Brown Ajah Archival Stuff

[claireducky]

Thought this stuff might be helpful to you, Myst.

 

The Brown Ajah.

Great Minds Think Alike. And so do ours...

 

You may have heard that the Brown Ajah is devoted to books, the Library and arcane knowledge. And this is all very true... but while this expresses a part of us, it does not define the WHOLE of us. The Brown Ajah may be quite possibly the most diverse ajah of all. Where else can you find Sisters with a knowledge of angreal and zemai and everything in between?

 

Need to know about a historical battle and the tactics employed by the winning (and losing!) Generals? Want to know about poultices and herbal remedies? Want to know the names of all the False Dragons and who captured them? Argue the different philosophies of the Age of Legends' philosophers? How to play Da'es Dae'mar? Or the best way to force Kings and Queens to see reason?

 

You might think you would need a Green, Yellow, Red, White, Blue, and Grey Sister (respectively) to answer each of those questions. But in reality, one Brown Sister would be able to answer them all AND find you references. Now, how's that for service? *g*

 

So, please. Make yourself at home here. Take off your coat, put on some cozy slippers with gnifty pom poms and shuffle around our place. The links at the top will introduce you to all our Sisters and those wise Novices and Accepteds who have chosen the Brown Ajah for themselves. You will also find links to book reviews (naturally) and quotes by famous and infamous people of an age long past, or an age yet to come. *scratches head and mutters about the Wheel for a moment*.

 

Where was I? Oh yes. Feel free to roam and come back often. We serve brownies and cocoa to our favorite friends... We also maintain the Tower Library, where we manage to hide an enormous stash of chocolate pudding for Mother, who was herself Raised from the Brown. *Karana nods in approval, muttering something about spiffy people and gnifty things, seems to forget you, and wanders off*

 

Karana Sedai

Head of the Brown Ajah

[claireducky]

Book Reviews:

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20010509215228/www.dragonmount.com/whitetower/Brown_Ajah/books.htm

 

(all this stuff predates the split, when RP and OOC were together)

 

 

Sisters with bios:

http://web.archive.org/web/20010914031005/http://www.dragonmount.com/whitetower/Brown_Ajah/sisters.htm

 

 

[claireducky]

Members in 2005:

 

 

 

Brown Report July 05

 

 

Members:

 

Head of the Ajah* / Sitter Raeyn Saethyr Raeynsedai[at]yahoo.com

Sitter Sarita Kalian (TPC) lightcomeforth[at]hotmail.com

Sitter Claire al’Windischan clairesedai[at]yahoo.com

Sister Shaneevae el’Edware sdoah[at]yahoo.com

Sister Liara Casdene katnight6[at]msn.com

Sister Emroin Niromir unabridged_aquarius11@hotmail.com

Sister Kaylie Sarien Kaylie.s[at]Gmail.com

Sister Kit Eriya Derianin lightcomeforth[at]hotmail.com

 

Aspies:

 

Gaiya Heeldere  (I am pretty sure, but she is still a novice :D)

Cara Ramsey

 

[claireducky]

Old RP (circa 2004 i think)

 

Arette stood in the rain and watched as warders lowered coffin to the grave. She felt proper that it was raining today. It was like the sky was grieving with them too. She hadn't known Anandara well, and she felt a bit guilty about it. Why you realized value of things only when they were already gone. The coffin thumped to the bottom and everyone threw flowers and handful of soil over it. Her death was so useless. She had been still young. But even the Yellow Ajah couldn't have saved her. She had got three bad stabs when someone stole the ter'angreal she was studying. Arette felt sad and determined at the same time. They would find the guilty one and punish him. When you hurt one Brown sister, you hurt them all. People were slowly returning back to the Tower where the memorial service was arranged. She took Calvin's arm and followed the silent group.

