Arrival of a dusty girl from Amadicia

[Phelix]

It had been a long, dry trip from Caemlyn to Tar Valon, but Elin was pleased to be there.

 

The Aes Sedai in Caemlyn had said her name was Shyla Adair, though she had told Elin the proper way to address her was ‘Shyla Sedai.’ Elin had sat politely, her eyes downcast and her face properly covered by her bonnet, listening to Shyla Sedai’s lectures. The Aes Sedai explained that she was a member of the Gray Ajah, a group of Aes Sedai who work to further justice, peace, and wise rule in the world; and that there were six other ajahs who all had their own purpose and role in the world.

 

They had a few more conversations over the next two days, ranging in topic from what was expected of new novices to what the root of the conflict between the Children of the Light and the Tower was. That particularly interested Elin because in her experience, the Children were to be feared and no one ever thought rationally about them.

 

Two days after meeting Elin, Shyla Sedai called the young girl into a private dinning room in the inn next door to the bakery Elin had been working at. The Aes Sedai smiled, causing small crow’s feet to appear around her eyes.

 

“Elin, I know that you have passed the channeling sickness and can embrace the Source as you please, so please, show me how you do it.” Her motherly smile warmed Elin, and a quiet whispered voice in her ear said ‘don’t worry Elin, I will hold the Power and she’ll think it’s you.’

 

Smiling, she felt the warmth fill her, knowing that Nile was still protecting her. “Like this, Shyla Sedai?”

 

“Yes, dear, that is good. Now, I want you to pull it into you, filling you up with its warmth, then breathe it out. Then do it again.”

 

Taking a deep breath, Elin hoped Nile would listen to the sister. When she felt his warmth get closer to her, she felt the warmth of the Power, then she let her breath flow out and Nile let the power go.

 

“No, no, dear... don’t release it entirely. Fill yourself, then push it away but keep the lightest of touches on the Power.” For the rest of the night, Shyla coached Elin on this technique, but Nile never quite grasped it. Shyla was kind, and didn’t let her disappointment show. The next morning, Shyla met Elin at her bedroom door, and instructed her to meet the Inn keeper’s son in the stable. He was driving a wagon full of her goods to a merchant’s wagon train, and from there on to Tar Valon. Elin was to ride with him, and to learn how to handle the reins, in case he needed someone to handle the horses for any reason.

 

The trip was long and completely uneventful, but very dusty. Which was why the young Amadician woman was shamed to find herself standing in the lobby of the White Tower’s entrance for prospective Novices covered in road-dust. Even her normally black bonnet had taken on a dirty brown hue, and she doubted her lavender dress would ever look anything like that beautiful shade of purple ever again.

 

As she felt the tears welling up, she stifled them. She had learned long ago, from the many encounters with Children of the Light, that tears only marked you as a potential victim. There wouldn’t be Children here, of course, but there was no sense advertising how upset she was. Dabbing the tears away, she centered herself and walked to the Accepted sitting behind the desk.

 

With her eyes politely downcast, and her hands folded at her waist, she spoke to the older woman, “Pardon, but Shyla Sedai tested me in Caemlyn and she told me to come here to speak with Valeri Sedai, who is the Mistress of Novices. May I see her this afternoon?”

[Amadine]

Amadine glanced up at the red-eyed girl approaching the desk placed in the Great Hall for enquiries. It was late in the day and there was no one left in the Great Hall except Amadine herself and the girl before her. The girl wore a dust-coated lavender dress and black bonnet. The bonnet looked Amadician and Amadine wondered what had bought her to the White Tower. She approached the desk and with downcast eyes she said, “Pardon, but Shyla Sedai tested me in Caemlyn and she told me to come here to speak with Valeri Sedai, who is the Mistress of Novices. May I see her this afternoon?”

 

"Welcome to the White Tower" Amadine replied with a smile, so she was to be a Novice. Amadician Aes Sedai were few and far between but there were some within the Tower. "Of course child, follow me this way."

 

Amadine rose from the desk and escorted the girl through the corridors of the Tower. They were lined with tapestries and paintings, the subjects ere vastly contrasting. Making some small talk with the tired girl Amadine learned her name was Elin Hawes. It did not take long to reach the offices of the Mistress of Novices and Amadine stopped before a dark aged timber door. She knocked on the door and upon being called the enter she opened the door and said "Excuse me Valeri Sedai, but i have here Elin Hawes, she has been sent to you by Shyla Sedai."

