The Editor’s Update

Eniara Sedai, DDS Editor

On to the second issue of DDS! Whoo hoo! In one month we’ve had over 100 hits, several comments submitted, and over all success to the inagural edition. I hope we can keep this up and improve in future months. DM 6 is drawing nearer and as you, the reader, will see from the admin updates as time goes on, things are getting set in their proper places/roles. When DM 6 dawns, I know there will be an awful lot of confused folks, so I will see about getting a special article written for newsletter publication that will help answer many of your questions. Please remember that DDS is always looking for more contributions as well as volunteers for writing articles and columns. If you have material to submit, or have comments on how to make DDS more enjoyable and reader friendly, please visit our Comments/Submissions page. If you are interested in joining the DDS staff, either visit the mentioned page, or else email DDS at DDS@Dragonmount.com.

I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I sincerely hope the holidays give you a chance to relax and enjoy your family and friends. (I know I will…heehee, I’m off to London to see my bf) And for those of you who are college folkies like me, good luck next semester! Okay, time to go finish this newsletter. If you wish to contact me directly, I may be reached at Eniariom@dragonmount.com Welcome and enjoy!

The Roleplay News

Quatilina Sedai, WT RP Division Leader

Well now, since much has been going on in the RP world, and I have been putting this off, I can imagine what is going on you heads. Let’s get this started with the most recent RP news…here we go! The most important thing that’s happened this month is,, well the nullification of the White Tower and Black Tower treaty. Not only was this nulled, now we have never made contact with the BT. I know the probelms this causes but because the Incarns and Division Leader are currently working on a full RP reset, you don’t need to worry about it. I am working out the details and I’ll make sure the WT stands where we need it to after the reset. In meantime, just lounge in that chair of yours and drink tea, okay?

What’s going on in the role-play right now?… well, first off we have the “False Aes Sedai RP” headed by Mandi Sedai. In this, the Aes Sedai travelling with her are going to check out a false Aes Sedai in Whitebridge. Moving on we have the “Rogue RP” which is mainly a Warders’ role-play where the Warders are chasing down the Rogues because they kidnapped me (Quatilina Sedai). I have a very small part though. We also have some Aes Sedai down on the South board doing the “Novice Search RP,” headed by Swaniana Sedai. That’s about it right now. We do however, have quite a few upcoming role-plays. Karana Sedai is planning one about a trip to the Ogier stedding and the Reds are going to bring back a channeling male to put on trial in the Hall. All in all, I think we are doing great with all that has been going on.

‘Til next time…ciao. *waves*

The Ajah Report

Siofra Sedai, Director of Ajah Relations

Welcome to the second edition of the Ajah Relations Report. This past month seems to have just flown by. I know I’ve been caught up in some new things and people *grin*. But you may ask, “What has been happening in the White Tower? We’d love to hear all about you Siofra Sedai and the wonderful escapades you’ve been venturing into, but we’d really like to hear about White Tower activities.” Ok fine…if you want to hear about me, you’ll have to hunt elsewhere and I’ll get straight on to the dish. Before I forget, though, everyone have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or what ever you may celebrate at this time.
- Siofra Aine Sedai

Blue Ajah : The Blues have been working on their website and just had the return of two of their sisters, Mel and Kristal. Lola is trying her hardest to get Eggy to write an article for a newsletter…maybe I should lend her one of my whips.

Brown Ajah : I didn’t hear much from the Brown Ajah so I believe they are all hiding from me and recovering from last months compul…interviews for this article.

Gray Ajah : The Gray Ajah has been really cool lately and they got together in chat to write up their portion of this section.

