Amyrlin's Awards

The Amyrlin's Awards are unique annual awards that are given for superlative service to the community. These are awarded by the Amyrlin Seat personally, and are the highest honors we bestow. A Gold Merit is bestowed on the recipient. Eleven people, Toral Delvar, Ubahsur Kindellaer, Valorian Edoras, Kerna Shedrian, Kelgan al'Moranwin, Jeffan Caliarthan, Deoan Kakarot, Vivianna L'antreau, Cassie Dainar, Faeril Munlear, Tree, Alexr al'Petros, and Siera al'Cere have received two of these awards.

There are 4 types of Amyrlin's Awards:

Volunteer of the Year: Awarded for outstanding contribution in an official role.

Philanthropist of the Year: Awarded to someone who consistently contributes to the fundraising goals of the community.

Unsung Servant: For an outstanding contribution in an unofficial capacity.

Member of the Year: The highest honor, for all-around contribution.

2024

Philanthropist of the Year: Ty al'Djinn and Roheryn ni Galghandhrei t'al'Djinn

This award is given to the member who donates to support the mission of the Tower. This year's winner was selected based upon their regular contribution to help fund events including getting other members to events. The award only had one name, but it's really a power couple that earned this one. Ty brought the funds and Roheryn helped with a big heart to earn this one.

Volunteer of the Year: Phen al'Rohan

This award is given to someone who steps out to volunteer their time, services, and energy. This year's winner was selected based upon their work to make the Tower a more welcoming and entertaining place. Stepping out on their own to start a series of events that have been Phen-tastic. We love you Phen!

Unsung Servant: Siera al'Cere

This award goes to someone who works their tail off with little to no outward recognition for their efforts. She may be a director, but she works miracles to make things pretty and creates logos out of nothing in no time at all on the regular. Congratulations Siera!

Member of the Year: Fenya al'Caem

The top award given each year. This award often goes to someone who does a little bit of everything listed above. She works on the Tar Valon Talks team, the Social Media Team, Conference Coordinator, Guild Leader, and Wansho. How does she have time to breathe?!? Because she's the amazing Fenya!

2023

Philanthropist of the Year: Arinna Katal

This individual was selected based on their giving during Tower fundraisers as well as their general helpful and giving attitude which has been demonstrated in the Fitness Guild, welcome threads, and within their Ajah. Congratulations to Arinna Katal !

Volunteer of the Year: Tree

Selected for this award was someone who volunteered to step up into a very demanding role, hit the ground running, and has made huge strides in developing and launching new initiatives to make the Tower more representative of all members and more inclusive. Congratulations to Tree !

Unsung Servant: Arella Mathara

This member has worked in multiple roles and multiple departments and always seems to be willing to step up and lend a helping hand. Currently serving as our Mayor and working to make the experience of all our Citizens a wonderful thing, Congratulations Arella Mathara !

Member of the Year: Alexr al'Petros

This is the biggest award that you can earn and the person I chose is someone who I could have given any of the other awards to this year. In spite of the fact that this is bound to require additional penances to keep his head from getting too big to fit in the MDD chambers, Congratulations to Alexr al'Petros !

2022

The 2022 Amyrlin Awards were announced at Anniversary Party 2022. Two of them were directly given to their owners after the investiture ceremony of Cassie Dainar as the new Amyrlin Seat.

Philanthropist of the Year: Faeril Munlear

The individual selected this year was based not purely on dollars contributed, but time, effort, and support. Based on her work to identify worthy causes and to find ways to help the Tower support others it's no surprise she was hired as Director of Outreach. Congratulations to Faeril Munlear!

Unsung Servant: Alexr al'Petros

This award is meant to recognize a member who doesn't hold a job with a title but still goes above and beyond to support the mission of the Tower in some way. It was a pretty easy choice when looking at a Soldier who in the short time he's been a member has done a lot to encourage participation by the JMs. Even though it has earned him a couple of puny-she-mints, he hasn't stopped bringing fun to the boards. Congratulations Alexr al'Petros!

