- M'Hael - Amyrlin Seat - KoC - KoA - MoN - MoS - MoA - MoT - GC - WcR
Frequently Asked Questions - Grey Tower

1.1 What is The Grey Tower?
The Grey Tower, or GT for short, is a fan created site that pays tribute in its writing to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. It is an unofficial community created to role-play in the world Robert Jordan created for us. We are a close-knit community whose members love to write and love the Wheel of Time. The website also has a chatroom where you can meet other members and make friendships.

1.2 What is the timeline?
The timeline and existence of the Grey Tower is a bit fluid. The only things that are concrete is that it is sometime after the cleansing of saidin(at the end of Winter's Heart), and sometime before the Last Battle. The Tower was created by a delegation of Salidar Aes Sedai and Black Tower Asha'man to create a place where they could work together like in Ages past, yet the IC history of the Tower stretches back over 50 years. This of course would be impossible to fit exactly into the timeline of the books, so we take a few liberties and remember that it's all about fun and we keep things as accurately as we can.

1.3 Where is the Tower located?
In the first item discussed by the Tower's original OOC Hall of Sitters, The Grey Tower is situated in the Mountains of Mist, near a village called Elman's Creek, in the region known as Two Rivers.

1.4 How did all this start?
The Grey Tower was first created in 1998 by Toby Selwyn. He wanted to establish a community where channelers of both genders would work together, with their warders, to fight the Shadow and prepare for the Last Battle. It's history over the past decade and more have brought about many changes, though the main premise is still the same: to have fun writing together in a universe we love.

1.5 Who runs this site?
The Grey Tower is owned by no one person, though our hosting service would disagree. The leaders of the site, in an OOC and IC sense, are the Amyrlin, the M'Hael, and the Master of Arms. Though the true heart and lifeblood of the Tower of course will always be its members as a whole.

1.6 How often is it updated?
The site is updated every day in various ways. Please remember that the Officers also have real lives that always take priority over their duties here. Each update is expected within two to three days of the initial request.

1.7 Who are the Tower Officers and what do they do?
The Tower Officers are people that have been elected and nominated, through volunteering, to give of their time and talents to keep this site online. All the officers are as follows: Amyrlin, M'Hael, Master of Arms, Keeper of the Chronicles, Keeper of the Archives, Gaidin Captain, Mistress of Novices, Master of Soldiers, Master of Training, Warder-Channeler Representative, Mistress of Revels, the Ajah Heads, and the Sitters for each ajah.

1.8 What is role-playing?
Role-playing is the activity of taking on the role of a make believe character and choosing their words and actions in given situations. Here at the Tower, we create our own characters and interact with others to create combined stories. The medium we use here for this purpose are message boards. On the message boards, you write your character's words and actions which mix with the writing of other characters to create what we call threads. Each thread is a role-play.

2.1 Where do I send my email?
That all depends on what your email is about. To make it easier, there will generally be one of two places it will go. The collective Admin/Officer email is greytower1@yahoo.com. The admin who read it will make sure it reaches the folder of the person that is best suited to help you. You can almost always expect a response within a few days of sending the email. If the email is of a more sensitive nature, such as an official complaint, or just needs to be read by the leadership of the Tower only, send it to the 13th depository.

2.2 How do I submit work or a revision to the Tower Library?
The Tower Library has submission forms for new fanfiction, role-play transcripts, artwork etc. If you need a revision made, send an email to the admin email account with Attn: KoA or KoC in the subject line and explain the details of the changes you need made to your existing work.

2.3 How do I update my member listing?
Also in the Library is a submission form for biography changes.

2.4 How do I report an error?
Any error or typo can be reported through the admin form or by sending an email with the details to the admin email.

2.5 Who can help me with my problem?
There are several ways you can get help with problems or questions you might have. You can simply post about it on the Main OOC Message Board, or send an email to the admin email account. We are always willing to help with anything we can, it's our job after all.

2.6 What is a Mentor? How do I get one?
A full description of the Mentor system can be found on this page.

3.1 What are the rules for my behavior?
The rules of the Tower are outlined in the Aims and Rules of the Tower. Each tower member is expected to read and understand the content of that page as they submit their joining form.

3.2 What happens if I break them?
The consequences of breaking the rules of the Tower from the page linked above can range from temporary restriction of posting priveleges to banning from the site. These decisions are ultimately left up to the Amyrlin, the M'Hael, and the Master of Arms. Should someone feel wronged by one of these officers, one may appeal to the Keepers, or to the Hall of Sitters as a group.

3.3 What are the rules for my character's behavior?
A general set of guidelines for IC behavior for all members of the Tower is currently under revision. A schedule of daily activities for the learning ranks can be found here

3.4 What happens if s/he breaks them and how is that determined?
The punishment of IC offenses made by your character are dealt with by the Mistress of Novices, Master of Soldiers, or the Master of Training respective to who committed the offense. Please remember that IC offenses can often be great character development and do not reflect poorly in any way on the writer as long as they are willing to let their character face the consequences of their actions. Note that all IC punishments must be played out before a character can be raised.

3.5 What is Godmoding?
Godmoding can happen in a number of ways. The three most common ways are to, first, write a character that is unrealistically powerful in any aspect, second, to have a character with no weaknesses or flaws and thus be unrealistic, and the third and perhaps most offensive and abrasive is to write for another player character's thoughts, words, or actions. All of these are considered unacceptable and may lead to disciplinary action.

