<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/96/GreyAjah.jpg)</div><div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/9/96/GreyAjah.jpg)</div><div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Sitter Merean al'Brey</span><br/>By Caela</span></div><hr/><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="floatright"><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Merean</div><div class="spoiler_body">(http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae282/caela_ecub/Blondes/Kate%20Hudson/kh3_zpsu9piynrg.jpg)</div></div></div><strong>Age:</strong> 68<br/><strong>Nation:</strong> Malkier<br/><strong>Gender:</strong> Female<br/><strong>Orientation:</strong> Heterosexual<br/><strong>Talent:</strong> Earth Singing<br/><br/><strong>Position:</strong> Sitter in the Hall | Grey Ajah<br/><strong>Spheres:</strong> <br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li type="disc">Air: Strong</li><li type="disc">Earth: Very Strong</li><li type="disc">Fire:Average</li><li type="disc">Water:Strong</li><li type="disc">Spirit: Average</li></ul><strong>Skills:</strong><br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Diplomacy</li><li>Extensive knowledge of the Law and Justice systems of most Westland Nations</li><li>Dancing - A favorite pastime.</li><li>Weaving tapestries - The repetition needed to create a pattern helps her to clear her mind of heavy thoughts.</li><li>Horsemanship - She has an eye for horseflesh and rides as well as a Salaedan.</li><li>Survival skills - She learned survival in the wilds and mountains of Malkier.</li><li>Swordplay - She appreciates the ability to defend herself physically and not just relying on the Source and sword practice reminds her of good times from her childhood.</li></ul><br/><strong>Appearance:</strong> The first thing that most people notice about Merean is her distinct <em>lack</em> of height. Just barely breaking 5' even people often use words like petite, or childlike to describe her until they get caught in the gaze of sharp, intense, blue-grey eyes that seem entirely out of place on the features of a woman who looks like a dreamer and instantly changes a person's first impression. Once you've seen that gaze descriptions become more along the lines of intense, intelligent, and strong-willed and they entirely forget her petite stature.  <br/><br/>When not staring down those that would underestimate (or when she wants to be underestimated) the world sees a petite beauty with a gentle smile, sparkly blue-grey eyes and a riots of golden curls that often just stay barely contained despite her best efforts. While she may be petite she is also well formed with gentle curves and a body that moves with a dancers natural grace and confidence.<br/><br/><strong>Personality:</strong> Merean is a complex woman. She can, in turns, be compassionate and ruthless, fair and shrewd, kind but (under certain circumstances utterly merciless. She seeks justice but there are crimes which she will never forgive. Mostly however, she treats people with an innate kindness and respect until they show her they don't deserve it.<br/><br/><strong>History:</strong> Born in the fall of 922 she had no idea in her early childhood that she would live long enough to see her home swallowed by the Blight. The only daughter of a minor Lord she was raised with four older brothers and by the time she came along her parents were used to raising boys and found themselves unable (or unwilling) to change directions radically in the raising of their only daughter. Living in the mountains of Malkier she learned to run and climb and ride a horse almost as soon as she was old enough to stand and to keep herself well enough balanced not to fall out of a saddle. As she got bigger she was given a bow to learn to hunt and by the age of 8 was insisting that her father include her on the survival trips he took her older brothers on every summer. <br/><br/>Those summers were the happiest of her life. They were hard, and her Father and brothers made it clear that if she couldn't keep up she would be left at home the next time which pushed her to learn everything the older boys learned. Archery, fishing, how to make a shelter, how to read the weather in the mountains by the different cloud formations that would form or the behavior of animals, and how to climb the mountains themselves. Not wanting to be left out of everything her brothers were learning, she insisted on taking up swordplay with them as well. Her Mother nearly put her foot down on that last but instead made Merean a deal, she could learn the sword with her brothers and continue their summer trips, but the winter belonged to learning more womanly pursuits like weaving and embroidery.