Volunteer of the Year: Yenie Antagar

The volunteer of the year is the person who holds one of the many volunteer positions on the site and has put in a lot of work to make improvements. From taking a sleepy and quiet Ajah to the insanely active and popular group it is now to helping various member groups set up independent Discord servers, she definitely deserves this award. Congratulations Yenie Antagar!

Member of the Year: Mendo Cath

This is the ultimate award for an individual who has simply done more than anyone could ask for the Tower. And it was definitely well earned this year. Aside from the normal tech support you might think of, he actually took vacation from work specifically so he could spend all day running major updates and get us up to date on the software we use for the forums. Congratulations Mendo Cath!

2021

In 2021 a Virtual Anniversary Party was organized and held in the Official Tower Discord on November 5. During one of the events, the Amyrlin Seat Serinia Edoras announced her first Amyrlin Awards. In the Amyrlin's words:

Philanthropist of the Year: Cassie Dainar

The philanthropist of the year award recognizes a member of our community who consistently contributes to the fundraising goals of our community. Though there have been several people who have really put their hearts into raising funds and supporting our community and our philanthropic efforts, this individual has demonstrated incredible dedication to assisting our communities and individual members in a way that frequently exceeds expectations.

This year’s award winner is not only one of the top donors to the site, dedicating their own precious resources to enable us to continue reaching out to our community, but they often volunteer to support members directly. One poignant example of this was volunteering to make shawls for sisters who did not have one of their own, and … something, like a pin or something... TBD :) … for the warders, as gifts. She is also continuously looks for ways for our community to be better supported, to the extent that she is taking formal classes to learn more about the work she does for us.

She is incredibly generous with not only her resources but her time.

Unsung Servants: Aintza Bisera and Alor Sionn

The annual “Unsung Servant” award is intended to recognize contributions to our community performed outside of an official capacity. This is an especially deserving award because the recipients are, by the nature of the award, going above and beyond any expectations.

This year’s award is our only shared-award by two members. These two members have not only helped our site and our community but they’ve really stepped up to help the administrators, and, I believe, they have helped each other, to create a sort of fly-wheel momentum of improvement and collaboration. They’ve helped with several campaigns across different groups and different departments. Their consistent support behind the scenes has been one of the most significant factors in the success of many ideas this past year.

Volunteer of the Year: Ilverin Matriam

This year’s recipient has held official roles in the department of technology as a moderator and Gatekeeper, in the department of marketing with the social marketing, graphic development, and Tar Valon Times teams, in the department of research and records as a historian and translator, in the department of membership as a heart of Ajah, head of Ajah, membership admin and welcome committee member, in the department of community outreach within both the outreach activities team and the online events team, and has also served her Ajah as a Sitter eight times. She constantly recognizes ways that she can contribute to our organization and raises her hand not only to volunteer but to help us understand how we can be better.

Over her long service, and especially over the past year, I have been so grateful for her dedication and her honesty and her humor. She speaks up when she has concerns or ideas and continuously supports those around her, and our whole community, especially in her role as the Director of Research and Records.

Member of the Year: Siera al'Cere

This year’s recipient has performed extraordinary service and dedication in all aspects – within official roles and outside of them, in her support of us as individuals and as a community. She has stepped up and helped where she’s seen a need, and worked to make us better for the future.

In an incredibly difficult year with unexpected challenges, she has helped support our public-facing social media channels, and helped TarValon reach not only our members but potential future members. And behind the scenes she’s also helping with projects big and small, like the cookbook that was an incredible hit and is now in the kitchens of many of our members and many of our favorite authors and publishers.

I was honored to receive this award in 2010. It was incredibly meaningful to me, and that experience makes the opportunity to bestow this award on someone else even more significant. I deeply appreciate all that she has done, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize her amazing work.

2020

The Department of Events and Conferences hosted the Online Amyrlin Awards on December 12, 2020 during which Rhed al'Tere announced the awards originally scheduled to be presented during the Anniversary Event in March. Because of the pandemic, we could not find a way to safely gather in person this year, but since this was an important occasion, the online event allowed Rhed and our community a chance to recognize outstanding service from our members. These awards were given for work done during 2019.

Volunteer of the Year: Vivianna L'antreau

Viv goes out of her way to make events run smoothly and efficiently. It was a pleasure to work with her on events because she always had plans and ideas and a plan b. Thank you, Viv, for helping host amazing events.

