Class List

[Amadine]

Prophecies

 

by Aelwhin

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Lesson 5, Final

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

Butterflies were doing the sa'sara inside Aelwhin's stomach. So what if she had taught this class before, back when she had been an Accepted? She was more nervous about teaching than she had thought she would be. She still had a small problem with speaking in front of a group of people; somehow, practicing in front of a mirror seemed different. At least she had taught before, and made it through somehow.

 

When the last of her students trickled into class, she began.

 

"Hello, everyone. As you all know, I'm Aelwhin Kerridar, Aes Sedai of thw White Ajah, and I'll be teaching you the different prophecies of the land."

 

"Prophecy is fairly common knowledge, but certain types of prophecies are common only to certain types of groups that are affected by them. For example, many of you have heard of the Karaethon Cycle. Aiel folk would be familiar with their Rhuidean Prophecy, Sea Folk with the Jendai Prophecy, and so on. Few people know of most prophecies outside their own, but that's what we'll try to rectify in this class."

 

"Prophecies tell a lot about the origins and cultures of the people who follow them; as Aes Sedai we need this knowledge to better understand others with much different backgrounds than ours." Much better. The butterflies were flitting off to nap. The urge to jump out windows was passing as well.

 

"This class will be divided into five lessons." A hearty groan Aelwhin was all too familiar with rose up from the class. "Don't be alarmed! It's not as difficult as you might think, and I can guarantee it will be fairly interesting, at least."

 

"Lesson One will deal with a brief overview of the prophecies we'll be taking up, along with a short discussion of why we have prophecies today."

 

"Lesson Two will deal with the Karaethon cycle, also called the Prophecies of the Dragon. Many of you are familiar with what this is all about. This is a collection of prophecies that hints of the Dark One's release from his prison, and of the arrival of the 'Dragon Reborn', a figure who will fight for the Light against the forces of Dark in Tarmon Gai'don, the Last Battle, though implications are he will destroy the world as well."

 

"Lesson Three will focus on the the Rhuidean and the Jendai Prophecies. Not much of the prophecy of Rhuidean is known, besides the Aiel chiefs and Wise Ones who have passed through the columns of Rhuidean, an Aiel city in the waste. We will discuss what we do know about this, however, and try to formulate our own ideas. The Jendai Prophecy is of Sea Folk origin regarding what they call the Coramoor, who will lead them. Again, not much of this prophecy is known outside of Sea Folk, but I found some general information to go on with."

 

"Lesson four concerns the Dark Prophecy." Aelwhin looked serious. Normally, we would have little information regarding this prophecy, but under some extreme circumstances scholars and Aes Sedai have managed to find a few snippets, and the manner that they were able to find them wasn't a pretty experience. I'll be expecting a lot of debates and discussions on this one, as most theories offered regarding the Dark prophecies are still on fairly shaky grounds." Aelwhin smiled.

 

"For our last lesson, we'll be tackling less known prophecies circulating about, such as those regarding the Horn of Valere, or possibly some ter'angreals or two."

 

"Next: a little discussion on how prophecies come about. There are few individuals in the world with prophetic abilities, and they work in different ways, according to the level of prophecy they are able to possess. In times of old, some of the prophecies these people told were written down and translated, becoming those that we know of today."

 

"The first of these kinds of people are those who have the Foretelling. Some channelers possess this talent, though fewer and fewer numbers during the past thousand years. The way a Foretelling comes depends on the person - he or she may receive the Foretelling through phrases or poems, or receive it in a vision or a vivid image. Some possess this talent marginally, such as reading weather patterns or having sudden premonitions of fear or other emotions they don't understand until after the event; others possess this strongly."

 

"The second kind of prophetic ability is the talent of Dreaming, another talent only channelers have. Until recently, Dreamers are rare, none had that talent in the past 400 years. Dreamers are able to see visions and images that may predict the future, while they are sleeping and dreaming. These images are often abstract though, and the interpretations may vary."

 

"Viewers are another kind. Unlike the first two, this manifests itself only on non-channelers, and even rarer a skill, mainly because Viewers choose to keep their viewings about others to themselves. This ability allows them to see images and auras around the person he or she is looking at, involving an event that would involve the said person in the sometime future. Sometimes the Viewer understands the images and auras she sees, but more often than not it is a mystery to her as well. The Tower has little knowledge as to how this ability works."

 

"The class will only be dwelling on known prophecies that affect everyone, since the visions Dreamers see are often personal and affect only certain individuals, and not much study has been undertaken on Viewers." Idly, Aelwhin wondered about that. It would be interesting to find a Viewer and bring her or him to the Tower, to study how they see and perceive visions.

 

"Remember that what a prophecy says is sometimes not what it means. "Twice and twice shall he be marked", for example, can mean that he could receive twin scars in battle, and that is how he can be recognized; but it can also be something as simple as birthmarks."

 

"This wraps up the first lesson for today. For our next class, we'll start getting down to the heart of the subject, and discuss the Karaethon Cycle at length. No homework for today; I'd just like to see the notes you have for this lesson. Also, if you have any questions regarding our subject matter, now is the good time to ask them."

 

Back to the top

 

Lesson 2

 

The butterflies were back, but they weren't as many as before. While waiting for the rest of her class to file in, Aelwhin turned to write "The Karaethon Cycle" in big, bold letters on the blackboard. Wiping her wet palms on a small handkerchief she had had the foresight to bring, Aelwhin greeted the class.

 

"Today's lesson will revolve around the Karaethon cycle, also the Prophecies of the Dragon."

 

"As its name implies, this set of prophecies revolves around the Dragon Reborn, supposedly the incarnation of Lews Therin Toremon, the man who was the leader behind the sealing of the Dark One at the Bore, and also the one responsible for Breaking the world." Aelwhin winced. It was not a pleasant topic to discuss. The Karaethon cycle tells of the Dragon Reborn who will fight the forces of the Dark in the Last Battle, called the Tarmon Gai'don, and will break the world by doing so. Nothing in the prophecies say if the Dragon Reborn will win, or if the Dark One will, though some hazy indications show that the Light will succeed. Many of the common people do not want to read this prophecy, and it has been banned in some lands, notably in Tear."

 

"Obviously, the Karaethon Cycle, like most of the other prophecies, centers around the Dragon Reborn; the manner of his birth, how he can be recognized, what he must do to prove that he is the Dragon Reborn. Although the Dragon fights for the Light, he is not seen as a Savior among the people; he may even do more harm than good. There are many passages in the Karaethon Cycle, and learning them all may take up several months, actually. We'll focus on those that best describes the Dragon Reborn and his task instead." Aelwhin turned to write a passage on the board. "No one knows who originally wrote these lines, but old documents show that the Chief Librarian at the Court of Arafel, Ellaine Marise'idin Alshinn, of the Third Age in the Year of Grace 231, was responsible for translating this passage."

 

[1]And it shall come to pass that what men made shall be shattered,

[2]and the Shadow shall lie across the Pattern of the Age,

[3]and the Dark One shall once more lay his hand upon the world of man.

[4]Women shall weep and men quail as the nations of the earth are rent like rotting cloth.

[5]Neither shall anything stand nor abide...

[6]Yet one shall be born to face the Shadow,

[7]born once more as he was born before and shall be born again, time without end.

[8]The Dragon shall be Reborn,

[9]and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth at his rebirth.

[10]In sackclothes and ashes shall he clothe the people,

[11]and he shall break the world again by his coming, tearing apart all ties that bind.

[12]Like the unfettered dawn shall he blind us, and burn us,

[13]yet shall the Dragon Reborn confront the Shadow at the Last Battle,

[14]and his blood shall give us the Light.

[15]Let tears flow, O ye people of the world.

[16]Weep for your salvation."

 

"Line 1 seems to be talking about cuendillar, which Aes Sedai of old purpotedly made and could not be shattered. Cuendillar are the seals binding the Dark One to his prison; lines 2, 3, and 4 supports that, saying that the Dark One will escape his prison and the lands will suffer. Lines 6 through 8 talks of the Dragon Reborn, and lines 9 to 12 indicates that rather than rejoicing at having someone fight the Shadow, the Dragon Reborn will bring suffering as well. Lines 13 and 14 now say that in spite of these, he is the only chance we have against the Dark, with some implications that he will die in the Last Battle, though that is not certain. 'Let tears flow, O ye people of the world. Weep for your salvation.'" Aelwhin softly quoted the last two lines. "Not a prophecy that one looks forward to seeing come true."

 

"A little insight as to how the Last Battle will be like is hinted at in another passage:"

 

[1]With his coming are the dread fires born again. The hills burn, and the land turns sere.

[2]The tides of men run out, and the hours dwindle. The wall is pierced, and the veil of parting raised.

[3]Storms rumble beyond the horizon, and the fires of heaven purge the earth.

[4]There is no salvation without destruction, no hope this side of death.

 

[5]Twice dawns the day when his blood is shed.

[6]Once for mourning, once for birth.

[7]Red on Black, the Dragons blood stains the rock of Shayol Ghul.

[8]In the Pit of Doom shall his blood free men from the Shadow.

 

Aelwhin stepped back to look at her work. "Much more confusing than the first passage. Lines 1 through 4 describes the land during the battle; fires everywhere, deaths of many men, storms and all other elements unleashed; the last part might be some indication of Aes Sedai participating in the battle. 'Lands turning sere' means that there will be dryness and heat instead of winter. No salvation without destruction; that's pretty self-explanatory."

 

"The next two lines get confusing; lines 5 and 6 can mean that after the 'Dragon Reborn's blood is shed', there will be a time for mourning of those who died, and a time after that for new life to start anew. Lines 7 and 8 can mean that the Dragon will die, but in doing so, will help save everyone from the Shadow, which might well mean that the Light will win." Aelwhin felt a small rush of pity for the Dragon Reborn, whoever it may be. No one deserved a sad fate like this.

 

"Other passages talk about things that mark the Dragon Reborn, such as the Stone of Tears, that protects the sword Callandor only the Dragon can wield; there is talk of the People of the Dragon in the passages, a group who will aid him in his task. This may very well be the Aiel, as the passages goes on to call them the 'spears' and that they will 'dance with death', something Aiel are known for. He is called many things; the 'breaker of bonds', the 'maker of futures', the 'unshaper of destiny'."

 

"Some signs that will show that the Dragon has been reborn:"

 

1. born on the slopes of Dragonmount, of a maiden wedded to no man.

2. the People of the Dragon shall come to the Stone

3. The fall of the Stone (will not fall until the People of the Dragon come; others say the Stone will not fall until the Sword that Cannot be Touched is wielded by the Dragon)

4. twice marked by the heron, and twice marked by the dragon.

5. the Dragon will proclaim himself, bannered across the sky in fire.

6. he shall slay the people with the sword of peace

7. he shall destroy the people with the leaf

8. he shall bind the nine moons to serve him

9. he shall heal the wound of madness and cutting of hope

 

Aelwhin grinned at the confused looks on her students' faces. "I know, I felt much the same way when I first read about them. #'s 1 through 3 seem straightforward enough, and this proves that the Dragon Reborn will be an Aiel, or part Aiel. The fourth number seems to say that the Dragon will bear tattoos of dragons of some sort, and possibly herons, though some scholars believe that the latter indicated that he will be a blademaster. The rest are a mystery. How does one slay people with the sword of peace? And what are the nine moons? The last number, to 'heal the wound of madness' may have some reference to the Dragon Reborn perhaps, being able to heal the taint of saidin?"

 

"This ends our lesson for today. Your homework is as follows:"

 

Homework:

 

Choose from one of the following: (There isn't any right or wrong answer to this one, I just want to see how you think and interpret them ^___^)

 

1. Explain what the following passage means according to what you think. Be as precise as you can.

 

There can be no health in us,

nor any good thing grow,

for the land is one with the Dragon Reborn,

and he one with the land.

Soul of fire, heart of stone,

in pride he conquers,

forcing the proud to yield.

He calls upon the mountains to kneel,

and the seas to give way,

and thevery skies to bow.

Pray that the heart of stone remembers tears,

and the soul of fire, love.

 

This is from a much-disputed translation of The Prophecies of the Dragon by the poet Kyera Termendal, of Shiota, believed to have been published between FY700 and FY800.

 

2. Answer the following questions: (At least two or three sentences each)

a. What do you think 'destroy the people with the leaf' mean?

b. What do you think 'slay people with the sword of peace mean?

c. Why is the Karaethon Cycle considered a 'dirty' prophecy by most, resulting in it being banned in many lands?

 

 

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Lesson 3

 

Aelwhin waited for her students to come in and get settled. Tapping lightly on the table to get their attention, she smiled, less nervously than before, and started.

 

"We'll be going over the Rhuidean and Jendai Prophecies today. First, the Rhuidean, or Aiel, Prophecy."

 

"Rhuidean is actually a city in the Aiel Waste, possibly their only city. Not much is known about it, save that it has been abandoned at some time in the past. Here's an excerpt from a book I found on the Aiel:"

 

"This rugged, broken land, where men had killed or died over a pool of water they could step across, was the last place on earth anyone would think to find a great city. Its long-ago builders had never finished their work. Impossibly tall buildings dotted the city, stepped and slab-sided palaces that sometimes ended after eight or even ten stories not with a roof but with the ragged masonry of another half-built floor. The Towers soared higher yet, but stopped in jagged abruptness as often as not. ...The marvelous fountains stood dry as they had for hundreds upon hundreds of years."

 

Most Aiel are prohibited entry in Rhuidean, save for the Aiel clan chiefs and Wise Ones, and not all survive. It is in here that they receive the prophecies, which give it its name, although some general passages are known in the Aiel community.

 

"One of the more popular passages of the Rhuidean is what I will be writing." Aelwhin turned to the board.

 

[1] The stone that never falls will fall to announce his coming.

[2] Of the blood, but not raised by the blood,

[3] he will come from Rhuidean at dawn,

[4] and tie you together with bonds you cannot break.

[5] He will take you back, and he will destroy you.

 

"Not a prophecy to be rejoicing at, either. Like the Karaethon Cycle, there is mention of a Stone that will fall when he comes. Scholars believe it may be the Stone of Tears. Line 2 says that he will be born an Aiel, and he might look Aiel, but he will not be raised as one. The odd thing here is that he will 'come from Rhuidean at dawn' (this is the reason he is called Car'a'carn, 'He Who Comes with the Dawn'), but no one but Aiel clan chiefs and Wise Ones are allowed entry. It might be a different case for him, because he is to lead all the clans and would be a clan chief in his own right. However the fourth line shows that the Aiel will be closely tied to him, though how the bonds will be set is unsure, and the last line seems to imply that he will break the Aiel clans. Other passages say this:"

 

'He shall spill out the blood of those who call themselves Aiel as water on sand, and he shall break them as dried twigs, yet the remnant of a remnant shall he save, and they shall live.'

