Serancha Colvine. An Aes Sedai of the Gray Ajah and the loyalist contingent. Born in 835 NE, she went to the White Tower in 850 NE. After spending seven years as a novice and six years as Accepted, she was raised to the shawl in 863 NE. She served as a Sitter from 974 to 990 NE and was named Head Clerk of the Gray Ajah in 990 NE. She had a pinched mouth and a pinched nose that constantly seemed to be detecting a bad smell. Even her pale blue eyes seemed pinched with disapproval. She might well have been pretty otherwise. Seaine and Pevara once dusted her cloak with powdered itch oak; they thought that she was a prig.
As head of her Ajah, Serancha picked Andaya Forae as a Sitter for the Gray after the White Tower split. She taught Egwene lessons after Egwene was captured by the White Tower, and met with other Ajah heads and agreed to raise Egwene Amyrlin after the Seanchan attack.
Seranda Palace. The home of the ruler of Amadicia in Amador.
Serden. The son of Kolom son of Radlin, an Ogier author from about 400 NE who developed a theory about the Ways.
Sereille Bagand. An Aes Sedai of the White Ajah with a strength level of 21(9). Born in Far Madding in 586 NE, she went to the White Tower in 601 NE. After spending thirteen years as a novice and eleven years as Accepted, she was raised to the shawl in 625 NE. The long periods Sereille spent as novice and Accepted had more to do with her being a discipline problem than with any difficulties in learning; she was remembered vividly by Reanne Corly of the Kin, who was a novice with her, as breaking more rules and playing more pranks than any three other novices.
It was considered an attribute of women from Far Madding that they were strong-willed, and it was not considered all that unusual for one to do even dangerous things on a dare, at least while young, but Sereille once left the Tower grounds without permission, visited the guards at each bridge, in her novice white, told them her name, then returned to the Tower, managing to sneak in despite the fact that the first report of a runaway had already come in. She did it on a dare, despite knowing the punishment; in fact, it is recorded that when she was found, it was in the Mistress of Novices’ study, waiting to begin that punishment.
In 738 NE Sereille was chosen for the Hall of the Tower as a Sitter for the White, serving under the ineffectual Feragaine and then Myriam Copan, who was also a weak Amyrlin, if not a puppet, in her early years. Sereille had shown no indications that she was extraordinary until she entered the Hall; as a Sitter, she blossomed, some might say virulently. She became more and more forceful, openly asserting her strong-willed personality. She could use logic like a knife in argument, gutting her opponents and filleting them or cutting them into paper-thin slices as she chose. With weak Amyrlins and all real power residing in the Hall—a situation that historically led to vicious infighting and a hothouse atmosphere in the Hall, indeed in the entire Tower—she had plenty of opportunity. She was particularly strong in opposing, successfully, measures that would have increased the power of the individual Ajahs at the expense of the Tower’s control over them, as well as any attempts at self-aggrandizement by Sitters.
In 759 NE, she was named Mistress of Novices under Myriam Copan. Some said she was appointed Mistress to get her out of the Hall. This occurred just after “Beauty” Copan went on her retreat that changed her priorities and turned her into a strong Amyrlin. It was not then known (although a few suspected) that Cadsuane was involved in this retreat in any way. Cadsuane, then age fifty-eight, and twenty-eight years an Aes Sedai—very junior in everything except her strength, which put her at the very top of the social hierarchy—did not get on with Sereille, and the dislike was returned. Reportedly, Cadsuane was the only sister who Sereille could never make jump through hoops.
Sereille served as Mistress of Novices for an unprecedented 107 years under Myriam, Zeranda Tyrim and Parenia Demalle. Traditionally, of course, a new Amyrlin might ask the Mistress of Novices to step down so as to put her own woman in the post, but some say that Sereille remained so long in the position because the Hall thought to keep her out of their hair, at least in the beginning. Later it was said that no one had the nerve to ask her to step down.
During her tenure, she was in many ways a tyrant, and most novices and Accepted squeaked when she looked at them; if she looked twice, their teeth often chattered. Her punishments were not arbitrary—she did not play favorites or single out girls she did not like—but her standards were high, and her punishments for falling short were fierce, to say the least. In truth, given that the Mistress of Novices often played such a large part in penances served by sisters, she also quite literally put her mark on a large number of women who already were Aes Sedai during this period.
In 866 NE, she was raised Amyrlin; some reports suggest that by this time, the Hall of the Tower was afraid not to stand for her. What can be certain, though, is that once her name was suggested, all others were withdrawn. She achieved the greater consensus on the very first call, which was all but unprecedented.
As Amyrlin, she ran the Tower in many ways as if she still were the Mistress of Novices, and every sister were a novice, or at best Accepted. She expected obedience and no arguments, and she got obedience and no arguments; those who argued soon came to regret it, with the possible exception of Cadsuane Melaidhrin. Claims that even Sitters flinched when she looked at them and broke into tears when she frowned cannot be confirmed, but the fact remains that during her reign, the Hall of the Tower was firmly in her grasp.
When the Hall first tried balking her, she unchaired the entire Hall. The Ajahs then returned the same Sitters, only to have her unchair them immediately. This continued for nearly half a year before the Ajahs realized that for all that time Sereille had been ruling solely by decree and would continue to do so. A full year passed before Sereille allowed a Hall to sit, and by that time the Ajahs had, in desperation, begun choosing women they believed Sereille would accept. By the time she allowed a Hall to sit, every single Sitter was a woman Sereille would accept; in effect, she had chosen her own Hall, and she never had trouble with them again. After Sereille’s death, the Hall passed a law saying that if the entire Hall was unchaired, the new Hall had to sit for ten days before it could be unchaired again.
A plotted rebellion against her was uncovered by Cadsuane and crushed by her single-handedly.
Sereille’s reign coincided with another expansion of Aes Sedai influence, an increase in the power of the White Tower. She did not try for the return to any former days of glory, but for that period, she came very close to achieving it, by diplomacy, by manipulation and plots, and by the force of her will. When Sereille died in 890 NE, the Hall began to reassert itself within the Tower; whether or not this was the reason, the Tower’s power and influence in the world promptly began another slow decline.
Sereine dar Shamelle Motara. The author of Commentaries on the Karaethon Cycle. She was Counsel-Sister to Comaelle, High Queen of Jaramide, circa 325 AB, the Third Age.
Serendahar. The site of a battle between Sammael and Lews Therin Telamon during the Age of Legends, where Sammael tried to bait Lews Therin into attacking him. Rand related the story to Asmodean.
Serengada Dai. A region of Seanchan that Sarek, one of the Blood with high ambitions, had designs on, as learned by Rand and Aviendha when they Traveled to Seanchan.