Philanthropist of the Year: Kyla Sterling

Kyla has consistently given to the Tower over many years, both monetarily and with her time. We thank her for her steady contributions.

Unsung Servant: Alenya Al'Roran

Alenya defined “above and beyond” in 2019. She not only held the Director of Marketing position — and did it well — she also handled the job of the Social Media Manager, and did that well too! We thank Alenya for her time and effort used in serving the Tower.

Member of the Year: Elia LePhant

Elia stepped into the Director of Community Outreach position in 2019, a hard position to fill because it is so much work. She worked tirelessly and to the best of her ability while in the position. Simultaneously, she held a Tower Historian position and worked to keep the library up to date. Elia, thank you for your work in the past year and over all the years you’ve been a member.

2019

The winners in 2019 were announced at Anniversary Party 2019.

Volunteer of the Year: Brandon Tat'vakja

Brandon has shown exemplary dedication to TarValon.Net. He served as Company Commander of Dai M'Hael two terms in a row, when no one else was able to take the term after him. He's now serving -- very enthusiastically and with great heart -- as Master of Soldiers and Accepted. I truly appreciate what Brandon has done for the site in his time here.

Philanthropist of the Year: Deoan Kakarot

Deoan stepped into the Director of Technology position even though his life was super busy at the time, and he's remain in that role despite life remaining busy. Bela, our IRC chat bot, has been hosted on Deoan's personal server for years, and he's now using his personal equipment to hold our back-ups (or is planning to). On top of these physical things, Deoan also gives us his expert tech advice for free -- he works in tech, and then comes here and does more tech stuff. I thank him for being good at what he does, and having the knowledge I don't, and always providing excellent advice regarding tech (and other) things.

Unsung Servant: Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak

Our Unsung Servant for this year is Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak. Maibella has been the Editor of the Tar Valon Times since 2015 -- an amazing time span! She works relentlessly behind the scenes to make sure each issue of the TVT is released on time. Please join me in recognizing Maibella for her hard work and dedication to the TVT and our community.

Member of the Year: Eluial Aldaran

The Member of the Year is Eluial Aldaran. I had several Directors recommend her for recognition, and since they span different departments and different specialty areas, the only award that fit was the Member of the Year. Eluial took over the Tower Twitter last year, and has done a superb job at keeping up with it. I'm lucky to see some of her behind-the-scenes discussions with Jeffan, and not only is she good at it, but she has fun with it, and delights in the conversations that spring up from her tweets. Eluial is also Head of the Brown Ajah, and I have it from a source that she's done a fantastic job there. Thank you, Eluial, for all you do for TarValon.Net.

2018

The winners in 2018 were announced at Anniversary Party 2018.

Philanthropist of the Year: Wil Cambrae

I'm pleased to award this year's Philanthropist of the Year award to Wil Cambrae. Wil has been a member for longer than I have, and in all that time, he's been generous with his time, money, and service. Thank you for all you do for TarValon.Net, Wil.

Unsung Servant: Elanda Tonil

I've only really noticed Elanda Tonil since becoming Amyrlin and getting to interact with the Ajahs and Companies on a more personal level. She works very hard for the White Ajah, both in visible and behind-the-scenes ways. Thank you, Elanda, for what you do for your Ajah and for the Tower.

Volunteer of the Year: Jeffan Caliarthan

I was worried that people might say I was playing favorites when awarding Volunteer of the Year to Jeffan Caliarthan. However, as a wise person told me, it's not fair to either party when I can't recognize people I love for doing amazing things.

So: Jeffan's work in the past year has been simply amazing. He's served as Entertainment Committee Head at two Annis in a row, and done a superb job, putting in many many hours preparing everything. He's revitalized our social media team and taken it in exciting new directions. Finally, he organized a fundraiser for the Tower that raised $3,000, when he and I didn't even expect to raise $500. You work very hard for TarValon.Net, Jeffan, and I'm proud of you and grateful to (and for) you.

