About

Orisen was an Aes Sedai when the bore was drilled and the Collapse of the 2nd Age began. He had been a cultural leader and crafter of services, a wise man to whom those seeking their path of service consulted for appointments that best fit their aptitude and personality. Orisen was regarded for his fairness, justice, and altruism.

His talent was one of a few generally categorized as Viewers of the Pattern. Some such individuals were able to glimpse the Pattern as it was being woven, see the Pattern as it will be, and, like Orisen, view how the pattern might unfold. These glimpses of how things might happen were hypothetical inflection points in the thread of lives, but are all too real on the multiverse known as mirror worlds. In that way, Orisen perceived the collective outcomes based on decisions they might make and he was able to intuit their character. These viewings were not activated around non-human races, and as such, Orisen spent an inordinate amount of time with Ogier.

Orisen had dark, curly hair and a square face. His smile was kind, but he took his job very seriously.

The Hall of Servants

Even though crime and violence levels were very low, they were not unheard of. Society at the time did not believe in putting restraints of any type unless it was absolutely necessary. When someone was caught who was committing or had committed a violent act, they were constrained in some form, which made it impossible for them to repeat the offense. Orisen was recruited into the Hall of Servants and held the appointment of Ordainer, and held a seat on a council of three Aes Sedai whom passed judgements. The position was an honor as only the most worthy of Aes Sedai were appointed to the role.

Associates

Durrick Ladei Chamora – A lawyer and defender whose path Orisen often crossed as Ordainer. He was never quite comfortable around Durrick.

Asristin Kyrineas Somneus – His formal and somewhat stern personality was a source of stability that Orisen appreciated.

Ezra Rashka – An Aes Sedai whose behaviors Orisen voted to sanction, but was outvoted each time Ezra was brought before the council.

Ishtar Korat Muael – An Aes Sedai whose behaviors were sanctioned, but given his status, the sanctions were kept private.

Selyna Mythea Atmosfera – The only woman that Orisin ever encountered whose mirror world alternates were always good, altruistic, and kind. The moment he met her, he fell in love.

Alethea Sayre Maelsouvra – Selyna’s closest friend and around whom he shared many a pleasant evening.

The Collapse

Once the bore was drilled, Orisen’s visions took a drastic turn. Where previously, he saw glimpses of how alternate events played out, those events spanned a spectrum of moral outcomes, but he they were rarely extreme. After the bore was drilled, simply passing people on the street became a traumatic experience. He might witness the exchange of dirty looks between strangers played out brutally far more often than not. The council grew more and more busy, and the Binding Rods were used often. The only source of constancy during this time was his beloved wife, Selyna. Yet she was enduring her own sort of personal turmoil, as decades passed before the Dark One was discovered, and she blamed herself.

The Voice

At first, the voice was a mere wisp, a fleeting shadow that danced at the edges of his consciousness. It came to him in quiet moments, its tone seductive and smooth. “Orisen,” it whispered, “consider the fragility of life and futility of all the worlds you glimpse. What might you achieve if you were freed from all that?” With each passing week, the voice grew bolder and its promises more extravagant. “Immortality, Orisen. Power that could surpass your grandest dreams—all within your grasp,” it tempted. It spoke of hidden knowledge, dimensions that could be his to command, and forces that could reshape the Pattern itself. In exchange, the voice sought only a small concession: his allegiance, a mere step from light into shadow.

Yet, each encounter with the voice left Orisen colder and more isolated. The grandeur of its offers was tainted with a darkness that seemed to seep into his soul, chilling him to the core. His once tranquil home became a cage of whispers, each echo in the halls a potential threat, every familiar face a possible traitor. He shared none of what he heard with his wife, wondering if she perceived the same offers.

Despite the voice’s seductive lure, offering him eternal life and unmatched power, Orisen’s integrity remained unshaken, and he found the strength to resist. Orisen continued to serve his place on the council of Ordainers, yet the whispers had altered him irrevocably, embedding a deep-seated vigilance and a persistent distrust that tinged his later years and his actions during the perilous times leading up to the War of Power.

The War of Power

The revelation of the Dark One’s presence sent a schism through society. Prominent Aes Sedai revealed their transferred allegiance, most notably, the powerful and influential Alinur Sarin Drenai, who came to be known by an entirely new name, the Forsaken Eshamir. Others followed Eshamir’s betrayal, and tension was tight as a cord among the Hall of Servants. Previously prominent Aes Sedai were denounced, stripped of their titles and recognition by the Hall, and branded criminals, but they did not care. War broke, and he fought for the Light.