 

"It seems to say that he will destroy most of the Aiel, but there will still be a small number of them he will be able to save in the end. He will change them in some way, and through him, the Aiel will be able to find what had been lost to them. Again, this is fairly muddy to interpret. Even knowing this, the Aiel searches for their Car'a'carn to lead them."

 

"Some passages also say that the Aiel had failed the Aes Sedai at one point in history, and would die again rather than fail them again, because the Aes Sedai will slay them if they do. This implies a connection between Aes Sedai and Aiel. The Car'a'carn will also lead them out of the Three-Fold Land (what Aiel call the Waste) when the Stone falls. They also believe that the Car'a'carn will lead them and conquer through this sign." Aelwhin drew a circle, and then drew a sinuous line across it. "What this means is still unknown."

 

"Next: the Jendai Prophecy. This is a Sea Folk prophecy known to Sea Folk and rarely to outsiders. Not much is known about these prophecies as of yet, but what is known is this: there will a rise a figure called the Coramoor, who will lead the Sea Folk and free them from their wanderings. It says that he will lead the Sea Folk to glory, so that all the seas of the world will be theirs. 'As we give to you, you must give to us.' There are really no sure passages that we know of that tells of the 'Coramoor' breaking the Sea Folk and the Athan M'iere, so much is left to speculation. Here is a passage of the Jendai Prophecy:"

 

[1] He can wield the One Power... and he holds the Sword That Cannot Be Touched.

[2] The Aiel have come over the Dragonwall to his call...

[3] The Stone of Tear has fallen, and war breaks over the nations of the land.

[4] Those who once ruled have returned, and been driven back for the first time...

[5] The White Tower shall be broken by his name, and Aes Sedai shall kneel to wash his feet and dry them with their hair.

 

"This is much the same as the other prophecies. The Dragon Reborn can channel and will wield the legendary Callandor; the Aiel will aid him, the Stone of Tear will fall, and there will be war. Line 4 seems to refer to the Seanchan; they had ruled before, their ancestors being the armies of Artur Hawkwing sent across the Aryth Ocean. On a darker note for us, it also says that the White Tower will change under him, and that Aes Sedai will serve him as well." Aelwhin frowned. She didn't quite liked that part.

 

"There is however, a traditional Sea Folk myth that is popular among them, and few bits and pieces had filtered out to the rest of the world, called the Legend of the Jade Eye. Stories of the Jade Eye are a long tradition among the Sea Folk people; they say that the Jade Eye is a bright green star that appears on the north to northeastern orbit over the Sea of Storms every evening for thousands of years. Every Sea Folk who had passed through the Sea of Storms has seen it. However, the Jade Eye disappeared from sight during the Year 998 New Era. This was the same night that a falling star swept over the lands of those shorebound. It still remains a mystery, but many stories had sprung up from that tale."

 

That done, Aelwhin dismissed the class. "Be sure to be here bright and early for our next lesson! Your homework will be as follows:"

 

Answer two of the five questions below. One must be about the Aiel, and the other about the Jendai prophecy. Again, no real right or wrong answer in this one, but write at least three sentences per question.

 

1. Considering the bleakness of the Aiel prophecy, why do you think the Aiel are still intent on searching for their Car'a'carn despite the prediction that few of them will survive?

 

2. Why do you think that the whole Rhuidean Prophecy is only known to Wise Ones and Aiel clan chiefs? Given the history of Aiel, as well as their natures and temperament, support your belief.

 

3. If you were an Aiel, and a wetlander comes claiming to be the Car'a'carn and fulfilling the requirements needed, would you support or go against him? Give valid reasons why or why not.

 

4. Given what you might know about the Athan M'iere and the Sea Folk, what possible reasons could there be for them to want to seek out a leader for their people, the Coramoor? Do you think this is a better prophecy for them than the Rhuidean the Aiel, or the common people the Karaethon Cycle?

 

5. Do you believe that the Jade Eye existed during ancient times? What could have caused its sudden disappearance?

 

Again questions regarding the prophecies and the like are welcomed!

 

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Lesson 4

 

Aelwhin smiled at the class. "Our next lesson will be interesting, as it's not very commonly known, and is subject to a lot of debate and shaky theories. Not many people know about the Dark prophecies, a collection of passages used by the forces of the Dark. Keep in mind that when I say 'prophecies', I mean it in the lightest sense of the word. I highly doubt it's true." She smiled at the class, thankful for Lasir Sedai for pointing that out when she taught this class as an Accepted. She had probably learned more from the Aes Sedai more than she did her. "Probably only the higher hierarchy of the Dark like Chosen and Dreadlords have access to these prophecies. We don't have a book about them on hand at the moment though, because this is one of the last places we'll find prophecies that go against what we're taught. What we do know though, we''ll go in as much detail as we can." Aelwhin grinned. It would be a good thing to get a hold of the 'prophecies' of the opposite side, to get a better understanding of how they think and counter them. Light, sometimes she acts as if she were aspiring to Blue.

 

"We were fortunate though, or maybe unfortunate, to get a hold of a few passages; this was found scrawled in blood on a wall shortly after a fight against some of the Dark forces, and copied by some Sisters. It may or may not be the Dark Prophecies; it could be just Dark propaganda, but many are inclined to believe the former." Aelwhin winced, as she turned to write on the board. "I suppose a Myrddraal felt pretty arrogant at that time. This is quite a long passage, so I'll be breaking them down into parts to discuss."

 

"Bear in mind that some of these passages may be uncomfortable, especially to us Aes Sedai; I just want to emphasize again that what these passages say may not be what it means; it's much like a riddle, which can mean a lot of things and a lot of double standards."

 

[1] Daughter of the Night, she walks again.

[2] The ancient war, she yet fights

[3] Her new lover she seeks, who shall serve her and die, yet

serve still.

[4] Who shall stand against her coming?

[5] The Shining Walls shall kneel.

[6] Blood feeds blood.

[7] Blood calls blood.

[8] Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be./

 

"Line 1 denotes a possible reference to Lanfear, one of the Chosen. 'Lanfear' actually means 'daughter of the night', or something to that effect. Lines 2 through 4 indicate that she will prove to be a powerful force for us Aes Sedai to reckon with. Lanfear was originally the first lover of Lews Therin Toremon, the Dragon, until he met his wife Illyena. This seems to show that when she comes, she will try to win the Dragon Reborn over to her side." Aelwhin shuddered. Light, let not that be true.

 

"'The Shining Walls' refers to Tar Valon, that it would kneel. Don't be overly concerned about this one; this is the Dark Prophecies after all; and they have been trying to make the Tower kneel for the past thousand years or so." Aelwhin kept her tone light-hearted.

 

[9] The man who channels stands alone.

[10] He gives his friends for sacrifice.

[11] Two roads before him, one to death beyond dying, one to

life eternal.

[12] Which will he choose? Which will he choose?

[13] What hand shelters? What hand slays?

[14] Blood feeds blood.

[15] Blood calls blood.

[16] Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be.

 

"'The man who channels would have to be the Dragon Reborn, and that he has two paths to choose from; in one, he is able to save the world, but hints that he would die in the process; another is to serve the Dark One and gain immortality. It is to the Dragon Reborn if he will choose to live and slay, or die and protect." Aelwhin cleared her throat.

 

[17] Luc came to the Mountains of Dhoom.

[18] Isam waited in the high passes.

[19] The hunt is now begun. The Shadow's hounds now course, and

kill.

[20] One did live, and one did die, but both are.

[21] The Time of Change has come.

[22] Blood feeds blood.

[23] Blood calls blood.

[24] Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be.

 

"Some people are uncertain as to who 'Luc' is, but it has been generally agreed that 'Luc' is Lord Luc, the brother to Tigraine, Daughter-Heir of Andor. He vanished in the Blight, and based on this text, may still be alive, now a Darkfriend. As to Isam is I have no idea, but some books suggest that he has a relationship and kinship with fallen Malkier, which had been swallowed by the Blight for some time now. Both may possibly be Darkfiends now; the phrase 'one did live, and one did die' shows that one of them could have been reborn or resurrected, but 'both are', might mean they serve the Dark One. The Time of Change implies the close of an Age."

 

[25] The Watchers wait on Toman's Head.

[26] The seed of the Hammer burns the ancient tree.

[27] Death shall sow, and summer burn, before the Great Lord

comes.

[28] Death shall reap, and bodies fail, before the Great Lord

comes.

[29] Again the seed slays ancient wrong, before the Great Lord

comes.

[30] Now the Great Lord comes.

[31] Now the Great Lord comes.

[32] Blood feeds blood.

[33] Blood calls blood.

[34] Blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be.

[35] Now the Great Lord comes.

 

"Line 25 I'm not entirely sure of, though it might refer to the Atha'an Miere, also called the Watchers Over the Waves, and of their community on Toman's Head, found in Falme. There is belief that Artur Hawkwing's old army will return one day and Hammer of the Light was one of the old names for Artur Hawkwing, so the 'seed of the Hammer' may mean his descendants sent across the Aryth Ocean. What the 'Ancient tree' is, is unknown as of yet. The Great Lord, as many know, stands for what Darkfriends and forces of the Dark call the Dark One."

 

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Aelwhin smiled. "These passages earn us a little insight as to how the other side thinks and what they believe, so we could have a little edge over them should the time come. Now, for you homework."

 

 

Homework: Answer one of the two questions below in three to four sentences per question.

 

1. What is your interpretation of the phrase 'Blood feeds Blood, blood calls blood, blood is, and blood was, and blood shall ever be'? Why is it repeated throughout the passages.

 

2. As an Aes Sedai, what possible steps can you take to ensure that most of the Dark prophecies will never come to pass? (That of the Dragon Reborn serving the Dark One, Lanfear, etc.)

 

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Lesson 5

 

This was her last lesson, and Aelwhin felt a sudden pang. She had enjoyed teaching the class and coming up with theories along with her students. Surprisingly, she found she would miss her students a lot.

 

The young Novices and Accepteds entering the classroom looked curiously at a covered tray right beside the table Aelwhin occupied; but the fragrant smell wafting out of the area made their eyes sparkle, taking a guess as to what it was.

 

When everyone had settled down, Aelwhin stepped forward and took off the cover of the tray, revealing several dozen cookies piled neatly on a few plates. "A small reward for all your hard work." She smiled, as she began to pass out cookies. "There's enough for all of you, so feel free to eat while the lesson's in progress. Just make sure to pay attention, alright?"

 

"Today will be out last lesson, regarding prophecies and sayings that the general community as a whole are not familiar with. History tells us of the many different legends since the Age of Legends, passed down from generation to generation. With the passing of these legends, some prophecies arise telling us that these legends will repeat themselves once more, although when or where is still a mystery."

 

"One such legend is the popular Hunt for the Horn of Valere. It has been said that this Horn, when found and blown, will summon heroes and heroines of legend to rise out from their grave to aid the owner in his or her cause. Heroes like Birgitte Silverbow, Artur Hawkwing, Gaidal Cain, Rogosh Eagle-Eye, Mikel of the Pure Heart, and Paendrag, the Golden -Tongued. Some Old Tongue words have been closely associated with the Horn; 'Tia mi aven moridin isainde vadin'. This means 'No grave is bar to my call.'"

 

"Here are a couple of prophecies regarding the Horn of Valere:"

 

[1] In the last, lorn fight 'gainst the fall of long night,

[2] the mountains stand guard, and the dead shall be ward,

[3] for the grave is no bar to my call.

 

"This is a direct quote from the "Great Hunt for the Horn, and implies that the Horn will sound and bring the Heroes to fight against the Dark One, during Tarmon Gai'don to fight the Last Battle. However, there is a requirement for one to be able to sound the Horn, in which many Hunters for the Horn do not know of, and many repercussions. The first is that whoever sounds the Horn, Darkfriends, Trollocs and Halfmen will follow. Not exactly a good band of followers for most people. Secondly, one will only be able to sound the Horn and bring back the heroes must not want to bring glory to himself or herself, 'Let whosoever sounds me think not of glory, but only of salvation.', to be more exact. Since the Horn has not been found as of yet, no one can try to prove or disprove this theory. Lastly, and most importantly, whoever blows the Horn will be 'bonded' to it in ways they cannot imagine." Aelwhin frowned. "Perhaps 'bond' is not the right word; it's more of being connected to it in some way."

 

"Next, we'll be dwelling a bit on old sayings that may have very well been part of old prophecies forgotten in the past. There is one that talks of the 'Lord of Chaos', that had been part of a chant in a children's game during the Fourth Age, in the city of Great Aravalon. No one knows who first said this chant:"

 

'The lions sing and the hills take flight. The moon by day, and the sun by night. Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool. Let the Lord of Chaos rule.'

 

"This has no real descriptions or predictions as to what will happen in the future, but there is a hint in the chant that if the Lord of Chaos will rule, he will create chaos as his name implies."

 

"There is also a Seanchan saying I've found in one of the books: 'On the heights, all paths are paved with daggers.' Possibly part of their own prophecy, then, if they have one? Not much is known about Seanchan and their way of life and culture, and this saying seems to give us a small glimpse of the power and influence a Seanchan must have given their politics; to thread lightly as you go higher, no matter what decision you make, for you could get pricked."

 

"Here's your homework:"

 

Think of two sayings, whether ICly in the WoT books, or OOCly. (the less popularly know, the better.) Something like, "Time is gold." but nt that common a saying. Explain what these sayings mean, as precisely as you can.

 

"I hope you enjoyed this class as much as I liked teaching it!" Aelwhin smiled. "Don't forget; finals will be tomorrow!"

 

Back to the Top

 

Final

 

Now, answer all the questions found below, and send them in an email to rinoa_heartilly@rinoa.zzn.com. Don't post to this thread, awright? You have until March 1, 2001 to finish all the other lessons you haven't posted to yet, as well as email me these finals. I'll be emailing your grades after I finish grading your test!

 

Finals:

 

1. Based on the lessons, what are the requirements you think are needed for something to be considered a prophecy? Name at least two. (extra credit if you can think of more than two good requirements)

 

2. Interpret the following passage: (not in terms of the events in the WoT book, but according to your own ideas and theories) The more precise, the better.

[1] Power of the Shadow made human flesh,

[2] wakened to turmoil, strife and ruin.

[3] The Reborn One, marked and bleeding, dances the sword in dreams and mist

[4] chains the Shadowsworn to his will, from the city, lost and forsaken,

[5] leads the spears to war once more

[6] breaks the spears and makes them see

[7] truth long hidden in the ancient dream.