“The Gray Ajah has been terribly active in the chat rooms of late with representatives available nearly 24 hours a day. We’ve been working on developing our mission statement in chat and have decided that the friendships we build with each other in chat are a big part of what makes us love being Gray. So if you don’t chat, come on down and try it! You’ll soon be addicted like us! *watches Serinia shuffle forward for her part in the speech* ‘I wasn’t a chataholic and then one day Marce said she goes to chat a lot and I went there to look for her and I got stuck. Now I can’t even log off when I’m at work. I think I’m slowly turning into Emp.’ *Serinia shuffles back into place among the Grays* So you see, chatting can be a very rewarding experience.”
“In the RP realm, Luanne is making our Gray Aspirants feel at home by being the official Ajah prank target. Almindhra is out for a stroll meeting new people. Tania is back in Tar Valon making a friend in a rather touching thread. The rest of us Grays are taking a break from the RP as we figure out the new system and recover from larger RPs that ended with the move to the temp boards.”

Those Grays seem to be busy behind the scenes a lot. This Sedai seems to see at least one Gray each time she’s in the chatrooms.

Green Ajah : The Greens have had a small presence in the chatrooms and a few have been doing some RPs that just happen to be in the same area. Didn’t know you guys were going to the same place I was going…are you all following me?

Red Ajah : I didn’t hear much from the Red Ajah so I believe they are all hiding as well.

White Ajah : I didn’t hear much from the White Ajah so I believe they are all underground with the Browns and the Reds.

Yellow Ajah : I also didn’t hear anything from the Yellow Ajah so I’m thinking the Ajahs must be terrified of this report.

‘Twas the Night Before WoTmas: A Holiday Poem

Taracia Starwind, DDS Assistant Editor

‘Twas the night before WoTmas
And all through the Tower,
Not an novice was stirring
Nor a trace of One Power.

The Blues are out wondering
In corners untold,
Exploring and searching
For presents so bold.

The Greens are all tucked in
Their closets of green,
Not a spare Warder
Is there to be seen…

The Browns are all locked up
With many books to read.
But, they have brownies and sherry,
And the odd glass of mead.

The Yellows are concocting
Their potions and mixes,
To add WoTmas cheer
Holiday touches they are a fixing.

All the Whites, Greys, and Reds
Are in their beds dreaming,
Anticipating Warders
With swords all a’gleaming.

Now, we all join hands
To wish you good cheer,
Merry Christmas to all
And a happy New Year!!!

Nargolph the Red-nosed Trolloc: A Holiday WoTmas Carol

Eniara Sedai, DDS Editor

You know S’nacheir and S’massher and Bashehr and Spittem
Cluh’bum and Waphum and Haccum and Speerem.
But do you recall, the most famous Trolloc of all?

*music starts*

Nargolph the red-nosed Trolloc, had a evil glowing nose
And if you ever saw it, you’d be definently toast.
All of the other Trollocs, used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Nargolph, join in any murder games.

Then one murky WoTmas Eve, Shai’tan came to say
“Nargolph, since you’re such a fright,
won’t you lead the raid tonight?”
Then the jealous Trollocs cooked him
As they guttered out with glee,
“Nargolph the red-nosed Trolloc,you’ll go down in infamy!”

~~You’ll go down in in…fa…my!~~

The Effect of Dragonmount on the Brain

Farain Sedai, Sister of the White Ajah

The clock ticks solemnly in the background, wearing away at the wee hours of the morning. The room is silent, save for the lonely hum of the computer. The small corner of the house is bathed in an eerie blue light cast of by the screen…the blank screen. Occasionally, the rhythmic tap of the keys breaks the silence, a soothing lullaby of sorts to the weary sophomore. Out of guilt, and out of a small sense of duty, she maximizes the Word document. Microsoft Office has cleverly dubbed it…Document 1. The page is empty. Procrastination at its best. A glance at the calendar, and at the clock, confirms the girl’s suspicions. It is, indeed, Friday morning. And her report, due six hours later in class…? What report? Too tired to think, too tired to type, too tired to function, the sophomore minimizes the document quickly. Staring at the blank page has gotten depressing. After a quick glance at the doorway, checking for any sign of parental madness, she happily returns to her previous pastime…Dragonmount.