Member of the Year: Kelgan al'Moranwin

The Member of the Year consistently goes above and beyond, and, in Kelgan al'Moranwin's case, he has done so for several years. His long dedication to the Tower has been a boon to me as Amyrlin, and his quiety support to me personally has often brought me comfort. Director of Moderators and Operators can be a thankless position, but it's one Kelgan has held for years without faltering and without complaint. I truly appreciate your dedication, Kelgan, and thank you for all you've done for TarValon.Net.

2017

The winners in 2017 were announced at Anniversary Party 2017.

Volunteer of the Year: Ne'Mireth Delvar

Ne’Mireth came into the Department of Marketing like a storm, and she’s only rarely slowed down. She’s done so much with the way Social Marketing functions. I don’t know where she finds the energy to be so passionate about social media and marketing in her real life job and then come to TarValon.Net and still have that energy, but I’m so grateful that she does, and that she’s been so willing to contribute in this way to our community.

Philanthropy: Onis O'Leia

For as long as Onis has been a member, she has been giving to the community. She serves in various roles both for the site and for her Ajah. When I looked back at donations over the last five years, i wasn’t surprised to see her name show up every single year. Onis has a generous spirit, and she gives freely and consistently of her time as a member of the community and as a friend.

Unsung Servant: Kitan Tataru

Kitan does so much in the TarValon.Net community, and I am so proud to be able to award her the Unsung Servant award. She has done so much over her time as a member, it’s hard to know where to look. Kitan is a woman of passion, a woman who dedicates herself to those around her with no qualms, and she is always looking to support her friends, her ajah, and her community. She gives of her time, her money, her resources. Kitan is truly an inspiration to me, and I can’t think of anyone who deserves this award more.

Member of the Year: Melisande Arneil

Melisande has been a member for a long time, and in her time at TarValon.Net, she has held many positions, from Head of the Green Ajah to chat op to Membership Activities Coordinator. She volunteered for the Membership Activities Coordinator role last year, and she has been helping keep all the Directors and Officers in line and on time, while making up the role as she goes along. She also acted as co-Local Liaison for Fall Ball Calgary. I’m so glad to be able to recognize Meli for all her hard work over the years, and to say thank you.

2016

The winners in 2016 were announced at Anniversary Party 2016.

Member of the Year: Sailea Nerid

Sailea is a pretty amazing woman. She joined TarValon.net in 2014, and just six months after she joined, she was throwing herself into service. She’s served on the Welcoming Committee in the past, and the number of things she does now – I don’t know how she has the time! She’s Awards Historian, and on the Welcoming Committee, the Friendly Face Team, Tar Valon Times staff, library editor, and a moderator. And while technically I should only be looking at 2015, earlier this year Sailea was ill and unable to post on the forums. She has a running thread in General, Today is the Day of…, and at least two people jumped in to fill in for her, which shows me how much they value Sailea and the small things Sailea does to help create community at TarValon.Net.

Philanthropist of the Year: Ivanor Winshaw

For the past several years, Ivanor has offered up his amazing grilling skills in the da’covale auction at Anni to provide food to the hungry who are willing to pay. He’s done this for the past three years, and all three years, he takes hours out of his day to shop, grill, and clean up the meal, to raise money for the Tower. Last year at Anni, he not only cooked his da’covale meal, but he also grilled for the Amyrlin Feast, to the point of literal physical injury. Beyond his amazing meat, Ivanor has served as Company Commander, Honor Guard, and Warder Councilor of Dai M’hael, as well as contributing to the Tar Valon Times and mentoring several Junior Members. I greatly appreciate Ivanor’s participation and his willingness to serve TarValon.Net.

Volunteer of the Year: Cahalan Sothron

Cahalan caught my eye early on in her membership here at TarValon.Net. She was friendly and open, and eager to be a part of the community. A mere two months into her membership here, when she was still a citizen, she applied for the Survey Project Manager position, since she designs and processes surveys in real life and wanted to apply those skills to her new community. She has more than proven her worth in that position, and I cannot say how happy I am she applied despite not meeting the membership time requirement. She produced a quick, snappy, focused Membership survey in 2015, and processed the data and put it into an easily-readable form. I’m very much looking forward to working with her more in the future.