[8] Into the heart he thrusts his sword,

[9] into the heart, to hold their hearts.

[10] Who draws it out shall follow after,

[11] What hand can grasp that fearful blade?

 

3. Give a general but brief summary of the Karaethon Cycle, the Jendai Prophecy, the Rhuidean Prophecy, and the Dark Prophecy.

 

4. did you enjoy the class? What comments / suggestions do you have to further improve the lessons?

 

Good luck you guys! You all did a wonderful job with the lessons! *proud*

 

 

[Amadine]

Pyro

 

by Ahmae

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Final

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

"Good afternoon. Oh dear. Am I late again?" Muttering about not enough time Ahmae ambled into the classroom. There were ink smudges on her face and a bleary look in her eye from reading fine print too long. She had had the desks rearranged into a circle with everyone facing inward. "I find I can keep an eye on everyone better this way. Why would I want to do that? A few days from now you'll see. I am Ahmae Sandora of the Brown Ajah and I will be teaching this class. The purpose of this class is to teach different weaves that use larger amounts of Fire."

 

 

"There will be four lessons, including a field trip, and a final. Fair warning now. This class will involve frogs. Why frogs? Because I have frogs handy." She pulled a frog out of her pocket. "I don't have the time to go catch a bunch of mice just for this class. If you don't like them you won't have to touch them." She grinned at some expressions. The frog squirmed. She had made it a point to bring her largest one to class. "Don't worry. He won't bite. Just maybe get your hand all slimy." The little critters were so cute. The frog croaked as she stuffed him back in her pocket.

 

That said she moved on to the lesson at hand. "Today we will be learning to heat rooms without a fire. To avoid heating the room too hot and allow everyone a chance to try this weave I would like you to do this on a smaller scale. Say, the space around your desk." She embraced Saidar. "In full scale you will have to keep an eye on this and many other weaves using large amounts of Fire if you don't want to cook yourself. As it is the weave won't be around long enough to get out of control. To begin, you will weave a net or grid of fire down by the floor because heat rises. Don't get it too close to the rugs." She demonstrated as she spoke. "Or we'll be stuck with singed rugs for the rest of the class.

 

"That done you use Air to carry the heat evenly throughout the space you wish to heat." Ahmae glanced away from the tangle in front of her face to survey her students' progress. "At this point if you let it go you will be unpleasantly toasted so don't. For control Spirit is needed like so." Her weave done she let go. The room grew uncomfortably hot as weaves were completed. Once satisfied that no one was about to burn themselves out with an unfamiliar weave she turned her attention to the previously unnoticed tubs of water in the corners of the room. With a deft weave they were ice in seconds and the temperature dropped as flows of air circulated the cooler air. Ahmae had to smile to herself. When she first started this class she hadn't thought of a way to cool the room back down and everyone had been miserable for the length of class.

 

She then instructed her students on how to manage the air conditioning and divided the class in half. "For the rest of the class period each group will work on different weaves. Every few minutes you will switch."

 

You will be graded on if you respond or not. I am not strict and will allow plausible excuses but I would like for all responses to be dated no later than a week after I post the lesson.

 

Back to the top

 

Lesson 2

 

Ahmae was running late again. Everyone was already seated when she hurried in. She took a deep breath and ended up holding it when she forgot what she was going to say. There was an awkward moment of silence before she remembered. "Why, from all the long faces I'd almost think someone was hoping I wouldn't show up for class today but that couldn't be. Today is field trip day. I can't see why anyone would want to miss that. Well? Off to the stables with you." She proceeded to propel the stragglers out the door with a hand on shoulder or arm. "I didn't plan for anyone to sit here like a bump on a log."

 

They arrived out at the practice field used for the Advanced Saidar class. Old shields had been placed on posts as non flammable targets. "I'd like to see by show of hands who is aspiring to the Green Ajah. Those of you who are will have the most use for today's weave." Ahmae swung down off her horse. "First though, everyone needs to review rain clouds for putting out fires. There's not much to burn out here but you can't be too careful. I'll come around and check that everyone remembers how. A few drops is enough of a demo, we don't need to be slogging around in mud the whole class."

 

When everyone had demonstrated their ability to extinguish a run away fire she moved on to the day's lesson. "Today we are learning to throw fireballs. Although large infernos are impressive they are not necessary. Using a smaller weave is less tiring and gets the job done just as well. There are a few types of fireballs but we'll start with the simple hand thrown ones." She wove Fire with a touch of Air and Spirit around her hand and lower forearm and sent it streaking towards the targets with a flick of her wrist. It smashed into a target, flared, and disappeared. "See? Only about the size of your fist and it would have taken out any shadow spawn if your aim was good. Next, try making it explode on impact." She did a quick demo with the back flash hot enough to require arms thrown up in front of faces as protection from the heat. "The only difference is more Spirit. Spread out, choose your targets, and try this for a few minutes then we'll move on. Don't flame each other. I'll be available for any questions."

 

There were a few small fires from missed targets but all were put out quickly enough. She called a stop when all had managed to throw some of each, target hit or missed as long as the weave was achieved. "Now we'll try a few versions that are not thrown. These include erupting from the ground as well as hurling from the sky. Both of these will throw up rocks and dirt so place them away from the group. Eruptions require Earth as well as Fire so most of you shouldn't expect to have tremendous results. From the sky they should be easier for you as it uses Air in place of Earth." Ahmae wove Fire and somewhat less Earth into the ground about two hundred paces away doing her best to hide her difficulty with Earth. The ground exploded in a blazing fountain about five feet high. Without pausing she wove Fire and Air into a sphere and brought it blazing to the ground. A small crater was left at both sights. She'd have to fill them in a bit at the end of class to keep Phryg, or whoever had the Advanced class now, happy. "You have the rest of the time to practice. Keep those rain clouds handy."

 

Back to the Top

 

Lesson 3

 

Uncharacteristicly (Is that a word? Ahh oh well. It sounds right) Ahmae was early. This was going to be fun. The box on her desk moved now and then, and croaking noises came from under the lid. She had made a point to be there for a reason. As her class entered she had them stand against the wall. When all had arrived she gestured for them to sit. Within seconds half the class was on the floor. "Life lesson. Things aren't always as they seem." Ahmae untied the weaves she had prepared and revealed every desk pushed half a pace to the right of where they had appeared to be. "Illusions can be quite useful." She quickly outlined to bending of light with Spirit to make an object 'move'.

 

That done she lead them, carrying her box, to the lower levels of the Tower. "Dark will make this more interesting", she said grinning over her shoulder.

 

In the dim light of a glowing ball of Saidar Ahmae passed out the box's contents. Everyone received a frog with a name tag around it's left front leg. "I tried collars but their necks are bigger than their heads. As you know, today we are learning a few pranks. The first was inspired by Alecia's claim a while back to have seen a ghost." She set her frog down and caged it with Air before it could hop away. "Oh, if you lose my frogs you'll have to find them, so make sure they're stuck where they are." She wove Fire and Spirit in a shapeless tangle above the frog and anchored it to him. "Watch now." Ahmae dimmed her light and a pale, nearly transparent mass appeared glowing far enough above the animal so that it was not seen. She released the frog and it hopped away causing the weave to go along. Air moving past caused it to shift and change. "There you now have a 'ghost'. Notice with the weave tied to the frog I know where it is so it doesn't get away as well as having a mobile ghost." She plucked the frog off the floor and brought it back with a weave of Air.

 

While her students were enthralled with their creations and making them into likenesses of Sedai they didn't care for Ahmae slipped into the shadows. She moaned low in her throat and had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as it echoed down the empty corridor from five and more directions at once. The walls a ways down the hall took on an erie glow and shapes oozed forth. Several faces paled and she couldn't help herself any longer. Ahmae fell to the floor laughing.

 

"Who ever said Aes Sedai can't have a little fun? On a more serious note, those of you with more expirence should have felt me channeling. That's why I can only pull that off on this class, and why you shouldn't try it on Aes Sedai. For the Accepted that is. Novices, you know you can't channel without at least an Accepted keeping an eye on you."

 

"I was going to do a few more but I decided not out of self defense. I'm confident you can think of enough on you're own. So it's time to turn in the frogs." She held out the box.

 

This is one of the more um... interesting lessons. Try to be a little creative.

 

Back to the Top

 

Lesson 4

 

Half an hour before class was scheduled Ahmae walked up to the door and stuck a sign on it. It read:

 

 

As the sun does not do as I tell it, we will meet for class at 10:00 pm in the Tower grounds. For the Novices, you're curfew has been cleared for this class but once we're done off to bed with you. Bring snacks if you want them. I will have marshmallows but the rest is up to you. NO caffeine.

 

Ahmae

 

 

Her "bonfire" was ready by the time her first students arrived laden down with food. It was really just a weave of fire suspended above the ground but it beat having to haul a bunch of wood around then wait for it to go out when they were done. As soon as it was totally dark Ahmae licked marshmallow off her fingers and stood up.

 

"I'm sure some of you were hoping I'd lost my wits and decided to make the rest of class a camp out, I'm not as absent minded as I sometimes appear, but we have stuff to learn." She glared at a few giggles. "Tonight we are doing skylights." She looked up and glowing waves glittered across a small part of the sky. As they rippled they changed color or faded and disappeared. "They aren't that difficult and as long as you keep them high enough they pose no threat to anyone. Unlike fireworks they do not explode." Illuminators eat your hearts out. "The downside is that they are not as spectacular as fireworks unless you have a large number of channelers working together.

 

"If you were watching what I did you would have noticed that each is a Thread of Fire entwined with varying amounts Air and Spirit. Fire will give you the brightness and color while the other two affect the light's motion and also color. As in blue is hotter so requires more Fire but if you want a bright red you need Fire for light but it needs to be cooler and so on. The skylight exists as long as you maintain it. You can tie it off but it stays the same and gets boring." She demonstrated a miniature skylight in the center to the group to make it clear what she was talking about. At a safe altitude it was hard to see clear enough to learn the weave.

 

She gave everyone time to fool around with the skylights then called an end to class. As she followed her students inside it occurred to her that maybe she should have asked to post some notice of what they were doing in the city. Skylights were pretty to watch and some would have appreciated knowing in advance. She shrugged to herself and forgot about it.

 

Back to the Top

 

Final

 

Her students trooped in by ones and in groups with the glum look worn on test days by almost anyone who did not enjoy tests. Ahmae sat drumming her fingers on her desk as they waited for her to speak. "Well I bet I can guess what's on all your minds right now." She grinned. "I wonder if you can guess what I'm thinking." Silence reigned. "Nobody?"

 

"To be honest I can't think of anything for a final. Much of what we covered could burn the Tower down or get at least some of us in trouble. So I thought something else was in order......."

 

Hop over to the TV board and see what I have planned.

Get going. Your grade depends on it.

 

 

[Amadine]

Shadowspawn

 

by Rayalin

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

Trollocs

 

First, anyone who would like her grade sent to her, please send me a quick email to let me

know your email address, and I’ll send them right along at the end of the class. Thanks!!

maraines@earthlink.net

 

Lets begin when these nightmares were created. During the War of Shadows, Lews

Therin and his Hundred Companions fought other men sworn to the Dark One. As the

war raged on, however, the Dark One developed other means of fighting. The Forsaken

Aginor, among others, used genetic materials to engineer nightmarish creatures to fight for

the Dark. These creatures were engineered to breed naturally, in the hopes of increasing

the populations quickly and effectively.

 

One such creature is the Trolloc. Genetic materials from animals which are naturally

aggressive, such as boars, bears, wolves, goats, wildcats, rams, and eagles were used and

mixed with human stock. Trollocs stand eight to ten feet tall and are very powerful and

vicious, killing just for the fun of it. They resemble the animal from which they were

engineered, even having the facial features and sometimes feet and fur/feathers of that

animal. Trollocs are omnivorous, but they prefer meat of any sort, including other

Trollocs.

 

The resulting soldier was hoped to be powerful and aggressive, and intelligent enough to

follow orders. In this Aginor failed however; Trollocs do not have discipline or

intelligence to follow orders. Rather, they follow more animal instinct and basic human

desires. Trollocs only follow orders when driven by fear; even then, if they fear the

opponent more than their superiors, they will flee. Because of this, they are usually driven

by a Myrddraal. We will discuss these in the next lesson.

 

Trollocs are organized into tribelike bands, including the Ahf’frait, Al’ghol, Bhansheen,

Dhjin’nen, Ghar’ghael, Ghob’hlin, Gho’hlin, Gho’hlem, Ghraem’lan, Ko’bal, Kno’mon,

Dha’vol, and Dhai’mon. Only the males fight; females remain cloistered and are kept

pregnant the majority of their lives; they serve as no more than breeding machines.

 

Homework: What do you think is the Trollocs greatest strength? What is the Trolloc’s

greatest weakness which can be used to defeat them?

 

Back to the top

 

Lesson 2

 

Myrddraal

 

Today we will review the information available on Myrddraal, the fearsome leaders of

Trolloc fists I alluded to in the previous lesson.

 

Myrddraal were a pleasant suprise to the engineers of the Trollocs, if such can be said of these creatures. They are a throwback to the human stock with which the Trollocs were made. Since they are the children of Trollocs, Myrddraal have Trolloc names; but there the comparisons end.

 

Myrddraal are all male, most likely sterile, and lack any identifiable individualistic

expression. They do not use any unique ornamentation, have not sense of humor at all, and reject any social interaction in favor of a solitary existence. Although it is not known why, Myrddraal avoid crossing running water at all but the greatest need.

 

Myrddraal are also known as Shadowmen, Halfmen, Lurks, Fetches, Fades, and

Neverborn. Myrddraal are the size of a normal human, but despite tall muscular bodies, they move with the grace and speed of a serpent. Their skin is the putrid white of a slug, and their blood is black and corrosive. The most striking aspect of Myrddraal is a complete lack of eyes. A smooth plane of white skin stretches over the place where eyes should be, earning them the additional name of Eyeless. Despite a lack of physical eyes, however, the Myrddraal can see perfectly in any light.

 

Myrddraal are able to travel from place to place by stepping into a shadow. It is unknown how these creatures manage this; even Aginor could not discover the nature of this power. It is possible that the Myrddraal do not exist totally in this world, for mirrors cast only misty forms instead of their reflections, and their capes are not touched by any amount of wind, but rather hang motionless around them.

 

The Myrddraal’s most powerful weapon is its gaze, which strikes fear into the very bones. It is this power which made it effective in leading Trollocs. Myrddraal are intelligent enough to follow orders effectively, and can control the Trollocs, making them more effective soldiers. Myrddraal can also link with a large number of Trollocs, thereby taking utter control of their minds and wills. The benefit of this is the creation of a well-disciplined fighting unit; the drawback is that these Trollocs will die if the Myrddraal is killed.

