Aes Sedai

Aes Sedai through the Ages

The Aes Sedai are the human spellcasters as presented in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. They serve as inspiration for the human spellcasters of Ylarra. Specifically, the Aes Sedai are essentially the ancestors of today's Vor'anin and Mer'anin. Thousands of years have passed since the events described in the Wheel of Time series and major events have shaken up the Aes Sedai organization's core. Here is a quick rundown of their existence through the ages that succeed the Wheel of Time events.

The Time of Troubles (WoT timeline)

Secluded, secretive, highly organized. Female Aes Sedai organized in Ajahs in the White Tower under The Amyrlin Seat. Male Aes Sedai are hunted and executed because of the taint on saidin.
Saidin cleansed during this age, the Dragon Reborn founds the Black Tower and male Aes Sedai are no longer outcasts. Male Aes Sedai serving under the Black Tower are named "Asha'man".

The Age of Prosperity

The age directly following the Wheel of Time timeline.
Black Tower & White tower (male/female) organization still in place. Both focus on healing, science and philosophy. The True source continues to be studied as a weapon, but this is highly discouraged due to The Dragon's Peace.
The two organizations remain separate and act independently, though both play the role of benefactor, scientist and healer.
At the end of this age the War for the Source and creation of The Weave shocks them, as it stops new recruits from coming in. With great casualties during the war, the number of Aes Sedai able to access Saidin or Saidar is no more than a few hundred Aes Sedai. They focus on studying the Weave and continue their traditions and organization uninterrupted for the most part.

The Age of Creation

They become war machines against the newly discovered races. Most of the Aes Sedai able to access Saidar or Saidin pass away but leave behind their knowledge of these forces of the True Power.

The Age of Legends

With peace between the races, they expand their rosters with members of the other races. They create branches in other races' home locations. The black and White towers reach new heights of power and prestige.
The Breaking of the World destroys most of what they created, but a large enough number survives. Much knowledge is lost and they begin to lose some of their identity, only to begin reshaping their organizations.

The War for Survival

The two organizations begin rebuilding their home bases on the ruins of their old towers. The need to pick themselves up from ruin while at the same time participating in the brutal wars of this age leads to severe changes for both male and female organizations.
The males focus their energies on destructive magic to more effectively combat their enemies and assert dominance. They cast aside their Aes Sedai name (which means "protectors of all") and replace it with "Vor'anin " (which means "ascended above all" in the Old Tongue). They build their new Gilded Tower near the ruins of the ancient Black Tower, in the country now known as "Asmal".
The females turn to healing, divination and other less direct ways of combat, equally effective to their male counterparts. They also rename themselves to "Mer'anin" (which means "Guardians above all" in the Old Tongue). The ruins of the ancient White Tower were never located, but they discover artifacts that allow them to build their base of operations -the Silver Moon- on a large flying rock over a city named "Allamir" (which means "under the moon" in the Old Tongue). The city was named thus because the rock on top they build their castle glows with silver light at night.
In order to combat the apprehensive stance the rest of the population had against them, the Mer'anin re-adopted the ancient Aes Sedai tradition of swearing oaths, restraining their power against the non spellcasters of the world. The Mer'anin call these The Commandments. The Vor'anin never put such limitations in place, relying on more traditional methods to generate trust. For a long while, even today, there are those that consider the Vor'anin as the "evil" spellcasters of the world.

The War of a Thousand Years

During this period the Mer'anin and Vor'anin acted as puppet masters to use other nations against the rise of Ourania Themis Themis. Themis eventually won, but the Gilded Tower and the Silver Moon were never defeated in battle. They only ceded control to Themis, accepting her terms and measures to keep the Mer'anin and Vor'anin power in control. One of those measures was the creation of The Red Blades.
After the death of Ourania Themis, the Mer'anin and Vor'anin played an instrumental role in dividing her vast empire and were able to influence the political landscape to assert their control and influence far and wide.

Current Era

The Gilded Tower and the Silver Moon are political rivals with vast resources. The Vor'anin and the Mer'anin battle for control and influence over all nations in the world, and their recruiting efforts are spread far and wide. Anyone able to access the weave is quickly discovered at a young age and brought to either the Gilded Tower or the Silver Moon for initiation and training. The only exception to this is the High Elves of Myfenor, and the wood elves of Aerimor forest, who maintain their own organization of spellcasters, though maintain close ties to both the Gilded Tower and the Silver Moon. The two human organizations are political rivals with major ideological differences.

Type

Geopolitical, Magocracy