Unsung Servant: Lithiel Morn

Lithiel is perhaps a quieter member of the site, but when someone suggested she be the Unsung Servant, I knew that she is a good choice. She does a lot to support her ajah, as well as supporting the Tower. She served for a year and a half as part of the Welcoming Committee, and her cheerful hello’s were always to be found in the Introductions forum—in fact, they still are. She’s spent the better part of a year as a library editor, as well as a moderator. Lithiel is one of those members who may not seem to be very visible, but I for one would miss her if she ever left.

2015

The winners in 2015 were announced at 14th Anni.

Member of the Year: Lireina Dormerus t'al`Bearach

There was no question about who was going to receive Member of the Year in my mind. When Viv’s real life attacked and swallowed her up, Liz, our Keeper, stepped up and kept the Tower running. For the better part of six months, she juggled two jobs at the Tower, that of Keeper and Amyrlin. I am so very lucky to have her by my side as Keeper. This is a small way to thank her for all she’s done for the Tower so far. I hope that we have many years as a Keeper–Amyrlin team.

Volunteer of the Year: Zandera Sommers

Zandera became Mayor in August of last year, and she hit the ground running. As we’ve seen from the Members' Choice Awards, she’s a friendly and common face among the citizens. She’s shown amazing passion and initiative in her role as Mayor, and has come up with some amazing ideas about how to bring citizens into the TarValon.Net fold, including ways to increase activity and a new shiny welcoming committee who make sure no one’s entrance into Tar Valon goes unnoticed. Her passion and dedication to her position made her an easy choice for this award.

Unsung Servants: Shariyan Al'Feay & Alyssa Letherio

Unsung Servant was a difficult category to find winners for. So many do so much for TarValon.Net, and it’s hard to pick just one. So I didn’t. I picked two. Shariyan and Alyssa have worked on several parties together in the past, and they continue to offer valuable advice for our Euro 2015 event. They’ve both credited the other with doing more of the work than herself – which goes to show that perhaps neither really knows the amount of work she’s done. Thank you both for your hard work on the Euro events you’ve worked on.

Philanthropist of the Year: Taika Vinh

This year for Philanthropist of the Year, I wanted to look back at all the records and find a pattern of giving, regardless of the amount of the donation. I looked at our fundraisers for the Tower and for charities, at da’covale purchases and volunteering services, and at positions held in the community. One name came out of all that record-searching: Taika Vinh. She’s given in nearly all of the fundraisers we have records for, she’s served in all the official positions of the Brown Ajah, and she’s a quiet but consistent presence at TarValon.Net. Taika, thank you for all you’ve given over the years, be it money or time and service.

2014

Announced at Anniversary Party 2014.

Member of the Year: Erin al'Denael

I'm sure that no one reading this could ever be surprised that Erin Sedai is this year's Member of the Year. She is one of the most responsive, hardworking individuals we have, and I can't say enough great things about her. She's innovative, plotsy (did y'all see Tar Bacon?) and is constantly looking for ways we can improve our situation and the experience that we're able to provide to our members. If you add up the months of everything she has done here over the years, it comes out to more than 13 YEARS of service. That is beyond incredible.

Unsung Servant: Kerna Shedrian

Kerna Sedai has done so many things for TarValon.Net that I have to direct you to her Library page to get a full sense of it. This past year she's been working extremely hard behind the scenes on merits with Serenla Sedai, and has been helping to train a new group of people on how to get the merits pages up to date and show that the merits have been earned. She also is a fount of information on all things Tower related and could probably find a stat for you out of the Library on just about any topic you could come up with. Thank you so much, Kerna, for all of your hard work!!

Volunteer of the Year: Mirandha Laflor

Mirandha Sedai performs an extremely difficult, sometimes thankless but extremely necessary role in the Department of Administration. She was originally brought in as staff in the department, then was put in charge of the Membership Survey. Then, due to her amazing skills, we decided to throw more tasks on her plate and ask her to help create and analyze the bullying survey that went out, then the Integration Survey. The information she conveyed to the administration from those surveys helps us to see what all of the members were thinking on various topics, and to use that information to help make decisions about how to proceed.

Philanthropist of the Year: Nethanel al'Tere

Nethanel Gaidin has consistently contributed to this Community over the years even at times when we're not actively fundraising. He gives of his time (he's currently our San d'ma Shadar Honour Guard) and his resources generously and consistently.