 

The Myrddraal is a formidable opponent, having sophistocated fighting skills and

equipment. Thier swords are made on the slopes of Shayol Ghul at Thakan’dor, only by animated but not truly alive man-shapes called shadow-forgers. Each black blade is seasoned with a human soul. Even the slightest wound with a Myrddraal’s sword is mortal. Myrddraal are difficult to kill, and when mortally wounded, a Myrddraal’s corpse refuses to die until sundown.

 

Homework: Brainstorm and give me a theory on these two questions:

1) How do you think Myrddraal are able to travel through shadows?

2) Why do you think Myrddraal avoid crossing running water?

 

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Lesson 3

 

Draghkar and Darkhounds

 

Today we will discuss the Draghkar and Darkhound, more creations from the War of Shadows using human stock and other genetic materials. The Draghkar have no battle skill, as they have thin frail hands and arms; they do, however, pose an equal danger to the battle oriented Trolloc. This creature has a hypnotic crooning, which summons and compels its victim into its embrace. Once under the creatures’s control, the Draghkar fastens its large, blood red lips to the victim. The Draghkar’s kiss is fatal, slowly draining away the victim’s soul before finally consuming life as well. Those who are saved before death may yet live, but only as empty soulless shells. Those who are not saved fall as cold as though they had been dead for days.

 

The Draghkar, like the Myrddraal, resembles a pale, tall man in build, but there the resemblance to either Myrddraal or man ends. Draghkar have dark shoulder length hair, usually tied back. The body is slender, with too pale skin and talons on each finger of human looking hands. The creature’s face shows gaunt cheeks, extremely large dark eyes, and a blood red puckered mouth containing sharp pointed teeth. The most remarkable characteristic of the Draghkar is its large, batlike wings, which allow it to fly skillfully.

 

Draghkar are usually used as assassins, in conjunction with a Myrddraal and Trolloc raid for distraction. They are most effective at night, outdoors, and when the target is isolated. They are least effective in sunlight, indoors, and in larger groups of people.

 

Darkhounds were created from canine genetic material, corrupted by the Shadow. They were created as guard-beasts around the time of the War of Power, and were later used to hunt down enemies of the Shadow. Running in packs of ten or twelve, they are basically shaped like a hound but are blacker than night and as large as small ponies, weighing two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds each. Their cry sounds similar to a wolf, but is tinged with blood and death. They run faster than a galloping horse, and can maintain that speed longer than any horse.

 

Theories exist, postulating that the Darkhound, possibly like a Myrddraal, exists slightly outside reality. Darkhounds leave no prints on any ground except for on the hardest stone, and the smell of burned sulphur surrounds them.

 

Darkhounds do not like rain or thunderstorms, and if they can help it, will not go out into a storm unless they are on a trail. These creatures, also like Myrddraal, will not readily cross running water, which may be the only way short of killing these creatures to end a chase.

 

The Darkhound is deadly, as even the smallest bite from their massive jaws is fatal. The blood and saliva of the Darkhound are poison, and even one drop on the skin can cause a very slow and extremely painful death.

 

Killing a Darkhound was always difficult, and now that we have lost the technology of the Age of Legends, only the surest hand with sword or bow has any chance. It is possible that a new breed of Darkhounds now exists which can only be slain by the One Power. Stories report these creatures being slain, hacked into pieces, but then melting and reforming into the whole creature once again to attack once more. These cannot be affirmed, but we must hope they are at least exaggerations.

 

Homework:

1) Speculate as to what sorts of animals’ genetic materials could have been used in making the Draghkar.

2) How could you escape death when chased by a Darkhound?

 

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Lesson 4

 

Gray Men, Spies, and Final

 

Finally, today, we will talk of those minions of the Dark One which were not created during the Age of Legends. Most familiar are the so called “eyes and ears” of the Dark One, namely those animals with an affinity for decay, carrion, and death. Crows, ravens, and rats are among those creatures the Shadow employs as spies. Not every crow or rat is a spy for the Dark One; however, there is no way to tell a spy from a normal animal. Many places have placed bounties on these animals, and here in the Tower we have a ward against rats to prevent any infiltration of the Shadow.

 

Gray Men are also not constructs, but were once normal human beings, as far as a darkfriend can be said to be normal. These individuals went beyond merely pledging their souls to the Dark One; they actually gave up their souls to serve as assassins. Also called Soulless, they are for all practical purposes dead already, although they still move and think. Their lack of a soul makes them appear very ordinary-looking, so much so that were they in a crowd they would hardly be noticed. Even the most careful eye can slide right over them. They are such effective assassins that usually even the victim never sees them, and a witness to the attack may not even see the killer.

 

Usually a Gray Man is a man, although occasionally a woman will become a Soulless too. It can only be speculated as to what incentives and benefits are promised these individuals to make them willing to give their very soul to serving the Dark One.

 

FINAL! Ok, for your final, you have a choice. EITHER answer these questions, short answer, from the content of the lessons and your own thoughts, OR RP yourself as a full Aes Sedai (For those of you who aren’t already) combating any two of these creatures of your choice, either at the same time or separately.

 

1) What sorts of precautions can an Aes Sedai take to protect herself and her companions against each of the various creatures of the Dark?

 

2) Discuss the implications on the RL field of genetic engineering. Do you think anything like this (not on this scale, certainly) could ever happen?

 

3) How are Myrddraal and Draghkar alike and different? How are Myrddraal and Darkhounds alike and different?

 

4) What incentive do you think is offered to Darkfriends to get them to become Gray Men?

 

5) What’s your favorite scary movie? :-)

 

 

[Amadine]

Spirit Weaving

 

by Kaylan Morin

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Final

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

Kaylan woke up on the morning she was supposed to be teaching her class. She has written herself reminder notes and left them all over her room in the Green quarters, she didn’t want to forget like she had the first time she taught it…

She wandered down to the room she had been given to teach in, and sat on the desk while she waited for everyone to come in. When they all had, she spoke up.

"I'm Kaylan, I'll be teaching you for the next five days. Not all of you would know me, I’m an Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah. Um, why don’t you all introduce yourselves?" Kaylan sat back and listened to the whole class introduce themselves. When they had finished, Kaylan stood up, leant on her desk and smiled at the room.

"Ok, today we'll be doing shielding and linking, which I'm sure most of you have done before, but, for those of you who haven't I'll run through it. For those of you who have, it's always good to brush up on your skills, so just follow along. I'll need a volunteer to help…" She picked one of the girls near the front of the room.

Kaylan embraced the Source, breathing deeply, smelling the soap the girl had used that morning. Kaylan formed a weave of spirit of a little intricacy and placed it over the girl. She felt a pushing against her shield and she smiled wickedly. She held her for a few more seconds then let go of the weave.

"That is how you make a shield. I'd like everyone to pair up and practise shielding each other. If you have any problems come and ask me." Kaylan kept half an eye on her class and daydreamed about the last time she had taught this class, with Calia.

Eventually she snapped out of it and turned back to her class, to see that most had accomplished it at least once.

"Ahem, " she cleared her throat. The class looked up. She asked them all to sit down.

"That's great everyone. Now we'll practise linking. Linking is when two or more people…and I stress people share their strength but only one of them controls the flows. Only thirteen women can link at any time, but a man can increase the circle. What I want you to do is to ready yourself to embrace the Source, but to stay on the brink. It can be hard, so I'll try to be quick. Once again I'll need a helper." She looked at the girl that had stood up, and indicated that she should ready herself to embrace the Source. Quickly Kaylan formed the link, since she knew what it felt like to be so close but not able to touch the Source. It was hard. She smiled at the girl in white, and began her explanation to the class. "I opened myself to the Power through… sorry, what is your name?" She absently said, continuing, "Much as if I were opening myself though an angreal or sa'angreal.” Kaylan smiled at the girl and did a weave involving Water, her worst element. A sword of Water, Air and Spirit appeared in her hand, as sharp and as cold as a shard of ice. Then she let go of the link and tried to accomplish the same thing.

"As you can see, I'm much stronger than usual. Now, when you go back into your pairs and practise this, I don’t want you to try and draw as much of the Power as you possibly can. If I feel any of you do that, you will fail this lesson and have to work really hard to get back in my good books and a pass for the entire class. There is a buffer preventing you from drawing too much of the Power and stilling yourself and your Sisters, but I don’t want anyone to lose themselves to the lure of the Power. Do. You. Understand?" The class nodded.

"Ok, good." Kaylan smiled at them. "Now can you get back into your pairs and practise linking please?" The girls paired up and practised linking. Some of the less experienced girls in the class couldn't achieve it and so Kaylan split up a few sets of girls and mixed Novices with Accepted. Kaylan watched the class to see how they were going. She was satisfied that they could all link so she called "Ok, doing well. Now that you can all link, I'd like you to practice passing control."

She got a few blank looks so she explained: "This is just what it sounds like, passing over control to your partner or a member of the circle." She motioned to her helper and formed a link.

"This is similar to when you form a link. You have to… surrender yourself to the other person. Now, I want you to… reach out and take control from me… When you do this, it must be gently, otherwise there can be problems..." Kaylan told the class and waited until the girl reached out to her through the link. Kaylan surrendered completely. She looked to the class and asked them to practise. It was old hat to some members of the class so she once again split up pairs for the benefit of the less experienced women. She waited for everyone in the class to pass control at least once, and when they had she stopped the girls and smiled at them.

"Ok, that's great. That's all for today. Tomorrow's lesson is on Wards. No, not the cute kind." She smiled at them. "Unfortunately." She added under her breath.

"I'll see you then."

 

OOC: Ok, the homework is to RP learning these skills. I'll be marking you on what you write and how well it is written. It doesn't have to be three pages long but ' Polly and Me linked. We also shielded each other.' Isn't enough for me to mark you on properly. Be realistic about this class, I don’t expect you to be able to do everything with the greatest of ease, nor do I expect you to have major difficulty with everything. You will not be marked down for 'having trouble' rather you will be marked down for not having a single bit (unless you are Sedai.) Keep that in mind for all of these classes. That's all!

 

"By the way, if you have any questions at any time, don't hesitate to ask and I'll try to answer them, or if I don’t know direct you to someone who can. I'll see you tomorrow."

 

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Lesson 2

 

Kaylan walked into the classroom on her second day of teaching. She sat at her desk, setting down a box. She greeted some of the girls and waited for stragglers to arrive. When they had all come in and sat down she stood up and smiled.

"Welcome back. As I said at the end of last lesson this class is about Wards. And as much as I'd love to be down in the practise yard making eyes, which I'm allowed to do cos I'm Sedai so neh," She poked her tongue out, causing some of the girls to giggle and others to look at her in astonishment.

"But unfortunately, sorry, it's not that kind. So…" She tapped her lip with her index finger. "What are wards?" she pointed to a random novice.

"Um, they're weaves that stop people from hearing your conversation or from rats getting into the Tower." The girl ventured.

"Yeah, that's just two of their many uses. You can use wards for just about anything and today I'll be showing you a few basic ones." She smiled at them, and looked at her box. She was going to love this.

"So can anyone tell me why we use certain wards? For example, why do we use the ward that repels rats from the kitchens instead of the whole tower? And why don’t we kill the rats?"

A girl in the back row put up her hand. Kaylan nodded to her.

"Um, wouldn't it be harder to kill them all? And it would take heaps of strength to cover the entire Tower. Plus, a few rats will never hurt anyone."

"That's exactly right. Also, there's a bit of a drawback to Wards. You can only get them to do one thing. So say I wanted to repel all the girls with brown hair from this room, I couldn't stop them from hearing our conversation in here." She checked to make sure everyone was listening. "Ok, now I'll show you a few of the basic wards. These are the only ones I know, if you want to find out more, you'll have to go and pester another Aes Sedai to teach you."

Kaylan embraced the Source and made a dome of Spirit and air around herself. She began to talk to the class and got a few strange looks until she let go of the weave.

"That was the weave to stop people form listening in on your conversations. But it goes both ways, I cant hear what you're saying from inside. Now I want you all to practise making that Ward around yourself in a small dome. It takes a lot more strength to Ward more than one person and even more for an entire room. There is a slightly different ward that I'll teach you in a minute to stop people from listening with the Power." The girls in the class all made little domes around themselves. Kaylan started talking about Breeh, a cute merchant's son that had visited Calia's da's inn and exactly what she had done with him one night. Then she started raving about exactly what she wanted to do with Shem next time she got him alone… She saw shock on one girl's face and so she demonstrated the weave again, smiling broadly. She was satisfied that all the other girls had gotten the weave right and waited for the other girl to complete the exercise.

"That's great. Now I'll show you the ward against eavesdropping with the Power, which may come in handy except that it doesn’t protect from eavesdroppers using only their ears." She demonstrated a weave that was much the same as the first, but when she started talking all the girls could hear her. She asked one of the girls to 'eavesdrop' on her, and ]smiled at the girls look of frustration when her weave melted at contact with her ward. Kaylan smiled and let the weave dissipate.

"So, can one of you please use the first ward I taught you around yourself? And start talking then please." Five domes sprung to life. Kaylan looked to see which had done it right and embraced the source. She did her eavesdropping trick and the entire class heard the girl's commentary on her mother's weaving. Kaylan waved a hand at the girl and all five domes disappeared.

"Great. Now I'd like you to practise the second ward and start talking softly. I'll try to eavesdrop on you and see how you've all done." The entire class made the weave. The classroom was filled with soft whispering and Kaylan began to use the eavesdropping trick on each of the girl's domes one by one. Only a few had to repeat the weave and Kaylan was very pleased.

"Great!" she clapped her hands together. "Now I'll show you the infinitely handy rat repelling Ward." Kaylan wove another ward of mostly Air and Spirit, but it contained small amounts of Water and Earth as well. She asked the class to practise and brought out the box. There were about six rats in the box and she carefully wove a repelling weave on the door. Then she set them to wander around the classroom. Any girl whose ward was breached had to repeat their effort, as well as being creeped out by having a rat rubbing against her leg, but most of them succeeded. She gathered the rats up and put the back in the box but left the ward on the door.

"Now I'll show you a basic Ward for alerting you of intruders. I'll show you a variant for human and shadowspawn but this is a basic one for any life form." Kaylan made a weave involving amounts of all five of the aspects of the Power. She set one around her and let a rat out of its box. When it touched her ward the bells sounded and she… felt a warning from the Ward. She motioned to one of the girls, who put her hand into the weave. The same thing happened. She asked the class to practise and once again set the rats free.

