Lylana Diandaere

Name: Lylana Diandaere
Age: 219
Date of Birth: Summer, shortly before Sunday. (Was in fact the second day of Amadaine.)
Place of Birth: Cairhien
= Character Information =
== Appearance ==
Eye Color: Deep blue
Hair Color: Dark brown
Weight/Height: 5'4", 120lbs
Short and slender, her long brown hair hangs to her mid-back; it is neither straight nor curly, but has a gentle wave to it. It is frequently braided or tied back with a ribbon, for simplicity's sake. She wears plain clothing that usually covers her to her neck, and never has any lace or fancy ribbon trim. She likes loose dresses for comfort's sake. Her only jewelry is her great serpent ring, which she wears on the middle finger of her left hand, and a purple gem pendant carried on a necklace, the only remnant from her life before the Tower. She is very pale, both from her heritage as a Cairhienen and her preference for staying indoors. Has a small mole above her right butt cheek and scar on her right wrist from Ryker.
== Personality ==
Lylana is a typical White in that she overlooks emotion in situations in order to find the truth... so much so she tends to dismiss human emotion as an important elemenent, though she does that less as she ages, as she has seen with her own eyes that it has a large impact on people and society. She sees human nature as a balance of good and evil, that both are needed for the world to function properly. The Dark One, to her, exists and always will exist - and in fact is necessary. She does not want him to mess up the world any more than the next person, but it is simply the way of things. She believes she was created/born to maintain this balance, to serve not the White Tower but the people it protects.
However, despite her strict adherence to logic in situations, she often cannot apply it to herself. She tends to over-think situations and get mired in her own logic, unable to see her own illogic. For instance, her obsessive lists and order goes so far as to sometimes be detrimental, but to her it makes perfect sense and must be maintained. She is frequently too hard on herself for emotional mistakes and does not give herself the same leeway as she does others, forgetting that she too is only human. She never forgets and has a hard time forgiving.
She is a very strong skeptic in that she believes in facts, not what people tell her. However, when presented with facts, she weighs them impassively and, if the facts are judged to be true (or at least have enough weight), then adapts them into her theories and beliefs without a qualm. She doesn't always believe in the Tower Politics and is unlikely to be swayed by others opinions, unless the opinions come with enough factual support; after living in the Tower for many, many years, she simply accepts the truth that everyone has their own agenda, one that she may not know, understand, or agree with. She does not always agree with the White Tower politics - and in fact sees much of the politics as detrimental to the purpose of the Tower. Much of the infighting she regards as inferior to Aes Sedai and a waste of time and energy.
Believes only in force when it is warranted, and the smallest amount necessary to get the job done. Abhors abuse of power.
She also has a sharp sense of humor that is often unexpected and misunderstood by others - so much so that she has come to expect that people will take it the wrong way. She is often seen as colder than she really is.
Believes that knowledge is power and documents everything. Likes lists and order. Office is outwardly complex, but to her every single thing is in its place. She always knows where everything is, and doesn't let anyone touch her things.
She has pet peeves, most of them dealing with people, especially the general public. She has no tolerance for people who disregard rules, even worse when they don't bother to learn, read, or understand them, nor for people who accept answers because they are the simplest or easiest to swallow. She cannot abide by stupidity or laziness. She does not like to repeat herself, and hates wasting time or energy.
== Hobbies ==
She loves puzzles and code-cracking. If someone has a complex problem, she is usually to be found trying to find a solution. Sometimes it becomes more of an obsession than a hobby, in that once she starts trying to figure something out, she cannot rest until she has solved it, at least in her own mind. Her attention to detail and propensity for list-making gives her an odd hobby in the form of note-taking: she enjoys taking copious amount of notes and categorizing them, ordering them, and compiling them. Over time she has produced several very large volumes of an encyclopedic nature. She tends to work with Browns to use their knowledge and facts, which she then takes and puts into a comprehensive, organized, easy-to-access form. She has a knack for taking what others have and making it more efficient.
== Channelling ==
Lylana has a below-average skill. She is highest in Air and Water, then Spirit, and lowest in Fire and Earth. She has a penchant for complex weaves that require detail and concentration, instead of strength and force. She prefers to find creative uses for weaves to effectively solve a problem/control a situation, rather than simply blasting a fireball (which she would not be very good at anyways, possibly one of the reasons she prefers alterate methods). She is also very good at learning from watching what others have done, from studying their weaves. Channeling is to her the only thing worth living for, though the great search for truth and order being a contending purpose. When she channels, she becomes lost in herself, lost in the beauty that is saidar. She finds utmost contentment in manipulating the delicate flows, and is still amazed after 200 years at what can be created from something so etherial. After channeling she tends to stay in a dreamy state for a while, slowly returning to the natural world.