 

Arette Nenatiar

Brown Sister

 

 

Mellyn felt depressed about this whole incident. It seemed that even Tar Valon was unsafe for Aes Sedai. She had met Anandara numerous times, mainly when she was studying during her final years as an Accepted. While Mellyn was only partially interested in ter'angreal, Anandara had been a fount of knowledge, which every Brown, or Brown Asspirant craved. And now she was gone, and for what reason? No logical one, certainly.

 

As she looked around, at the Sisters around her, Mellyn was certain of one thing. The Brown Ajah would not rest until the killer was found, and brought to justice. She felt so, as did her Sisters.

 

Everyone around her began to move off, to the service to be held at the Tower. Mellyn silently followed.

 

 

Mellyn

Bonded to Souvan

 

 

The loss of a Brown Sister was a tragedy and the pain was shared by all in the Ajah. The Sisters huddled together to share their grief and extend what little strength they had to each other.

 

Karana keenly felt the blow, as Anandera had been a special protege of hers. Karana was one of the rare few who had a Talent with ter'angreals, often able to sense their abilities and uses with study. How excited she had been when she recognized that skill in the young Accepted. After that, Karana made sure that the girl would choose Brown upon being Raised, and she had done wonderful work for the Ajah since. She had even collected a few items of power from travelling the world, as Karana had done in her youth.

 

That an Aes Sedai had been murdered was nearly unfathomable. That she had been killed, killed, over an item of power was even worse. Who had taken it, and why?

 

She felt the resolve of her Sisters as strongly as she felt the rain on her cheek where her hood had slipped. She didn't know what was to come next.

[claireducky]

Info about the Browns and their knowledge of the Seanchan:

 

Browns and seanchan

 

maybe *g* How are you going to use it ladies?

 

When exactly do we know about the Seanchan? Cause Lya at this point has only heard very very vague rumors, and the RP was actually instigated by DW, the Dragon being Reborn and the threat of the Asha'man.

 

Seanchan invaded Arad Doman and a party of AS and TGs was sent to investigate. Two AS from this party, Kit and Eldrenne, were made damane and have told everything about Seanchan to the Tower that they know. Except the little fact that Kit brought with her an a'dam and a sul'dam, which the Browns only investigated. I'm not sure if we were allowed to figure out the connection between sul'dams being saidar learners and damane being sparkers, since the sul'dam was not very forthcoming and escaped quickly with the a'dam and was not found again.

 

Sirayn, you're the Seanchan DL now, so what's your verdict? If they knew about this, the Browns would spill this information once the Seanchan became a true threat to the Tower.

 

----------------

 

Sirayn never replied me and gave up her DL position, so I suggest that you Browns pester the new DL and find out whether you know that tidbit or not 

 

Can I safely surmise that this is a repost from another board?

 

*nods* From the Hall board, yes, since not all Brownies can see it and this concerns you *s* I stumbled across that old thread while searching material for the Tower politics summary and thought to bump the old thingy up.

 

As for Kit and her knowledge of such, I can't remember if we were starting anything on this (I want to think that we wre), but she's got the summer MiAs going, it seems *smiles* We'll have to ask her whenever she comes back by to say hi@

 

I'm not sure if this was ever RPed out exactly because Kit has been really busy in the past years, but I think that this is the whole Ajah's project, not just hers even though she was the one who brought the a'dam and sul'dam who had kept her in the leash *s*

 

*L* But of course I'm not telling you to RP anything  Just reminding you that an opportunity for some Seanchan / Brown Ajah RPs is out there.

[claireducky]

Brown Ajah Info (weaves, welcome letter, etc)

 

 

Brown Only Weaves

 

Restore:

Repairs texts and papers that are starting to fall apart. Will NOT help after a certain point of disprepair has been reached.

Uses a small amount of Air and Water in a layered buffer to smooth tears and wrinkles from paper, then followed by VERY small amounts of Air heated by Fire to dry the paper.

