KIN

Rank System within the PSW Kin Guild

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General Info on the Kin

Role Play Information

There are 5 ranks in the PSW Kin, which can be obtained by going through the Progression System

Potential   Kin Member   Area Circle Member    Knitting Circle Member    Eldest

 1. Potential

Every Kin character starts out at this level, whether they are a 14 year old girl who does not want to go to the White Tower or an 80 year old accepted that has failed her test. During this time, the 'potential Kin member' is observed and her situation is examined with the highest care. It is always a very risky business to bring new members into the Kin, due to the security risk, so the Kin will be very careful.

Depending on her situation, a Kin member ( from the Search & Rescue teams) will approach the potential in an indirect manner. Never revealing anything from the Kin while using their skills to learn as much as possible about her. This Assessor will convey what she learns to the Knitting Circle in Ebou Dar through The Thread, where the situation will be looked into and a decision will be made whether to bring the girl/woman to Ebou Dar or not. If the decision is negative, the Assessor may decide to stay friends with the potential but will never reveal anything to her about the Kin in any way. More often, though, the Assessor will start working towards finding a new direction for the rejected, while at the same time gradually building down her contact with the girl.

If the decision is positive, the Assessor will escort her to Ebou Dar, where she will have a first interview with the Eldest. Though she will still not know anything from the Kin at this point. During the interview, the Eldest will handle three issues:

  1. The Potential is made to swear an oath: 'Under the Light and by my hope of salvation and rebirth, I vow never to betray The Kin to those they deem as adversaries through communication or deed except in the last extremity of defending my life.'
  2. The Eldest will determine what skills and talents the potential has and which direction she wants to take with her life
  3. The Eldest and the Mistress of the Retreat create a personalized program for the potential's Basic Training.

The Potential then enters the Basic Training Program at the Retreat. She will follow a program that consists of both standard Kin courses as well as specialized courses to start her off in her chosen life and profession.

    During their Basic Training, each Potential learns the essentials needed to live as a Kin.
     

    • Rules and regulations of the Kin
    • Disguise: the character learns how to blend into her new surroundings. Adopting a new name is not enough. Learning a new skill or two, the local                  dialect, traditions, habits, how to deftly manage gossip, people skills. All of those things can help the character in leading a successful Kin life.
    • New Life skills: in addition to the above the Potential will also learn all the necessary aspects of the new life she’ll take on after graduating from Basic Training.                           This part of her training will be highly personalized depending on the Potential’s existing knowledge and skill set.

 Special case: Former White Tower Initiates

Novices and Accepted that have failed their test and are put out the White Tower will usually draw the Kin's attention to them due to the desolate and disoriented state that they are in. Having spent years in the confines of the White Tower, under constant supervision and direction, these girls and women are often lost when turned loose. Not knowing what to do, where to go or how to go about it. Some of these will have spent many decades in the Tower and may have no family left to return to. Or if they do, the shame of failing may be too great for them to return home.

Stilled, burnt out or otherwise exiled Aes Sedai also trigger the Kin radar. These wretched souls are often at a loss and unable to function in the outside world. With little to no understanding from anyone, including their former sisters, they often find themselves completely destitute and without hope. Which only worsens the already devastating effects of their situation.

While it is extremely rare that the Kin would approach WT Initiates, it has happened in the past.

An Assessor (always an experienced member of the Search & Rescue team) will observe the subject for several months and then make a recommendation to the Knitting Circle before making contact with the subject. The Knitting Circle will then meet to discuss the Assessor's advise and make a decision whether or not contact can be made. If negative, the Assessor moves on without ever making contact with the subject, who is then left to her own devises, never knowing she was under investigation to begin with.

If positive, the Assessor will cut off all her ties to the Kin and approach the subject in a very indirect manner at first, building up towards a friendship as time goes on. She will not contact any of the Kin in any manner during the entire course of her investigation. Only after her investigation is completed will she then, very covertly, send her findings to the Knitting Circle, who will then meet again to discuss the results of the Assessor's investigation and decide once and for all if the subject is to be accepted or not. If negative, the Assessor will one night disappear from her subject's life and relocate to another country, never to be seen or heard from again.

If positive, the Assessor will escort the (now) Potential to Ebou Dar and the Retreat, where she will have her interview with the Eldest.

