~*Menora Tareuna*~
Appearance:
Menora is a bit pale for a Domani but by no means is she pale by normal standards. Long, often messy and untamed raven hair falls to the middle of her back, and she does take care to cut her bangs, so as to keep hair out of her eyes while she reads. She has wide warm brown eyes and a welcome smile. Relatively short for a Domani, she is only about 5’5” and she doesn’t weigh much either. Her petite but well-proportioned thin frame weighs about 125 lbs.
History:
Kalline Tareuna nodded to her daughter solemnly as the wagon train stopped. Menora climbed out of the back of the wagon, setting her book down, and peeked out. People bustled by hurriedly, but it was not the abundance of people of so many nationalities that she noticed. Buildings rose high and twisted impossibly. Forms of architecture she had thought only existed in her books sprang out at her, the White Tower most of all. Flying impossibly high into the air, dominating the city with its sheer whitened brilliance, the White Tower was more than a building. It was a symbol.
Menora had read in so many of the books her mother sold as a traveling Domani merchant of so many different places, but it was entirely different finally being here. Her mother thought her a fool for wanting to see the library of Tar Valon, but her father had insisted she come here. Perhaps he just wanted Menora away her mother, who wanted to turn her into another fabled Domani beauty. Menora would have none of it, and her father saw that. She was only interested in books, and what better place, next to Cairhien, to see books than Tar Valon. Menora often dreamed of those endless shelves of knowledge beckoning her to come. And now she was here. Or almost.
She crept up the marble stairs alone, passing wretched farmwives and regal noblewomen. Up the stairs she went, and into a wide chamber that made up the base of the White Tower. Here she would wait for permission to go to the Library, something she had heard was denied to most other than Aes Sedai, and some places even to them. Rubbing elbows with an elderly Cairhienin resting on a cane and a young Taraboner woman, face not hidden by that transparent veil, Menora scowled. Even if she rarely left her mother’s wagon and her books, she knew of the Taraboner pride and greed, and she despised it just as any other Domani would. Hopefully, a Sister would come soon.
It was a shock when the Sister did come, pulling her aside and whispering in her ear, “You have come to be tested? Very well, come with me.” Before Menora could respond or even catch a glimpse of the woman’s face, she was being dragged down a short hall into a small room with only two stools. The woman’s face was still wreathed in shadow, but a brown fringed shawl lay on her shoulders. She gestured to sit, and unconsciously, Menora did.
A minute later, the Brown Sister seemed to have realized another woman shared what Menora could really only call an alcove with her. She leaned forward, her round face finally showing, eyes blinking as if confused as to why she was present with a young girl. “Look at me. Keep your eyes on me, but focus on this.” She raised a fist horizontally and opened it to reveal a small emerald stone. “Let me guide you.” Menora gasped suddenly. She felt something, right at the edge of her reach, and, somehow, this woman was helping her reach it. Her eyes went wide as she grasped it, the very essence of life, it seemed, flowing through her. The Brown nodded, “Good, you have the ability to learn. Gather your things, child, and I will have an Accepted show you to your room.” The Sister said no more, but her eyes twinkled as Menora stood, bewildered and wandered back out to her mother. She had never expected this, but, perhaps as an Aes Sedai, one day she would have every book ever. It was indeed quite appealing.