 

Veleri Sedai nodded her assent and Amadine told Elin she should go in and bade her goodbye.

 

Amadine al'Varine

Accepted

 

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Valeri sat at her desk, a large ancient structure of highly polished mahogany. She sipped on her tea, a blend of the best Saldaean tea available, sweetened with a little honey. She sighed, it had been a long day, but soon it would be done and she could retire to her rooms for the night. She could hear voices murmuring outside in the corridor and set her tea cup back on the desk. The knock on the door was sharp but respectful "Come in" she said, wondering who would be coming in so late.

 

The door opened and revealed an Accepted, the auburn haired girl was escorting another young girl in a black bonnet, the Accepted spoke with a smile, "Excuse me Valeri Sedai, but i have here Elin Hawes, she has been sent to you by Shyla Sedai."

 

Valeri nodded and Amadine motioned the girl through the door and pulled it closed as she left. The child looked tired and dusty, she had come to the Tower directly from the road Valeri guessed.

 

"Come in child, sit down" Valeri said and motioned to the cushioned chair opposite her own, "You appear to have had a long journey, take a seat and tell me what brings you here today."

 

Valeri Kinaea

Mistress of Traditional Novices

 

 

(OCC RP your reactions to Amadine and Valeri - feel free to make up the small talk between Ama and Elin if you like.)

[Phelix]

"Welcome to the White Tower" said the smiling woman. "Of course child, follow me this way."

 

Elin was shocked by the opulence of the finery that lined the hallways. When the Children preached against Aes Sedai they claimed that they hoarded wealth in Tar Valon, but Elin had always assumed that was simply manipulating the listeners into jealousy. Her mother’s brother had gone to Amador and seen the Children’s Fortress, and he said that it did not lack in splendor either.

 

Elin paused at one particular hanging, which showed a severe looking man wearing a white robe with the Children’s sunburst on his breast, sitting in a meadow speaking with a woman wearing a fine dress. Stitched near the bottom was the title “Lothair Mantelar debates the nature of The Light with Zarine Washoni.” Elin was shocked. Everyone in Amadicia knew the name Lothair Mantelar, but none would ever dare hint at the suggestion he had sat and conversed with a witch!

 

“Miss, is this tapestry a recounting of a real event? I grew up in a small town in Amadicia, and I’ve never heard that Mantelar debated with an Aes Sedai.” Elin was confused and tired, and trying to keep her manners in place while even the most trivial of things here changed how she perceived the world. “I apologize. I’ve asked you questions and had you leading me all over the Tower, but I have not introduced myself. My name is Elin, Elin Hawes, if it pleases you. May I have your name?”

 

-----------

 

"Excuse me Valeri Sedai, but i have here Elin Hawes, she has been sent to you by Shyla Sedai." Amadine introduced Elin, and the Amadician girl smiled shyly back at the older woman. Elin was glad that the first person she met here had been so kind.

 

"Come in child, sit down" Valeri said and motioned to the cushioned chair opposite her own, "You appear to have had a long journey, take a seat and tell me what brings you here today."

 

Elin curtsied to the Aes Sedai, hoping that the motion would dislodge some of the dust that still clung to her dress. It would not do to get that much dust on such fine furniture. With a small sigh, she sat down into the soft cushioned seat, knowing it was the most comfortable thing she had sat on since Caemlyn.

 

“Thank you Valeri Sedai,” Elin was grateful to Shyla Sedai for those few brief lessons on protocol. “I am here because Shyla Sedai says that I have begun to channel, and so I must come here to learn to control myself. I met Shyla Sedai in Caemlyn, but I am from Amadicia. When it became unsafe for me to continue living with my family, my mother sent me away to Caemlyn, where she felt I could make my own life.” A brief, concise, and entirely factual answer. Elin did not want to waste this important woman's time.

 

Elin kept her head demurely down, her eyes not meeting the sister’s gaze, but just elevated enough so that the bonnet did not block her view of the sister’s face. Deep inside, she knew that Shyla was wrong. It wasn’t Elin that could channel, but somehow the Light had kept her long dead twin brother Nile with her, and Nile was the one who kept channeling. For some reason, Shyla never saw, nor even seemed to sense, Nile; the Aes Sedai simply assumed that it was Elin channeling.

