Here you may find the Master of Training's list of Warders and Trainees.
A book about promotions and related information lies before you.
Here you may find information about our training regime.
Here may be found the library of the Warder Yards.
Beyond this door you can find the leaders of the Gaidin.
Doors out to nearby locations in the Tower are behind you.
Warders are anyone sworn to protect Aes Sedai or Asha'man. This includes Gaidin, who have raised through the ranks to earn the fancloak, and bonded Asha'man. Drin'far'ji are the lowest rank of training Gaidin, and Ji'alantin are the intermediate rank. The rank Sa'ji'alantin is one earned through outstanding achievements during their learning period. Sa'ji'alantin are granted a seat in the Privy Council, to join the discussions of fully raised Warders on how to improve the Yards. More about the Privy Council can be read here
Gaidin are male non channeling Warders and Gaidar are their female equivalent. (Note, because it is the "traditional" practice in reference to these terms, and because it is more common, I will refer to a individual Gaidin and Gaidar as "he". Likewise, because Aes Sedai bond Gaidin more commonly than Asha'man bond Gaidar, I will refer to bonding channelers here as "she".)
While the One Power is a useful tool, it is not omnipotent. A channeler cannot use the One Power as a weapon in most circumstances. Her Warder is there to be her weapon. The Power requires a lot of concentration and focus, and a channeler usually can't weave the Power and watch her surroundings at the same time. Her Warder is there to protect her when she can't pay attention, and for when she is shielded, and drained from the tiring activity of channeling. In addition, Gaidin are especially trained with skills such as stealth, ambushing, lockpicking, shadow lore, and wilderness survival that prove to be advantageous when coupled with a channeler. While a channeler can sense another channeling even at great distances, he or she can not sense an approaching Warder. Because Aes Sedai are widely hated, many times they must travel in secret, and a Warder is crucial to her survival when the situation does not allow for her to channel. Warders are not bound by the Three Oaths and so may lie, attack preemptively, and even torture those he and his charge encounter. See an In-Character role-played discussion of this topic in the Warder Library here.
A Warder's bond grants him a very quick rate of healing, the ability to go for long periods of time without food, water, or rest, a sense of her physical condition, shielded dreams, and the ability to sense the taint of the Dark One. A Warder can also draw on his Aes Sedai's strength, and will be able to sense if the Bond is broken.
An Aes Sedai can sense if her Warder is alive, and when he dies, she will be able to tell how and exactly when he died. She can sense his injuries, and approximately what direction he is in. An Aes Sedai can also draw on her Warders strength.
The Whites, Greens, Blues, Yellows and Browns can each Bond one Warder. The Indigo Ajah used to be able to Bond two, but that has been reverted back to one. In the Wheel of Time books, members of the Green Ajah may bond as many Warders as they wish. In this Tower, however, they are limited to four for reasons of practicality. This precedent was challenged in the Hall of Sitters, but the Warder Yard overwhelmingly supported the traditional view of "all but Green Ajah can bond one Warder."
In the past, Warders haven't always had a choice in receiving the Bond. However, in the present day, almost every Bond is taken up voluntarily. In the Grey Tower, all that is required for the Bond is an OOC agreement and notification of the Warder-Channeler Representative through the Bond List. If either the Warder or his Aes Sedai are not yet fully raised, they may become Promised, which functions along the principle of engagement.
The Warder Yard is run by the Executive Council, which consists of the Master of Arms, Master of Spies, Master of Training, Gaidin Captain and Warder-Channeler Representative.
The Master of Arms, currently Lord Caden Ives Gaidin, is the main Officer responsible for the upkeep of the Warder Yard site; this includes adding new pages and updating existing ones. The MoA is the Main Officer in charge of the Warder Library, IC and OOC Message Boards, and the Index page (including Announcements). Generally the other Warder Officers manage parts of the Warder Yard site (such as the Member Listings, Class Listings, Weapon Skill pages), but the MoA has the right to step in and update given special circumstances. The MoA "holds" all of the keys and should, when needed, aid the other Officers in their duties when they need assistance (ex: work overloads, html help, on shara or semi-shara). The MoA should designate other duties among the Warder Officers for efficiency, but also aid whenever he or she is needed. He or she is the chief Officer responsible for generating and implementing Major formal and informal RPs. In character, he or she is the highest authority among the Warder Officers, and is the chief Officer in charge of Warder Yard discipline (of unbonded Warders, Officers, and may sometimes supercede the MoT either by overrule or Trainee appeal), and is expected to be a constant IC presence in the Yard. He or she begins and ends discussions in the Executive Council, enforces protocol, listens to every opinion and diplomatically integrates them into action, and speaks and votes in the Hall of Sitters*. The Master of Arms is elected by the Warder Yards.