"Variations in the amounts of Fire and Spirit will produce different sounds. This combination will produce no sound, " she demonstrated it, "and this variation will give the sound of a lark." Kaylan showed them and the girl once again touched her weave. Larks sounded in the room.

"It's close to what you will learn in Intermediate Saidar with voice tricks. You can experiment a little but only vary this part of the weave." Kaylan pointed to it, "or it will change the Ward's purpose or not work altogether."

She heard all sorts of sounds coming from the girl's wards, including the occasional scream when a rat brushed against an unsuspecting leg. Kaylan called for quiet.

"This is a weave for alerting you to human presence. It is much the same as the all life one except for this variation." Once again Kaylan pointed it out. "I will use bells again but you can use whatever sounds you'd like." Kaylan motioned to the nearest girl, grasping her pupil's arm through the Ward and pulling it toward her. She heard bells sound inside the dome. She let the Source, and the girl go, and looked at her class. "I'd like you all to try that. I'll come around and see your progress."

Kaylan walked around the room touching each girl's dome. She heard a sound in almost every single one.

"Very good!" she said once they had all got it. "Now for another similar Ward, the shadowspawn weave. This wont let you know darkfriends, only shadowspawn that have touched it." Kaylan demonstrated the weave and waited for all of the girls to reproduce it. She had no way of testing it, but she had used the Weave more than once, and trusted the Sedai who had taught it to her. She had tested it herself in the Borderlands on her recent trip, and it seemed to work.

Kaylan had one more weave that she knew, but didn't think it was necessary to the class. She did, however, teach them one very like it.

"This is the same ward that I taught you just before, the person alert ward. I have put it on this box, "she had let the rats out, "to let me know when someone other than me touches it. If one of you could…?" She turned around, waiting for the feeling she would get when someone touched it. She turned around and saw the box wide open.

“I want you all to practise that Ward with, say, your purses. Lay them on the table with the Ward attached and I will come around." Kaylan walked around the class, opening purses to the sound of birds, bells, and farm animals. It was an effort not to lighten any of them. She had gotten into the habit, of, er, ‘sampling’ a person's wares. She had tried to wean herself off it since she had come to the Tower, and especially since she had been raised. She walked back to the front of the room and once again smiled at the class. She checked her pouch just to make sure. There was a slight clinking, but nothing any of them would notice. She wasn’t even sure if it wasn't hers. She had forgotten what it was like to have no money, and had stopped counting hers… But she really had to stop that.

"Great. Tomorrow's lesson is on Warders. It is a theory lesson. I'll see you then." She dismissed the class and began rounding up the rats. She was missing one but figured it would get out of the room before tomorrow and walked out of the classroom.

 

OOC: Once again, just practise these skills. Be creative about your sounds! I'll give extra credit to the most original one.

 

 

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Lesson 3

 

Kaylan walked into her classroom for the third time. She was quite enjoying teaching again. She'd have to teach her class again soon. Maybe she would even think of some new classes to teach. Her only problem was that she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings if she failed them…

She sat at her desk and waited for everyone to arrive. She held in her hand one of her many notebooks, the one with the notes from the first time she had taught, she had found it buried in the bottom of her cupboard. She didn't really need it this time, but she brought it just for reference. It had three pages full of notes that she had taken out of books, but this time she had more filed away in her head that she had got from talking to other Sedai. Being a Green, most of her friends knew plenty about Bonding. She stopped her daydreaming and looked up to see all of her novices sitting in their desks waiting for her.

She flipped to the first page and looked at the class.

"Today's lesson is about bonding and Warders. I've done a bit of research and I want you to take a few notes as I talk. So what is a warder? A warder is a warrior bonded to an Aes Sedai. That's the basic definition. So what's the bond? How does it work? The bonding is a thing of the One Power: by it he gains such gifts as quick healing, the ability to go long periods without food, water, or rest, and the ability to sense the taint of the Dark One at a distance. The Aes Sedai gains gifts such as being able to 'borrow' her warder's strength. Warder and Aes Sedai gain certain physical and emotional knowledge of one another through the bond. So long as a Warder lives, the Aes Sedai to whom he is bonded knows he is alive however far away he is, and when he dies she will know the moment and manner of his death. As you'd all know, most Ajahs believe an Aes Sedai may have one Warder bonded to her at a time, the Red Ajah refuses to bond any Warders at all, and the Green Ajah believes an Aes Sedai may bond as many as she wishes. And why shouldn't they?" Kaylan smiled. As a Green herself, she was looking for a good Warder… or four, and had two someones in mind already, but she was not sure how one would react to her request… She began her explanation again. "Ethically the Warder must accede to the bonding voluntarily, but it has been known to happen against the Warder's will. By all known historical records, Warders have always been men, but recently women have been bonded, revealing certain differences in the effects. With a woman, the Aes Sedai not only gains knowledge of her Warder's physical state, she gains a 'reflection' if you like. For example, if a woman warder is drunk, her Sedai will feel some of the effects. The two women's moon times will become closer, or even be at the same time. When one is feeling strong emotions, the other will begin to reflect that emotion. Often when a Warder dies, the Sedai is devastated for a long period of time, and usually when a Sedai dies her Warder will give up the will to live." She looked up to make sure they were taking notes.

"When you decide to bond, it should not be a light decision. This is a person you will know more about than a lover, and will continue to do so for the rest of your and their life. You will know the most intimate details about them, and they will know the most intimate details about you. You should be good friends with your Warder, as a bond is only ever broken in extreme circumstances. Being when either of you dies, or if the Bond is passed to another. (OOC: of course if either Warder or Sedai would like to be released, then the Sedai must release her Warder.)" She checked once again that the class was listening.

"The effects of the bond dim, or lessen if you like, over great distances. It is very rare that a Warder and his Sedai are apart for very long or over a great distance, but when they are the effects are lessened. The Sedai can only tell vague information, for example if her Warder is hurt, she can't tell specific detail. She will only feel emotion if it is very strong. This, once again, is different for men and women. When a Sedai has a female Warder she can point to her, she could pick her out in a crowd of thousands. This lessens over distance, but you could point to, say, a city, whereas with a male you could only point in a vague direction. And it is possible to dim the effects yourself, lessening the awareness of the Warder or Warders in your head. This can be handy in… ah, certain circumstances. How to do that, you'll learn when you are raised… even if you don’t choose Green." She grinned wickedly at her class, then laughed, a pleasant pealing laugh. She looked at her notebook and realised that she was at the end of her notes.

"Ok, for homework I'd like you to write me an answer to three questions. I don’t expect it to be really long, but it has to be at least a paragraph for each answer. 'Because' isn't long enough. The three questions are:

1. Most Aes Sedai bond one Warder. Why do greens bond more?

2. Why do Reds bond no warders?

3. Why are there differences in bonding men and women?

I don’t need an entire history of the Green or the Red Ajah, I only want personal opinions. These questions may be helpful if you have chosen Green or Red, or if you have not yet chosen your Ajah. And of course, everyone knows how great it is having chosen Green." She smiled at them. "Does anyone have any questions?" Once all of the questions had been asked and answered, Kaylan smiled at her class.

"Tomorrow's lesson is on Channelling while asleep, and I'd like you all to bring along a teacup and a pillow."OOC: pretty self-explanatory. Just write me the answer to the questions; it doesn’t need to be fact, just your opinion. Don’t make it too long, as I said it only needs to be a paragraph or so for each question. I might ask you to clarify some points or explain your reasoning more, but don’t worry if I do. *g* And if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

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Lesson 4

 

Kaylan walked into the classroom carrying a box of herbs and a teapot. She had also brought her best friend with her, as she wasn't sure who else she could get to demonstrate, although Calia did not have the best track record with this particular weave… She motioned to Cal to pull up a chair, and set her equipment for the lesson down on her desk and opened her notebook to the page she had written a recipe on. She found what she was looking for: a recipe for a sleeping brew. She stirred in the herbs she needed. She put her finger in the tea and stirred it, adding heat with Fire. She set the tea to boil with a weave underneath it and once it had, the entire class had wandered in and was looking at her strangely. She let the tea cool a little before she looked up to the class. They all had a pillow on their desks and a teacup in front of them.

"As I said yesterday, today's lesson is on channeling while asleep. Now, can anyone tell me anything whatsoever about channelling while you're asleep?"

No answer. Eventually one of the girls put her hand up and said, "Um, you can only channel spirit cant you?"

"Exactly. But, does anyone know why we would want to channel while we're asleep?"

Once again, no answer.

"Well, what if you are shielding someone and you don’t want to risk tying it. But you've only had an hour's sleep in the last week (OOC: don’t forget they’re ten day weeks too!). What do you do? Stick em in a cell and go to sleep! Cos you can go to sleep and still hold the shield. That's just one example, but it's still a good idea to be able to channel while you're asleep, just in case. " The class began to look at her with more understanding.

"First I'll demonstrate the skill with Calia. She'll shield me and go to sleep, and hopefully be able to keep holding the flows while she's sleeping. Then I'll get all of you to try it."

Kaylan poured a cup of tea for her best friend, waiting for her to shield her before she handed it to her. Calia embraced the Source, shielded Kaylan and drank her tea. The glow surrounded her and she promptly fell asleep. Kaylan watched horrified, as Calia's shield disappeared. She looked at her class.

"Well obviously no-one's perfect, so I'll wake her up and she can try again." She smiled, embarrassed for her friend, thinking Maybe I shouldn't have asked her to do this. She had so much trouble last time I should have realised that she would again.Kaylan gently shook Calia awake, who looked at her, mortified. Calia took another cup of tea, and gritting her teeth with determination, shielded Kaylan, quickly falling asleep. Kaylan looked up at her class to make sure they were watching (even if it didn’t really require that much explaining – ie. shield, drink, sleep) then looked up at Calia and saw that the glow around her had stayed there, and the shield was in place. Kaylan breathed a sigh of relief, Cal hadn't had too much luck with this skill before - she had had trouble when Kaylan taught her this in the first place, and during her last class, too. Kaylan looked up at her class.

“As you can see, not all of you will be able to do this first go. It can be hard, and because you are sleeping your control can slip a little. But that is why I want you all to practise!” She smiled at her class.

"So I want you to pair up and practise channeling while you're sleeping. One from every pair is the shielder. I want them to come up to me and get a cup of tea. It will send you to sleep within minutes, so don’t drink it until after you have shielded your partner. So sit back down, shield your partner, drink your tea, and it would probably be a good idea for you to lie on your pillow rather than falling flat on your face when the brew kicks in. I'll come around and check on all of you to see if you succeeded. Then I'll wake you up and you can swap with your partner."

All of the girls formed pairs. Luckily there was an even number so Kaylan could supervise. She reheated the tea and filled the first girls cup. After she had filled half the classes cups they shielded their partners. After a minute or two they promptly fell asleep on their pillows. Kaylan gently woke Calia, who looked happy when told she had not failed again and Kaylan had already set the class to practicing. Kaylan waited for her friend to release her shield, as she was getting a bit… antsy, not being able to touch the Source. Kaylan walked around the room seeing if each of the girls still had the glow around them. Over three quarters of the girls had maintained their shields, but the other quarter needed waking up and another cup of tea. By the third try the entire first half had achieved the exercise. She knew that the girls who had been shielded successfully from the first would be getting uncomfortable, so she decided that the shielders had had enough practice.

"Ok, that's great. Now I'd like you to swap over." She didn't get much response from the sleeping girls so she walked to each desk and woke up the girls. They rubbed their eyes and looked to their partners, who were still shielded. Kaylan repeated her instructions and the girls were released. Then they swapped over and Kaylan had another half of the class to make tea for. The other girls were still half asleep so Kaylan made a little rain cloud that she passed over the heads of all the sleeping girls. They were quickly awakened. She then directed the other half of the girls to shield their partners and go to sleep. Once again most of the class achieved it. She woke up all of the girls who hadn't got it first go and made them do it again. After the entire class had done it, Kaylan embraced the source and once again produced her rain cloud. She remembered when she had first learnt that trick. She had had considerable trouble because of her handicap with water. But, now that she had practised, she could do it with not too much trouble. She woke up the class with her rain cloud and smiled at them.

"Welcome back down to earth girls." They groaned. "Ok, that's all for today. You can go and have a sleep now. But, I want you for homework to think of a few ideas of situations where you would need to be channeling and sleeping at the same time. Next lesson, our final, is a fun lesson!"

 

OOC: For homework, I want you to RP this lesson, and answer the question. Think of three situations where you might need to use this skill. It doesn’t matter if they are totally stupid, I’d just like three. I’m looking forward to the next, and last, lesson!

 

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Final

 

On the note of our last class, I have posted it on the Tar Valon Board (yes it's a party).

Any of you girls who want to know your marks for this class, email me at ok?

I will be sending all of your marks to Sabine tommorrow and anything not done will result in a 0 for that class, which really brings down your average!

 

 

[Amadine]

Spying and Manipulation

 

by Tilana Saharalin

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Lesson 5

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

“Welcome to the first lesson of the spying and manipulation class.” Tilana walked around in the room and looked at the girls, smiling. “I’m very pleased to see you all here. My name is Tilana Saharalin and I’ll guide you through the misty lands of manipulation, politics and spying. I’m from the Drowned Lands of Mayene but my mother is a minor cairhienin noble. My friends call me Tilly and I was raised to a sister of the Blue Ajah for some time ago. Before I came to the Tower I used to be a spy.” Tilana grinned. “Well, that was a little about me. Today we’ll talk about half-lies, quart-lies and how to recognize a liar, in other words subjects quite close to manipulation. I guess you all know about the first oath: To not speak a word that is not true. So why do we have this oath?” Someone knocked on the door and Tilana opened it. It was a Novice who looked nervous. “I’m really sorry, Tilana Sedai, I… I forgot the time.” Tilana smiled slightly. “It’s all right, just don’t let it happen again. Please sit down.” She pointed at a chair and turned to the class again. “I believed she spoke the truth because no one like to admit that they forgot the time.” She grinned again. “And they use to believe that teachers dislike that excuse more than others. Well, well, let´s continue.”

