EGWENE: Sit down, daughter! Tell me, how does your Ajah justify its existence?

YELLOW (very surprised): But don't you already KNOW, Mother? I mean, one of your best friends is el'Nynaeve Mandragoran!

EGWENE (patiently): I want to hear it in your own words. What does your Ajah do with itself on a day-to-day basis?

YELLOW (still a bit confused): Well, we're Healers, of course! It's our custom to Heal anyone who asks for it, provided we don't get overloaded with patients and in danger of burning ourselves out! And let me tell you, we've done a lot more good in the world - and a lot more to build up the good name of Aes Sedai among commoners - than SOME Ajahs I might mention, ones that sit in the Tower all day arguing philosophy or researching trivia in our dusty old archives . . . not to name any names, of course!

EGWENE (thoughtfully): Yes, I have to agree with you there. I remember how grateful Rand al'Thor was when Moiraine Sedai Healed his foster father for him . . . first time he had ever seen channeling, you know. It probably made him a lot more receptive to the idea of leaving the Two Rivers with her than he otherwise would have been, which was a good thing. Of course, Moiraine wasn't a Yellow, but the principle is the same: people appreciate seeing the One Power used to help them and their loved ones - and Yellows are the ones most frequently seen using it in that fashion.

[Egwene pauses for a moment, preparing her next question]

EGWENE: How much traveling did Yellow Sisters do before the Tower rebellion and the preparations for the Last Battle forced everyone to change their plans?

YELLOW: Hmm . . . well, as you may know, our net of eyes-and-ears across the land is mainly dedicated to gathering and sending to us any reports of outbreaks of plague and pestilence . . .

EGWENE: No, I didn't know that!

YELLOW (shocked tone): What other kind of news would we care about? POLITICS? [she sniffs at the thought of silly people who worry about such sordid things]. Whenever we get reliable reports of a large outbreak of - oh, of breakbone fever, for instance - we send a mission to the afflicted city or region to nip it in the bud before it turns into a national - or even international - epidemic. Usually we take the time to tell the local residents a few things about proper hygiene, as well - bathe regularly, wash your hands before eating, put the outhouse FAR AWAY from the drinking well . . . [she shakes her head at the laziness and folly of mankind] If they listened to us, epidemics would be almost impossible, except for the ones carried by mosquitoes and such . . .

EGWENE: Ah, I begin to see. That would improve our public relations . . .

YELLOW: Also, whenever the Tower mounts a military expedition, or joins in one - such as sending Red and Green Sisters to capture a False Dragon, accompanied by Tower Guards . . . traditionally our Ajah has sent some of our Healers along to run the field hospitals and try to patch up as many of those poor soldiers as we can after the fighting is done with . . .

EGWENE {nodding): All right, I have that much clear. What about researching new weaves? I still find it a bit odd that in the 3400 years since your Ajah was founded, NO ONE had EVER tried using Fire and Earth in their Healing Weaves - just Air, Water, and Spirit. Until my friend Nynaeve Sedai demonstrated an instinctive talent for doing it that way, I mean to say.

YELLOW (biting her lip): Well, Mother, you understand that we have long been reluctant to experiment too much with the safety of our patients . . . we preferred to stick to the Weaves we knew, or else modify them VERY slightly - but using the same basic ingredients of Air, Water, and Spirit, yes.

EGWENE: There's such a thing as being too conservative, you know. Nynaeve has brought some interesting proposals to me, and I've kicked in a few ideas of my own. She thinks it would be a good idea to establish permanent Hospitals, run by Aes Sedai, in the great cities of our piece of the world - at least one per nation, probably in each capital city.

YELLOW (Muttering names to herself): Arad Doman, Saldaea, Kandor, Arafel, Shienar, Cairhien, Andor, Tarabon, Amadicia, Altara, Ghealdan, Illian, Murandy, Tear, Mayene (if we may count that as a nation) . . . the Aiel and the Atha'an Miere have their own channelers, so don't count them . . . FIFTEEN nations, a hospital for each?

EGWENE: And one for the new nation of Manetheren, ruled by His Majesty, King Perrin Goldeneyes. Andor has finally abandoned its claim to the land.