 

Surely someone here would be able to detect Nile. Elin didn’t want them to take Nile from her, but she would be glad when they realized she could not be a channeler. Perhaps she would be able to go home one day. Though, if Nile was still with her when she went, people would be bound to notice the odd occurrences that were sure to follow them both.

 

Elin kept her face neutral, waiting for the Mistress of Novices.

 

~Elin Hawes

Amadician Wilder, with an interesting block

[Amadine]

“I am here because Shyla Sedai says that I have begun to channel, and so I must come here to learn to control myself. I met Shyla Sedai in Caemlyn, but I am from Amadicia. When it became unsafe for me to continue living with my family, my mother sent me away to Caemlyn, where she felt I could make my own life.”

 

Valeri raised an eyebrow, Amadician, no wonder her mother had sent her away to Caemlyn. If the Children of the Light had got wind of her ability she would have been tried as a witch immediately, and likely executed. And no wonder that Shyla had sent her to the Tower, Valeri could feel the ability in the girl herself.

 

Valeri rose from her seat and went to the small side table in her office that matched the rest of her age-darkened furniture and made a cup of tea for the Novice. She had not yet made eye contact with Valeri and she was not sure what to make of that. Was it just her Amadician upbringing making her shy, or was she hiding something? Only time would tell. Valeri set the tea cup in front of Elin and said "Here child, warm your insides while we talk."

 

"So child," Valeri decided she would have to try to find out a little more about this Amadician wilder, "how was it Shyla Sedai found you? And did she commence lessons with you while you were travelling?"

 

Valeri Kinaea

Mistress of Traditional Novices

 

(OOC RP your reactions to Valeri's questions)

[Phelix]

"So child, how was it Shyla Sedai found you? And did she commence lessons with you while you were travelling?"

 

Elin nodded her thanks for the tea, and sipped a moment so she could collect her thoughts. "No, Shyla Sedai did not teach me much. We were only together in Caemlyn. Apparently, she had another errand to attend to. She paid to send me with a merchant's wagon train that was coming from Caemlyn to Tar Valon. I learned to drive a wagon team on the way here." Elin couldn't help but smile at the memory of her first efforts at controlling the team of large beasts. It hadn't been easy to get their wagon out of the ditch on the side of the road, especially when the innkeeper's son couldn't hold in his laughter.

 

"As for how Shyla Sedai found me, I am honestly not sure." Her breath caught, and she took another sip of tea. It was time to lay out her past, but it still hurt. "I was born with a twin, you see. I am Elin, he was Nile. Our parents weren't very imaginative when it came to names. Our parents owned a bakery that also had a mule-driven mill, so we could bake for the town and grind flour for those who wished to bake for themselves."

 

Tears began to threaten Elin's composure, so she took another sip of tea to regain her composure. "There was another miller in town, though his was driven by the creek. He hated that he lost business to us. Well, when Nile and I were thirteen, the Miller tried to ruin us. He claimed Nile could channel; drew the Dragon's Fang on our door in broad daylight. People who had watched us grow up, people who had bought bread from us, dragged my brother to a clearing and burnt him at the stake. We couldn't even mourn him properly, lest they accuse us of being tainted by his evil."

 

Her voice broke, so she set the tea down and gripped her hands to calm herself. Three years was time for the wound to heal, but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt when she deliberately poked it.

 

"After Nile died, strange things began to happen. People noticed those things happening around me. On our last birthingday, I was alone in the woods talking to my brother... yes, I know he's dead, but I still feel like part of him is with me... he was my twin. But, I was alone, talking with him, and I felt the most glorious feeling, like I was bathing in light..." Elin didn't want to say that she also heard her dead brother's voice, telling her that it was him channeling.

 

"I was very sick after that. The local hedge doctor said he thought my brother was attacking me from beyond the grave, and our neighbors were beginning to look at me and make the sign against evil. Mother sent me away with a traveling merchant who was going to Caemlyn. The merchant recommended me to the Baker, who I worked for in Caemlyn until Shyla Sedai came to find me. I know that I heard the Baker speaking with Shyla Sedai about which Houses were buying marching rations from him, but I'm not sure why the Aes Sedai would talk with a baker about that."

