Name: Avialle Verais
Age: 16
Nationality: Andoran
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 120
Hair color/length: medium length dark brown, curly
Eye color: brown
A quick overview of personality (optional): Avialle is quiet, so tends to be overlooked, but there is a lot under the surface (as in the saying "still waters run deep." She is smart, funny, and fiercely loyal, but only people that she gets close to will see these qualities. Well, except for "funny", because sometimes she can't help herself when she thinks she's being witty. One of her main failings, however, is that she is quick to anger without getting all of the facts, and once she's mad about something it takes her awhile to get past it. She has been known to do things without thinking first, which is also a failing of hers, but one that we can hope she will grow out of.
(channelers:)
Overall strength in the One Power: Average
Strength per element: Strongest to weakest: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Spirit
Talents: She doesn't have any specific talents, other than a strong facility with Fire, which is unusual for a woman.
History:
Kavead Verais didn't much care for children, so when the birth of his seventh daughter happened to coincide with an opportunity for profit, Kavead opted for the money. His wife, Amilial, felt the same - having children got in the way of making money, and they were expensive to raise on top of that. Why the two of them bothered to have seven children had always been a mystery to their youngest, Avialle. By the time Avialle came on the scene, her six sisters (ranging in age from 14 to 5) before her had already taken up every conceivable position that her wealthy merchant parents could devise for them, leaving Avialle the unenviable job of everyone's errand girl. Her early life consisted of long days of hearing "Avi, fetch me some water," or "Avi, wash these clothes," or "Avi, mend your sister's socks." Although her wealthy parents could have afforded someone to do laundry and mend clothes, they were misers, so Avialle got those jobs.
Not that she spent all of her time on chores; no, Avialle was adept at finding ways to get away from the hustle and bustle of her busy household. The city of Caemlyn held many fun and interesting things to do - if you knew how to find them. Of course, a child in the city could be hurt, and her parents were not so uncaring as to leave their daughter defenseless. They discovered early on her penchant for sneaking off and so they gave her only one rule: When you go, bring Maric the stablehand with you.
Maric had worked for her family since before Avialle's birth and she loved him as if he were family. In fact, he was more of a father to her than her own. Maric taught her about horses, about philosophy, about history, and even how to swim. Avialle was an avid swimmer, but those trips she and Maric made to the lake were all to infrequent. So, while her early childhood was full of chores and work, it also held it's measure of fun and love.
That changed the summer that she turned twelve years old. Her father had recently purchased a horse of some worth, of which he was enormously proud and inclined to show off. The horse was untamed, and on the day of Avialle's birthday party, Kavead decided to show off to some of his friends. Now, her father was no real horseman; he had only the basic knowledge of how to ride an already trained horse. Maric tried in earnest to talk him out of such folly, but of course Kavead would not listen. Avialle felt immediately that something bad was going to happen, but who would listen to a child? She kept her mouth shut and watched from the stables. Kavead brought the stallion out and was thrown before his rump hit the horse's backside. Swearing, he tried again, and was thrown again. His friends were now chuckling and making wagers under their breaths. Kavead was a proud man, and the sight of his friends laughing and snickering engraged him. Grabbing a whip from the side of the stables, he began to beat the poor horse. Avialle was shocked as she watched her father cause long, bloody strips to appear on the horse's backside. Maric looked ill and afraid, and that terrified her more. Finally, she couldn't stand it and ran out in front of her father. "Stop it!" She screamed, over and over. Her appearance only made her father angrier and without thinking he let the whip hit her in the arm. That was all it took for Maric to lose his temper. He thrashed her father right there in front of her and everyone - and no one said a word or lifted a finger.
That night, Avialle huddled in the bed she shared with Maeve, the sixteen year old, trying not to listen to her father's ranting. Maeve had an arm around her comfortingly, but she looked frightened. The words that Avialle was trying not to hear kept floating up the stairs to her ears.
"I won't have Amilial! I've been humiliated and I want that man arrested and horsewhipped!" Her mother's voice was just as easy to hear.
"I don't know that it will happen, Kavead. None of the people present will testify against him. Not even Avialle, I don't think."
"That ungrateful brat! This is all her fault, anyway. I should have known better than to allow her to spend so much time with a servant. The way he stuck up for her, they are probably lovers."
Avialle's face burned as she listened to the ugly words her father spoke. Her sister hugged her more tightly.
"Don't listen to him, Avi. I know that Maric isn't that kind of man, and that you're a good girl." Avialle was glad that she had someone there that cared about her, but that wasn't making this any easier.
