Cemaile Sorenthaine

Atarah al'Norahn

General

Cemaile Sorenthaine was an Aes Sedai of the Gray Ajah several hundred years ago. She was raised to the Amyrlin Seat in the year 681 NE, and held the position until her death in 705 NE (The World of Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time").

Cemaile's dream was to return the White Tower, and the world, to the way they were before the Trolloc Wars, when the White Tower held a lot more power (A Crown of Swords, Prologue). However, long before the time she died, Cemaile lost all power and became simply a figurehead, with no major decisions to make (The Path of Daggers, Chapter 16).

Miscellaneous

-Dreaming of a return to the days before the Trolloc Wars, Cemaile had an ornate clock made. It is elaborately gilded, with small figures of gold and silver and enamel moving among the chimes. On one level, Trollocs flee from a cloaked Aes Sedai. One another, a false Dragon attempts to fend off lightning bolts that have been hurled by another Aes Sedai. Above the clockface, a king and queen kneel before an Amyrlin Seat. Until Elaida claimed it, it had resided in a dusty storage room for three centuries (A Crown of Swords, Prologue).

-Egwene thinks that she is little better off than Cemaile Sorenthaine was (The Path of Daggers, Chapter 16).

-Elaida is determined to make Cemaile's dream of the Tower come true (The Path of Daggers, Chapter 25).

Quotes

"She [Elaida] did not laugh often, but she could not help a quietly pleased chuckle at the clock. Cemaile Sorenthaine, raised from the Gray, had commissioned it dreaming of a return to the days before the Trolloc Wars, when no ruler held a throne without the Tower's approval. Cemaile's grand plans had come to naught, however, as did Cemaile, and for three centuries the clock sat in a dusty storage room, an embarrassment no one dared display. Until Elaida." (Elaida; A Crown of Swords, Prologue).

"She [Egwene] would avoid Shein's fate if she could, but she would not remain as she was, little better off than Cemaile Sorenthaine. Long before the end of her reign, the most important decision left to Cemaile's discretion was what dress to wear." (Egwene; The Path of Daggers, Chapter 16).