Andris Dekker

Email: andris_gaidin@yahoo.com.au
==Description==
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Hair Color: Black
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 174lbs
Age: 16
Place of Origin: Arien, in Andor.
==Stats==
Rank: Trainee
Weaopon Score: 1
Philosophy: Not Choosen Yet
Primary Weapon: 
Secondary Weapon: 
Tertiary Weapon: 
==History==
Andris was born in the small village of Arien (west of Whitebridge in Andor) to Ghad Dekker (Father) and Arena Dekker (Mother). His father, Ghad, died when he was crushed by a large leatherleaf tree he had been cutting down. This occurred when Andris was 4 years old. Andris was predominantly raised by his mother and older sister, Moniqa, in a loving household. He was regularly taken on hunting trips in the surrounding countryside by his "uncle", a man called Yuran, who worked for Andris' mother on occasion to maintain their small mud-brick house. Yuran taught Andris many skills such as tracking, living from the land, and moving silently through all types of terrain.
Yuran, it was rumoured, used to be a fighter of some reknown, though few could say how well his name had been known and for what. Yuran had suffered a terrible loss many years back and had been passing through Arien, looking for work when he was taken on by the village innkeeper to help maintain the inn and assist with lifting barrels and crates. Yuran settled in Arien and earned a simple living as the village handyman, in addition to his duties at the inn. Yuran did not discuss his past with Andris and refused to acknowledge Andris' request to teach him the sword or quarterstaff. Andris had never heard Yuran acknowledge even the fact that he knew the ways of fighting.
Andris turned to his friends for some teaching, eventually becoming very adept in the use of a quarterstaff, with which the local boys constantly competed in rough, side alley competitions. He engaged in sword-play with his friends, however they only ever had long, uneven sticks with which to pretend and Andris knew he had little to no real knowledge of swordsmanship, however much he dreamed of it. Yuran once commented, after watching the boys at play, that Andris was "gifted" with the quarterstaff, and had exceptional reflexes. Andris felt a warm buzz pass through him at the praise and pressed Yuran for information on sword fighting. Yuran reluctantly told Andris that with his reflexes and speed, he could be great with the sword. Yuran seemed to draw inward on himself after that, and told Andris that he did not wish to discuss that life further. Andris could not convince Yuran to say more.
Andris grew up fit and strong and was a cheerful lad with a good nature. He loved his sister and his mother fiercely and was extremely fond of Yuran as well. Andris and his small family regularly had Yuran for dinner and enjoyed his jokes and idle banter. 
Andris' mother, Arena, worked as an occassional seamstress, making cheap clothing for the local children and some of the farmers around Arien and Four Kings. They were poor, but lived happily with the little that they had.
One winter's day, when Andris was 16, his mother became unwell. Her coughing grew worse by the day and Andris visited the village wisdon to see if she could help. Arena refused to eat and could scarcely breathe from all the coughing, and Andris could not get the wisdon to visit as she herself was severely unwell. Four people died from a pneumonia-like illness which showed no signs of responding to the few medicines people knew. Andris tended his mother and then Moniqa, his sister, when she also became feverish.
Arena died within 3 weeks of falling sick. Andris was so torn by her passing that he moved in a trance, tending Moniqa with loving care and then sitting by her bedside to stare at the wall in a daze. Yuran came by to help, but the small population was being ravaged by the illness. Yuran, now well past his middle years, became ill and passed away within 3 days. He progressed from a minor cough to retching blood and convulsions in such a short space of time that Andris believed it was only a matter of time before he too succumbed to the sickness.
One evening Andris was tending Moniqa and attempting to make her drink a little water, when she raised her head and spoke to him. She told him of her hopes and dreams, what she had wanted in her life. She told him, to his immense surprise, that she had always wanted to become an Aes Sedai. She was soon in the grip of fever and convulsions. When it eased she would talk to Andris about her work as an Aes Sedai and Andris cried softly as he realised she no longer knew where (or who) she was. Moniqa seemed to recognise Andris for she called him by name and one evening in a rare period of lucidity, solemnly asked him if he would become her warder. Andris told her tearfully that he would, and Moniqa struggled to sit upright. "I will bond you then." she said weakly. As he helped her to sit up, blood poured from her mouth and she spasmed one final time in his arms before breathing her last.
Andris was found three days later, curled on dead sister's bed by her side,shaking and coughing with flecks of blood covering his lips.
He awoke 48 hours later to see a young woman by his side, watching him. When he awoke she gave him water and explained that he was now well and safe, though he needed much rest. Her name was Sandira and she was an Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah. Over the next two weeks, Andris discovered that a small party of Aes Sedai had been passing through Arien on the way from Caemlyn where they had seen the Queen. Andris' memory of the last month was poor, however he remembered his sister and her dreams of becoming an Aes Sedai, and he grew to feel an affection for Sandira in a very short space of time.
As he became well, he assisted the Aes Sedai in tending those who had been healed, fast recovering his strength and endurance. He fetched tea and meals for Aes Sedai who were weary from travel and healing the sick, and was amazed at their selfless work to help the poor without prejudice or payment. He also spent time watching the Aes Sedai's Warders practicing on the village green and even managed to engage one in conversation. The Warder, he said his name was Paedrig, explained to Andris that the Warders were a vital part of the Aes Sedai's war with the Shadow. They were the protection that Aes Sedai needed in a battle where an unseen archer could easily kill or injure an Aes Sedai, or when their Aes Sedai was unable to channel. Andris watched with awe as the Warders practiced their sword forms and spent as much time as he could near-by, when he wasn't busy assisting the Aes Sedai.
Less than two weeks after they arrived in Arien, the Aes Sedai announced they were to leave the following day and continue their journey. He begged Sandira Sedai to allow him to accompany them to Tar Valon. He wanted to train with the Warders, to live his life protecting women such as they who had helped his people and himself, despite not arriving in time to save his family. The evening before the large party was to depart Caemlyn, Andris waited nervously for their answer, but with a determination in his heart to become more than a poor country boy, and to give something back to those for whom he had now such great respect...
Category:WS 1
Category:Trainee
Category:Biographies
Category:Warder Bios