 

“The reason to why we have the first oath, and in fact all the three oaths, is because people don’t trust Aes Sedais. They’re afraid of our powers, afraid of what we can do with them and afraid to be manipulated by us. Now they know that we can’t lie to them, don´t hurt them unless they hurt us, or create any dangerous weapons with the One Power. Of course, the bitter truth is that they don’t trust Aes Sedais anyway.” Tilana smiled amused. “And sometimes they might have reasons to do that. Because sometimes we must walk around the three oaths. The second and the third oaths are believed to be unbreakable but to walk around the first oath, to use what we call half-lies and quart-lies, is something of an art among the Aes Sedais. You can discuss if it’s ethical of the Aes Sedais to use half-lies and quart-lies, it will involve today’s homework, but let’s realize a fact: You will use half-lies and quart-lies when you become Aes Sedais, and more that once. My job here this lesson is to see that you at least know how to do it well.” (Hehe, perhaps Bill Clinton would have thought a little more about it when he said that he “ hadn’t have any sexual relationship” with Monica Lewinsky…) “It’s difficult so set the difference between a half-lie and a quart-lie. You can guess that a half-lie is more a lie than a quart-lie. But neither of them is really a lie, we must not forget that. When you use a half-lie you often say a bit of the truth but leave out a part. An example: You’re going to send a person on a mission. This person ask you if there’s any risk with the mission and if it is, he don’t want to do it. And it’s a little risky so as an Aes Sedai you can’t say “there’s no risk at all.” But if the risk is minor, you can say “there’s absolutely no risk for your life.” You didn’t say that there wasn’t any risk but the person will probably be satisfied. Or like this: “I’ve washed up!” You could have washed up one thing of twenty but you’ve still washed it up so it wouldn’t be a lie.” *s* “If the person will be satisfied by the result of the wash up is another thing.”

 

“How do we then recognize a liar? Well, one secure thing is if you find out that what the person said was a lie. A liar often talks more fast or slow than usual, he or she can be nervous and afraid. Some people can see if someone is lying in the persons eyes too. But most people don´t lie to Aes Sedais, many believe that Aes Sedais can read minds and they’re afraid of what might happen to them if they’re revealed.” This was all for today. Next class will be about the basics of manipulation. Feel free to ask any questions, or to give comments about the class.

 

And here we have the homework: Is it right of the Aes Sedais to use quart-lies and half-lies when the First Oath is supposed to prevent them from lying? In which situations could it be acceptable and unacceptable for an Aes Sedai to use half lies? And is the First oath good or bad? Write down what you think, it can be short.

 

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Lesson 2

 

The girls in the class entered the classroom one by one and Tilana rose from her desk and smiled. “Welcome to lesson two in the Spying and Manipulation class. This lesson will be about the basics of manipulation and it will probably be the heaviest lesson in the class Now what it manipulation? You can explain it in many ways and different persons have different opinions about it but I think that manipulation is the way to get people to do what you want without forcing them to it. Or to make someone do something without them knowing that you wanted it. It is very good to know how you do that and you will all have use for it as an Aes Sedai.” She hoped that the students would understand what she wanted to say. She continued with a most important thing about manipulation that her father had told her.

 

“Manipulation. We have been taught that manipulation is wrong and bad, but in fact everyone uses it. It´s often connected with lies, as a part of the manipulation, but I think that´s unprofessional. Daes´daemar, the Game of the Houses, includes a lot of manipulation. We will not bring Daes´daemar up so much in the class, however. Manipulation is a lot about psychology, how people react on things we say or do. The goal of it is often to get a special reaction or opinion from the one you manipulate. Manipulation is also a lot about how you tell your words when you speak, and that part it very important. “Workseeker” sounds better than “unemployed” if you´re going to say what you are. And if you´re going to change something, don´t say “change, say “improve” or “update”. People are conservative and scared of everything new so they´ll likely protest if you say “change”. But “improvements” are positive things, for most of us, even though the result could be just the same as with the “changes”. Small things when someone talk can effect us more than we believe. (To mention one thing, the American president elections are simply two big manipulation-campaigns, with all the child kissing and handshaking. And the victims of the manipulation are us *g*)

 

An important thing in manipulation person-to-person is that you never must demand the thing you want the person to do. It doesn´t seem like much different if you say “Go and switch channel on the TV” or “Would you like to switch the the channel for me?” or perhaps “Don´t you think it would be a good idea to switch the TV-channel?”, but it is a great different. In all the cases, you want the person to switch the TV channel for you. But human has a programmed non-obedience function. If someone orders you to do something and you don´t want to, especially if it´s asked impolitely, you probably will say “no”. In the second suggestion I said, you asked the person to do you a favor. That is a whole different thing. Sure, people can say “no” to that one to but they often feel impolite and unfriendly if they do. Therefore, they will probably switch the channel. But then, it was still you who asked him/her to do it. In the third suggestion however, is probably the best one. The asked person often realizes that he´s supposed to switch the channel, but now he gets a chance to consider it. Would it be a good idea to switch the channel? In the other opinions, the thing is about that the person shall do something for someone else, and all he will think is if he wants to do it or not. But this isn´t a direct order so the person will take it different mentally. This is quite hard to explain but I hope you´ve understood a little of what I meant.” She studied the girls and it seemed like they considered what she had said. Smiling, she continued.

 

“Manipulation can also be to affect events so that a person will do a thing that he wouldn´t do otherwise. This is a more dark manipulation and can often be cruel. But it´s very often used, believe me, and especially among people in high positions. (Most great leaders, both dictators and presidents, are masters of manipulation. U.S.A manipulate it´s citizens to hate Saddam Hussein and Saddam Hussein manipulates his people to hate U.S.A. In our world, the weapon is much the same: media. Light, you´ll hate me for saying that… *g*) In Cairhien they call it Daes´daemar. A blink or a cough can mean something for a cairhienin, they are so involved in the Great Game that they think everything is manipulation or has a deeper meening. An example of the “higher” manipulation: A queen of a country want the king of a country she´s in war with to leave his position so that the country will have chaos. She doesn´t want to kill him and she can´t seem to be involved. Now I´m sure that several things she could do have already popped up in your minds. She could make him really sick, she could make the people hating him, she could support an usurper, etc… All things are manipulation. Or she could simply hire an assassin to kill the king, but that can´t be counted as manipulation. I could go on with examples for an eternity but I guess that you´re quite tired of chattering by now.” She grinned and was relived over that the other lessons wouldn´t be so hard to teach. “Feel free to ask any question or complain about the class. This is the homework:

 

OOC homework: Try to remember a daily situation when you manipulated someone, or tried to. What did you do, did it work and why did you do it? Also try to find an example of the “high” manipulation in the world politics. What was it about and why do you think it happened?

 

IC homework: If you don’t want to do the OOC homework you can write a short essay about Daes’daemar. Things you can bring up are: Where does Daes’daemar exist? Which are the methods used? Why do Daes’daemar exist and is it needed? And is it good or bad?

 

Good luck!

 

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Lesson 3

 

OOC: This is something of a mixed OOC and IC lesson. When I say “person” I often mean "journalist". But they don´t exist in Randland, so what to do? =)

 

And please tell me if I move on too fast. *s*

 

IC: She was late to the class today and most of her students had already arrived when she entered the classroom so she began immediately. “Welcome to class, girls. As always, I´m very happy to see you here. Today´s lesson will be about reality-politics. You can also call it a form of rhetoric. It is very much based on how to answer a question in a way that sounds good. And to avoid to answer it in a way so the person who asked becomes satisfied anyway. This is a knowledge very useful for Aes Sedais because they can´t lie.

 

To answer questions can be annoying. Especially unpleasant questions. And a person is never satisfied to be ignored or to hear “I don´t want to answer” and “I must go” (especially not journalists). But there are things which can help you, or at least give you some time to consider your answer. A classic to gain time is to say “that´s a highly interesting question…” or “I totally agree with you, but…”. Sure it only gives you a couple of extra seconds, but it´s still time and it makes the person questioning satisfied and perhaps more friendly towards you.

 

Now, an answer to an unpleasant question that almost always will do is: “I´m afraid I haven´t enough knowledge to answer that question but perhaps you could ask…” You will simply let someone else answer the question with an acceptable excuse. If you as an Aes Sedai is prepared to appear as you lacked knowledge about anything, of course. *g*

 

Another solution is to make an answer about something totally different, or something quite similar, and it should be a long, complicated and confusing answer. Hopefully this will make the asking person so confused that you get the chance to sneak away or that he will think that you gave him a proper answer, just that he didn´t understand it. And no one want to admit that they didn´t understand a thing, they don´t want to appear stupid. Therefore the person will pretend that you gave her/him a good answer.

 

The last thing I will bring up is the confrontation-solution. The person can say “people say that you cheat with the taxes. What do you have to say about that?” Instead of answering the question you can attack the person. Example: Have you never drove to fast or used black workers? Have you never intruded at peoples private domain or discriminated someone? Have you??!!” It´s very likely that the person has done something illegal and if he believes you know that… well, he´ll probably not disturb you any more with that question.

 

This was all for today. Well listened and feel yourselves free to ask any questions. This is the homework:

 

OOC homework: If you have the possibility, look after politicians in the

news or TV-programs and how they answer different questions. See if you can find any similar answering methods to them I´ve described, or any other “sneaking away”-methods. Make a short – or long – report.

 

IC homework: If you aren´t able to or don´t want to do the OOC-homework then consider how the Aes Sedais use their rumor and coldness to ignore questions and if that´s better than the things I´ve talked about today. Write down what you came up with.

 

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Lesson 4

 

Tilana rose from the desk when all her students had arrived. “Hello everyone and welcome to class. Today’s lesson will be about spying and questioning. All the Ajahs in the White Tower except for the White Ajah has some kind of information-network. The Yellow Ajahs insn´t much to cheer for while the Blue Ajahs is very extensive. Many Aes Sedais also has their own, personal network and I´m sure some of you will create one when you´re raised. The Amyrlin and the Keeper of the Chronicles has their personal, extensive networks too. And most great nobles in the world, and also the CoL and the Shadow, has a number of spies. But why do we need to know anything about spying when we have informants and spies to do it for us? Anyone who wants to guess?” The girls seemed to be uncertain so Tilana smiled. “Partly because the knowledge can be useful if you as Aes Sedais sometime must spy on someone. And the most important reason: you must know if you can trust the information you´re given by an informant.”

 

“When Aes Sedais get themselves an informant they must consider some things. What reason do this person have to be your informant. Is it because of the money, friendship, hatred or perhaps interest? And is it possible that this

person has other loyalties too? Will he or she remain loyal and could she/he be bought to betray you by someone else? And is the risk of discovering great and will she or he be silent if he/she is questioned? The reliability depends on those things. Spies are often “invisble” people, like servants, or people who travel a lot and get to know a lot of things, like merchants´guards. Or at least

they use to pretend to be that.” Tilana grinned to herself. She had been a professional spy in service of the First of Mayene before it was discovered that she could channel and she was dragged to the Tower. But she had grown up as the daughter to a noblewoman.

 

“You can never know for sure if someone around you is a spy, just like you can´t know if someone is a Darkfriend. It´s of course highly unlikely that another Aes Sedai would be a spy, if she isn´t Black Ajah, but professional spies and informants can spend years on working themselves up to a suitable position or a trusting. But you can´t go around and suspect everyone so therefor it´s good to know how a spy works to make it easier to discover them and to protect yourselves from them. Two logical things you can do to protect yourself against spying is to never discuss secret things with servants around and to lock in or protect your secret documents. A servant don´t have to be a spy but they´re often fond of gossip and as they say, “the walls have ears”. As an Aes Sedai you can also use some of the weaves you will learn in the nest lesson. Now not many are foolish enough to directly spy on Aes Sedais…” Tilana had actually been that foolish once but she hadn´t known that they were Aes Sedais “… but what will you do if you suspect or discover a spy?”

 

“You shouldn´t capture and question someone of you don´t have evidence or have very strong reasons to believe that the person is a spy. To find out you could spy on or shadow the person you suspect. If you get the evidence and manage to capture the person, you would want to know who it was that sent the spy and how much the spy had reported. A professional spy can be very difficult to question but most informants aren´t that hard. The Hand of the Light… “Tilana grimaced”… uses hot iron, skin peeling and other kinds of torture to question someone with. Because of the three oaths an Aes Sedai can´t do that. With the most disloyal and simple spies a sum of money will often open their lips. But otherwise the

Aes Sedai´s rumor often helps a little bit. No one really believe that they could manage to hide something from an Aes Sedai and if you start to talk about what you could do with them... well, common informants would probably begin to talk at that point. More skilled informants and spies requires different methods, like one the Thief-catchers use. They can send after something, like boiling oil, needles or the most silly things like fruit and animals. Then they leave the victim along a while to fantasize about what could be done with them with the required things. Many begins to talk before the Thief-catcher starts with something, they will do anything to avoid the thing they´ve imagined. The most difficult ones is the very skilled spies who already knows about this method and that the Thief-catcher probably didn´t plan torture them at all. There's something called the Chair of Remorse, who makes the one exposed to it see the concequences of their crimes. But spies seldom kill anyone or steal anything, so it's a question if the Chair would work on them. Let's just hope that you'll never encount a person so difficult to question.

 

She smiled. “Well listened everyone. And this is today´s homework:”

 

Write about one of the following two subjects, short or long.

 

1: Consider why someone would want to be, as an example an Aes Sedai informant in Amadacia, when the risk is great that he or she will be discovered by the Children of the Light?

 

2: Which benefits are there with the CoL´s and the Aes Sedais´ different methods? Is it ethically by the CoL to use torture and if not, why do they use such terrible methods?

 

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Lesson 5

 

Tilana already sat by the desk in the classroom when her students began to arrive. Unlike the other lessons there wasn´t any papers or books on the desk this time. When everyone was there and had sat down she closed the door and smiled. “Welcome to the final lesson of the Spying and Manipulation class,

girls. Are you all well rested and healthy?” All the girls nodded. “Excellent. I know many of you have looked forward to this lesson because today we will practice some weaves made of Saidar that can be useful when you, as an Aes Sedai, must spy on someone or protect yourselves from espionage”

 

Tilana embraced Saidar and smiled when she felt the flood of life and joy flow into her. “As always when you practice weaves it´s important to be rested because you´ll probably be tired when this lesson is over. We´ll test many interesting and useful weaves. And when it is we´ll all go to the kitchen and feast on newly made pudding, cookies and tea to celebrate the great job you´ve done with this class.”

 

“Now we will begin with the protection from espionage. One weave many of you already know about is the weave against eavesdropping. It´s very often used when Aes Sedais need to speak in privacy. Watch me.” She wove a thin but strong weave of Air and a little Spirit around herself and tried to speak. The students saw

how her lips moved but couldn´t hear anything. She dropped the weave. “This weave can of course include more than one person and be made stronger but it requires more strength.” Tilana took in more of Saidar, almost as much as she could handle and wove a strong weave around all the girls in the class except one novice.” Now you in here can hear me and each other, but we´ll ask she out there if you heard anything.” She let the weave go and turned to the girl. “Did you hear anything, dear?” The novice shook her head and Tilana smiled. ”You see. But I wouldn´t recommend you to try a such large weave yet, I´m very strong in Air and Spirit so I could do it. You can make a hole in this weave if you know how to do but that´s very difficult and I will not demonstrate it.”

