Although shorter than most of her sisters (60 ancient inches), Kharo'Lin is quite strongly built, and in fact, when angry or frustrated, will manage to physically hurt, to the point where Healing won't do much good, any sort of creature which "deserves" it, and that is, with her bare hands.
Kharo'Lin has grey eyes and reddish-blond hair. She enjoys fancy clothes and trying out the extravagant fashions of all the nations she visits, thus being an expert in disguising herself and in infiltrating the courts of many a Noble house. Although she is very short, she likes to brag to those who question her talent about having convinced more than a few people that she was Aiel (those credulous people have yet to be named...). She is more appreciated in the Tower for being able to travel (and bring reliable news from) Amadicia where, as everybody knows, Aes Sedai are outlawed.
Her "Aiel connection" is not all bragging though, for she is one of the few Wetlanders to be able to understand, and even sometimes appreciate, although in quiet, Aiel humor. The few Aiel who have come to Tar Valon since their crossing of the Spine of the World have been put in her "care" while in the Tower, and most have developped a peculiar form of respect for her since they learned she was born on the sea. They commonly call her Mar'aemermid, "She Who Rides the Plentiful Water", or so it more or less translates into. Aiel delegations sent to the White Tower by Rand al'Thor or by the Wise Ones are now refered to her automatically when she is there, and it has now happened a few times, to the late Amyrlin's frustration, that Aiel delegations would wait for her return before stating their business.
Despite her ability to handle complex and often explosive situations tactfully (she is the one who keeps a cool head when everyone else is on the brink of a breakdown, which almost always happens in her dealings with dignitaries from all over) she sometimes has difficulty in handling everyday constraints (such as Fared, her very willful Warder) and in remembering to show proper respect towards her over-ranking sisters, which has, on a few occasions, won her a retreat under the care of one Ajah or another (twice with the Reds before the Ajah was destroyed, which explains in part her deep hatred for them and her disdain for those who switched from it to the Green Ajah).
Before being allowed to join the Battle Ajah she was required to train in different weapons under the Warder trainers. She chose to train in archery and in the handling of the spears and short daggers, the latter which she prefered and in which she now excels (daggers are also easier to conceal than a spear or bow...).
As for most Aes Sedai, little is known of her life before she entered the White Tower, and that little was learned mostly by and from her three Warders (Fared, M'Att and Saateph), but how she came to the Tower is known very well.
Kharo'Lin was born on a Sea Folk merchant ship. Her father was Cargomaster of the ship, and her mother was Windfinder. It was revealed that she had been destined to succeed her mother but a storm, "the mightiest storm the sky had ever seen" as she been heard saying, changed all that.
One day, while Kharo'Lin was training with her mother, a sudden storm of unusual fierceness almost sunk the ship on which they were, and killed her father. He was crushed under a huge container while him and his men were trying to repair the damaged ropes holding it steady in the gales. Kharo'Lin fell sick a few days following the storm and remained sick for so long that it was decided she should be sent to the White Tower along with the couple of girls who had been selected among the Atha'an Miere that year to follow the Aes Sedai. As her mother put her in the care of the Blue sister who had come for the girls, the former was heard murmuring, among the swallowed sobs for her husband: "It was just a cloud... I did NOT teach her that....I could not....I DID not...just a cloud...".
The trip to Tar Valon almost killed Kharo'Lin who was sent immediately to Searin, a sister of the Yellow Ajah. Searin was at the time the strongest in Healing. After seeing to Kharo'Lin's illness, she gave her a new concoction of her own design to help her relax and sleep. It had the effect of making her delirious and highly suggestible. Analond, a Brown, learned of this concoction and its unpredicted effects and proceeded to interrogate Kharo'Lin about her people (little was known of the Atha'an Miere). This anecdote has yielded surprising facts which are now taught to Novices. It has also ignited in Kharo'Lin a profound hatred for the Brown Ajah and "thier indirect ways", and measured distrust for all Aes Sedai outside her Ajah.
Analond was the one who first noticed the spark in Kharo'Lin. Perhaps because of her "training" with her mother, Kharo'Lin was quick in learning to surrender properly to the Power, to weave it at will, and soon she could spontaneously find new and creative uses for her ability. She was raised to Accepted little more than two years after coming to Tar Valon.
As Accepted, Kharo'Lin saw little of Sheriam, which was surprising to both of them since she had been so hardheaded as a Novice, but which was mostly due to her eagerness when learning by herself, and to her time spent training with the Warders. She soon discovered in herself a strong attraction to "Bordermen", whom she respected for their constant battle with the Blight and with Shadowspawn, and whom she admired for "always dealing directly with the problem", unlike "those lace-heads from the south", which is how she refers to the Nobles from countries in which Daes'daemar is rampant... She quickly realised the Green Ajah was the only one for her.
Unfortunately for Kharo'Lin, her talents in diplomacy and in twisting the First Oath, along with her understanding of sea trade, did not remain long unnoticed by the Amyrlin Seat. Since being raised to the Shawl, Kharo'Lin's duties have taken her far more often to Tarabon, Amadicia, Altara and Illian than to the Borderlands, which might explain her continuing fascination with those lands and her bonding with three Saldaeans.
Kharo'Lin is strongest in manipulating Water. She has a number of particular tricks with the Power which she performs as rarely as possible before other Aes Sedai, so they don't learn them. She is excellent at hiding her channeling from others, which comes in handy especially in Amadicia and in Tar Valon, very good at Suggestion, a mild form of something close to Compulsion, and quite infallible in predicting the long-range weather.
Rumors among the merchants of Tarabon mention that each time the "Lady Kharlin" is visiting a lord, you can tell how their meeting went by how damp the air is the next day... A timid novice by the name of Tierene had always had waist-length hair until she repeated this rumor within ear-shot of Kharo'Lin...
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