The Master of Spies, currently Lord Sigmund von Danzig Gaidin, is the commander of the Sovin Tar. He maintains the Sovin Tar website, and represents the Sovin Tar in the Hall of Sitters. Just as the Tower Guard are the military arm of the Grey Tower, the Sovin Tar are the paramilitary arm. Unlike a conventional army, the Sovin Tar relies on small but skilled forces, high mobility and secrecy to execute their missions. Beneath the Master of Spies are the Cor'vron and Ta'vron. The Cor'vron is in charge of applications and advanced training for non-channeler applicants. The Ta'vron is in charge of applications and advanced training for channeler applicants. The Master of Spies is nominated by the Executive Council and confirmed by the Hall of Sitters. He then appoints the Cor'vron and Ta'vron from within the ranks of the Sovin Tar. The Master of Spies, be it a channeler or a non-channeler, has a seat in the Executive Council. When a mission for the Sovin Tar is imminent, Tower servants in the employ of the Master of Spies will deliver coded notes to all qualifying members of the Sovin Tar, indicating the time and place for a meeting. The location can be anywhere from the Warder Yard's loft to the storerooms of the seventh subbasement.
The Master of Training, positon currently vacant but the duties are handled by the Master of Arms, is in charge of the training and promotion of the Warders-in-Training. This includes organizing Warder Yard classes, often supplementing classes of his or her own (especially weapon skill classes), judging raising test requests, dispensing and grading raising tests and Blademaster tests, is chiefly responsible for Training, mediates Evaluations and Spars, and manages and updates the Weapon Skill System and its pages. He or she is the main Officer in charge of updating the Class List, Raising Forms, and Weapon Skill pages, and assigning mentor's to new Trainees. In character, he or she is a constant presence in the Yard, training and teaching classes personally, and organizing Trainers and class instructors; is the first authority on Trainees discipline; and raises Trainees through the ranks. He or she speaks and votes in the Hall of Sitters* and Executive Council. The Master of Training is appointed by consensus of the Executive Council.
The Gaidin Captain, positon currently vacant but the duties are handled by the Master of Arms, the representative of the Warders and Trainees of the Yard to the Hall of Sitters* in discussion and vote, to Executive Council, and vice versa. He or she is responsible for summarizing Hall of Sitter issues that relate to Warders to the Warder Yard and bringing their summarized responses back to the Hall of Sitters. Often he or she will also generate new topics of discussion as well, acting as more of a "representative" than a "senator" with a larger voice than other Officers in both forums. The Gaidin Captain is also responsible for processing all incoming Drin'far'ji applications and keeping the Warder Member list updated. In character, he or she is the General of the unbonded Warders, leading them in war time; and available in the Yard for any sort of concerns or questions. He or she is responsible for composing and sending out questionnaires to the Warder Yard members. He or she is the chief Mentor, responsible for supplementing any information to new members if their assigned Mentors give incomplete out of character information about the Yards (including tours of the site, how the Weapon Skill System works, how to find a Trainer, how to create a class MB, who to contact, etc. . ) (Note: The MoT is responsible for assigning mentors). Of the Warder Officers, he or she is most expected to role play informally with Trainees and other Warders. The Gaidin Captain is appointed by the Executive Council.
The Warder-Channeler Representative, Aric Cosamaru Asha'man, represents the interests of the channeling Admin to the Warders and Warder interests to the channeling admin. Often he or she comes with advice and suggestions in Executive Council discussions and networks communication and aid between the channeling and Warder halves of the Tower. He or she may speak on behalf of the Warder Yard in the Hall of Sitters, but this position does not grant the holder a vote in the Hall of Sitters. He or she may volunteer to aid the other Officers in their out of character administrative duties when necessary and temporarily by consent of the Warder Officers or Yard in general. He or she is also responsible for updating the Bonding and Promising listing. As he or she is a Warder Officer who is not a Gaidin, it falls to him or her to run the Master/Mistress of Arms elections. The Warder-Channeler Representative is appointed by the Executive Council.
The Executive Council exists as a semi-autonomous unit from over-all Tower government; deciding issues that solely involve the Warder Yard and discussing channeler-Warder related issues. If an issue concerns channelers then the Warder Officers bring it to the Hall of Sitters for discussion,usually in the form of premeditated proposals. Likewise, Warder Officers speak and vote in the Hall of Sitters on subjects that concern Warders but should refrain from voting if the issue only concerns channelers.
The Privy Council is a body of Gaidin and select Ji'alantin. This body functions as a way for the Executive Council to gather the opinions of responsible members of the Yards. As the name implies, the Privy Council serves a purely advisory function. For more information, see the Privy Council Qualities page.
To join the Warders, go here and fill out the form on that page. Under "What will you join us as?", select "Drin'far'ji". Under "What Ajah are you aspiring to?" select "N/A (Warder)".
If your question is Warder-related, email one of the officials. If your question is not Warder-related, try checking the Grey Tower FAQ.