"My honourable Sister, ladies and gentlemen of the floor. Let me begin by making a few statements that may seem rather obvious to most in this room, but which nevertheless need to be clarified before I begin my speech. Firstly, that the Blue Ajah involves itself mainly in modifying and occasionally controlling the affairs of the world - worthy causes, if you will. Secondly, that this type of political movement and manipulation is often termed Daes Dae'mar, the Great Game, or the Game of Houses. And therefore, fourthly, that the activities that the Blue Ajah - more than any other Ajah of the White Tower - mainly involves itself in are those of Daes Dae'mar. And therefore, that we can surmise that the Blue Ajah's entire purpose is for Daes Dae'mar; and that without the Great Game, they could not as an Ajah survive; it is their founding doctrine and the reason for their continued survival.

Now that that is over with, I will begin a short breakdown of a general overview of political situations experienced through the Great Game, citing particulary significant historical examples.

Since the beginning of this Age, there has always been political maneuvering and intrigue taking place in the world. Often it was risky, and always it was extremely complex. Eventually, over a great period of time and maturing, the political situations developed a degree of complexity to the point where they became what we now know as the Game of Houses. And I would postulate, honourable Sister, ladies and gentlemen, that this entire situation was sparked, fuelled and finally fanned into the flame it is now not only by the indirect touch of the Great Lord of the Dark on the world, but also by the completely direct influence of his servants - that is, the Friends of the Dark, Dreadlords and others who have taken part - and still do take part - in the Great Game over the years.

Obviously, considering my position, it would be very difficult to persuade you to take this all on trust. Therefore, let me cite a few historical examples which prove my point.

The Age of Legends. This is surely the key stage, the greatest game of them all; the Collapse, or the period leading up to the War of Power. At this point, nobody could trust anybody else; all were plotting and manoeuvering to best suit themselves, and it could be argued that the Great Game had its birth at this point. The Aes Sedai who were to later become the Chosen were all, at this point, embroiled in politics as much as anyone else, with various different standpoints on the events of the world. I would argue that without the influence of the Great Lord of the Dark on the world, the Age of Legends might well have gone on being an idyllic paradise, devoid of any shadow of the Great Game or political intrigue, for another ten millenia.

There is another example, a little more closer to home, perhaps; that is, the case of Artur Hawkwing and of the huge number of political machinations that were at this point surrounding him, mostly to do with the White Tower. It has become quite obvious to most scholars who read records of the time, and others who have... inside knowledge, shall we say?... that Artur Hawkwing had one or more advisors who had extremely close ties with the Shadow; in fact, one could almost state that these ties were the cause of the very many... interesting political situations which not only close to formed the Blue's purpose as an Ajah, but also saw the stilling and deposing of Bonwhin - directly leading to Deane Aryman's rise to power, and I don't need to expand on what that meant for the Blue.

These are, of course, only a few examples. I could cite many more. And do not think that the examples I could give are only historical; in our modern world, there are many extremely interesting political situations that are caused almost completely by the movements of the Friends of the Dark - and of course, the continuing attitude of suspicion among the highest councils of lords is mainly due to suspicions that the person sitting next to them might be a Friend of the Dark.

To recap, my argument here is that the Shadow has been a rich and diverse source of political machinations and intrigue over the last three or four milennia, and has directly lead not only to the creation but also to the fame and continuing prosperity of the Blue Ajah."

Author's note: I know that I am assuming a rather large amount of knowledge on the part of the Dreadlord, but assuming that they've been going since the Trolloc Wars, their library must be reasonably good...

In Defense of the Dreadlords

Raina's Hold / Raina's Library / Raina's Library - Other People's Humour