture her in Tel'aran'rhiod and discovered who Marigan really was. In the waking world she used an a'dam made by Elayne to keep Moghedien prisoner. Threatening her with exposure, Nynaeve and Elayne made Moghedien teach them about forgotten weaves and Talents. When Elayne and Nynaeve left for Ebou Dar Moghedien was left in Salidar under the watchful eye of Egwene; the camp believed that Marigan was Egwene's maid. However Moghedien was freed from the a'dam by Aran'gar and was sent to Shayol Ghul.

Two ways of dealing with the Black Ajah have been mentioned within the camp. Romanda believes that each sister should be interrogated to see if she is Black Ajah or not which would likely cause a mutiny. Lelaine believes that all mention of the Black Ajah should be banned and those breaking it would be guilty of fomenting discord; this would make many people believe that high ranking Salidar Aes Sedai were Black Ajah.

Miscellaneous

With the help of Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve - aided by Moghedien - the Salidar Aes Sedai have acquired many new weaves. They have rediscovered the weaves for Traveling, Skimming, making cuendillar, eavesdropping and invisibility. They have also learned how to invert their weaves. The rebel sisters have acquired several new ter'angreal after Elayne rediscovered how to make them. Nynaeve discovered how to Heal stilling and gentling, although Siuan and Leane were only restored to less than half their previous strength.

The Salidar Aes Sedai did not believe Elayne and Nynaeve when they told them about the bubble of evil that exploded in Tear; that is, until it happened in Salidar. Bed sheets tried to strangle the occupants of their beds while vases and pitchers threw themselves against the walls. Aes Sedai, Accepted and novices linked together in to circles to use the One Power against the problems thrown up by the bubble. People died during that night, seven in the village proper but slightly less than a hundred in the soldiers' camps.

Roughly one third of all Aes Sedai joined the Salidar Aes Sedai, which would mean that roughly three hundred sisters joined them. The number of Aes Sedai remaining in the White Tower was just less than that. Immediately after the split, sisters rushed to join the rebels but over time the numbers joining them slowed to a trickle.

Of the one thousand novices in the camp, several hundred of them were likely to gain the shawl.

Although Elaida declared that the Blue Ajah no longer existed, Egwene maintained that the Red Ajah was not to be destroyed even though there were no Red sisters among the Salidar Aes Sedai.

Mat Cauthon brought the Band of the Red Hand to Salidar on the orders of the Dragon Reborn. When Mat left Salidar for Ebou Dar, the Band was left behind. He had ordered them to follow the Salidar Aes Sedai north but to remain far enough away as not to scare the sisters. Talmanes was also told that if Egwene came to him for help he was to escort her to Caemlyn as quickly as he could manage. Many of the Salidar Aes Sedai saw no difference between the Band and the brigands roaming the lands, which made for a lot of tension between the two groups. They ignored the fact that the Band hung the bandits as punishment for their crimes. Some sisters believed that even talking to the Band was close to treason. However, as time went on, the sisters feared an attack less and less.

The food bought by the camp was wrapped in a Keeping when it was bought so that it would not go off. However to the horror of the sisters the Keepings failed and the food quickly became inedible. This was a great worry to the Aes Sedai, as it seemed as though saidar was failing.

Egwene had a dream about the Seanchan attacking the White Tower and, sensing that it was the dream of a true Dreamer, told the sisters about it. However, few believed that Egwene was actually a Dreamer and dismissed it. The only person of influence that had believed in Egwene's ability was Anaiya and she had been killed on the night of the dream.

The Salidar Aes Sedai decided not to make a replica of the Amyrlin's staff, preferring to wait until they could claim the real thing.

Moiraine Damodred became a legend among the novices and Accepted in the rebel camp because she had killed two of the Forsaken.

Quotes

"Elaida has the Tower in her fist, and you know she will mishandle Rand al'Thor? The White Tower is at its weakest when it should be at its strongest, in the hands of a fool when it must have skilled command' and you sit here, drifting with your sails down. Or can you convince me that you are doing more than twiddling your thumbs and blowing bubbles?" (Siuan Sanche to Sheriam's circle; The Fires of Heaven, Chapter 27)

"While what was done to you followed the letter of the law narrowly? we agree that it was malignantly unjust, an extreme distortion of the law's spirit? Whatever rumor might say, most of the charges laid against you were so thin that they should have been laughed away." (Sheriam Bayanar to Siuan Sanche; The Fires of Heaven, Chapter 27)

"I saw Aes Sedai from every Ajah save the Red in the common room, and in the streets. Have them elect a Hall of the Tower here, and let that Hall select a new Amyrlin. Then you can present yourselves to the world as the true White Tower, in exile, and Elaida as a usurper." (Leane Sharif to Sheriam's circle; The Fires of Heaven, Chapter 27)

"Once the first blood was shed between Salidar and Tar Valon, it would be difficult to make the Tower whole again. Once the first Aes Sedai blood was shed, it might well be impossible. Still, Elaida had to be brought down, and Egwene would do what she had to. She just did not like it." (Egwene al'Vere; LoC, Ch. 39)

"If Gareth Bryne was leading their army, it was no mob of farmers and street sweepings with a few Warders for stiffening." (Matrim Cauthon; LoC, Ch. 44)

"Any woman who falsely claims the title of Amyrlin Seat must be stilled. If they believed they had any chance of success, Sheriam would be their Amyrlin, or Lelaine, or Carlinya, or one of the others' Instead, they have plucked out an Accepted!" (Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan; A Crown of Swords, Prologue)

"Once we declare ourselves at war with Elaida, there can be no doubts. [...] No one will dare again to show doubt so openly when you say you are the Hall of the Tower. No one will dare stand in our way, meddling in the affairs of the Tower through uncertainty and ignorance. We have walked to the door and put our hands on the latch. If you are afraid to walk through, then you all but ask the world to believe that you are nothing but Elaida's puppets." (Egwene al'Vere to the Hall of Sitters; TPoD, Ch. 19)

"Elaida, she has stated the conditions most onerous, but that is often the case in the beginning of negotiations. We can reunite the White Tower and assure the safety of everyone, if we only talk." (Beonin; CoT, Ch. 16)

"We all set off full of righteous fury for justice, yet here we sit, staring at the walls of Tar Valon, while Elaida sits in the Tower. We've been here nearly two weeks, and for all anyone can see, we may be here for two years, or twenty. The longer we sit with nothing happening, the more sisters will start making excuses for Elaida's crimes. The more they'll start thinking that we have to mend the Tower, never mind the cost. Do you want to wait until sisters start slipping back to Elaida one by one? I myself do not fancy standing on the riverbank defying the woman with just the Blue Ajah and the rest of you for company." (Nisao Dachen to Sheriam's circle; CoT, Ch. 17)