"I'm going to take care of that uppity stablehand once and for all." Her father was saying. "I've got enough coin to ensure that he doesn't wake up tomorrow morning."
"Where are you going?" Amilial asked, alarm in her voice.
"To the docks. I know a few men there who will take care of a man for the right price. Make it look like an accident, too."
After the door slammed behind him, Avialle could not contain her sobs. Maeve comforted her as best she could, but finally she fell into a fitful sleep. Avialle had been waiting for that. She knew that she could not just sit here and let Maric be harmed; she had to warn him. She also knew that such a betrayal of her father would not be tolerated. She took one last look around her room before sneaking out to the stables - she knew that she wouldn't be coming back.
She found Maric sleeping near the stall that housed the injured stallion and she smiled softly to herself. Here he was, caring for the horse like it was his own child. "Maric." She whispered, shaking his him awake.
"Light, Avi, what are you doing here at this hour?" Maric sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, but looking worried.
"My father is going to have someone hurt you. We have to leave - now."
Maric didn't seem surprised by Avialle's words, but he shook his head. "What's this "we" now, child? You can't be thinking of running off with an old man like me."
"You know I can't stay here after this, Maric. He'll know that I warned you." She lifted up the sleeve of her nightdress, where the welt from the whip still bled and was beginning to fester. Maric cursed under his breath.
"They didn't even dress that wound?" His anger was palpable in the night air and there was silence for several moments. "All right, you're coming with me. I'm crazy for doing this... kidnapping... Light.. Well, I might as well add horse-thieving to the charges, because we won't get far on foot." He took in Avialle, in her nightgown and bare feet. "And if you were thinking on running off, girl, you should've dressed for it." She blushed, realizing that he was right ... she hadn't thought this through. "Well, there's no help for it now. Lucky I've got some coin and when we've put some distance between us and your da, we'll be able to buy you some proper clothes."
That night her life changed for the better. As they rode off into the night, Avialle was exhilirated. The first few nights on the road were hard, but Maric was experienced at just about everything (or so it seemed to Avialle) and things went smoothly. He bought her clothes from a farmer and his wife, and they had plenty of food and water. After a few weeks, the threat of pursuit faded and they moved leisurely from town to town, taking odd jobs for funds. Maric always introduced her as his daughter, and after a time, she felt that she was, in every way that counted. So it went, for several years. They never settled down or stayed in one place too long, so that Avialle had seen most of the country.
When she was sixteen, they came to Tar Valon. Maric had always avoided it before; he had a strange mistrust of channelers. Avialle herself had always thought that Aes Sedai were wondrous creatures, and she hoped fervently that she might get the chance to see one while they were there. They were here because some friends of Maric's had offered him a position loading and unloading ships at the docks. They had an unusual amount of work this season, and so were hiring extra hands. The two of them got a room in a small but neat inn near the water and Avialle took in mending for extra income. Even with the mending, she had a lot of free time on her hands, as Maric worked long hours. She missed him terribly when he was gone, and she had taken to wandering all over the city to keep herself occupied.
One such day she was walking along the city streets when she stopped dead in her tracks. She recognized her sister, Danya, the eldest, even after all of these years. She was too stunned to even run or hide and as their eyes met across the square, she saw the recognition on Danya's face. Panicked, Avialle ran straight back to the inn - a foolish thing to do. Danya had several men with her, who they were Avialle never found out, and they had no trouble following her straight to the inn - and Maric. He put up a good fight; after all, he had come to love her as fiercely as if she were his own child. Even his friends from the docks joined in the melee. In the end, it wasn't enough. Maric was killed and Avialle was apprehended. Terrified and grief-stricken, she was backed into a corner of the inn. The fire that had been roaring in the fireplace had spit cinders onto the carpet, and it was one of those strange, seemingly inconsequential things that one notices at moments like these when Avialle saw the cinders out of the corner of her eye. Without knowing at all what she was doing, or really that she was even doing it, the cinders burst into flames in their own right. Flames that spread faster than any natural flame would, flames that sent Danya and company fleeing into the night as the entire inn went up in smoke.
When the Watch came, they found only a burned out shell of a building and a girl sitting in the middle of it, holding a burned body and rocking quietly back and forth. The Captain had long experience in these matters and realized immediately that something wasn't right. He called on an old friend, Malia Sedai of the Yellow Ajah, to help him discover the truth. Malia recognized that Avialle could channel immediately and took the girl into her care, leaving the poor Captain to clean up the mess.
And that is where Avialle's story really begins...