Runaways almost always are taken back to the White Tower, by the WT Liaison Officers. Only in the cases where the runaway really does not want to return will she be taken into consideration by the Kin. Upon being accepted, these girls/women are taken to a secret location close to the Retreat and kept there for several decades until it is considered safe for them to venture into the world. Runaways that are discovered by the White Tower are always returned and immediately cut off from the Kin. It takes much longer for runaways to learn new things about the Kin, due to the continuous danger. Everyone knows after all, you are not done with the White Tower until the White Tower is done with you. And Sisters have very long memories.

2. Kin Member

Once a potential is deemed finished with Basic Training (a decision made by her Trainer and the Mistress of the Retreat), a graduation ceremony is held. This ceremony is a small gathering of just a few people: the Eldest, the graduate, the Mistress of the Retreat, the Trainer and sometimes the potential's Assessor who brought her into the Kin if she's in the neighborhood. During this ceremony the new Kin Member will choose her new name and set off with her Trainer or Assessor towards her new destination.

The Area Circle will have been informed of her arrival and they will assign a Kin companion to their new member. Depending on the chosen life the new Kin Member has picked, it is entirely possible that this will be the only other Kin member she will ever know. However, it may also be that she will be granted more knowledge of the Kin as time goes by and she proves herself trustworthy.

Kin members can take on many different roles in the course of their lives, as they live very long. This longevity would soon cause a great deal of suspicion with the regular folks, so the Kin follow a rotating system that is known as 'the Turn'. Every Turn, Kin relocate to a different country or to the Retreat to avoid people noticing their slow aging.

There are some roles the Kin see as 'special roles' which require specific skills, talents and attitude as they hold a higher threat to the entirety of the Kin.
These roles are: Potential Trainer, Mistress of the Retreat, Wise Women/Wisdom, Search & Rescue Kin and White Tower Liaison Officers.
You can find out more specific information on these roles in the 'roles' section of this site.

3. Area Circle Member

Each of the 13 Area's has an Area Circle and every Area Circle consists of the 13 oldest Kin members of that Area that want to sit in the Circle. The eldest of each Circle is the leader of the entire Area. She is known as a Regional Eldest and is also a member of the Knitting Circle. The Area Circle rules the Kin of that specific area. They make the local decisions, assess the trust worthiness of the local Kin members and guard the safety and secrecy of the Kin in that area.

Each Area Circle member is also a 'piece of the Thread', which means that they control the lines of communications within their area.

It is possible for an Area Circle member to have a secondary role besides their position in the Circle, but they will venture only rarely outside the boundaries of their specific area. This will be taken into account when choosing their every day occupation.

The Area Circle also handles all matters of discipline in their area. For severe cases, however, they will always convene with the Knitting Circle who will assist in deciding the appropriate course of action.

4. Knitting Circle Member

There are 13 Knitting Circle members consisting of the 12 oldest Area Circle members of all the areas and the Eldest.

The Knitting Circle resides in Ebou Dar and rules the Kin through The Thread. Each member of the Knitting Circle is also a 'piece of the Thread' for their Region. They decide on the manner of communicating, the code to be used and decide whether someone is ready to become a piece of the Thread or not.

Each Region has several 'Regional Eldest' even though the title suggests one person. The Regional Eldests determine rank between them based on their respective ages. The oldest Regional Eldest of a certain Region has the highest authority within that entire Region and can overrule the other Regional Eldests, though this almost never happens for the sake of harmony, which helps reinforce the Kin's security. In the Knitting Circle, however, the oldest Regional Eldests from each Region are on equal ground, no matter who is older than who. For example: the oldest Regional Eldest from the South Region is 350 years old and the oldest from the East Region is 325. The one from the East Region has an equal voice in the Knitting Circle even though she is younger than the one from the South Region. See 'leadership' for an overview of how many KC members each region has.

Knitting Circle members also have a secondary role as a cover towards the world, though their occupation must allow them to travel when necessary. This will be rare, but it can happen that a KC member is needed in her Region in person, in which case she must be free to go without that causing problems with her cover.

The Knitting Circle handles all matters concerning the Kin. They decide on the direction the Kin will take, which potentials to accept or refuse, disciplinary matters and promotion of lower ranking Kin members.

5. Eldest

The Eldest is the oldest Kin member in Ebou Dar who wants the position. She rules over all the Kin. Her word is final, but she will almost always follow the advise of the Knitting Circle. With the rotation system of the Turn, a new Eldest takes her place every 30 years. The Eldest is the absolute representation of what a perfect Kin is supposed to be like. She serves both as ruler as well as example. It is a position that instills a very high level of responsibility in the woman carrying it. However, how this translates in her actions and decisions highly depends on the woman's character and personal beliefs. And so it can be that she finds herself at rather opposite ends with some members of the Knitting Circle.

 

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