2013

Member of the Year: Leora Oldessroth

Leora Sedai exceeds all of those things. She has served in several departments over the years, and has led our administration since becoming Keeper of the Chronicles in 2011. She is organized, thorough, and has to put up with keeping me on track. She helped make my transition to Amyrlin Seat smooth, and I have loved getting to know her and getting to work with her during that transition.

Philanthropist of the Year: Lilli O'Neeus

Lilli Sedai of the Brown Ajah is someone who has given consistently to the Community and to our charity recipients consistently. This year in particular, she was among the first of those who jumped right in last fall asking "How can I help?" and "How can I give?" within what felt like hours of our financial world coming down. In addition, she has given much of her time and attention to other duties around the site!

Unsung Servant: Xander Silverstar

Xander Gaidin has worked behind the scenes as part of our Legal Research Team since 2009. It's a position that gets pretty much no recognition and one that involves nothing but questions and research and working to find answers to those technical questions that come up. He's since taken on the mantle of our Captain of Soldiers where he has also excelled!

Volunteer of the Year: Kytheria al'Shea

Kytheria Sedai has been a member since 2003, and as you can see from her Who's Who page in the Library, she's done many different things around here! Over the past almost two years, she's been doing an amazing job as the Director of Marketing and in fact had quite a few members write in to suggest her as a recipient of this award because of her skills and leadership.

2012

Members of the Year: Toral Delvar

Toral Gaidin is the steward of our Library. If you look at his profile you'll see the hundreds and hundreds of articles he has personally written and edited along with everything else he's done over the years. Then, he also keeps others motivated and on task, organizes our Library so that information is more easily found and so that it is as thorough and complete as it can possibly be. It's a job that is not always visible by everyone except when we want to look something up, but is something that really makes our Community an amazing source of information for everyone throughout the Wheel of Time Fandom. It's a job that takes a meticulousness that is incredible and an attention to detail that I definitely envy. Toral has earned this award many times over through his long membership with us!

Members of the Year: Ubahsur Kindellaer

Ubahsur Sedai has served as our Director of Administration since 2009 and I don't know that we could survive without her! She keeps us on track behind the scenes by putting together our Annual Report, she leads the charge of the Membership Survey, facilitates our reviews of those working in our administration, and was a big part of us finally becoming an official 501(c)7 corporation. Ubah gets the completely thankless task of keeping us on schedule for every piece of these projects, and leads a team of staff members in her department through her example of spending yet another 15 hour weekend working on Tower projects, not counting the time she spends on a daily basis as well.

Philanthropist of the Year: Sean Dragoran

Sean Gaidin is one of those individuals who continuously gives to others without any expectation of anything in return. I can't tell you how many times over the years I've heard stories after the fact of people who have been able to attend events because of him, of people in need he's heard about and assisted, and fundraisers we've run that he's always participated in. When he helps people he does it without looking for or wanting recognition, and he does it without hesitation. He's also served our Community over the years in many different capacities from Honour Guard to the Hall, as a Moderator and a guildmaster. He's someone who never stops wanting to help and give back.

Unsung Servant: Jeffan Caliarthan

Jeffan Gaidin always gives of his time without reservation and wholeheartedly jumps in wherever he can. Before being named as the Editor of the Tar Valon Times he has served as a Chat Operator, creating artwork for the Department of Marketing, he worked on articles for our Library, is a forum Moderator, has served in the Hall and worked on the Outreach Activities Team. In addition, he served his Company by working as their historian and keeping their Library page up to date, helped out myself and Leora last fall by moderating the Town Hall Meeting, has done countless hours on the merits program for Dralyn, and did a great job on the Member's Choice Awards this year, which we gave him and just said "make it work."

