Saroiya Farseen is an Aes Sedai and a Sitter of the White Ajah.
Appearance and Personality[]
She is blocky/stocky but looks slim compared to Aledrin Malenry.[1] She is 5'4" or 153cm tall. She has brown hair and brown eyes.[2] She has the habit of tugging her ear when in deep thought.[3] She is extraordinarily patient. According to Romanda Cassin, when Saroiya starts grinding her teeth, most sisters would be shouting.[4]
Strength and Ability[]
Saroiya is of average strength for an Aes Sedai, with a One Power level of 24(12). She would not be able to Travel without linking with another channeler.
History[]
Saroiya is 143 years old. She was born in Arad Doman in the year 857 NE and went to the White Tower in 873 NE. After spending thirteen years as novice and eleven as Accepted she was raised to the shawl in the year 897 NE.[2]
Saroiya was a very good, if strict, teacher. She also displayed very good organizational and managerial abilities, as well as being considered among the sharpest logicians of her Ajah.[2]
When Myrelle Berengari was a novice, she put trout in Saroiya's bath. When she was found out, the punishment taught Myrelle to mind her behavior for six months.[5]
Her personal skillset got her elected as a Sitter in the year 987 NE, although she was relatively young to attain this position as it is more normal for Sitters to have worn the shawl for more than 100 years compared to her 90.[2]
Activities[]
Her Ajah Head sent her to the rebels because she was not invited to the vote to depose Siuan Sanche and raise Elaida a'Roihan. This would help keep her safe, and allow the Ajahs to help defuse the rebellion. When the Rebel Aes Sedai set up in Salidar, she attached herself to that group and became a Sitter in the Hall of the Tower in exile.
She attached herself to Romanda Cassin's faction and was tightly controlled by the woman. Any actions relating to her mission from Ferane Neheran needed to be done with care. She also believed that the Seanchan were too dangerous a threat to be left until Elaida has been dealt with.
She voted against the Rebel Aes Sedai declaring war on Elaida and is outvoted and is one of the Sitters promoting negotiations with Elaida a'Roihan's White Tower. She later takes part in those negotiations in Darein.[4]
Like the other Sitters that were members of the Hall before the coup and were given secret instructions by their Ajah Heads, she voted against anything that went against conservative lines (this equates to her refusal to admit that the Rebel Hall has the authority to act on major issues). This includes voting against an alliance with the Black Tower and accepting the offer from Jahar Narishma to bond forty-seven Asha'man, which she refuses to stand for even to gain the greater consensus.
She comes close to despair when the Hall votes to propose an alliance with the Black Tower and what she calls tainted "so-called Asha'man", openly screaming at Malind Nachenin, one of the motion's main proponents. Given her reputation for coolness, this is an even more extreme behavior than for most sisters.[1] She also bites her knuckle in pure terror as the motion is passed and spends the following days shooting down all proposed plans in order to hinder progress towards that goal.[6]
The White Tower re-united[]
Saroiya remains a Sitter when the Hall of the Tower is re-united after the White Tower Schism. The Sitters try to hold a secret meeting without Egwene al'Vere, discussing ways to temper the Amyrlin's power when a declaration of war is called.[7]
Egwene is warned about it and arrives immediately in the Hall to counteract the Sitter maneuvering. She accepts to give the control of the army and prosecution of the war to the Sitters if she can maintain the diplomacy with the monarchies of the world. Saroiya is very sharp and realizes immediately that it would mean giving her negotiation with the Dragon Reborn, because Rand is also the King of Illian. As the voting started suddenly, however, she had no time to warn the other Sitters and the motion is passed without her vote of approval.[7]
In that same meeting of the Hall, Saroiya voted in favour of the new rules and procedures in the Hall as outlined by Egwene, which included temporarily replacing a Sitter when she is absent from the Hall and that no meeting of the Hall can commence without all Sitters and the Amyrlin Seat being present.[7]
During the Last Battle Saroiya, Takima and Varilin were the three Sitters designated to manage the White Tower and Tar Valon in the absence of the Amyrlin, the Keeper and the other Sitters in the Hall.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Crossroads of Twilight, Chapter 19
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The Wheel of Time Companion,Saroiya Farseen
- ↑ The Path of Daggers, Chapter 19
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Crossroads of Twilight, Chapter 30
- ↑ The Fires of Heaven, Chapter 26
- ↑ Crossroads of Twilight, Chapter 20
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Towers of Midnight, Chapter 27