YELLOW (sighing): And of course some of us would have to stay here in Tar Valon - so we'd be split up 17 different ways! (Mumbles numbers for a minute) 340 Sisters . . . divide by 17 nations, counting Tar Valon as a nation . . . only 20 Sisters to a Hospital . . .

EGWENE: Each Hospital will be attached to a great School - I want to establish a system of general education for young people across the world - or as much of it as the Tower has traditionally influenced, at least. One of Nynaeve's ideas is for Yellow Sisters to give instruction on anatomy and healing techniques to young women from each region, regardless of whether or not they can channel . . .

YELLOW (blankly): Healing techniques? But if they can't channel, what can they learn from lectures?

EGWENE: No, healing, without the capital H. (Can't you hear the difference?) Bonesetting and surgery and herbalism . . .

YELLOW (scandalized): HERBALISM? Sisters who have attained the shawl, prattling of common plants and homemade remedies to a bunch of ORDINARY girls instead of letting the village Wisdoms worry about such things?

EGWENE: Nynaeve feels that a central source of such information is LONG overdue in our world - [pause] - and *I* agree with her. [She gives the Yellow a pointed look.] Of course, if you mean to say that you refuse to accept MY decision . . .

YELLOW (cowed, as she remembers what happened to Elaida after Egwene got her hands on her): Er . . . ah . . . yes, I suppose something could be done . . .

EGWENE: Nynaeve's point is that Yellow Sisters are the best qualified to probe the interior of a patient's anatomy and find out exactly what a herb is DOING for him, and calculate the best amount of each herb to use for the maximum beneficial effect, and so forth, instead of this rough guessing that Wisdoms often indulge in.

YELLOW (looking thoughtful): You know, Mother, that might actually work . . . we could calibrate these things better, and then perhaps people could heal themselves more effectively of minor ailments, and not always come crying to us about it. We'd put together textbooks prescribing half an ounce of willowbark, made into tea, for a baby with a fever, and one ounce for a fever in a child between ages 4 and 8, two ounces between ages 9 and 15, three ounces for 16 and up . . . or whatever the ideal proportions turn out to be . . .

EGWENE: Yes, I think you have the general idea now . . .

YELLOW (prattling on): We could gather randomly selected herbs from the outdoors, and force- feed them to patients with several different problems at once, to find out (for example) if belladonna is good for heart trouble, or for head injuries, or for digestive disorders . . .

EGWENE: Yes, Daughter. You may be excused now -

YELLOW (oblivious to her as she pictures a comprehensive research program): And if we accidentally poisoned somebody by giving him the wrong herb, or too much of it, we'd have Healers standing by to fix him up again before it did him any PERMANENT damage - it's all in the name of science, after all . . .

EGWENE: DAUGHTER!

YELLOW (waking up from her meditative trance): Yes, Mother?

EGWENE: You may be excused now, to plan for these Hospitals. On your way out, send in the Blue Sister waiting to see me, will you?

[A FEW NOTES ON BACKGROUND

1) The Guide (aka THE WORLD OF ROBERT JORDAN'S WHEEL OF TIME) gave me the info about Yellow eyes-and-ears concentrating on plagues and such, so that the Yellows could travel to the afflicted region and stop it from spreading. I had always felt that Healing was one of the most "practical" and "public-spirited" things Aes Sedai ever did with their power, and this discovery from the Guide about their blocking plagues from expanding only strengthened my opinion on that point.

2) Comments on the size of the Yellow's membership are based on these numbers:

Membership of the Aes Sedai as the books start: about 980 (said to be less than a thousand, anyway). With 7 Ajahs it would seem that the "average" Ajah would have approximately 140 members at that time.

3) There are about 1760 Kin in COS. I assume that 1/7 of them (call it 250) will join the Yellows.

4) I assume at least 50 Yellows (a number I pulled out of thin air) will die in, or before, Tarmon Gai'don, this series of posts being set AFTER that.

5) Result: 140 + 250 - 50= 340 Yellows after Tarmon Gai'don, for purposes of discussion.

Raina's Hold / Raina's Library / Other People's Humour / Renovating the White Tower