 

“The next weave I´ll demonstrate is one you use to see if there are any hidden people or animals around you. It´s a quite thin weave to you can make it over a large area even if you´re not so strong in the One Power."

She took a shred of cloth from her pocket and gave it to a girl. “Can you please tie this hard around my eyes?”The girl did so and Tilana couldn´t see a thing. “Everyone, please spread yourselves out in the room and remain at your place after that.” Tilana waited a while and then wove a thin net of Spirit, Air and Earth out in the room. She could feel many large, living things and walked in the direction of one. She could soon lay her hand on a girl and walked around to three more

before she took the bandage of. “It works really well and it´s an excellent way to find spies or eavesdroppers.”

 

“Another weave to protect yourself against spying is the invisible-shield. It makes you invisible. It can be used when you spy on someone too.” She wove a strong net of Air together carefully, with a little Water and Earth and a couple of very small strands with Spirit and Fire around herself. For the class it seemed like she suddenly disappeared but her amused voice could still be heard. “The

Air bends the light so you become invisible but it is good to involve the other elements too, it make it more difficult for the watcher to discover the bending.” She dropped the weave an reappeared. Also this one can include more than one person and it can be made both stronger and weaker. But be careful so you not move out of the weave, body parts can be visible then.”

 

“One weave similar to the one against eavesdropping is a simple weave to use when you spy on someone or have to move silent. It makes the noises you do, your stamping and breathing as an example, go away. This is how you do. “Tilana wove a thin and simple weave of a great part Air and a small part Spirit and Earth around herself, close to her body. Then she stamped on the floor heavily but no

noise could be heard. She let the weave go and smiled. ”Practical, isn´t it?”

 

“This weave will be the last one.” And that was good because Tilana was very tired now. “It´s the weave of illusions. If you´re really good at making this weave and stand completely still it can make you look as a tree or a great stone. But it can also make you look like someone else. This weave is quite difficult to do so watch me closely. “She took in a great amount of Saidar and started to carefully weave a weave close to her own body, including a lot of Air and

Spirit but also a little Fire, Earth and Water. She concentrated the amount of Spirit around her head and thought intensively on her former mentor, Leandreen Sedai. Murmurs could be heard from the girls when an Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah suddenly appeared in Tilana´s place. Tilana´s voice was the same thought “You can also change your voice if you weave a small weave of Spirit and Air in front

of your mouth.” She knot the illusion-weave up and wove the other weave and the next moment she spoke with Leandreen´s voice. ”You can walk around with this weave even if you knot it up, it´s very good in that way.” She released Saidar she stood there again with her own face and voice “Did that look difficult? It is quite hard but I´m sure you´ll make it. Focus on the thing or person you want to be but be sure to knot it up quickly, it will change otherwise if you begin to think on something else.”

 

She tried to hide a yawn, to use so much Saidar really made you tired. “I´d like all of you to test this weaves, in groups when you test them involving more than one person. If you need help, ask me. And I´d like to mention one thing more before you begin. This is no weaves to play with. Sure, as a novice you could make a lot of pranks with help of this weaves but the MoNster wouldn´t be happy

on neither you or me. So please take this seriously and don´t use them before you become an Aes Sedai, if you don´t really have to. Tilana smiled and handed out some shreds of cloth to them. “Now start to practice and we´ll go to the kitchen when you´re finished.”

 

The girls did so and Tilana helped those who needed and made sure it didn´t happen any accidents. When all were finished she took them to the kitchen and fetched the new-made chocolate and caramel puddings from a serving-maid, together with tea and cookies and handed it out to everyone. “You´ve all made a great job and I hope you´ve learnt some good things and enjoyed this class.”

 

Homework: Just RP how you took this lesson.

 

I’d also like you to do a small evaluation of the class. What was good, what was bad and what could be changed? It won’t affect your grades; I just want to know how I can make the class better to the next time I teach it.

 

And email me on if you want your grades.

 

 

[Amadine]

Story Telling

 

by Kristal Meridin

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Final

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

Kristal walked into the classroom holding a thick pile of papers. She saw with satisfaction that all her students seemed to be there already, looking at her expectantly. Excellent. She put the papers down, sat down on the table and give the girls her brightest smile.

 

This, my dear ladies, is the Storytelling class. In the next two weeks, we shall be covering many different aspects of this fine art, and it is my hope that you will learn something you did not already know. I do not expect you to have written the equivalent of The Travels of Jain Farstrider when you come to this class, nor do I expect you to write one after it (even if I am an ambitious teacher), but if I have anything to say in the matter, you will be improving your storytelling skills during the class.

 

We shall be discussing a variety of different topics during the first four lessons, and every time you will also have a small writing assignment which I will then comment. And the fifth lesson will crown it all - the coolest final you shall ever see. The final of this class will take you the whole night to complete, for we shall all go to the Tower Gardens and tell each other stories around a campfire IC. For apparent reasons, stories set into the World of the Wheel would be just perfect, but you might want to start preparing for the final right now, for I would very much like to hear something that you have thought up yourself.

 

Now to the topic of the first lesson: the drabble. The drabble is a little piece of fiction that can cover the whole universe. By definition, it is a short story of 100 words, no more and no less. In addition to the real text, the writer may invent a title of no more than 15 words to the drabble. The style of writing is free - a drabble can be written like a poem, a piece of stream-of-consciousness, or anything you like. The feeling of the text is important, moreso because the drabble is so short. Wordplays, metaphors, and double meanings are very common. It is customary to have some kind of a snag right at the end, but this is not compulsory. A good drabble is a tight piece that seems to have much more in it than just one hundred randomly chosen words.

 

When you write a drabble, make sure that you have a clear idea in your head before you start. Tell a story, do not write whatever pops into your head. If you have one or more characters in your text, create a background for them and give them personalities. And be concise. You only have 100 words.

 

ASSIGNMENT: Introduce yourself to the others by writing a drabble (100 words, no more, no less) about your DM character. Mention your character's name at least once. (Hint: the best way to make sure you've got 100 words is to write ten words on each line.) You may use my drabble as a model if you wish. Be creative and good luck!

 

The cold North beckons. She spreads her soft wings, feels the Fire in her heart. But the cage that is made of broken dreams holds. The joyous smile in her golden eyes fades, as she thrashes in her prison, begging for the guardian to release her. Leave this place. Return home where you belong, listen to the winds whisper, Kristal, follow your heart as it leads you to those you hold dear, there is nothing but pain here for you. But the spidersilk bars of the cage do not break. She will never be free. Blue, blue fall her tears.

 

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Lesson 2

 

Kristal was already waiting for her students in the classroom as they came in. She sat on a table by the window, her eyes closed, sunlight glinting on her honey-blond hair. A faint smile touched her lips as her thoughts drifted back to her home in Shienar, to her beloved family. She wondered how they were doing. Sighing, she opened her eyes and marched to the front of the class. It was time for another lesson, and she knew this one would be difficult. She cleared her throat to get the undivided attention of her students.

 

My brave storytellers, today we shall be discussing the importance of character development in storytelling. You all have some experience in this already, because you have created your own characters at DM and are telling their stories a little further every time you RP. The characters in a story must be interesting, or your audience will not want to hear or read about them, and it is your pleasure and responsibility to create them so. If your readers and listeners find themselves wanting to know what will happen to your character next, if they feel something for him/her, then you have succeeded. The basic rules for creating complex, successful characters are numerous, and it is impossible for me to list all of them here - and for you to come up with a perfect character in a matter of days. However, the thumb rule to be followed is that you should think not only about your character's physical attributes, but about his/her psyche and personality as well. More, if you ask me. Characters should have both positive and negative attributes - no one wants to hear about someone who is perfect, never does anything wrong, and always manages to come on top of things without any difficulty at all. Problems, obsessions, traumas, fixations, and dilemmas are good. However, even if you succeed in finding the right balance and creating a good character, you must not leave it at that. The next step is to throw the theory out of the window and start writing/telling in practice.

 

As examples of character development, I could use the biographies all of you have written, but this shall be part of your assignment for this time instead.

 

Before we go into that, let us discuss something of great importance: the plot. Obviously, it is not enough that you come up with a brilliant character - you have to invent something for him/her to do. Something that will capture the interest and the imagination of your readers and listeners. In short, you must have a story that you wish to tell. The idea for a great story can come from anywhere. It can be very simple and straightforward, (sometimes those make the best stories) or very complex and multidimensional, the work of many years. If you wish to write fantasy, even the sky is not the limit, but the thumb rule of "write about something you know" still applies. If you do not know the first thing about horseback riding, then perhaps it is better not to give your characters horses at all, or at least it would be wise to keep the detailed descriptions to the minimum.

 

Basically, a story should have a certain shape to be successful. First, there is the Problem. This is the point when something happens, something possibly out of the ordinary, that forces your well-developed character to act in some way. It is the "initiating incident" which sets things in motion. Second, there is Exposition, in other words all the information your readers/listeners need to understand the story. This is where you describe, show and tell. Third, there is Development, the body of the story. Feel free to twist and turn and lead your readers/listeners down the wrong path as long as you do not stray too far from the right one. Fourth, there is the Climax. This is the peak of the story, the point where the story has been leading to, possibly a moment of decision for the character, and undoubtedly the most important part of the whole thing. Since a story should always contain conflicting elements, the Climax is the point when these elements come to a final showdown (good vs. evil, for example) and one of them is victorious. And fifth, there is Resolution, the things that happen after the climax (the overall rejoicing and the marriage frenzy, for example...) As you can see, the story should be rather organised and the storyteller should keep tight rein on his/her work at all times.

 

ASSIGNMENT: This time, you shall have two tasks. Do both.

 

1. Write a short description of your DM character, including both physical and mental attributes, positive and negative. It need not be very long. Tell me what makes your character special among all the other people out there.

 

2. Discuss one of the five stages of a successful story (Problem, Exposition, Development, Climax, Resolution) on the basis of a story you think is particularly good.

 

*lifts an eyebrow* "Well, get to it!"

 

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Lesson 3

 

"I am proud of you all", Kristal entered the classroom with a smile. "Your homework has been a delight to read. Keep up the good work, everyone!" She checked that everyone was there before starting the third lesson.

 

To compensate for the second lesson, which I know was hard, this one shall be shorter (but not necessarily easier). Today we will discuss beginnings and endings, which are important in any story, and even more so if the story is short.

 

The whole point about beginnings is that they should captivate the reader/listener so that you will have your audience. "My name is Kristal and I come from Shienar" would not be classified as a very interesting or a very original beginning, and neither would be the famous "Once upon a time there was..." and I do not recommend using them except in very special circumstances. If your audience has never heard about Shienar, or if you have decided to write a fairytale, you might get away with it, but you had better have a very good reason. However, there are exceptions, as there always are. "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit" is a good example of this - the might of the surprising element makes the beginning interesting. Compare to "A mouse lives in a hole in the ground". Do I see any yawns in the classroom? Yes, the surprising element is always good with these things, and in good stories it is almost a necessity. Plots are rarely interesting if they are straightforward marching from point A to point B, and beginnings and endings are a good ground for experimentation.

 

In a nutshell, beginnings are meant to captivate, and this is why the storyteller should give a great deal of thought to the opening of his/her story.

 

The same goes for endings, of course. The ending should conclude the story, draw all the threads together so to speak, and leave the reader/listener begging for more.

 

ASSIGNMENT: This time you have two options.

 

Option 1: Write a beginning and an ending to a story (A few sentences to both, please). You do not even need to come up with the complete story - just as long as you explain in a few words what happens in between.

 

Option 2: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of two of the following beginnings.

 

A)It was terribly cold; it snowed and was already almost dark, and evening came on, the last evening of the year. In the cold and gloom a poor little girl, bare headed and barefoot, was walking through the streets.

 

B)The wind howled. Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin. Thunder rolled back and forth across the dark, rain-lashed hills.

 

C)Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

 

D)There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire.

 

E)I've traveled through Death's Gate four times, yet I don't remember anything about the journey. Each time I've entered the Gate, I've been unconscious.

 

F)"We should start back", Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. "The wildlings are dead."

 

*grins wolfishly* No extra credit even if you know where they are from!

 

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Lesson 4

 

So far we have covered the basic components you need in your story, but we have yet to discuss the difference between written storytelling and oral storytelling. This shall be the topic for today.

 

When you are telling a story in writing, the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. Everything you want the reader to see must be written down. It is up to the reader to decide what he/she shall do with the information you provide, but giving the reader all that is necessary is your responsibility. You will not be able to say what you have to say in any other way.

 

Whereas in oral storytelling, there are several things that count in addition to what you actually say. The tone of your voice is one of these. The voice is the instrument with which the skilled storyteller captivates and hypnotises his/her audience. Variety is the key in this: one can use the whole scale from whispering to shouting, one can speak differently when quoting the words of different characters, one can imitate noises like birdsong, one can grunt and growl and weep and laugh. Instead of telling, one can show the emotions the heroes of the story are experiencing.

 

Another helpful aide to storytelling is the body. The storyteller need not sit still and recite his/her piece with a wooden expression on his/her face. The storyteller can suddenly hop up, run around in circles, demonstrate the ferocity of the warrior hero in the midst of a battle, or do anything at all that serves the purpose of captivating the audience. The relationship between the oral storyteller and the audience is much more personal than the relationship between the writer and the reader. The only way the writer can touch his/her readers is by writing - and there skills ranging from linguistic competence to good plot development are needed. A great oral storyteller can get away with some lapses and outright mistakes if he/she is a good enough performer.

 

Assignment: Show and tell how a good gleeman would tell one of the following stories to an apathetic audience.

 

a) Beauty and the Beast,

b) The Breaking of the World,

c) The game of riddles between Bilbo and Gollum in “The Hobbit”,

d) The duel between Rand and Ishamael at Falme

 

Final next time! I hope you have your stories ready...

 

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Final

 

The stars were bright tonight. Kristal smiled to herself as she made her way to the secluded spot in the Gardens she had chosen for the long evening of storytelling. She hoped her students would find the final lesson of the class both beneficial and entertaining. After leaving Shienar and her family behind, Kristal had not had the chance nor the spirit to make up any more stories, even if she had been considered a fair storyteller back home. Perhaps it was time to start using her imagination again. Beauty was not a rare thing in the city of Tar Valon, but the richness of the mind at its best outshone the brightness of the sun itself.