 

Elin sighed, glad to have finally told most of her story to someone. She kept her eyes down, it was easy to remember that this woman was of a much higher station, so Elin should always be polite and eager to obey, and should never be so bold as to meet her eyes unless directed to do so. Elin remembered how her mother had behaved around the few noblewomen who had come through their town, deferential, polite, not meeting their eyes, that was her best template on how to behave with Aes Sedai.

 

~Elin Hawes

Almost a Novice

[Amadine]

Valeri eyebrows rose slightly as she listened to Elin's story, and they fact that she did showed just how surprised she was by the girl's explanation of how she had come to be at the Tower.

 

"There was another miller in town, though his was driven by the creek. He hated that he lost business to us. Well, when Nile and I were thirteen, the Miller tried to ruin us. He claimed Nile could channel; drew the Dragon's Fang on our door in broad daylight. People who had watched us grow up, people who had bought bread from us, dragged my brother to a clearing and burnt him at the stake. We couldn't even mourn him properly, lest they accuse us of being tainted by his evil."

 

Valeri could feel the thick emotion in waves from the girl, and see the tears welling in her eyes threatening to spill over. The poor child had been through so much in her short life. Elin continued to explain the warmth she felt and the sickness that had ensued. Valeri was nodding her head. As Elin finished speaking she heaved a great sigh of relief, Valeri could see that it pained her greatly to tell her tale of woe, but in that it had given her great relief to speak it aloud.

 

"Child, the warmth you felt, was most certainly the first time you channelled. And the sickness that followed was a result of your touching the One Power. I know that you can channel Elin, i feel that ability within you."

 

Valeri smoothed a stray hair away from her face and smiled at the meek girl in the black bonnet before her, "You will stay her in the Tower as Novice, and no one will ridcule you, or threaten you with evil. Here you will be safe and you can develop your abilities with Saidar in a controlled environment."

 

"Now let's see about formalising your stay," Valeri opened the bottom drawer of her desk and lifted out the heavy leather bound book and opened it to the page with the latest entries. "Now Elin, this is the Novice Book. The name of every Novice to come to the White Tower for the last two thousand years is in here, and now your name will be added. Can you tell me your full name, place of birth and raising, and your current age."

 

Valeri Kinaea

Mistress of Traditional Novices

 

(OCC RP your reactions to Valeri's words and to seeing the Novice Book)

[Phelix]

Blinking, Elin listened to the kindly woman. They thought the warmth was her channeling? Not Nile being still with her? Well, the Aes Sedai did say it, and even the Children said if an Aes Sedai said it outright, that it had to be true. But that did not make sense with what she felt. She felt her brother as if he were standing right behind her, steadying and supporting her.

 

When the Aes Sedai smiled, Elin couldn't help but smile back, even if it was a small smile threatened with tears. "You will stay her in the Tower as Novice, and no one will ridcule you, or threaten you with evil. Here you will be safe and you can develop your abilities with Saidar in a controlled environment."

 

No threats, no one thinking she would bring the Dark One's eyes, no one wondering if she were the reason for their ill fortune. The Tower might be an immense institution, but the more Elin listened to this Aes Sedai, the more she felt like it would be safer than her own home had been. When Valeri Sedai pulled out the Novice book, Elin's eyes almost popped. A single book with the names of every woman who came to be entered as a novice? It should be impossible... but this is the White Tower, where nine impossible things happen before breakfast, or so the innkeeper's son had insisted when he dropped her off.

 

"My name is Elin Hawes, and as of this past Summer, I am sixteen years old. I was raised in Amadicia, and our town's only name was 'Two Mills.'" Elin spoke as clearly as she could, making sure that her voice was under her control again. Telling that much of her story had left her shaken. She watched as the Aes Sedai, the Mistress of Novices, wrote her name and details in that impressive book, and Elin felt conflicted. Part of her knew that she was now formally bound to at least study here for a time, probably until they discovered Nile; and that felt like a heavy chain holding her here. Another part of her, however, felt freed; she had left Amadicia as far behind as one could without taking ship. She'd never heard of a Whitecloak being allowed on board the Aathan'Miere ships. If it did not work out for her here in the Tower, if they expelled her for her situation with her dead brother's presence, perhaps she would seek out the Seafolk.

 

Bringing her attention back to the Mistress of Novices, Elin waited for further instructions.

