Eniara Kisharad

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Eniara.jpg
Eniara Kisharad
Real Name Shannon
Location Auckland, New Zealand
Birthday August 10
TarValon.Net Information
Affiliation Brown Ajah
Rank Aes Sedai
Title Sitter, Asst. Director of Research
Join Date September 7, 2002
Bonded to Ciaran al'Trystan
Link to Forum Profile

Tower History

Tower Involvement

Current

Previous

Awards

Members' Choice Award 2007: Walking WoT Encyclopedia:

Merits

Gold

Membership Merit Gold 300.png Senior Membership Merit Gold 300.png Committee Head Merit Gold 300.png Staff Merit Gold 300.png

Silver

Events Attendance Merit Silver 300.png Participation Costume Merit Silver 300.png Participation Trivia Merit Silver 300.png Members Choice Award 300.png


Tower Relationships

Bonding

Bonded to Ciaran al'Trystan February 15, 2006 - present

Mentoring

Mentor

Jorryn Gaille Varna

Mentees

Other Tower Relationships

Official Event Attendance

Senior Member Interview

What is your Tower name?

Eniara Kisharad

When were you raised to Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah?

August 2003, and I had to go look that up.

Why did you choose Brown?

I picked Brown for what was, at least it seems now, a pretty silly reason, long before I joined TarValon.net. In any case, I was very entrenched as a Brown by the time I came here so I just went with what was familiar. It stuck and here I am. I tend to consider myself more Rainbow Ajah than anything, but Brown foremost among the other stripes.

Are you like the Browns in the books?

A lot of the time, yes. I've always been a voracious bookworm and am addicted to learning. While studying at Michigan State I also worked for the university library and I now work for the University of Auckland on a very Brown map digitization and distribution project.

Do you love books and do you daydream a lot?

Yes, and yes. I've always wanted to write my own insanely complicated book series but awesome as it may be in my head, I don't have the focus to actually write a book.

Do you have a favorite Brown Ajah character from the novels?
This is a no-brainer I think. Verin Mathwin totally wins the Brown Ajah Award of the Age for Awesomeness.

How was your time as Citizen/Novice/Accepted?

I'm enough of an oldbie that I joined before the city was created. I honestly don't remember much about being a novice or Accepted. At the time I had a lot of my energy directed into other online communities, leaving me mostly a lurker here. I do remember it took me a year (that felt like forever) to be raised to Aes Sedai, and that the Hall turned me down the first time I was put forward because too few people knew who I was.

How long have you been a member of TV.net?

September 2012 will be 10 years. Wow. It seems a lifetime ago I first met Eleyan and company at Dragon*con 2002.

What things do you do for TV.net?

Right now I'm serving as the Assistant Director of Research. Most of my time in that position so far has brainstorm assistance to the Director and some library editing. I've also served as Treasurer, the Events Committee head for several official parties, and spent two terms as Sitter for the Brown Ajah. I try to contribute to the fandom in obscure ways as well. One summer I convinced my mother to spend several months sewing 3' x 5' flags of the 15 Westlands nations, and to my great pleasure they still get lots of use at Dragon*Con and Jordan*Con each year.

How long have you been a fan of The Wheel of Time and how did you get to read the Series?

It's a pretty funny story, actually. Says a lot about my character in high school. In the spring of 1998 I was a lowly freshman who'd recently changed high schools. Unfortunately for me -- being the bookworm that I was -- the only English class with space available was a class of students who were not blessed with, shall we say, "langage abilities." Most of my classmates hated reading, writing, and anything associated with either of those. So there I was, about a month into a daily routine of beating my head on my desk, when we get assigned an end-of-year book report. We were encouraged to pick any book we wanted so long as it was more than 100 pages, and then a month later we'd present both a written report and an oral presentation. I walked into the school library and immediately went hunting the fattest fiction book I could find. I'll admit it was a bad attitude on my part, but I was determined to demonstrate my disdain at being stuck in the class by showing off. What caught my eye was a beat-up copy of The Eye of the World. I'd not delved into the fantasy genre at that point, but the plot synopsis looked interesting so I decided to give it a try. The teacher was skeptical about the book size but she gave her approval and I plowed through tEotW like candy and went right back for The Great Hunt. The look on my classmates' faces when I plunked down not just one, but two 800-page books on my desk and proceeded to do my report on both was priceless. And, by the time I gave that report, I was already devouring book 4. The rest has been history. I was caught hook, line, and sinker and quit counting the series re-reads I've done since after my 13th time through tEotW.

Who is your favorite hero?

Moiraine has been my favorite book character since I first picked up The Eye of the World, and she remains so to this day. It was agony waiting more than a decade for her to come back, jumping for every book to find her yet again absent!

Favorite bad guy/gal?

This is tougher. I think I'll have to pick Graendal. There's a little piece of me that would like to go totally hedonistic and get away with it.