3.6 Can I have more than one character?
Absolutely, one of the best parts of writing is exploring different types of characters. There is currently no limit to the number of characters you may play, but there are stipulations as to at which point you can create another character. The rules for multiple characters can be found here.

3.7 I don't like my Mentor, s/he's not as helpful to me as another person might be. What can I do?
Your first course of action should be to talk to your mentor about your concerns. Be open and honest, but polite. Remember that these are also real people with real lives. Should this not work out you should contact your respective Officer(either the Mistress of Novices, Master of Soldiers, or Master of Training). They will help you to find a solution.

4.1 Do I have to pay to play?
Absolutely not, this is a completely free community, and we welcome any who want to join us here and abide by our policies. The site does need money to run and donations are accepted. If you want to donate contact one of the officers and we'll tell you how to make that happen. Once again, donations are completely voluntary, and in no way affect your status as a member here.

4.2 Are there passwords for this site?
There is a secret word that we use at the site which you have to have to view contact information and to post anything on our message boards. This word is given out upon joining the Tower and is updated twice a year with each census. Do not give out this word to anyone, if you know someone who should have it but doesn't, direct them to an officer.

4.3 How do I join?
To join, go to this page, read the information and follow the instructions there. You will hear back within a few days after completing the form.

4.4 How should my character biography be done?
Full information is found in the joining information pages when you create your character. Basic guidelines is to flesh out your character, either in first or third person, and establish how they came to the Tower. Most importantly, be realistic, and leave room for character development.

4.5 Is admission to the Grey Tower selective or exclusive?
Not at all, in reality all we are really looking for are people who love to write, can get along with people in a community environment, and are willing to abide by very few and simple rules and structures.

4.6 Can I join as a character in one of Robert Jordan's books?
This is something we do not allow, with absolutely no exceptions. Everything from RJ's books are his Intellectual Property and are not to be used without his express permission, which of course we do not have. All characters must be originally created by the players here.

4.7 What are the types of groups, or ajahs, that I can join?
Channelers aspire to join one of the seven ajahs(though at the Grey Tower we have an Indigo Ajah instead of a Red Ajah for obvious reasons. Non-channelers of course will aspire to be Warders at the Tower. Should your character be of a...darker nature, channeler or not, there is another, secretive option.

4.8 How do Talents, Weapon Skills, and other systems work here?
Information for the following systems are available in depth at the following pages: Talents, One Power Strength, Weapon Skills, Non-Channeling Abilities Abilities, and Benefits.

4.9 Why can't I jump in and play an advanced character?
The systems we have in place are to help assure a balanced quality of role-play for all those who write here. It is also an attempt to curb godmoding and to keep the writers honest and assist in character development.

5.1 What is expected of a member?
There are no minimum requirements for posting or activity to be a member of the Grey Tower. We want to include all those of every level of participation that their ability and real lives let them. We understand that this community is based around a hobby and that other real life concerns take priority. No member should ever feel to be in less standing than another because of their inability to write as much, teach as many classes, etc, as another member.

5.2 Where can I check on the rules?
The Grey Tower Aims and Rules contain the core rules of the Tower. Everything we do from a rule or policy standpoint branches off from there. Please read and understand this page, it's not long, but is crucial to the combined happiness and success of the writers here in this community.

5.3 How do I raise through the ranks?
The raising requirements for channelers can be found here, and for Warders in Training they can be found here.

5.4 How do I become an officer?
When an officer position becomes vacant there will be a week of time following when the leaders of the Tower will post the job description of the position in question, and ask for those interested to step forward. After that period there will be a vote among the members of the Hall to fill that position. The three leaders of the Tower, the Amyrlin, the M'Hael, and the Master of Arms, are subject to yearly elections, while the other positions are vacated simply upon members stepping down from them.

5.5 How do I become an Ajah Head or a Sitter for my Ajah?
Ajah Heads are selected through election by the remnants of an Ajah should an Ajah Head step down or be removed. Sitters are appointed, three per Ajah, by the Ajah Head.

5.6 Can I return with a previous character?
Of course you may, though there are a few things required of you. The returning characters page has all the details.

6.1 How do I find a specific member?
Check for them in the member listings.

6.2 What are the Message Boards and what are their rules?
The message boards are separated into OOC and IC from the Tower's main page. The Tower Rules are in full effect in each of them.

6.3 What about Message Board Etiquette?
The Tower Rules explain everything we expect of our members. The baseline is to be courteous and respectful in dealing with others. Flaming is absolutely unacceptable. We also ask that all members maintain a level of PG-13 content in their posts, as we do have members that young here.

6.4 What are the abbreviations and what do they mean?
You might feel as you come into the Tower that people are speaking a different English than you knew and are throwing around all kinds of acronyms. We have a list of common acronyms that you might run across in your time here.

6.5 How do I get people to RP with me?
Post that you want to on the main message board, or if you want to, just post on any of the IC boards with ATTN: Anyone in your subject line and wait for someone to join in. It happens all the time.

6.6 Where do I hold a RP?
All of our role-plays are done by message board, and the list of IC boards can be found from the GT main page.

6.7 How do I chat?
Go to our chatroom, type in a screen name(typically your character name, though not always), and chat away!

6.8 Whom may I RP with?
You may write a thread with any willing member of the Tower. We're all here for the same purpose, and people are always looking for new RP opportunities.