Name: Milandra Basene
Age: 15
Nationality: None (Tar Valon)
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Skin: Light
Height: 5’6″
Weight: 130lbs
Voice: Cultured; her tutors did their best to make sure she spoke well
Possessing of extremely long, wavy hair, Milandra is a slender woman with high cheekbones, a pert nose, and a full mouth. Her features could be best described as delicate.
Special Skills: She is fairly disciplined with a good sense of right and wrong.
Knowledge Weakness: A sheltered life leads to a lack of street smarts.
Personality weakness: Naive, idealistic, and a bit sheltered.
Personality
She is sweet and somewhat biddable, though she generally won’t do anything that she deems to be bad.
History
Milandra is the eldest daughter of Edwin Basene of Arad Doman and Merisan Doredin of Cairhein. Her parents are both bankers, and met while working in Tar Valon. Initially rivals, they found they had much in common, and decided to merge their fortunes, wed, and raise a family there in the very town where they met.
Because of this, Milla (as her parents call her) never wanted for anything. She had the finest tutors money could by, and social connections to all the best people in Tar Valon. That is, of course, besides a connection to her parents; outside of learning the trade from them, they had little time for herself and her siblings. Instead, they were brought up by a strict governess, who ensured that they learned how to behave ‘appropriately’. After all, there was a good chance they could marry into noble houses with the right connections, and thereby have ‘real’ power to go with their wealth.
So her life was one of schooling, of balls, of learning the ways of the banker. It was a life behind courtyard walls, and didn’t provide for a lot of life experience. Oh sure, herself and her siblings managed to have some fun and manage minor mischief as children, but their parents and Ishmara, their governess, burnt into their minds the ‘right’ way to act. They were taught to be kindly to all people, but inevitably, some classism embedded itself into Milla’s mind. But when one’s life is spent in the company of bankers, nobles, upper-crust merchants and Aes Sedai, what can be expected?
Milandra hadn’t put much thought into her future. Unlike many, she knew that she actually had one. Whether she chose marriage, or following in her parent’s footsteps, or both, her parents were very supportive of her choosing to lead the life she felt best suited for. But the what to do was the question. She had no qualms with the aforementioned options, and even at the near-womanly age of 15; the world still felt wide-open to her. So it was a bit of a surprise when an option she hadn’t considered reared up – joining the White Tower and becoming an Aes Sedai.
She was attending a ball – whose, it doesn’t matter, when the idea started forming in her mind. Milla had been taught to be especially polite and solicitous of Sisters, as their hefty annual wage needed a home, and not all of them felt like investing it back into the Tower. While conversing with an Aes Sedai and the host of the evening, the subject of looking for girls that could learn to channel came up. Larindhra, the Aes Sedai, was explaining that there were many young girls with the ability to learn to channel, and that they would never know or have the chance unless they came to the Tower to be tested, or happened upon an Aes Sedai. Milla had no idea that it actually could be learned, and the idea dawned in her head – could she herself be taught to channel the One Power?
Ask and ye shall receive – testing revealed that yes, Milandra Basene could learn to channel the One Power. She could be an Aes Sedai.
Thanking Larindhra Sedai for her cooperation, Milla went home with her thoughts. “Be an Aes Sedai,” she thought to herself, “Why not?” She had overly romanticized notions of what it meant to be an Aes Sedai, like most that she knew. To socialize with kings and queens, to mete justice, to wield so much power, the Power… it was all a tempting prospect. A life spent behind walls makes the idea of power and adventures and travel sound like a fun one, and without thinking about what it actually meant to be an Aes Sedai, decided that she would sign up.
Boy, isn’t she in for a surprise.