Unsung Servant: Kelgan al'Moranwin

Kelgan Gaidin has been with us for just over 2 years but has definitely made his presence known. He's served his Company in the Hall and the Community as a whole as a forum Moderator. You can find him interacting across our boards. He created an amazing stole for our Keeper of the Chronicles that he knit in preparation for her raising at our 10th Anniversary celebration in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. He also then created a stole in each of the other Ajah colors as well! Then, more personally for me, he is the person who created my stole which was given to me this past weekend. There are pictures in the NA-Anniversary forum, but let me tell you that the workmanship is exquisite. It took him 14 months to create it, and for those of you who knit you'll understand when I tell you he was practically knitting with sewing needles that are incredibly tiny! I couldn't even begin to quantify the hundreds of hours he worked on this and the Keeper's stoles.

Volunteers of the Year: Sonea Ilandred

Sonea Sedai is our Mistress of Revels for Britain and Ireland, planning several very successful parties for our membership over the last couple years. She's also given back by serving as Heart of the Blue Ajah, and was on the committee that helped us hash out the details of the Merit system when we were getting that set up. Sonea is so incredibly efficient, and also a blast to hang out with. Our Community wouldn't be the same without her!

Volunteers of the Year: Sa'areah Britthorn

Sa'areah Sedai did a lot this last year working as Head of her Ajah, and more recently as a Sitter in the Hall. She's also helped out in many other ways over the years, contributing to our Library and to the Guilds. Within the Yellow Ajah she's been THE Tea Brewer, and then as their Sunshine in 2009. She reaches out to people across our Community, and is just a fabulous person all the way around, which came through when she was voted as the Aes Sedai most representative of her Ajah in our Member's Choice Awards 2011.

2011

Member of the Year: Vivianna L'antreau

Member of the Year: Melana al'Cairera

She's served in more positions than I can count including Tower Voice, Head of Ajah, Director, and all around troublemaker! She's the originator of painting the Tower pink, I think has blown it up more than once, and is one of the originators of the Blue obsession with s'redit. I was so looking forward to meeting her after so long having known her this year, and she was just as delightful in person as she's always been on our forums.

Philanthropist of the Year: Caerwyn Jolan

Philanthropist of the Year: Cassie Dainar

Volunteer of the Year: Serenla Tamowith

Unsung Servant: Darian Coralis

Servant of All: Kerna Shedrian

Kerna has been a member since long before I was! She has served in many roles for her Ajah including Heart, Soul *and* Sitter, has been a forum Moderator, an editor in the Library, a member of the Philanthopy team, is currently Tower Historian and Head of the Blue Ajah. She's been a force of nature in getting our histories flushed out and expanded and goes out of her way to keep abreast of goings on in the Community and helping out where needed.

Servant of All: Naeris Vell'sean

Naeris joined us in 2005 and was raised to Gaidin almost a year later in May 2006. He also has served on the Hall as a Warder Councillor, as well as an Honour Guard and Company Commander for Dai M'Hael. He's received Members' Choice Awards for his representation of of his Company and of the Gleemen Guild and is currently serving as the European Master of Revels. He has always been a positive presence throughout the Community.

2010

Member of the Year: Serinia Edoras
Philanthropists of the Year: Deoan Kakarot and Tian el'Nvidia
Unsung Servant: Tree
Volunteer of the Year: Alyria Ess

2009

Member of the Year: Defen Estrator

This year's recipient is someone who not only went above and beyond in his duty, not only took on and assisted in additional projects.... we simply could not have stayed online without him. Defen's amazing work with the site affects all of us. His willingness to be there 24 hours a day when needed is astounding. The fact that he not only says he'll be there, but is, is inspirational.

Philanthropist of the Year: Ubahsur Kindellaer

Ubah has, in her many years of membership, taken a very consistant route towards giving to the community. She has regularly participated in each of our fundraisers, and consistantly gives towards special projects that aim to help members or the community at large. She has also consistantly given goods or provided other material help to members in need.

Unsung Servant: Riley Maconnar

Riley has served in many positions over the years... Membership Administrator, Hallmember....

But he is being specifically recongized this time for his consistant service to us at our North American real life events.

Riley has served in two very important function positions for our North America real life events several times now: Camp Nurse and Head of the Food Committee. As Camp Nurse he has been there to help during real emergencies, and has shown exceptional patience when the emergency is nothing more than someone needing their head held over a toilet. We can all agree, that's some dedication there. But his role as Head of the Food Committee has been heroic in its own right. This is, by far, the most difficult committee to chair. It has the largest amount of volunteers to corral, a menu to create that feeds a brood with very different needs, he's been in charge of the food shopping as well... and he has always come in under budget. Moreover, we've always been fed well, fed enough, and had much less waste than any of us expected.