 

Writing Recovery: Uses medium amounts of Earth and Water channeled very finely with Spirit into paper to restore fading ink to its original brilliance. Also can be used to counter the "Disappearing Words" weave.

 

Artifact Delving: Uses large amounts of Earth and Spirit, along with smaller amounts of Fire, Water, and Air, passed in a fine net THROUGH an artifact or object. The artifact will show an affinity to the Earth and Spirit in a very specific way. This affinity can then be compared to a small collection of objects positively dated to a certain Age. The object that reacts most similarly to the unknown artifact is the closest to the same age as the artifact. After a long period of practicing this weave, Sisters will be able to recognize the different affinities on their own, no longer needing the dating objects.

 

I don't know if the language weaves would be possible unless the caster is a speaker of the foreign language to be translated. But how about this for an alternative:

 

Cipher of the Sisters: Similar to the Writing Recovery weave, this weave uses Earth, Spirit, and Water woven in a specific way known only to Brown Sisters. With this weave, a Brown sister may take a letter written in Common and then alter the text so that it is in a Brown-only code. The receipient of the letter (must also be a Brown) can then weave the inverse of the original weave to return the letter to Common text. Why go to all of this trouble to make and unmake the code, when you could just write it by hand? Because the code is actually gibberish, untranslateable by any sister...but it serves to hide these messages when they are in transit. An advantage of this is if a Sister were ever to be put to the question about the code, she would not be able to tell anybody what it means, because it doesn't mean anything at all!

 

Text Everlasting: (hee hee)

 

Ok, so you add some spirit and fire in a bowl with a pinch of earth...blend until smooth....then you pour mixture into container shaped like ink bottle...full of ink! Cover mouth of bottle with hand or stopper of air, and shake until fully blended. Uncap bottle and test your creation! Ink fortified by the weave will last longer, will not run if wet, and won't lose its vibrant color!

 

 

 

Bookmark weave from the Spirit Class: can we still make this a brown-only weave, Callie?

 

Shaneevae’s Weave:

 

Due to Shaneevae's research I would like to have her reach some type of goal eventually. Since she has been researching the link between trolloc and myrddraal it would have something to do with it.

 

After getting the chance to dissect a trolloc she will discover the portion of the brain in the trolloc that makes the link possible. Now finding this would be great, but creating a weave that could interfere with it would be super.

 

I understand that it could be nothing catastrophic in nature, so what Tayline and I were thinking is maybe it could send piercing sounds into the brain which momentarily causes mass confusion and an interruption with the link. No more than 60 seconds and possibly even just 30 seconds.

 

I, ofcourse, understand that this would require approval from Arette, Nargbert and Incarns, but I wanted to run it by you girls first.

 

Due to the nature of the weave it would only require Spirit. Also the Greens would be highly interested in this and I thought that maybe it could help bridge the gap between our two Ajahs. The weave would be secretive known only to the Brown and Green Ajahs. The Green because they are the battle ajah and the Brown because hey, we created it.

 

Give all and any ideas you have. 

 

Top 10 Reasons to be Brown

 

10. The quest for knowledge and its preservation is noble.

9. Brown looks good on everyone, as well as hiding unsightly ink stains.

8. Books will always be there for you.

7. We don't go running around after crazy causes like Blues.

6. We're more useful than Whites, we can actually prove what we say.

5. There's nothing better than a well catalogued library.

4. A brown-fringed shawl is easier to clean than a lighter colored one.

3. Our members tell the best stories over tea.

2. Sometimes its fun to be a know-it-all.

1. That signature "Dreamy Look" covers so much!

 

Dear (Insert Name Here),

 

First of all, I would like to welcome you to the wonderful community of roleplayers that is the White Tower Division. I also want to extend a special welcome to you from the Brown Ajah.

 

As you develop your character through roleplay as a novice, you will begin to find that she has her own personality that manifests itself. This personality might be your own mirror image, or it could be but a clouded reflection of your true self. It is during these "formative years" of your White Tower character that you really begin to understand her and who she will be as an Aes Sedai. That is why we recommend that during this time you begin to explore the Ajahs of the WT Division.