== Weapons ==
Was trained in the quarterstaff long ago. She knows how to use it to defend herself, if needed, and to give the impression of skill, but is far from a master at it. She needs practice.
== Family ==
Mother: Sienda - a soft, sweet woman who had a huge heart. Was never cutthroat enough to play the Game, her husband was her protection. Was somewhat sheltered because of it, but enjoyed helping her husband manage his business, though she functioned through intuition and generousity (which wasn't always very lucrative). Took great joy in her ownly daughter, though she sometimes fretted that Lylana was too serious and didn't enjoy childhood's innocence enough.
Father: Jhaeyen - A rug merchant who had a head for figures. Though the business was small it turned a tidy profit, and his investments kept them living well enough. Played the Game of Houses well to keep him and his family afloat; used his intelligence to his advantage but disliked the Game. Talked often of moving, but the business was faring so well where they were and they were not bothered enough to move.
No siblings.
== Pet(s) ==
* Shae'nel, a golden colored mare, given to her on 10th name-day by parents, long since passed on.
* Ryker, a grey cat found when she was newly raised to the Shawl on the TV grounds, taken in by her. A little hell-cat who loved to cause trouble. Caused her much heartbreak when he died as an old cat at age 18.
= Character History =
Was "discovered" in Cairhein by Yveva Sedai while she was out browsing the merchants. Yveva saw in her the ability to channel and shortly thereafter Lylana was taken to the Tower to be trained, at the age of 15.
She spent 8 years as a Novice, shorter than average because of her dedication and ability to apply herself. She took her Arches under the watch of Alosha Sedai, at the time Mistress of Novices.
The next 16 years she spent as Accepted, a long period because she enjoyed taking classes and learning everything she could.
Shortly after attaining the shawl she took in Ryker, an important part of her life for the next 18 years. He was a hellish devil to the rest of the Tower, but he was one of the few creatures Lylana opened up to. After his death she closed herself even further to the rest of the Tower and world.
She spent her first 58 years of being Aes Sedai applying herself to teaching. Her world revolved around reading and studying philosophy and logic and passing it on to the Novices and Accepted who would one day take her place. She was First Reasoner among Whites for the last 12 of those. Her young age would have prevented her from doing so in any other Ajah, but among the Whites age mattered little, it was ability that counted most. That, and the White was always one of the smallest Ajahs, and most of the Sisters kept to themselves in their own little world. The Whites placed little emphasis on the position of Ajah Head, regardless; it was not so much a leadership as an organizational and document-keeper role and she was treated little differently than any other.
In that 82nd year at the Tower, at the age of 97, she was attacked in an alleyway in Tar Valon by a very brave or very stupid thief, who, coming at her from behind, had not seen her ageless face, nor the ring on her finger, which may have scared him off. While even though being of the most powerful societies in existence, she was too slow to react to such a sudden attack in what she considered her back yard. She blacked out, at peace with the knowledge that she was dying.
However, a pair of Aes Sedai walking past were sharp enough to see the scuffle. Though neither was a Yellow, they were able to stop her bleeding enough to rush her to the Yellows and Heal her. Even with the efforts of the Yellows, it was still a long and painful recovery for Lylana. She blamed herself for letting her guard down and not being aware of her surroundings, and sunk into a deep depression. When fully healed, she left the Tower in the dark of night, never to return. Due to the rumors surrounding her attack and recovery, many thought her dead.
In reality, she has spent the last 120 years moving place to place. She would stay for 10 years or 20, then move on. She put down little roots, made few connections, but always learned. She spent time in libraries and listening to people talk; she would converse with the local scholars and teach the few who asked. She avoided Aes Sedai, preferring only to watch their actions from afar. The only knowledge she had of Tar Valon was that which she heard, of which she trusted little, given peoples' fear, mistrust and awe of the Aes Sedai.
The past 40 or so years she has lived in a small cottage on the southern side of Altara, north of Kabal Deep, finding a sense of security and safety in a society where women held the power, even without the One Power.Their violence sometimes unsettled her, but over the years she had seen worse - such as the Children of the Light, who inspired disgust and anger in her; while their cause was noble at some point, their means and logic had become so skewed it could no longer be called such. But of Altara, she knew this was their means of keeping balance, and she had respect for the society's rules, even if their hobbies such as dueling were rather foolish.
It is here that her story continues.
Category:Biographies
Category:White Tower Bios
Category:White Ajah Bios