It's a role that has directly affected many of us, and it's not one that gets a lot of recognition.

Volunteer of the Year: Toral t'Simoua Delvar

The Volunteer Award recognizes exceptional achievement in volunteerism to the community. This may be achieved by volunteering through an official position, or by going above and beyond regular duties. Toral clearly deserves this award for his work in both arenas.

Toral has not only served with distinction as a Membership Admin, but also has stood out as one of the most prolific writers and editors in our Library. The exceptional achievements the Library has made in the past year or so are directly linked to Toral's hard, consistant, and above and beyond work.

2008

Member of the Year: Yelenia Hylraren
Unsung Servant: Jaryd Kosari

2007

Member of the Year: Dralyn Montsier

Dralyn took over as my Keeper... gosh. I want to say less than a year ago, but that can't be right. About a year? I knew I liked her, though we had never really *really* talked. To be honest, I knew her less than some other people I had been considering for the job. Her application grabbed me, though. She seemed to know exactly what was needed, and her work as an Admin with us before showed that she wasn't whistling dixie.

My life changed when she joined my staff. In creating TarValon.Net, I gave up a lot of my life. Work, social, etc. I was here, by necessity, about 40 - 50 hours a week, trying to manage everything I could. Dralyn walked in, and she knew how to manage me. Within a period of weeks, my life changed. I had time, and I had a work-life balance emerging. I fully credit my still being Amyrlin with having her for a Keeper.

She knows everything that happens on this site. She works diligently. I find her fair. She doesn't take any nonsense (and in many cases, I take too much of it), but she is compassionate, fair, honest, trustworthy. She understands implicitly why things are as they are, how they got there, and how they can get better without losing the core of what and who we are. During my move, she has had to take on more and more responsabilities, and has done them so effortlessly that I think many of you have not noticed my frequent necessary leaves of absences.

She hounds me when I drive cross country, knowing that I "can be held hostage" to talk about Tower issues. Sets up meetings at real life events. She is my partner in crime, and I think that I would now be lost without her.

Member of the Year: Zhareen Narelle

Zhareen joined our tech team "recently." I say that because, well, anything short of 3 years is recent to me in my brain. IT has been one of our most challenging sections to fill. It requires real life, marketable skills. It's also a job that doesn't let you approach it on your own time. If something is needed, it's needed now.

When Zhareen joined us, we had a wish-list a mile long. We wanted to add so much to the membership log in page. It used to have a link to email, and the ability to change a password. It now has 7 - 8 functions (depending on level). This is an easy thing for me to point to. The fact is that she is fast and efficient in seeing that we have an issue, and solving it. I wish I understood half of what she did, because then I could explain it to you better. All I can say is that she has cut down our "to do" list like someone mowing a lawn. When there is a problem, I have come to learn that asking Zhareen to come up with a solution and letting her tackle it is a surefire way of it being solved quickly.

Philanthropist of the Year: Tinnlin Fundon

His donations have helped to keep our site running, assisted in emergency funds, and have helped to fund our scholarship. His donation this year was large enough to allow several members attending our party to be able to wait past the established payment deadline; the circumstances were beyond their control, but thanks to our members generosity, we were able to float them a few days.

This site is run entirely on membership contribution. No fees. No ads. Without the generosity of spirit that pervades this community, we could never do as much as we do, and do it so successfully.

Philanthropists of the Year: Muerandah d'Acre and Martele d'Acre

2006

Member of the Year: Val a'Shain
Philanthropist of the Year: Padraigin al'Teirik
Unsung Servant: Faeril Munlear and Branwyn al'Leara
Volunteer of the Year: Caia al'Tamad

2005

Unknown: Valorian Edoras
Members of the Year: Karassa Souladrin and Kariada Kunai

2004

Contributor of the Year: Randle al'Ren
Philanthropist of the Year: Arisaema Draconis

2002

Philanthropist of the Year: James Davion
Unknown: Valorian Edoras