 

While it is not required for you to choose an Ajah formally until you are raised to Aes Sedai, many Novices and Accepteds begin to learn about the different Ajah choices available to them. Some of the Ajahs have more members than others currently, but that does not mean you should base your decision on numbers alone. In fact, some of the larger Ajahs have extra raising requirements in an effort to keep the numbers entering their Ajah lower.

 

In short, each Ajah at the WT Div has its own tenets and beliefs it holds to, and we encourage you to find out which of those is closest to your character's own beliefs long before you attain the shawl. To help get you started on your exploration of the Ajahs, we have included a short introduction to the Brown Ajah, and some of its many facets.

 

____________________________________________________________

 

The Brown Ajah is headed by Raeyn Sedai, and currently has several active sisters and many aspirants. While in the books, the Brown Ajah has been portrayed as the dreamers and absent minded people of the Tower, in fact this is completely untrue. The Brown Ajah has remained one of the most powerful and influential Ajahs for generations. In fact, the last two Amyrlins of the WT have been raised from the Brown Ajah. One of them, Kathana Travaeler, reigned for over 100 years.

 

Becoming a Brown is one of the best things you can do for your character. Browns are the most versatile of women. Each and every member of the Ajah has their own beliefs and causes that they hold to. Some are dedicated to causes similar to another Ajah's--but because they chose Brown over that Ajah, they now have the ability to customize those causes, make them their own. For example, a Brown sister might be dedicateds to capturing men who can channel, but instead of wishing to gentle them like a Red, they wish to study them.

 

The possibilities are endless for a Brown sister. The only strict tenet of the Browns is that your life is dedicated to an intellectual pursuit. Whatever you choose to believe in, to study, that is only limited by the bounds of your own imagination.

 

Browns are dedicated to adding knowledge to the world, through massive undertakings, or simply through passing down words of wisdom. This is evident when you learn about the Brown Ajah raising ceremony.

 

When a new sister is Raised to the Brown Ajah, she is welcomed immediately by her new sisters. She is presented with gifts of knowledge and the like by her sisters. But there are a few things that stand out. One is the Quilt of Wisdom. In this quilt are squares created by every Brown sister who has come before. Embroidered, sewn, decorated in every way imaginable, each square contains a truism or quote of a past Aes Sedai. The new sister receives this quilt upon reaching her new quarters, and sleeps with it on her bed to contemplate the wisdom it contains. When it comes time for the next aspirant to be raised, the sister then creates her OWN square to add to it before it is passed on.

 

Another Brown rite of passage is the Preservation Society. In her first three months as a sister, the new Brown works in the Library alongside her elders. There she learns the ins and outs of the Library, and also contributes to its preservation. At her raising, a sister is presented with a key to the Rare Section of the Library, engraved with her name. From that day forward, the Brown sister will now have access to texts and scrolls from around the world, some that have no duplicates anywhere! As a part of her 3 months service, the sister will have the choice of any three documents from that Rare Section to copy in her own hand. She will feel the thrill of preserving lost and rare texts for future generations to learn from.

 

Along with these raising ceremonies, the new Brown will learn many Ajah secrets in her first weeks. She will learn the identity of the Brown Ajah Head, called the Mistress of Libraries here at DM. She will learn secret weaves known only to other Brown Ajah members, traditions and passwords for Brown Sisters, and much more.

 

In addition, the Brown Ajah has many projects for a new sister to involve herself in. Currently, the many projects include plans to restore portions of the Library, research many ter'angreal that were found at Namandar, and most exciting, there is a team of Brown sisters developing new weaves for research of ruins. This includes an exciting new weave used to "Carbon Date" artifacts, effectively predicting the age from which it came. This same team is also developing new forensic techniques for investigating crimes.