 

~Elin Hawes

Novice in the White Tower

[Amadine]

Valeri dipped he pen into the inkwell on her desk and tapped it off gently. She then wrote the details for Elin into the Novice Book with a practised hand and finished with the flourish of her own signature.

 

She smiled at the girl seated before her desk, "Welcome toTar Valon Elin Hawes, welcome to the White Tower Novice Elin."

 

Rising fron her chair Valeri moved to the large ornate closet in the corner of her office and visually sizing Elin up she pulled out two pristine white Novices dresses, three shifts, a belt and pouch, also in white and a pair of slippers. She place the pile of clothing into Elin's lap with a small wooden token laid on the top, the token bore the name Valeri Kinaea on it. "Child, once you get settled, take that token to the Tower seamstresses and they will measure you for new dresses."

 

"Now have you any questions for me Elin, before i summon someone to show you to your new room?"

 

Valeri Kinaea

Mistress of Traditional Novices

[Phelix]

Taking both the token and the neatly folded clothing, Elin felt that twin weight and freedom settle into her. She was a novice now, and she would stay here in the Tower until they either sent her away or she became an Aes Sedai. Maybe it wouldn't matter that she had Nile with her, if all that mattered was that one of them channeled.

 

With a small jolt, Elin realized that the pile of clothing had not included a bonnet. Since she had grown old enough to help in the bakery she had worn one in public, covering her hair modestly. Even the great ladies in Amador wore hats to cover their hair in public. It would not be seemly to be seen, even here in the White Tower, without something over her hair.

 

"Yes, Valeri Sedai, I only have one question. Could you tell me where the laundry is, so that I can wash my bonnet out. I understand girls from other countries have other customs so the Tower doesn't provide bonnets, but I really must wear something, and I don't mind washing this one, and my mother taught me how to put them together, so I can make a new one when this one becomes too worn to wear in public...." Elin cut herself off, realizing that she was babbling. She did not normally run at the mouth like that, but the idea of not having a bonnet at all, wearing her hair loose and uncovered where anyone could see it had shaken her.

 

~ Elin Hawes

Novice

Nervous Nelly

[Amadine]

"Yes, Valeri Sedai, I only have one question. Could you tell me where the laundry is, so that I can wash my bonnet out. I understand girls from other countries have other customs so the Tower doesn't provide bonnets, but I really must wear something, and I don't mind washing this one, and my mother taught me how to put them together, so I can make a new one when this one becomes too worn to wear in public...."

 

Valeri nodded, some of the new Novices wrapped themselves in their homeland customs on arrival at the Tower, it gave them a sense of safety, that something remained the same when everything else changed, but some customs within the White Tower were held to even more strongly, "Child, I will clean your bonnet for you now."

 

Valeri stood and moved to Elin's side. She prepared the weave used for cleaning garments and laid it across the bonnet, the dust and dirt seemed to jump off the black fabric and Valeri channelled again to collect the dust and dirt in a small sphere. She floated it to the window and released it outside.

 

The wide-eyed Novice sitting before had flinched involuntarily at the moment Valeri had channelled and Valeri wondered if she could see the glow of Saidar surrounding her, or perhaps the weaves.

 

"Child, you may continue to wear this bonnet, but only until you have sewn a new one in Novice white. Within the White Tower, Novices wear white, and only white. I expect to see your new white bonnet within a week."

 

Elin nodded slowly and Valeri picked up and small ornate brass bell from her desk and rang it. Presently a knock came at the door and Valeri bade the knocker to enter. It was another young Novice.

 

"Ahh Jarelle, good evening to you." She said with a smile, "Jarelle this here is Elin, she has arrived just today. Please take her to Novice Quarters and find her a room, one of the recently cleaned one’s mind child."

 

Jarelle dipped a deep curtsey and beckoned for Elin to follow her. Elin looked back to Valeri as she made to follow Jarelle and dipped a clumsy curtsey. She looked up at Valeri for the first time since she arrived and said, "Thank you Valeri Sedai."

 

"You are welcome Child. And remember my door is always open to you, should you need anything." Valeri smiled at the Novices as the left her offices. Pushing the door closed with a small flow of Air she sat back into her chair and put the Novice Book away in its drawer.

 

Valeri Kinaea

Mistress of Traditional Novices

 

 

[Phelix]

OOC: Thanks Amadine! :D

 

*does the happy finished RP dance*