Favorite book and scene?

Favorite book is a toss up between New Spring and The Fires of Heaven. My favorite scene is when Rand reads the letter Moiraine left him after sacrificing herself fighting Lanfear. I'm always a sucker for the greater good, giving up everything to protect someone scenarios.

If you were set down in Randland, who/what would you see yourself as? An Aes Sedai? Innkeeper? Seanchan Captain?

I think after more than a decade spent immersed in online communities as an Aes Sedai, I really would have to be a part of the Tower if dropped into Randland. It's either that or joining the Aiel.

How did you find TarValon.Net and what convinced you to stay and become a Senior Member?

I was first exposed to TarValon.net when a small group of members attended Dragon*Con 2002. It took meeting one person to convince me to join...Melissa Craib.

To whom are you bonded, if you're bonded?

I've had 6 great years so far bonded to the amazing Ciaran al'Trystan. He and I orginally met in chat and clicked over our mutual love of highland cows. It's just gotten weirder through the years since.

Who is your mentee, if you have one?

Alas, I've never had an official mentee at TarValon.net.

Have you ever attended any Real Life Functions? Did you like them if you did, and why?

I'm going to assume this is just official functions so I don't have to list all of the minor parties I've attended. I attended every Dragon*Con between 2002 and 2008. I was also at JordanCon 2009 and ComicCon 2005 (the year Robert Jordan was there promoting New Spring). Add to that list Fall Ball '04 (Albuquerque), 5th Anni (Corpus Christi), Fall Ball '06 (Toronto), and most recently 10th Anni (Charleston). I have yet to go to a party that I regretted attending. Some have been completely fantastic, some have had major drama, and at some I've had minor meltdowns. That being said, they're like big family reunions and I love going and will continue to attend any opportunity I can. Now that I'm in New Zealand I've got a chance to try and drum up more events for the South Pacific.

What kind of music do you enjoy listening to?

I'm an eclectic musicphile and like something of pretty much everything. The only two genres I dislike for the most part are gangsta rap and heavy metal.

What do you do in "real life?"

I do lots of things. For work I am a Geographics Technician with the University of Auckland's School of Environment. I'm also a full-time wife to Ayendra Sedai, I help with my ex-flatmate's crazy film projects, I read, I watch movies, I play video games (primarily LOTRO and Stronghold 2 these days), and I get out hiking when the weather is good. I also started learning to kiteboard this past summer. New Zealand is a fabulous place for outdoor pursuits!

What is the craziest/stupidest thing you've ever done?

I work really hard to not be crazy or stupid so I'm not sure how to answer this. Does dedicating the bulk of the last decade to living and breathing a fantasy book series and its associated communities count? Or maybe more crazy would be embracing my inner wanderlust and packing up and moving to foreign cultures.

Do you have a pet?

Not right now. We desperately want a cat but we put it off until we obtained NZ permanent residency. Now that we have that, our apartment is too small...

What languages do you speak?

Alas, only English. I'd give anything for an immersive set of courses in Scottish Gaelic, though. I've tried teaching myself piecemeal but I get so distracted I forget what I've learned and always have to start over.

Aside from The Wheel of Time, what are a few of your favorite books/series?

Let's see...a small sampling would be A Song of Ice and Fire, Brandon Sanderson's assorted works, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Avalon series, Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy and latest book, Tamir Triad, and I still adore The Chronicles of Narnia. Recently my Warder turned me onto Malazan Book of the Fallen and I've just finished book 1.

What profession did you want to have when you were a kid?

When I was little I wanted to be pharaoh. *lol* All through high school I was determined to become a veterinarian, but in college I realized the vet school work load would overwhelm me.

Seanchan or Shara?

Considering both are pretty hard on channelers, how about neither? Instead I'll choose to spend time with my sidekick, Shara Sedai.

Board games or computer games?

I love playing both. Computer games win out most of the time, but nothing can beat a rainy day with cup of hot tea and a good board game.

Coke or Pepsi?

Let's go with neither. I don't drink soda except the occasional Diet Dr. Pepper or Diet Vernors. My vote lies with unsweet iced tea!

A short bio about yourself.

I'm 28, Michiganian by birth, Texan by adoption, and Kiwi by choice. I currently live in Auckland, New Zealand, and I'm very happily married to Ayendra Kisharad, also of the Brown Ajah. I hold a Bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in Fisheries and Wildlife and a Post-graduate Diploma of Science from the University of Auckland in Geography/GIS. I adore traveling and try to get out and go whenever I can, but all the work that's expected when you're an adult gets in the way of that much of the time. I've lived and studied on 3 continents, I once lost a cassette tape in my teeth, my favorite band is Evanescence, my favorite television show is Xena: Warrior Princess, and I have been told I'd be an awesome person to pair up with Lucy Lawless in a bar. I think that says enough.


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