THE TOWERS

The Accords of the Dragon, as worked out by the Great Council after Tarmon Gai'don, revolutionized the way society was formed. Changes affected throughout the world caused much unrest among many factions, though they were still a minority. Years would go by before the world would realize the folly of leaving these factions alone to let their hate and suspicion fester and grow until it became so much a part of them that they would never realize what they were missing by living in their narrow-minded darkness.

The Accords established what would come to be known as the Twin Towers. The Towers were erected on the site of the city of Tar Valon that had been utterly destroyed in an early attack by the Seanchan. All that remained of the city at the time of the Twin Towers establishment was the shell of what would have been the false Amyrlin Elaida's residence and a few scattered buildings. It was a miracle that anything had managed to escape the destruction that the Seanchan brought and caused those Aes Sedai that they caught to wreak. The residence of the false Amyrlin became the Central Hall, which would later become a library that would rival the Royal Library of Cairhienin. The Ogier erected two Towers on the grounds of Tar Valon, one as bright and pale as the White Tower had once been and one of gleaming obsidian. Separately they would be the White Tower and the Black Tower, together they became known as the Twin Towers.

Ten years after the last day of Tarmon Gai'don began what would come to be called the Golden Age. During the Golden Age many discoveries were made, old things came again as had once been predicted so long ago. Among the most amazing discoveries was of a previously unknown talent that was simply known as Seeing--this talent became highly prized especially by the Red Ajah. The Talent allowed a person to see the potential ability to channel--no matter the gender--it made the job of the Red Ajah much easier as the Reds had gone from man-hunters to hunters of anyone with the innate ability to channel. Because of the Reds zealous searches the role of the Twin Towers rapidly grew and soon more buildings had to be added to the Twin Towers complex. It became a tradition for any channeler in training to serve some time among the Aiel Wise Ones; the Sea Folk's Windfinders; and among those of the Kin who had chosen not to join the Tower after Amyrlin Egwene's decree that those who had proven themselves worthy could be raised to the shawl without the necessity of the Test. Among the channelers that the Red discovered were the modern day legends Danette Galliana, Shurai Ariliam, Chani Moonshadow, and Frenzy.

Things had settled down and had taken on a comfortable rhythm when isolated reports of villages being leveled began filtering in. At first these reports were dismissed, but soon they could no longer be ignored as a village only three day's travel from Tar Valon was destroyed and representatives of both Towers were killed. Forced into action the military provisions of the Accords of the Dragon were activated and once again war raged across the land. Three years after the first attacks, Tar Valon was leveled once more and the Amyrlin Egwene was killed as were most of the channelers within the land. Very few survived the attack and only those lucky enough to be out of the city at the time were left unscathed. These attacks turned out to be the work of the Rouge Forsaken, Mordeth. After the devastation of Tar Valon everything degenerated into chaos and mankind reverted to their more primitive natures--order collapsed, nations crumbled--death and destruction covered the land like a shroud.

Approximately 180 years after Tarmon Gai'don ended and exactly seven years to the day of the destruction of the Twin Towers a group of unlikely allies forged new life from the ashes of destruction that surrounded them. Tired of the disorder and chaos three Aes Sedai met together and formed a Pact that, to this day, still amazes historians. It was well known that Danette Galliana was the champion of the Light--she had hunted down and destroyed a shadow group known as the Lodge of the Raven with only the assistance of her closest allies. Chani Moonshadow was famous for her stand on neutrality; though she'd chosen the Green Ajah she maintained a strict balance of light and dark. Frenzy Sedai had since been revealed as a Darkfriend and many sought to place the destruction of the Twin Towers at her feet, but this accusation was completely inaccurate--for Frenzy had actually fought to protect the Twin Towers. Together these three formed the Pact of Balance creating a new Twin Towers, but this one had a purpose quite separate from its original incarnation.

The Tower of Light and the Tower of Dark made up the official "Twin" Towers, but a third group emerged called the Twilight Tower. This third group seemed to provide a bridge on which those sworn to Shadow and those sworn to Light could find common ground, though tension still existed between the two. After the establishment of the Twin Towers the uprisings were quelled and by the time the bicentennial of the last battle of Tarmon Gai'don came, order had once more been restored to the lands and people had slowly began to rebuild their lives. The difference between the new Twin Towers and the old was what each tower represented. In the original Twin Towers, the tower of Light represented the Aes Sedai, and the Tower of Dark represented the Asha'man. All of the people in the old towers "Served the light." In the new towers, however, Asha'man and Aes Sedai served the same tower; the Tower of Light now stood for followers of the Light, and the Tower of Dark now stood for those who followed the Dark One. Aided by the Twilight Tower, the forces of Light and Dark united against a new common enemy; the one that had destroyed the old towers: Mordeth.

The Tower of Light The Tower of Twilight The Tower of Darkness