A low cackle rumbles in the silence. All sense of duty and guilt flits away as she smiles vaguely, wearily, in her bleary-eyed state. It doesn’t matter that, at this ungodly hour of the day, she can’t string together a coherent sentence. At Dragonmount, that rarely matters. In her sleepy daze she clicks the mouse randomly, eventually typing out a bit of nonsense in a rush. Her report forgotten, the lack of sleep overcome, she ignores the tick of the clock. Sadly, this poor youth is a victim of Dragonmountism, brought on by reoccurring uses of Dragonmount. Even when diagnosed at an early stage, this fatal disease has a small recovery percentage; it appears that the only cure is time, age, and further madness. Parental intervention and aid from the outside world has proven ineffective in past laboratory tests.

Victims of Dragonmountism, or DMism, suffer from a broad spectrum of symptoms. As seen above, teenagers and working adults often experience severe procrastination in work outside of DM related activities. A lack of sensible “priorities” is visible. “What priorities?” an anonymous DM user asked. “My priorities are just fine, thank you very much! DM, eating, DM, sleeping, DM. And then those “other” things like homework and chores and stuff, of course.” Others dip into forgetfulness and ignorance, unaware of passing time. specialists from across the nation compare the effect of Dragonmount to any of the leading illegal drugs. (In fact, the disease is suspected to be brought on by uses of “mind drugs” put out by suspicious cult leaders with strange titles.) Dragonmount is highly addictive, and use of the “website” is a difficult habit to kick. DM patches, similar to “Nicorette,” are now available for addicts. DM Anonymous and other support groups and rehabilitation institutions have sprung up recently. Reports of insanity, induced by overdoses of Dragonmount, have grown more frequent over the last few months. Sadly, lunatics are frequent among the hardcore DM brood. Some claim to have heard these addicts mumbling under their breaths in a strange language, muttering odd words. “‘Blood and bloody something…’ What is that supposed to mean? And what’s so special about this ‘light’ thing? Light! That’s all I ever here about nowadays,” a concerned friend remarked. The addicted are said to put great stock in wheels, serpents, and their deity, Robert Jordan. Other strange and nonsensical words like Ajah, Aes Sedai, and Seanchan have been uttered by DM addicts, experts report sadly.

When confronted, many of those inflicted with DMism claim normalcy. “Light!” one exclaimed, “What are you talking about? I’m not insane!” After tugging on her braid for some time, and muttering about wool-headed reporters, the diseased calmed down slightly. This same victim went on to draw asterisks (*) around common actions such as “grumble” and “giggle” and “huggle.” These suspicious “huggles” are suspected to be the maincause of transmittance of the DMism disease. That, and a severe brain defect caused by too many hours at the computer and an overload of science fiction literature. Undercover reports and surveys show that while DM users have sunk into the woodwork over the past few months, this ebbing of DMism is only temporary. “The Website is down for revamping,” one DM user whispered reverently. “The Website will be ready soon. Then we will go Home. It calls to us. The Website…” She then gazed off into the distance and fell silent.

If you are concerned about a friend or loved one, and if you suspect that you know a victim of DMism, please visit www.dragonmount.com for more information. This serious condition cannot be taken lightly. Be sure to sign up and join an organization, of course. For more… help. That way we can, er… begin the healing process.

Farain Corai
Dragonmo…wait! Reporter. Just plain Reporter.
Nothing else, I tell you! Yesss…
*huggles stealthily*

Identify the Aes Sedai

Eniara Sedai, DDS Editor

We have a winnder for the December “Identify the Aes Sedai!” *drumroll* Congratulations to…*name appears in lights* **BRONWYN!!** Yes, that’s right. Bronwyn guessed Quatilina Sedai correctly! Good luck to future guessers.

Now, it is time for the January “Identify the Aes Sedai.” For those who don’t know how this works, I interview one randomly selected DM Aes Sedai with a select number of questions. I then take the “mystery guest’s” answers and incorporate them into an interview article. You, the reader, are then given the opportunity to mail in and guess who the Mystery Guest is. The winner will be announced in the following issue. On with the mystery…

Our mystery Sedai was born and raised in Baerlon, Andor. She was the oldest daughter of a family that had a farm just outside of the city. She helped with selling of wares in the city. When our guest was 14, she received a scar on her left cheek trying to save her younger brother from a horse kick to the head…he didn’t survive.

