"We have been, for a very long time, but it was not always so."
Moiraine draws another circle, then divides it in half with a single curving line. She begins to color in one half of the circle, darkening it to near-black, stark against the white of the other side.
"The One Power is divided," the Aes Sedai explains. "Saidar is channeled by women, and saidin is the male half."
"During the War of Power, Lews Therin proposed to patch the Bore and seal the Dark One's prison. He was opposed by Latra Posae Decume, who proposed a different approach. The hall split along gendered lines, and in the end, Lews Therin led a hundred of the most powerful male Aes Sedai to make the attempt."
She sighs.
"The seal was made, but it was imperfect. The Dark One's counterstrike tainted saidin, and the poison of the Shadow instantly drove Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions mad, as well as dooming all men who could channel to insanity and certain death. The damage they wrought in their madness is known as the Breaking of the World. It is only very recently that saidin has been cleansed once more, but between the Breaking and now, only women were raised Aes Sedai."
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branchandroot
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Date: 2020-09-15 07:20 pm (UTC)"We have been, for a very long time, but it was not always so."
Moiraine draws another circle, then divides it in half with a single curving line. She begins to color in one half of the circle, darkening it to near-black, stark against the white of the other side.
"The One Power is divided," the Aes Sedai explains. "Saidar is channeled by women, and saidin is the male half."
"During the War of Power, Lews Therin proposed to patch the Bore and seal the Dark One's prison. He was opposed by Latra Posae Decume, who proposed a different approach. The hall split along gendered lines, and in the end, Lews Therin led a hundred of the most powerful male Aes Sedai to make the attempt."
She sighs.
"The seal was made, but it was imperfect. The Dark One's counterstrike tainted saidin, and the poison of the Shadow instantly drove Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions mad, as well as dooming all men who could channel to insanity and certain death. The damage they wrought in their madness is known as the Breaking of the World. It is only very recently that saidin has been cleansed once more, but between the Breaking and now, only women were raised Aes Sedai."