Aes Sedai really need to go back to living among the general population. They need to have children, especially if they increase their efforts to recruit among those who can learn.
The organization really needs to shift toward service rather than playing politics too. It needs to take its distance from the political life of the nations. The "meddling" of the Tower has become over the centuries the one major factor of ressent against channellers. Eliminate the whole "AS advisors" philosophy, turn the Amyrlin and Hall into those in charge of determining OP policies and administrating the "guild" instead of pretending to be a monarch above the monarchs, eliminate the political role of the Ajahs, and a lot of problems would fade away.
Lodging thousands of novices, both male and female, isn't necessarily a problem. You just have to kick out of the Tower most of the sisters, transform parts of the Ajah quarters into departements, and the rest turns to lodging. Those who don't administrate the Tower and its affairs, or who don't have any other valid reason to live in the Tower shouldn't. AS at large really have no reason anymore to spend their life in the Tower, not even in Tar Valon itself. With the rediscovery of Travelling, Tar Valon is just a minute away, wherever an Aes Sedai chooses to live. Even those who have to teach classes could perfectly live in a tiny village in Falme, Travel for their class and return to their community afterward. Same thing for the researchers, engineers etc. There's really no reason why channellers should live together, and plenty of disadvantages to do it (and this will only get worse if the men join them). Right now, most Aes Sedai provide only a tiny fraction of the services they could provide, if they lived in the community. Even those who did, like Adeleas and Vandene, pretty much restrained themselves to pretending to be Wisdoms, healing the villagers' animals. What a waste, considering all they could have done for their village if they lived there openly as AS, from helping with crops, getting rid of pests, healing people. By and large, it's not because AS don't want to help (and many miss their communities, their nation and their people - and Leane for instance would sure enjoy working in the family business, and she could!), it just wasn't an option. AS had to come back together post breaking, to rebuild something, and for their own safety as the world ressented them too much. And later on, when it was safe for them again to live pretty much anywhere, scattering to the winds, being many weeks from the Tower, essentially meant the end of the Tower in the long run. Not anymore, not with Travelling.
The Tower otherwise is already built with two of everything (two novice wings, two Accepted wings, two kitchens etc.). It has been built all along in the hope that one day a solution would be found and the male channellers would return.
It just needs to be turned into an administrative, educational and research centre, instead of the place Aes Sedai live. It's already big enough to lodge several thousand channellers in training, and scholars, and administators.
The organization really needs to shift toward service rather than playing politics too. It needs to take its distance from the political life of the nations. The "meddling" of the Tower has become over the centuries the one major factor of ressent against channellers. Eliminate the whole "AS advisors" philosophy, turn the Amyrlin and Hall into those in charge of determining OP policies and administrating the "guild" instead of pretending to be a monarch above the monarchs, eliminate the political role of the Ajahs, and a lot of problems would fade away.
Lodging thousands of novices, both male and female, isn't necessarily a problem. You just have to kick out of the Tower most of the sisters, transform parts of the Ajah quarters into departements, and the rest turns to lodging. Those who don't administrate the Tower and its affairs, or who don't have any other valid reason to live in the Tower shouldn't. AS at large really have no reason anymore to spend their life in the Tower, not even in Tar Valon itself. With the rediscovery of Travelling, Tar Valon is just a minute away, wherever an Aes Sedai chooses to live. Even those who have to teach classes could perfectly live in a tiny village in Falme, Travel for their class and return to their community afterward. Same thing for the researchers, engineers etc. There's really no reason why channellers should live together, and plenty of disadvantages to do it (and this will only get worse if the men join them). Right now, most Aes Sedai provide only a tiny fraction of the services they could provide, if they lived in the community. Even those who did, like Adeleas and Vandene, pretty much restrained themselves to pretending to be Wisdoms, healing the villagers' animals. What a waste, considering all they could have done for their village if they lived there openly as AS, from helping with crops, getting rid of pests, healing people. By and large, it's not because AS don't want to help (and many miss their communities, their nation and their people - and Leane for instance would sure enjoy working in the family business, and she could!), it just wasn't an option. AS had to come back together post breaking, to rebuild something, and for their own safety as the world ressented them too much. And later on, when it was safe for them again to live pretty much anywhere, scattering to the winds, being many weeks from the Tower, essentially meant the end of the Tower in the long run. Not anymore, not with Travelling.
The Tower otherwise is already built with two of everything (two novice wings, two Accepted wings, two kitchens etc.). It has been built all along in the hope that one day a solution would be found and the male channellers would return.
It just needs to be turned into an administrative, educational and research centre, instead of the place Aes Sedai live. It's already big enough to lodge several thousand channellers in training, and scholars, and administators.
This message last edited by DomA on 08/06/2010 at 03:31:44 AM
Building Materials for the Amyrlin's Tower
07/06/2010 12:00:04 PM
- 860 Views
use it to rebuild the chain towers that will have to be ripped out to replace the cuindar chain? *NM*
07/06/2010 12:07:06 PM
- 186 Views
There is still the theory the Tower will be built after all
07/06/2010 12:28:00 PM
- 553 Views
Possible that they may just use it to house all the new Novices coming in too
07/06/2010 12:47:43 PM
- 500 Views
WT probably has rooms for a few thousand more novices
07/06/2010 02:42:02 PM
- 531 Views
According to Egwene they would have to open up the second kitchen
07/06/2010 04:21:52 PM
- 482 Views
I don't entirely trust your logic here
07/06/2010 07:29:27 PM
- 499 Views
true, it's not unheard of for there to be shifts in the kitchens
08/06/2010 12:19:18 AM
- 444 Views
Re: true, it's not unheard of for there to be shifts in the kitchens
08/06/2010 02:52:19 AM
- 495 Views
Are you implying there's only 13 million people in the Westlands?
09/06/2010 12:48:40 PM
- 639 Views
There's an easy solution to lodge novices anyway...
08/06/2010 03:27:55 AM
- 471 Views
Do you REALLY think the world will have a surplus of building material after Tarmon Gaidon?
07/06/2010 07:07:36 PM
- 462 Views