Our mystery guest came to Tar Valon when a traveling Aes Sedai noticed the spark in her during a heated arguement between our guest and a member of the Children of the Light. He wanted to court her and our guest absolutely hated the CoL. The Sister brought her back to the Tower. At the White Tower, our guest made two really good friends, Tania and Taya. Chumming as a group made the long classes and chores seem less tedious and mundane.

When I asked our mystery Sedai, what she liked most about the Tower she gave me this response: “I like being able to go out and help with varieties ofitems where Sedais are necessary to assist as well as being able to research about Sisters and former Sisters of my Ajah.” On the flip side, what she replied as disliking most about the Tower: “I dislike some of the division amongst groups and people thinking those out of the ordinary could be Darkfriends… that’s just proposterous.” If our guest could single-handedly change one thing about the White Tower and/or Sedai, she would “get more of the really cute ’special’ Warders. *wink wink nudge nudge*.”

Do you think you know who the Mystery Sedai is? Mail your guesses to Eniara Sedai at Eniariom@dragonmount.com. The first correct guess is the winner, and will be announced as such in the next issue of DDS. Imagine it, your name up in lights…

Notebooks, Manuscripts, and Bustiers: A Day In The Life of the Brown Ajah

Emillith Sedai, White Sister (and ex-Brown)

Emillith had had a rough day. She had spent all day amongst the furthest recesses of the library. A section that very few of even the Browns new about. In fact, she would be surprised if any beyond the Amyrlin, the Keeper, the Head of the Browns and herself, being Mistress of the Library, knew of it. Someone had to keep the secret histories and ancient lore safe, clean and copied every so often. It would not do for a novice to copy this material, let alone a bookbinder from the city. No, these histories needed to be preserved and kept secret.

At about midday Emillith realized she needed energy to keep going. So she ran out to get a pot of tea, and snagged more parchment and ink. Making sure that all was well within the Library, she scurried back to the maze of corridors and doorways that was the catacombs of the library. If one did not know where they were going they could easily get lost. Which was partially the point. There were also a few mirrors that acted to further confuse those that dared come where they were not allowed. Every few years there was a brave and over confident novice…

Adjusting her pile of notebooks, Emillith had to shift. It was cutting into her bodice. Hurrying into the nearest open room, Emillith set down all the notebooks with her lists and adjusted her bustier. These really were a problem. After adjusting herself, Em opened one of her notebooks and flipped to a page, adding an item to one of the lists.

Today was the day for spring cleaning. Well, not really. IT was more like this month was spring cleaning. One moth in every year Emillith took the time to take stock of the conditions of these rooms. Dust them; recopy any texts close to dust and the like. It would not take a month if she actually enlisted help, yet Em was stubborn, and took great care for the knowledge here. Enlisting help also made it out that Em was not capable of doing the work herself, and may have had the shawl for well over 50 years, but she was still a spring chick. At least in her own mind.

Turning a few more turns Em found the room she was looking for. Fumbling with the huge ring of keys at her waist and her armload of notebooks, Em found the correct key. Unlocking each door was a chore. Not only was it locked with the master key, but also with another key, depending on which part of the catacombs one was in. This section was the special Brown Histories. Em had also taken to making a stash for the current sisters. That was done about once a generation. The other Ajahs did it as well, only they handed it over to the current Mistress of the Library to be cataloged. Thinking of the green section she was attacking tomorrow did not please her. There was a scent coming from under that door that implied their infamous mint teas were moldering. Shuddering Em continued with the locks. Once the two physical locks were undone, Emillith had to flip through her notebooks. She so rarely used these weaves, and they were not originally hers, so she had trouble remembering them. Looking hard, she found the spot where she had inverted the weaves from last year and began the process of finally finishing unlocking the door. It was a long tradition that as the mantle of MoL passed so did the knowledge of these catacombs and their numerous locks and wards. Each door had a different weave. They were all so complex and similar that it was near impossible to keep them straight. Only a Brown would keep this many notes, and keep them hidden in safe places until needed.

