Biography — Writing History

Written By: Bri
Created: July 2010

Curriculum Vitae

• Gender: F
• Hometown: House a’Lucien estates, Murandy

Physical Description

Garnet is strikingly beautiful, with auburn curls framing her face and clear blue eyes. She is neither tall nor short, and fifteen years as a pampered noblewoman have mostly erased the muscles and strength of a Gaidar. Instead she has curves in what are generally referred to as all the right places, and a haughty demeanor that discourages anyone from trying to take advantage of them – until she smiles, in a way that promises the world for anyone who dares to reach for it. But most of the time, only those close to her have a chance of seeing a glimmer of the mischievous, provocative girl she was long ago.

Biography

She was born Garnet Ayriel do Jin a’Lucien, and she was treasured.

The only child of two Murandian nobles, with not even a cousin to threaten her right to be heir, Garnet was cosseted and spoiled from the moment she drew breath. Anything she asked for, she got; anything she seemed interested in, she was allowed to investigate further. Though they were only minor nobility, her parents were rich, and could see nothing better to do with their money than entertain their little girl.

So the child grew up headstrong, naughty, and beautiful, adored by her parents, tolerated by the household staff, worshiped by her peers. She had every toy money could buy; she had companionship whenever she wanted it, and space when she did not; she had clothes made of fine silk, of velvet, of richest fur and daintiest lace. Her friends were other noble children, lower in rank, along with the offspring of the men and women her parents ruled, all compelled to come and entertain the young a’Lucien heir. As she grew, she began to understand that it wasn’t necessarily for her wit and personality that people came. Her wealth and her beauty were important; her intelligence was not anywhere near as much. Little by little Garnet came to realize that it was not her that people wanted, it was what she represented. If it was her body they wanted, they were welcome to it. Garnet didn’t mind. She knew that she was something that would be desired, would be valued, would be treasured.
After fifteen years of giving their child everything she asked for, Garnet’s parents had no experience to fall back on when the girl insisted she was going to go to Tar Valon and become a Gaidar. She’d heard stories from gleemen, stories full of magic and wonder, of beautiful ageless ladies and brave handsome warriors who protected them – as much as Aes Sedai needed protecting, anyway. It sounded like the kind of life she wanted to lead, and while even Garnet couldn’t talk herself into being able to channel, Gaidin didn’t need to channel at all. Over her parents’ feeble protests, she left for the Tower, head full of adventures and gleemen’s tales.

The training to become Gaidin was not, as it turned out, even the slightest bit like the stories she’d been told, and nothing like the pampered childhood she had known. When she fell and bruised herself from head to toe, there was no Nanny to soothe her and bring her warm milk in bed. When she didn’t want to wake up early to train with lathes and staves, she found herself woken up by Gaidin inquiring as to whether she’d prefer to leave the Tower instead. When she cried herself to sleep at night, there was no one to cuddle her and tell her everything was all right…

…well, at least not for the first few days. She might not know how to wield a staff, how to do fifty push-ups, how to run an obstacle course like the other trainees, but Garnet knew how to find companionship for a night. Only ever one night, for the most part; the Tower was full of interesting men and women, and very few of them said no to her if she asked. Most of the time she didn’t even have to ask. Whispers followed her through the Tower, along with disapproving stares, but Garnet didn’t mind. Some of the ones who whispered came to her later. Sometimes the stares softened and changed when there was no one else to see. Sometimes the attention got her what she wanted.

It wasn’t just the Aes Sedai whose attention she drew. The Mistress of Arms, Dillan al’Tierney, saw potential in her unruliest recruit – potential, and a deep need to be loved. And Garnet, with her auburn hair and irrepressible smile, reminded her of the little girl she’d lost long ago. Dillan took an interest in the teenager, and under her care Garnet thrived. She was given the responsibility of tutoring a young Accepted, Aiyaela ni Mahrathen, in her weapons speciality of hand-to-hand, and in the Accepted found her first true friend. In the Mistress of Arms she found a challenge: a woman stronger than her, faster, more dangerous, and one she could not either defeat on the training grounds or lure into the bedroom. Not that that stopped Garnet trying – and being turned down again and again. Triumphing over Dillan became an obsession, something she had to do no matter what the cost.
At twenty, Garnet was almost a Gaidar, and beating Dillan seemed more impossible than ever. Exasperated, the Mistress of Arms finally asked an Aes Sedai, Elienna, to take Garnet as her Warder, in the hopes that the bond would bring Garnet’s attention back to the training grounds and the Aes Sedai she would protect. It worked well, and Garnet gained her fancloak and the title of Gaidar not long after. Her bondholder Elienna spent all her time in the Tower, in no real need of protection, so Garnet’s energies were turned to teaching younger recruits – and bedding them, too. As well, sometimes, her one-time protegee Aiyaela found her way into Garnet’s bed, almost as easily as she was beginning to find her way into Garnet’s heart.

Then the Wheel spun upside down, and the Gaidar’s life unraveled. Her pursuit of Dillan finally found triumph – and recriminations, as the Mistress of Arms’ lover was less than pleased to discover what Garnet had accomplished. Aiyaela, too, seemed to have had a knife driven into her heart. And worst of all, perhaps, came the news that Garnet’s father was dying, his estate soon to be left without a lord to watch over it. Rather than face the consequences of her actions, Garnet fled back to the only place she had been completely accepted: the a’Lucien lands in Murandy.

The old Lord died soon after her arrival, and for the next few weeks all was turmoil, as allegations of scandal and illegitimacy rocked the family. Garnet, caught at the centre of the drama, found herself disinherited and soon to be cast out. It seemed she would be left to fend for herself on the streets…at least until her father’s brother Willomar, the next in line to the lordship, offered her a choice. If she were to marry him, be his wife, she need not lose anything. She could be Lady a’Lucien, reclaim her rightful place, have the wealth and privilege she’d been born into. What else could she do? Garnet reluctantly agreed, and became Lord Willomar’s wife. And, not long after that, his slave.
The Tower had not forgotten her so soon, though…or at least not all of the Tower had. One young Gaidin had been paying close attention to Garnet – not just for the power he could find through her, but for who she was. Or rather, who he thought she was. His name was Keelin Septime, and he had recently been banished from the Tower once he’d been uncovered as a murderer and Darkfriend. Rumours in the streets of Tar Valon suggested that Garnet might not be who she had seemed – she might instead be the daughter of his mentor, Keir, who had died eighteen years before. Keelin made his way to Murandy, and soon discovered a way to inveigle himself into the young noble’s life. He had a service she needed: a way to be rid of her husband. And once that was complete, the old man dead, Garnet found she needed him for another reason. She needed a child.

Her daughter was born almost exactly nine months after her husband died, watched over by the woman she would be named after – Aiyaela ni Mahrathen. Every noble house needed an advisor. Every widow needed a friend’s shoulder to cry on. And every broken Aes Sedai needed somewhere to hide and heal. Once again, Garnet and Aiyaela found in each other something they needed, and little Keziah was brought up under the watchful eye of a former Gaidar and a Sister of the White Ajah, never knowing that once her mother had been part of the White Tower and a formidable force herself.

As for Garnet, she was treasured. Not for what she represented, but, for the first time, for herself.

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Writing History

• Battling Honour – role-play with Khay’lina, Atha’Tar

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