 

In short--The Brown Ajah are the movers and shakers of the Tower, but they maintain that mysterious facade on the surface. If you desire versatility and opportunity for your character, then look no further. If you also desire a close knit group of sisters who are constantly supporting and growing both in and OUT of character, then the Brown Ajah is definitely for you. But you shouldn't make a decision based off of those facts alone...visit us and find your OWN reasons for becoming a Brown!

 

Again, welcome to the Tower!

 

Sincerely,

 

Shaneevae Sedai

Brown Ajah Welcoming Committee

[claireducky]

And still some more stuff

 

More brown stuff

 

Eyes and Ears signals for browns:

So whilst doing research I noticed the Brownies use their eyes and ears for reporting manuscripts, artifacts, exceptional events etc. So obviously most of these eyes etc would be bookdealers, librarians, tutorers (to nobles more than likely), nobles themselves, etc. Also in the search of knowledge it might not be unexpected for us to use otherwise unthought of means to get that very rare item that the Library must have (ie use rogues, thieves, blackmarkety people who might've "picked up" something along the way). I realize some of your chars may have objections to this thing (which would be kept VERY VERY discrete we probly wouldn't let the more "rogueish" class even know who they are dealing with icly) Kaylie being who she is doesn't really have a problem with it as long as it will help make the Tower Library the best it can be (she really wants us to have at least a copy of everything that's out there thus her 10 year long hiatus).

 

Anyways more to the POINT.

 

What should our emergency signals be? Remember in the books the yellow signals etc? Well without a guideline from the books I think it'd be nice if we came up with some uniform ideas for this etc. (maybe a sign outside a shop "Kae-reth's guide to binding 100 year old books" or some other such that no-one would be likely to be interested in etc but would get a Brown whose out and about's attention - so suggestions please!)

 

Also any other ideas for things of this nature?

 

What would you like to see eyes and ears give us etc?

 

 

 

Kaylie

Brown Sister

*off to go find some FL'ers*

Since I'm guessing that most of the E&Es we'd be wanting to recruit would be booksellers, librarians, etc, perhaps some sort of display with a book? Like, an open book with some sort of other knowledge-related iconology mixed in.. a scroll laid across it, or perhaps some specific coloured tassel/cover/bookmark?

 

Just my two sleepy cents 

I like Raeyn's idea, but I know that we will also have more normal people for eyes and ears as well, like merchants, shop keepers, etc. I suggest that these eyes and ears that have nothing to do with books instead focus on the brown aspect. Merchants and shop keepers will advertise something brown on sale.

 

clothier: "Just in~ Newest Brown Silks!"

 

a bakery: "Delectable Brownies made with finest chocolate!"

 

possibilities are endless... in order for sister to confirm it is a message and not just a coincidence, she will ask if the product on sale comes from tar valon: "Is this silk made in Tar Valon?"

 

This of course is a silly question, since Tar Valon has not many manufacturing trades. So if the merchant/shop keeper answers yes, the sister can be fairly sure they are an Brown E & E.

 

Sound good?

 

Claire

 

Brown Quilt Square Descriptions

Shaneevae:

I'll do my very bestest, I promise! The edging of the quilt will be brown, of course. I've already got a feeling this quilt will turn out to be huge.

 

Scienta est Potentia~Knowledge is Power.

 

Anais Nin:

The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery

 

Henry David Thoreau:

It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

 

Moira/Greenfairy:

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings. -William Blake, Proverbs of Hell

 

A good book is the purest essence of a human soul. -Thomas Carlyle, Speech 1840

 

Sit down before fact like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss Nature leads, or you shall learn nothing. -Thomas Henry Huxley

 

He who knows much about others may be learned, but he who understands himself is more intelligent. He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still -Lao-Tsu. Tao Teh King

 

Be careful about reading health books. You might die of a misprint. -Mark Twain

 

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would rather have talked. -Mark Twain

 

some of these i scoured the internet for... The last one i just thought was funny!

