KIN


Roles within the PSW Kin Guild

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Role Play Information

Some roles the Kin take on require a higher level of attention due to the potential risk factor each of these roles bring to the Kin in general.
We distinguish 5 very specific roles within the PSW Kin, which are in order of increasing risk factor:

Potential Trainer  right01.gif  Mistress of the Retreat  right01.gif Wise Women or Wisdom right01.gif  Search & Rescue Kin  right01.gif White Tower Liaison Officer

In order to play any of these roles, certain conditions have to be fulfilled. Please check the 'Roles Progression System' section of this site for more information on that.

1. Potential Trainer

A Potential Trainer is a Kin Member who has chosen to stay in Ebou Dar to give Basic Training to new potentials. She will be an experienced Kin member who has been a Kin for at least 1 Turn (= 30 years). The PT decides, together with the Mistress of the Retreat, when her charges are ready for graduation and announces the news to the potential and organizes the graduation ceremony. She follows the potential's Basic Training Program and is very skilled in at least one of the skills/talents the potential needs to learn to take on her new life. If the potential needs to learn skills the PT does not possess, she searches for other Kin members that can take on that particular part of the Training (often among the other PT's, as they are the easiest to get hold of since they all live in the area).

2. Mistress of the Retreat

The Mistress of the Retreat is in charge of the daily operations at the Retreat. She overlooks not only the potentials, but also those civilians that come to the Retreat for whatever reason they may have. All residents at the Retreat are women. In addition to these, the MotR is also in charge of the implementation of disciplinary programs on those Kin members that have been sent to her for that purpose.

The woman that is usually put in this position is one that commands a great deal of respect by her very nature. This position is not linked to the Turn, so it is possible that the MotR remains the same for many decades.

The Mistress of the Retreat is not necessarily a channeler. The ability to channel or strength in the One Power has absolutely no weight within the Kin, since their system of authority is based on age. And yet, the Mistress of the Retreat may very well even make the Eldest feel a bit uneasy even if she is hundreds of years older than her. It all depends on the character and personality.

The Mistress of the Retreat is chosen by the Knitting Circle and given almost full authority over the daily operations of the Retreat. She is usually a Kin member herself but can also be one of the Friends of the Kin, regular people who (through highly rare occurrences) are aware of the Kin's existence and are helping to both keep the secret as well as provide assistance whenever necessary. Always she is a woman that the Kin has known for many years and have come to trust implicitly.

3. Wise Women or Wisdom

Most channeling Kin members, though not all of them, at one point in their long lives take on the position of a Wise Woman or Wisdom. These women have an almost legendary reputation in the mundane world as Healers and are much respected and appreciated. Obviously, this position also entails a high level of risk to the Kin and so, once again, extenuating measures are taken to prevent exposure to the wrong people.

A Kin that wishes to take on a position of a Wise Woman or Wisdom must become an apprentice to an existing Wise Woman or Wisdom for at least 1 Turn. If her Mistress' Turn is over before she has finished her full 30 years of apprenticeship, she will be assigned to another Mistress for the remainder of her time. She may make a suggestion herself or one of the other Wise Women or Wisdom may request to get her. But under no condition is she allowed to practice the craft before her full term is over.

Once the apprentice has finished her term, the Knitting Circle will inform her that she is now free to start her own practice. Usually this coincides with her moving to a different location, in accordance to the rotating system of the Turn.

4. Search & Rescue Kin

These are the brave souls within the Kin, for they go out to find White Tower initiates (runaways, refusals, exiled ones, etc) and channelers in Amadicia and other hostile areas. Known as Assessors, these Kin risk their lives to find and save as many girls and women as possible without risking the security of the Kin. Assessors usually have a secondary life, which they use as a cover for the mundane world (as most Kin do, really). Due to their need to be able to travel, however, their chosen mundane life must feature in this option so not to endanger their cover. They must be able to leave whenever without rousing suspicion.

As you could read in the 'rank' section of the site, Assessors play a vastly important part in the procedure of accepting new potentials.

Before being allowed to join this group, a Kin member must first spend 1 Turn (30 years) in another profession as Kin and finish a special training program that is designed especially for the S&R role. This training will include OP training, disguise, geography of the risk areas, survival and escape skills, communication through the Thread and other necessary skills to maximize success, safety and secrecy. This specialized training takes on average 15 years and can start no sooner than in the last decade of the current turn. So they have to be a Kin member for a minimum of 35 years before they can graduate from this training.

All Assessors are also 'pieces of the Thread' as it is essential to their work that they can communicate with the Knitting Circle.

Needless to say that these Kin are among the highest respected Kin members outside of the leadership position. They literally risk their lives in order to find and save as many channelers are possible. Only highly trusted and skillful Kin members are allowed to join the S&R Team. There is only 1 other role within the Kin that has an even higher risk factor than this one.

5. White Tower Liaison Officer

The role with the highest risk factor for the Kin, and therefore the one that is most difficult to obtain, is that of the White Tower Liaison Officer.

The WT LO actively seeks contact with the White Tower, contrary to the general policy of the Kin elsewhere. These women go out and find runaways from the Tower and try their best to persuade them to return to the Tower. They also encourage and help wilders that are young enough for the Novice Book to go to the White Tower. This may sound strange, but no Kin would ever refuse even the smallest chance of being allowed to try to become Aes Sedai. Even the ones the Tower has already put out. The Kin seriously worship the Aes Sedai and they would not hold any girl from that path if they can avoid it, unless the girl is absolutely certain. For they won't force one on that path either. Only one reason would make a Kin hesitate in this matter and that is the overall safety and security of the Kin Guild as a whole.

In addition to the above, the WT LO also is a master of manipulation. While the White Tower holds the title as makers of the Game of Houses, the Kin WT LO are a close second. Vastly more skilled in the Game than any Cairhienen, the WT LO use this skill to steer any dangerous situation away from the Kin to protect their secret and safeguard their way of life. For this alone, the WT LO Kin are extremely well respected within the Kin. At least, by those who know of them.

Before a Kin member can become a WT LO, she must have spent at least 2 Turns as a Kin in a different capacity and never have been a WT runaway herself. While it is possible for former Aes Sedai to become a WT LO, this has never happened before. For most ex-sisters wish to stay as far away from the Tower and it's initiates as possible.

Kin members can not apply to become a WT LO, they are nominated for the job by existing WT LO's or Circle members. The Knitting Circle will assess the candidate and if agreeable, the Kin member is contacted at the start of the next Turn. At that time, the candidate may accept or decline the offer. And until that time, the candidate has no knowledge that she is being considered for this position. While it is extremely rare, it has been known that candidates do indeed decline this position even though it comes with a great deal of respect and appreciation from the entire Kin leadership body.

If the candidate accepts, the next Turn of her life will be a combination of her chosen life and extensive training under one of the existing WT LO's. At the end of the Turn the WT LO will inform the Knitting Circle whether or not she believes the candidate ready to take on the position. If a positive report is given, the candidate can start her life as a WT LO at the start of the following Turn.

 

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