Lexiane was set with the task to meet with Aes Sedai of each Ajah, but has had some difficulty finding people to speak with. So, she turned to letter writing in the hopes of finding time to meet with an Aes Sedai of each Ajah she has not yet had the conversation with. Below are these letters, in the order they were drafted in.
*A letter is delivered to your desk, the penmanship within it fine and careful.*
Dear Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah,
May the Light illumine you and the Creator's hand shelter you. My name is Lexiane Fley and I am an Accepted within the White Tower. I have sought an apprenticeship with the White Ajah, but before I may begin such an apprenticeship Raeza Sedai has requested that I conduct an interview with an Aes Sedai from each of the other Ajahs to better understand what each individual Ajah seeks to foster and develop in the Accepted who may apprentice there. This task was set to help ensure that I had an understanding of the commitment I was asking to make and to better understand the work of all of the Ajahs in the Tower. As an addendum to this task, I am interested in finding out why it is that I would be a poor fit for each Ajah. By identifying the ways in which I would not fit into an Ajah, I am able to ascertain which Ajahs would actually be the best fit for me by finding that Ajah which I am the least bad fit for.
*There is an inkblot here, and you suspect someone forced themselves to stop writing by holding the quill in one place for a long time before beginning again.*
I apologize for going on, Aes Sedai. It is a bad habit I have, Aes Sedai. The reason for this letter is that I wish to meet an Aes Sedai of your Ajah and to have a conversation with them about the aforementioned topic. Are there any Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah who might be available to meet to discuss this?
Yours in service,
Lexiane Fley
Journey Accepted
White Tower
Tar Valon
Formerly a farm
Outside Four Kings
In Andor
*A letter is delivered to your desk, the penmanship within it fine and careful. For the most part. Except for the part that is messy, but you'll get to that. And it's not really penmanship, if we're being specific. Just inkblots, the writing is still fine. Clearly the letter's author is proud of her hard won penmanship.*
Dear Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah,
May the Light illumine you. My name is Lexiane Fley and I am a Journey Accepted here within the White Tower. I have met some of you, but certainly not all. I hope that you are doing well and your studies are progressing as you had hoped. My own studies continue along excellently, I quite like the library. There are many helpful Brown Aes Sedai there who have shown me particularly interesting books about the philosophy of laws, as well as morality and ethics. I quite enjoy reading those books, though I have to say I do not enjoy the library chores very much. Does any of your members have a weave for keeping dust out of one's nose? I find myself sneezing often when I must travel deep within the library. I did discover a weave to get dust off of my clothes, that has been quite helpful.
*There is a large collection of inkblots here, and you suspect someone forced themselves to stop writing by holding the quill above the paper before beginning again.*
I apologize for going on, Aes Sedai. It is a bad habit I have, Aes Sedai. The reason for this letter is that I wish to meet an Aes Sedai of your Ajah and to have a conversation with them about what the Brown Ajah seeks to foster and develop in the Accepted who may apprentice with the Ajah. This is a task given to me by Raeza Sedai, who I sought to apprentice with. As a prerequisite to that apprenticeship with the White Ajah I must interview an Aes Sedai from each Ajah. Is there any among you who are able to meet to discuss this?
Yours in service and in reading,
Lexiane Fley
Journey Accepted
White Tower
Tar Valon
*A letter is delivered to your desk, the penmanship within it fine and careful.*
Dear Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah,
May the Creator shelter you. My name is Lexiane Fley and I am an Accepted within the White Tower. I write to request an interview with an Aes Sedai from your Ajah, to discuss what the Yellow Ajah seeks to foster and develop in the Accepted who may apprentice there. This task was given to me by Raeza Sedai, an Aes Sedai of the White Ajah, as a prerequisite to me apprenticing with the White Ajah. While I am deeply moved by the mission of the Yellow Ajah and in awe of your ability to Heal, I have no desire to your join your Ajah and no Talent for Healing. Also, your apprentice Penzei once stabbed herself in front of me and I found the event quite terrifying. Is that a part of the Yellow Ajah apprenticeship, ability to inflict harm on yourself? I found it truly bizarre behavior but I also admit that I am quite ignorant on many important things in the world and I am sure there are excellent reasons for an apprenticeship that has self mutilation practices. Additionally, it is not appropriate to judge other cultures based on your own cultural understanding. For example, the nose piercings that the Sea Folk give themselves is quite bizarre by our own standards but is a key component of their own culture and wholly appropriate there. It would be silly for us to judge their culture as we do not exist within that culture and do not understand its mores or rules.
