Suraya Ashalde

• Full Name - Suraya Fatima Ashalde Aes Sedai
• Position - Aes Sedai of the White Ajah, Sitter for the White in the Hall of the Tower.
• Character Summary - A White Aes Sedai, Suraya acquired an affinity for the dispassionate White sisters, so able to seclude themselves from their emotions and their desires, and work serenely about their callings. During her lengthy residency in the Tower, she taught Reasoning and Ancient Philosophy, although she is known to have a wild streak, carrying on a passionate love affair with the Saldaean Ambassador to the Tower, Lord Adram t'Savedra ni Zadnere of House Zadnere. Suraya currently holds a Seat in the Hall for the White, and is curiously active in her interest in the politics of Cairhien, as her closest friend in the sisterhood, Carmara Belantes, is currently the advisor to Queen Healle of House Cordaevell. She is in the upper echelon of Aes Sedai potency, very strong in Air and Water, as well as having a surprising adeptness in Healing. In her exploits as a young sister, she took part in an explosive battle in a campaign to subdue a False Dragon, Amil Farad, in Tarabon, greatly impressing her sisters with her valor. Her warder is Roel Bernoiven, a slim, intense Cairhienin. She remains a close friend of Simoene Alvaewhin and is an icily bitter rival of Malinde Alleron, another Sitter for the White.
• Affiliation - White Ajah, White Tower
• Nationality - Domani
• Character Description - A tall strapping woman with a smooth bronze complexion and long russet hair, with veins of silver near starting at her temples and running through, Suraya Ashalde looks clearly to be Domani born, although she largely eschews her birthright of feminine wiles and seductive languor. She is handsome with bright copper-colored eyes and full lips, islands of emotion in a serene Aes Sedai face. Her dress is cut from flowing silk, a rich cream color, with wide sash of brocade belted off-center on one hip. Thick silvery embroidery flows along her hems and sleeves, a rich scrolling pattern mimicked in silver and seed pearls on the left side of her bodice breast. Her hair is worn loose and flowing after being gathered in an intricate looping knot at the back of her head, and pinned with pearls. Around her slender hips, atop the sash, she wears a belt of bleached leather from which hangs her purse and jambiya, the hilt wrapped in silver wire, with a coin-sized ice-ruby set in the hilt. She wears a necklace of carved ivory around her slim throat, and her Great Serpent ring shines on her dusky finger. She wears her shawl slung over her shoulders, the Flame of Tar Valon picked out against a white disc only by black stitching, hanging the midst of her back, and long silky white fringe swaying with her movements.
• Associates:
• Jiellen Kerwein: A quiet, pensive young girl, Jiellen is Murandian, the daughter of middling successful merchants. Suraya has taken an interest in her studies as a novice.
• Taresia Hurad: A morose, introverted young woman, Taresia is an Accepted from Shienar, one of the few survivors on a Trolloc raid on her home town. Quite skilled in working with Fire, Taresia is being courted by the Greens, for all that she is appalled by the idea of war and violence. Taresia is favored by Suraya, and often serves as her secretary and traveling companion.
• Varella Obajian: Tempermental and surly, Varella Sedai of the Yellow Ajahis one of the most adept Healers in the Tower, specializing in battle wounds and other significant trauma. Unfortunately for her patients, she is less than gentle as she Heals, for although she feels fulfilled as a Healer, she blames the wounds on the men who sustain them, always resorting to brawn and blades, in her view.
• Aifey Dewall: Motherly and well-liked, Aifey looks very much like a goodwife plucked from a quiet country hamlet or farm. Although she is well regarded by her sisters of her Ajah, she is more aloof than even most Whites and spends long periods away from the Tower, often returning with sun-bleached hair and tanned skin. She is believed to have the Talent of Fate-Twisting, able to replicate the ta'veren effect to a lesser degree, and the more shrewd suspect that her Talent is at the heart of her mysterious journeys.
• Marande Belora: A sophisticated, charming woman, Marande often is mistaken for a noblewoman or fashionable marchande, for she is newly raised and lacks the ageless features. Affecting a sleek, elegant style, she is far from the usual Brown sister, hosting poetry readings and discussions on literature. Indeed her cause among the Browns in the classification of fine literature and poetry from the famed scholars of old Essenia, and she hopes to compile them into a definitive series of reference works.
• Carmara Belantes: Suraya's closest friend in the sisterhood, Carmara Sedai is a sister of the White Ajah, and currently the advisor to Queen Healle of House Cordaevell, Queen of Cairhien.
• Simoene Alvaewhin: a young White sister, and friend of Suraya.
• Malinde Alleron: an Aes Sedai of the White Ajah and another Sitter for the White, and is an icily bitter rival of Suraya Sedai. A tall, spectacularly beautiful Mayener woman, Malinde Alleron is the recently selected replacement for Darra Sedai. Malinde is rather young for her seat, only ninety or so, despite the wisps of silver in her inky tresses. Malinde is a flamboyant dresser, especially for a White, often adding scarlet embroidery to her gowns, or wearing choice bits of ruby and firedrops, a not-so-very subtle political message.
• Roel Bernaevin: Suraya Sedai's warder, a slim, intense Cairhienin swordsman.

• Suraya's Personal Page