Sorilea
Sorilea was the Wise One of Shende Hold, of the Jarra sept of the Chareen Aiel, a figure of weathered authority whose command rested on force of will rather than strength in saidar.
Sorilea holds her place among the Wise Ones through sheer force of presence. Her standing does not rest on strength in the One Power but on a will that admits no argument, and even Wise Ones as formidable as Amys, Bair, and Melaine find little room to maneuver when she has settled on a course. She is stern in the oldest sense of the word: a keeper of Aiel custom who treats duty as a plain fact of life, not a matter open to preference or complaint.
Her discernment is as exacting as her discipline. Sorilea weighs the people around her with a keen eye and holds them to strict standards of comportment, and her disapproval, when it comes, is sharp and unmistakable. Offenses against Aiel principles do not pass her unremarked. Resistance to an obligation carries no more weight with her than a change in the weather; the obligation stands, and she expects it to be met.
For all her severity, her judgment runs deeper than mere rule-keeping. She understands what leadership of the clans demands, and she says plainly that a man who would lead them must be ruthless to do it. Sorilea does not soften hard truths for anyone's comfort. Her hold and her sept have long known her as an old woman of unbending will, and one of the most commanding voices among the Wise Ones of the Aiel.
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