The Betrayal

There were two people that Orisen trusted emphatically. The first was his wife, Selyna, whom by now accepted the truth that the Dark Dimension she helped open contained an anti-creator entity swaying followers to its cause. The second was Asristin, whom even during the Collapse of society, never wavered in his convictions toward the light. When Asristin suddenly declared a deep and personal allegiance to the Dark One, Orisen sought him in disbelief. The visions of his friend swirled indecipherable to his senses. Asristin implored him to join him with as much fervor as Orisen imploring Asristin to renounce the Dark One. It was clear that neither Aes Sedai was willing to concede their loyalties, and the two came to blows. Orisen escaped by the grace of his viewings, and he never saw Asristin again.

The Taint

The Light put forth two opposing plans to end the war. The Dragon wanted to use seals to close the rift in the Pattern. The plan was sensible, but Selyna was adamant that the physics wouldn’t work. She was adamant that cuendillar could not reseal a demaged Pattern no more than they could fix the destruction caused by Balefire. Orisen agreed and threw his support toward a plan put forth to wield the choedan kal against the forces of the Shadow. He was in Paaran Disen while the attack at Shayol Ghul was carried out.

The widespread effects of the taint was not immediately apparent. Most of the Hundred Companions at Shayol Ghul died instantly from the Dark One’s backlash on saidin, but the others were driven instantly mad and began the Breaking of the World. While all men, Orisen included, endured the sludge of the taint every time they channeled, the spreading of insanity was not fully recognized at first.

The emergence of insanity was insidious at first, but when Orisen was unable to discern his viewings from reality, he suddenly lashed out. It was Selyna that helped him realize what was happening, and he fled to the Ogier, around whom the viewings always stopped. It was in the peaceful oasis of Stedding that they realized he could not be a threat.

The Breaking of the World

After many years in isolation of the stedding, Selyna devised a theory that the male Aes Sedai, including Orisen, could create the Ways—a network of pathways allowing both humans and Ogier to travel swiftly and safely between steddings. Despite knowing the risks, Orisen joined this monumental effort. Each use of saidin was a gamble, bringing him closer to madness, but it was a price he was willing to pay for the greater good.

However, outside the tranquility of the steddings, tension brewed. Certain factions of female Aes Sedai that would later become the Red Ajah, fearful of the continuing corruption and potential violence from their male counterparts, threatened to find and Gentle all male Aes Sedai hiding within the steddings. They argued that these men were prolonging the Breaking of the World, as sooner or later, one would leave the safety of the steddings, succumb to the lure of saidin, and wreak havoc. Selyna, alongside other like-minded Aes Sedai, fiercely contested this view. They argued that by allowing the men to remain in the steddings, they were in fact mitigating devastating destruction, preventing a greater unleashing of madness upon the world.

The Last Male Aes Sedai

Centuries passed in this precarious balance, with Orisen and Selyna continuing their life together in the shadow of the ever-present threat of insanity. As the years turned into decades, and the decades into centuries, the number of male Aes Sedai dwindled until Orisen stood as the last of his kind. It was then, in the twilight of his life, that he accepted the depth of his affliction and the recognition of his fate. Although the stedding shielded him from channeling, the madness had seeped deep into his mind.

With a heart weighed down by sorrow but clear in resolve, Orisen made a final, selfless decision. He gifted the last Talisman of Growing to the Ogier, ensuring they could continue to operate their Waygate and maintain the Ways he had helped create. After a tender and tearful farewell to Selyna, who had stood by his side through the tumult of ages, Orisen stepped out of the stedding for the last time, choosing to face his fate alone rather than endanger those he loved.

Orisen traveled to the farthest reaches of the world, to a place that would later be known as the Isle of Madmen. There, alone and lost to the shadows of his mind, he met his end. With his passing, the era of the male Aes Sedai concluded, and the Breaking of the World finally came to its bitter end.

Rebirths

Orisen’s sacrifice in a previous life earned him status as Hero of the Horn.

The 1st Age – Matías Ángel Amengual

The 2nd Age – Orisen Kaelix

The 3rd Age – Sajir Nareth 

The 5th Age – Gabriel 

The 6th Age – Quetzalcoatl