*There is an inkblot here, and you suspect someone forced themselves to stop writing by holding the quill in one place for a long time before beginning again.*
I apologize for getting off topic, Aes Sedai. The reason for this letter is that I wish to meet an Aes Sedai of your Ajah and to have a conversation with them about the aforementioned topic. Are there any Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah who might be available to meet to discuss this?
Yours in service,
Lexiane Fley
Journey Accepted
White Tower
Tar Valon
Formerly Andor
*A letter is delivered to your desk, the penmanship within it fine and careful.*
Dear Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah,
May the Light shelter you. My name is Lexiane Fley and I am an Accepted within the White Tower. I write to request an interview with an Aes Sedai from your Ajah, to discuss what the Green Ajah seeks to foster and develop in the Accepted who apprentice there. This task was given to me by Raeza Sedai as a prerequisite to me apprenticing with the White Ajah. While I am impressed by the mission of the Green Ajah and in awe of your battle prowess, I find myself called to philosophical questions.
For example, is the Dark One real? There is actually quite little evidence of the Dark One's existence. While it is commonly accepted as fact that the Dark One exists and exerts its influence on the world, the reality is that we have only scattered information from the Age of Legends. Some people theorize that the Forsaken are quite real while the Dark One is simply an invention, a way to explain the worst aspects of humanity. Trollocs, according to legend, were made by one of the Forsaken and Fades an unintentional side effect of that breeding. Similarly other horrible creatures that exist within the Blight are said to have been made by the Forsaken. The Blight itself is often the example raised by those debating the existence of the Dark One. They say that a land such as that, clearly tainted in some way, is a physical example of the effects of the Dark One touching our world. However, others argue that the Blight is the twisted consequence of humanity reaching beyond our ability much like the taint on Saidin is. Those philosophers argue that the taint on Saidin is not the result of the Dark One touching the male half of the One Power, but rather humanity breaking the barrier between a clean pool and a fetid one and letting the two intermingle. Of course there is the question of what that fetid pool actually is. If there exists a pure and clean One Power, must there be a balancing power of decay? Interesting questions follow from this line of thought.
*There is a series of inkblots here, and you assume someone threw down their quill in exasperation at themselves.*
I apologize for going on, Aes Sedai. The reason for this letter is that I wish to meet an Aes Sedai of your Ajah and to have a conversation with them about the aforementioned topic. Are there any Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah who might be available to meet to discuss this?
Yours in service,
Lexiane Fley
Journey Accepted
White Tower presently, a farm formerly
Tar Valon presently, Andor formerly
*A letter is delivered to your desk, the penmanship within it fine and careful. The paper itself has a few inkblots. Ok, one big ink stain in the middle of the paper. But the penmanship is beautiful.*
Dear Aes Sedai of the Gray Ajah,
May the Creator illumine you. My name is Lexiane Fley and I am a Journey Accepted here within the White Tower. I have met some of you, but certainly not all. I hope that you are doing well and your diplomatic missions are progressing as you had hoped. My own studies continue along excellently, and I find myself quite interested in the philosophy of law. I spend much of time thinking about the nature of laws, their relation to a culture's values, their attitudes, practices, and political beliefs. For example, it has been said that the nation of Shara engages in the practice of human slavery. There, this is a legal action protected by their laws. We must assume, then, that they also find this behavior morally appropriate. Here, of course, that behavior is considered deeply immoral. Similarly, it is outlawed in all the nations of the land. So, we have two laws that exist in opposition. Which one is the correct law? Can a law be correct? How does morality adjust to fit our laws, or do our laws adapt to our morality? What happens when two different people have different understandings of morality? Is there a true morality that should guide all peoples?
*There is a large ink stain here, and you suspect someone forced themselves to stop writing by setting the quill down and practicing their meditation.*
I apologize for going on, Aes Sedai. It is a bad habit I have, Aes Sedai. The reason for this letter is that I wish to meet an Aes Sedai of your Ajah and to have a conversation with them about what the Gray Ajah seeks to foster and develop in the Accepted who may apprentice with the Ajah. This is a task given to me by Raeza Sedai, who I sought to apprentice with. As a prerequisite to that apprenticeship with the White Ajah I must interview an Aes Sedai from each Ajah. Is there any among you who are able to meet to discuss this?
Yours in service and in consideration of the philosophy of laws, rules, and morality,
Lexiane Fley
Journey Accepted
White Tower, formerly a farmhouse
Tar Valon, formerly an unnamed area on the border with Murandy but still in Andor