Azalia Switt

Name: Azalia Switt
Age: 18
Nationality: Andoran, from Whitebridge

Hair: Curly almost black
Eyes: Gray
Skin: Well tanned
Height: 5'3"
Voice: Deep and throaty for her size
Other: Slender build. Pretty but not beautiful

Special Skills: Knowledge of how to raise, slaughter, and butcher hogs as well as how to cure meat and tan hides. She knows a lot of incidental medicine and first aid from tending to the pigs and an all male family. Handy with butcher knife and practiced with a staff.
Knowledge Weakness: Barely literate . All combat experience limited to simple brawling and only with opponents unwilling to do very much harm to a girl. Never been outside of greater Whitebridge area. She's seen Aes Sedai before and heard a lot of rumors but has no immediate practical knowledge of the Aes Sedai.
Physical Weakness: Healthy and robust with no physical ailments.
Personality Weakness: Would generally be considered uncouth by most other girls and feels a bit uncomfortable with them since she's dealt with them so little (does want more girl-friends though). Has a slightly bawdy sense of humor and may swear bit much.

Personality: Azalia is personable although she's willing to let others do the talking, if they prefer. She loves jokes and good humor, but she can be more than a little bawdy as far as her taste in both. She has an even temper and is hard to upset but, in the instances where it has happened, she's been quick to solve the issue with her fists.

Character History

Azalia Switt was born fourth in a line of seven boys. She was named after the azalea flowers, but her parents didn't know how to spell it. On a farm, lots of boys mean lots of extra help, and theirs thrived not only in their native Whitebridge, but their hams and bacon were sought out by merchants and traders from all over the place. Azalia's place on the farm was usually within the family home, cleaning and sewing and cooking, but she spent nearly as much time brawling with her brothers and helping with the animals. She had very little personal experience with the business side of the swineherd business, her older brothers dealt with that , but she had a lot of practical knowledge about it.

Azalia's father was built up the pig farm to be very successful before her oldest brother inherited and her father semi-retired to just helping out. Despite her farm's success you could never consider her family wealthier than comfortable. Azalia has had a life with plenty of hard work, but she would call it a happy one. The hardest part was the loss of her mother ten years ago. The event caused a lot of new work for Azalia as the "woman" of the house but the worst part was the shriveling affect it had on her father. The whole thing left Azalia unafraid to shoulder responsibility and with a desire to make herself useful and helpful. She also eventually came to find that her name was technically spelled wrong , but she thinks her mom's spelling was prettier anyway.

When Azalia was tested for the ability to channel she found herself surprised and wary, but her family was very happy for her. Although she was initially reluctant, both to leave her brothers and to go to a place where there'd be no one but other girls, her family eventually convinced her that it would be best for her. In fact, now she's looking forward to making some friends who aren't boys.

Azalia left her home and headed East through Caemlyn to the river with the Aes Sedai who tested her and the woman's two warders. Even though she was skilled enough at riding horses, she was relieved to see the wide Erinen River. On their journey to Tar Valon, Azalia was mostly uncomfortable and unsure of herself, worried that she would never be able to match the ladylike poise and refinement of an Aes Sedai. She didn't ask very many questions during the trip, she was too intimidated to, and as they finally rode to the White Tower itself from South Harbor, she was beginning to wish she had taken advantage of all that time with the Aes Sedai to find out just what she was getting herself into.