<br/><br/>She took to weaving almost as readily as she did to the sword and soon learned to enjoy her winter pursuits almost as much as her summer ones...though even in the winter she kept up with training with her brothers early in the morning and then gave the rest of her days over to her Mother's lessons.<br/><br/>There was nothing to indicate that the summer before she turned 15 would see her world changing drastically from anything she had ever known.<br/><br/>On a survival trip in the mountains outside her home a heavy summer squall came upon them with no warning seeming to dump water on them buckets at a time! In fact it rained so heavily that they were cut off from returning home by a mudslide. They might have waited this out but a fresh slide started coming down the mountain and was aimed directly at them. In terror for her life, and those of her Father and brothers, she did something she didn't know she could do, she reached out and tapped the True Source, using it instinctively to turn the course of the slide, diverting the Earth around their small camp and then passing out for 4 days straight. <br/><br/>When she woke, it was to find that her Father had sent for the nearest Sister from Tar Valon (there happened to be one visiting in the city of Fal Dara in Shienar which was closer than Tar Valon itself so the Sister arrived before Merean woke) and that she was going to be sent to the White Tower to learn to control her ability to touch the Source. Apparently the instinctive act that had saved her life, and that of her Father and two Brothers had come close to burning her out entirely but she couldn't be sad for that. If she had never touched the Source again, she would have considered it a fair trade for lives.<br/><br/>Once ensconced in the Tower she studied diligently, learning as quickly as the Novice teachers would allow her to if only so she could earn some measure of freedom. Nothing was so cumbersome to her as a Novice as the distinct lack of freedom to travel to the grounds outside the Tower. For a young woman used to long horseback rides and summer survival trips in the mountains, suddenly being trapped inside the Tower was almost unbearable, but it was also motivating and urged her to work harder and learn faster.<br/><br/>By the time she rose to Accepted status it was simply habit to study hard, to learn swiftly...and to experiment when she thought none of her instructors were looking. Getting caught out playing with Weaves (simply to see what they could do) got her sent to one of the farms outside the Tower a time or two but it was quickly discovered that while the work was back-breaking, it was more of a punishment for the young woman to be trapped within the Towers walls (particularly if set to tasks that kept her cramped in one place such as copying lines from books in the library for the Brown Sisters) and she soon learned that it was simply better to keep her head down and her eyes on her studies to facilitate being able to rise to the status of a full Sister and thus earn true freedom not just small tastes of it!<br/><br/>To her, the eight years it took rise to full Sister of the Grey Ajah seemed forever, though, objectively, she knew her dedication and the strength, and dexterity with her Weaves, she showed in her use of the Source had actually allowed her to rise faster than many. Still there was nothing better than the first day she could step freely outside the Tower with the knowledge that very few things could ever take away her freedom again. With that freedom she spoke to the head of her Ajah and became a handle for their Eyes and Ears, travelling the Westlands, learning the customs and laws of it's people and just how extensive the network of spies for the Grey Ajah was. She knew it wasn't as extensive as that kept by the Blues, but it was also different in it's scope and purpose, as each such network was for every Ajah. She also, gradually, developed her own contacts to add to that network and developed her skills in diplomacy, mediation, and the dispensing of justice.<br/><br/>While, like most Greys, she has a talent for mediation and negotiation, these are two of her duties as a Grey that she likes the least. She much prefers when her travels call her to advisory roles or to dispense justice under the law.<br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">OOC Notes:</span></span></div><hr/><strong>O&amp;O:</strong> Merean is curious and experimental when it comes to sex and will try most things at least once but while she enjoys a bit of bondage and games of power she's not as interested in pain or her sex getting overly rough. Absolute offs are maiming, bathroom play, and bestiality.<br/><strong>Available for bonding:</strong> Yes. She's never take a Warder, counting on her own skills with both Source and Sword to protect herself and feel quite competent to do so. It would take quite a special man to ensnare her interest in such an intense sharing.</div>