 

mine:

 

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would rather have talked. -Mark Twain

 

Color: cornflower blue ( if we're talking crayola colors here :p )

Design: little songbirds in flight facing inward on each corner- needlework

Sedai Name: Moira Eaelinas Sedai

Image location http://clairealwindischan.homestead.com/files/moiracopy.jpg

Arette:

That is beautiful Claire  Thank you and Shan for taking this project your own.

 

Here are my quotes

 

"Learn from the past. Look to the future. Live in the present." - Steve Henthorn

 

"Live to learn, learn to live and then teach others." - Doug Horton

 

"Wonder, rather than doubt, is the root of knowledge." - Abraham Lincoln

 

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

 

"Old people reminesc what others have said and done; act so when you are young, that you can listen talk about your deeds without shame when you are old." - Cato

 

"We all are wise when giving advices, but blind to our own faults." - Menandros

 

"Even you have learned alot by reading books, you still have lot to learn from life." - Cato

 

"Don't demand from anyone anything you can't do yourself." - Caecilius Balbus

 

"You should read alot but not anything." - Plinius the younger

 

"You learn more from people than from books" - Sir Thomas Overbury

 

"Never say no for pride or yes for lack of will." - Spanish (Tairen?) saying

 

I haven't yet decided what Arette's quote would be. *g* Something pompus. But her square would be gingerbread brown and the quote would be surrounded by a white gingerbread shaped pattern (circle with those cirlular eges... like children draw clouds. Tt would be needlework but since Arette is not very good in that, it wouldn't be superior quality)

Arette Image location: http://indiesbynight.bravehost.com/arettecopy.jpg

Raeyn:

I just think, midear, that Shan is officially a Brown name ^^ ESPECIALLY since our returning Eniara is a Shannon as well 

 

*lol* I could use my faveorite me quote IRL for the quilt, but something tells me that "He's dead... good." doesn't Quiiiiite work for the brownness within 

 

I would have to go with this, I think:

 

"Hope for the best

Expect the worst

And you'll always be pleasantly suprised" - Unknown

 

It would be on pale lavender, with a bordering pattern like this:

 

(hopes this shows up)

 

 

 

 

 

But sort of within a frame of straight lines.. straight lines are easier to sew/embroider, i would hope  The little corner parts would be a slight darker shade of purple, so that there is a gradient effect.

 

And of course, the lines more prescise.. I just wanted to get up an example (I would have to spend hours to get it more prescise than that :p

 

Kalaya:

Work as if you don't need the money, Love as if you've never been hurt, Dance as if nobody's watching-old irish saying

 

Curiosity never killed anything except maybe a few hours-my cat

 

No one is normal-me

 

for my square-a deep, rich blue, with a black cat w/bright green eyes sitting in the middle.

Do what you love, love what you do

will be- Kalaya Aljan Sedai

once I finish my reqs and gain the shawl

Taracia:

This is an lovely idea and will keep a line of all that comes before..*nods* coolllll....

 

 

*life is too short to squander,Don't let it slip through your hands unspent,let's go find an adventure!*

 

*A bird can scrape the sky with apparent ease,but if you ask the bird, he would tell you how hard it was to get there*

 

I prefer the first one for Tara*S*

 

the square is a brown satin back ground.there is a smaller square sewn

centered in a pale gold using shiney gold thread in a slant stitch.On this is sewn with deep red thread the above first quote.the letters are picked out with tiny red sparkly sequins.The Whole square is bordered with a brown ribbon stitched in the same gold thread.

 

 

 

Taracia of the brown ajah

Shaneevae:

Quote for my square:

 

"It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things."

 

As this will be a reminder to Shaneevae who sometimes does desperate things in lieu of wisdom.

 

Color: Kind of an earthy sage green with small white simple flowers around the border.

[Mystica]

wow :o thanks Claire!

[Mystica]

bump