Channeling a little bit of Fire, Air and Spirit, the room lit up. The sconces upon the walls were dusty, but would sparkle once that dust was removed. Never had they seen a real fire. Only the One Power. At least that made cleaning easier. Less scrubbing. It was more like organizing manuscripts and various other articles. Speaking of article, Em looked about the room. Yes, very much as she had left it a year ago. This room was her favorite. Not just because it was the room leading to the various rooms for the Brown Ajah, her Ajah, but also because it was the most diverse.

Oh, the Greens had all their weapons and lists of warders and such not. And that tea. The yellows had drying herbs, lists on various ways over the ages to heal a stab wound or what not. The Whites had those puzzles…. The Grays had lists of treaties, and a few trunks of maps and such. The Blues had their closets stuffed with wards for listening and disguise and the like. Now the Reds had some fun toys, from restraints used in past years that have since been outdated in which to hold a male channeler, but also they needed the largest of rooms for their furniture. Of all things the Reds stored old but in good condition in those rooms. Why they were not in the storage cellars or given to the populace Em had no idea. There were reasons for everything, and she was not privileged, not interested enough to know. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested. More like she knew knowing some things came with a price. Em just wasn’t ready to pay too many prices at this point in her career.

That sentiment also went along with the one section Em, nor anyone, but the Amyrlin herself went into. It was especially for Amyrlin’s. What ever they feel is worthy of being kept for the generations, from histories kept from even the secret histories to other things not worth thinking about. There were rumors that the current Amyrlin keeps a huge stash of pudding there now.

Opening the first closet, Em started cataloging the maps. There were maps here that dated back to right after the Breaking. All the changes in political boundaries, notes of trade routes, and many other things belonged in here. The next closet held notebooks with lists like the ones Em had set upon the table. Lists from former Mistresses of the Libraries. Going from closet to, room to room, examining maps and manuscripts, plays and popular novels no longer the fashion, from histories to journals of sisters to more notebooks of studies conducted. Those studies fascinated Emillith. They studies inventions, some long forgotten, to angreal to people. That was once called the study of psychology. However, now none knew of it anymore.

The final room was Em’s favorite. It has been whispered about in corners of the Tower, yet none except for her own Brown sisters knew it was true. IT was the Brown lingerie room. Her second favorite was the recipe room. Now that was special in its own way. But lingerie was a secret Brown passion. In the aspirant handbook was even a section on how to make your own brown sequenced thongs. With the One Power to boot! Each Head of the Ajah, from the very first had a special set for occasions. Of course things were WELL cleaned before storage. That was one thing the Browns prided themselves in, and their Warders, the few that did bond to a human as opposed to the wondrous books, enjoyed. The Browns had the best and sexiest lingerie. From silks to satin and gossamer, from print to lace to sequence and sparkles, they had all the colors of the rainbow, but only the brown ones were reserved here. They were the brown lingerie of the spiffy Brown Ajah after all.

There was a special section for bustiers…opening her notebook, Emillith checked off a few items. Yes indeed. Here were bustiers from each member of the Ajah from the formation of the tower. Much more, um, acceptable than panties. A few sisters had not yet decided upon which bustier they would place within the archive. Some here had never been worn, but worked on for many years with a love and dedication most other Ajahs would never understand. That was a key thing about the Browns…dedication and observation to details.

Having finished cataloging and making sure no damages had occurred. Emillith let the weaves for the lights dissipate, not untying them. Relocking and warding, Emillith decided to call it a night. Once exiting the catacombs, a quick look at a window told her that it was beyond time to have been finished. Em hoped she could still get some supper, and hurried off to find food before crashing into bed.