 

Channeling two thin threads of Fire into the carefully arranged pile of branches, Kristal lit the campfire that would serve as the focal point of the last lesson, and arranged the campsite to her liking. She had noticed that somehow a good fire had a relaxing effect, made the people forget their uncertainties and their nervousness. One just could not compare the feeling to any other - stories told around a campfire took on an almost magical air, and Kristal found herself eagerly waiting for her students.

 

She sat there, basking in the warm glow of firelight when the first of her students arrived, dressed in warm clothes and carrying their blankets. She observed them in silence, and saw awe and expectation in their eyes as they took in their surroundings. Kristal smiled and stood up slowly and gracefully, glad that her efforts had not been in vain.

 

“Welcome, all of you”, she greeted them, firelight flashing in her eyes. “Find yourselves a comfortable spot to settle down, and help yourself to the food and drink I brought from the Kitchens.” Kristal motioned towards the little feast she had spread on the grass. There were pies and pastries, fruit and cakes, juice and fresh water, and even a few bottles of good wine. Getting those from the Mistress of the Kitchens had been a difficult task indeed, but this was to be a special night and Kristal knew that telling stories would go best when everyone was warm and comfortable.

 

When everyone had arrived, Kristal spoke again. “This is the final lesson of the Storytelling class. Each of you has prepared a story to share with the others, and each of you will have the chance to tell it. There is no fixed order and no hurry - we have the whole night for this, and even the Novices have a special permission to sleep in tomorrow.” That brought a few big smiles from some of the girls. “And another thing”, Kristal continued, removing her Great Serpent Ring and gently placing it into her belt pouch, “there shall be no hierarchy tonight. No formality. Now, who would like to begin?”

 

ASSIGNMENT: This is it, people - impress me and the others with your storytelling! The detail and quality of this RP will have a considerable influence on your final grade. Go on, I’m all ears!

 

I would also appreciate any comments you might have about my class - was it interesting, how it could be made even better, should I teach it again.. that kind of thing. I've enjoyed teaching all of you!

 

 

[Amadine]

Strategy

 

by Yavanne

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Lesson 5, Final

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

Commander

 

The most important thing in the army is the commander, there is a saying of Alexander the Great "I prefer army of deers under command of lion then army of lions commanded by deer". It's on his shoulders to to isssue such orders which will bring victory. It's him who picks the place and time of the battle, of course if the opponent allows . If soldiers will have confidence in him, they will obey all his orders, and they won't mind even attacking enemy who outnumbers them.. And if he is hated by his troops, he could rather await the backstab then the following his order. True commander can sometimes even stop the retreat of his army, and bring them to victory. In Wheel of Time such commander is Gareth Byrne, except of his tactical skills, his men would follow him to the death.

 

 

Homework: Answer only one of the questions:

 

1) Sun Tzu, the great Chinese strategist wrote 600 B.C: "By the factor of command I understand abilities of commanders, their wisdom, honesty, humanitarism, braver and harshness" Why you think those abilities are so important to commander

 

2) Think about one of your nation famous military leader, which strong or weak points they had, and why you think they were able to win, or loose the war (yes, the generals that lost their wars were also great commanders, f.e Robert Edward Lee, Napoleon or Erwin Rommel)

 

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Lesson 2

 

There is old military saying that "Recon is like sex, when is great, it's good, but even poor is better then the lack of it". In the army recon units are very important, as from spoting the enemy can depend the victory in the battle or even in ewhole war, for example, Japanese forces lost the Battle of Midway mostly because one of the recon planes was dispatched to late and failed to observe the American carriers, which ended in total destruction oof four Japanese carriers, which was a major blow to Imperial Navy. If you can spot the enemy, you can set your troops, prepare ambushes, and let him walk into them. The best way to gather information aboiut your enemy in the medieval world, such as the Wheel of Time world, would be to sent small groups of mounted troops in all directions of your army. But recon is not only finding your enemy, it's also keeping track of the movement of his army, counting the forces of your anemy, and in short : giving you details of your opponent, how, when and where strike him.

 

Now about the terrain, as from its type many things depends, according to the terrain you should change the formations of your army, and types of the units you use. (Example: When Romans thought against But during the battle of KynosKefalai, Roman legions Macedonins in Greece, they were outnumbered, and Macedonians were known as invincible, because their phalanx was almost inpenetrable Roman commander chose the place of battle near town known as Kynoskefalai, where terrain was just full of little heights, which broke Macedonian phalanx, and allowed more manouverable legions to destroy his opponent). The flat terrains without the rivers, is preferable for striking down with fast units like knights, but the flat terrain covered with rivers you can easily plan your defences by forcing enemy to cross the river, and shoot him with archers. The mountain terrain is used mostly to defend, as the passes guarded by infantry and archers are almost inpenetrable, but it can also be used for attack, as von Rundstedt tanks crossed the Ardennes mountains in 1940 totally surprising French defences and winning the Battle of France). ANd of course we have swapms. It's best terrain for defensive, with few archers and infatry men you can annihilate there a quite an army, but if you use light cavalry, on light horses, you can also use the swapms to launch unexpected strikes. So as you see, each terrain can be used for both deffensive and offensive ways. It just depends on the purpose of your army

 

Homework: Answer only one of these questions in 200 words or more

.

1) Choose the best terrain for attack and best for defence, from the WoT world and state why ( just use the map on the beginning of each book ))

 

2) Why recon can give you sucess

 

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Lesson 3

 

Types of units

This is one of the most important information you need, you have to know the weak and stron points of each type of unit you have in your army, so you can use their abilities to defeatr your opponents. The noblemen armies' backone are usually mounted knights, and in the countries' armies' is more equalized and consists also of good amount of infantry and archers.

The knights are a very powerful units in the hands of experienced commander. They should not be used against the archers or crossbowmen in a charge or they will be extinguished in a second. They are rather used against other knights and of course against infantry. The charge of knights can break the spirit in unexperienced soldiers and with this can give you the victory.

Light cavalry, faster and more agile then knights, this unit is perfect for recon duties and for quick strikes against archers, as they are very fast, and can get the archers before they are shot out

Archers and crossbowmen, the elite troops, proper use can give you victory. Mostly they are used against attacking enemy, and they can easily stop the charge of the cavalry, but when you set them on high gounds, they could be used even as the aggressive units

Infantry, this is very underestimated type of troops, but only infantry can storm the castle walls, and when armed with long pikes, they can even withstand the charge.

 

1) In your army you should have all types of units, but there are situations when only one tyeof troops should be in your army. Think about situations when the army conssts only of cavalry, infantry or archers.

 

2) Why do you think most of the noblemen does not have much infantry in their private armies

 

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Lesson 4

 

One Power use

One Power is very important in most of the armies in WoT world. In some armies like in Shayol Ghul, Dragonsworn and Seanchan it's used for both offensive and defensive purposes (let's say that our great Dragon Reborn, without the Saidin would be beaten in his very first battle), but armies with Aes Sedai, are forced to follow the Three Oaths so forget about offensive tactics . There are several use of the True Source. It can be used to wipe put armies, as the Asha'man wiped Shaido AIels in Book 6. It can be used for recon purposes, and of course it's mostly doing things of siege wepons. WHy bother with catapults or ramming machines, when you can break the walls within seconds.

The problem of One Power in the battles use, is generally ethical and moral. Will the channeler won't go too far. If he/she sees that her/his army is loosing, won't he or she use the forbidden weaves?

 

Homework:

 

1) IS the One Power use advantage or disadvantage to the armies and why

 

2) Why commanders shouldn't rely too musch on their channelers?

 

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Lesson 5

 

Basics of Strategy

As we coovered the types of units, commander, terrain types and One Power use, now it's time to melt this things together, and give you some basics tip s on strategy

 

1) To have a succesful army, you need first to have enough food and pay for them. Hungry and poor soldir won't be eager to fight

2) If you are only advisor to commander, do not criticize his decision near troops or his trusted men, as they will lost fate in him.

3) Try not to face the outnumbering opponent, unless you have better trained troops, try to divide army of your opponents by quickly striking different sides of his army

4) Cut your opponent supply lines

5) Rather try to choose the battleplace on the terrain you know

6) Remember to use your troops wisely

7) Try to kill the enemy's commander

 

Homework: Answer the question in 100 words or more

 

1) Do you think, that the hordes of Shadow could be defeated in the battle, when both sides are not using One Power, even if they outnumber army of light?

 

2) Sun Tzu said "Winning 100 battles on 100 is not the paramount achievment, paramount achievment is defeating your enemy without the fight", how do you think it's possible to win a war without battles

 

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Final

 

Okay, this is final, and with all the basic knowledge you have about tactics and strategy you should answer one of this questions:

 

1) Was Rand al'Thr a good military commander or just had he got quite luck

 

2) Do you think that modern army like US or German army could beat WoT armies with channelers

 

 

[Amadine]

Survival

 

by Ghola

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Lesson 5

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

Gloha sat down at the front desk after she had dragged some baskets of clothes into the classroom and waited for her students to arrive.

 

Soon they started to file in one by one. Once they were all settled into their seats Gloha got started.

 

“Good morning students and welcome to your first survival class. As you can see we are holding this class in the classrooms but next class we will be out hiking in the ogier grove outside the city. Basically what I’ll try to teach you is how to behave yourselves in the woods and how to survive without the One Power. As an Accepted, I myself know very well how we come to depend on the One Power and how we hang our survival abilities on our ability to channel. This class will not be a channeling class. There will be NO CHANNELING. None of you are permitted to channel at any point of the class unless you feel you are in great danger. This class is about surviving without the One Power in a dangerous and unpredictable environment, which in this case is going to be the woods.”

 

Gloha stood up and moved to the front of the desk revealing her dress attire, which consisted of dark brown leather pants, a cotton long sleeve white shirt with the 7 strips of the Ajah colours on one of the sleeves and some good boots. Gloha noticed some of the looks and raised eyebrows that her students were giving her and responded, “So why am I dressed in men’s clothing?” Gloha paused waiting to see if anyone would answer before she moved on, “Movement in the woods is difficult and it can’t be done properly with bulky skirts. You may rip your clothes and with skirts you will most certainly trip and your movement will be hindered. “

 

Gloha turned and gestured to two big whicker baskets in the corner of the room. “In those baskets you will find used men’s breeches and shirts, don't worry they've been washed, find something that will fit you. You will wear these clothes for the rest of the survival classed. You will be expected to show up dressed in these clothes and you will be expected to show up on time. I expect you to meet me at the city gates just before daybreak so that we’ll have lots of daylight time. Now for a few simple rules of conduct, there is always the danger of getting separated from the group so if you get lost just sit down and wait till the group finds you again. Also, I do not want to see you wandering away looking at something pretty or interesting or touching anything you do not recognize without asking my permission. I don’t want to see any fooling around that may be disturbing to the class or destructive. If you feel you cannot cooperate in this class please tell me before hand. The important thing is for you to have fun and learn a thing or two. For the next five classes we will be meeting at the Tower gates, don't be late. Special passes will be given to novices so that they can leave the city. All Novices come and see me after class to receive these passes because without them you won’t be joining the class".

 

With that Gloha dismissed the class and passed out the special passes to the Novices who were lining up to receive them.

 

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Lesson 2

 

Just as daylight was breaking Gloha waited for her students at the city gates, tapping her foot on the ground because she was impatient to be off. As she stood at the gates and watched as her students trickled towards where she was standing looking tired at such an early hour.

 

"Today is out first day in the grove. I hope you can all remember our rules of conduct." She gave them all a warning look and continued "I see you all are wearing suitable clothes and I hope all of you had the sense to wear good hiking shoes." She watched as a few novices shifted guiltily. Gloha noticed as their eyes had wandered to the mound of packs at her feet, “I will be handing out these packs to all of you, in them you will fine a small knife, a piece of rope, a canteen filled with water, I don’t want anyone to dehydrate so remember to drink water as we walk along, a piece of canvas , flint and steel and a few sandwiches. For next classes I expect you to all come with your canteen filled and lunch prepared.”

 

With that she set off through the gates, motioning her class to follow her, and walked at a fast pace for about twenty minutes before they reached the ogier grove (OOC: remember in an ogier grove you can’t channel). Gloha always hated the tingling feeling she got when she went into an ogier grove. In the ogier grove Gloha could sense the OP, but it was just out of reach over the horizon and she hoped her students were handling it well.

 

She set out at a steady pace through the woods, cautioning her students to look out for roots and branches they could trip on. As they reached a satisfactory spot she stopped them for a break and watched as they each drank a little water.

 

Gloha began “Today we will learn how to recognize different animal tracks and different flora.” She then searched on the ground and pointed out a curious looking tiny Y shape

track, “This is a footprint of a small bird”. She then proceeded on showing them wolf tracks, oval with little claw marks arranged at it’s top. She then showed them bear marks, “As you can see you can tell how big the animal is by how deep the tracks are and their width, these bear tracks are wider in the paw and are deeper than the wolf ones, I suggest steering clear of any deep and large tracks in the woods, they only mean a large and potentially dangerous animal in the area and here is a hoof print of a deer” Gloha pointed out deer tracks, “you can tell it is a deer track because deer have cloven hoofs which leave a small & shallow depressions”. Gloha also pointed out a horse track, “You can tell it is a horse print because you can see the depression that that iron horseshoes have made in the soft ground” She even pointed out some snake tracks, these ones looked like wriggly lines. She watched as a few students cringed away at the mention of snakes.

 

“Next is flora, the most important thing to learn about flora in the woods is that no matter how good the flora looks that doesn’t mean that the plant is edible, it can be very dangerous, And poisonous if consumed.” She gestured at a bush with good looking juicy red berries on it, “these berries are very poisonous for example you'd do good to stay away from them. On the other hand these sour looking yellow berries over on that bush are very edible, go ahead and try some. “ Gloha grinned as the students picked some and made a face at their sour taste, “they may taste bad but at least they won’t let you starve.”

 

.Gloha hiked on a little further, pointing out the three-pointed leaf that was poison oak

and she pointed out which trees that you could dig edible roots from. When one of her students pointed out mushrooms Gloha told them how to tell if they were poisonous or not by the shape of their caps & if they had dots on them then they were. At last she glanced over at her class saw that most of them looked rather tired. Gloha encouraged them all to take a sip of water before backtracking and hiking towards the tower.

 

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Lesson 3

 

Gloha set off as soon as her whole class joined her at the gates. They all passed into the ogier grove and Gloha yet again felt the shiver of the ability to channel the OP leave her. She walked swiftly farther into the grove than they had gone last time they had been before. She then stopped for a bit and after watching them all take a drink she asked them to find her a few rabbit tracks or bird tracks. After a moment of looking the girls spotted a few and pointed them out, at this point Gloha started her class.

 

“Today we will learn how to trap animals. We will try only with a couple of the smallest animals since it is never a good idea for you to go over board and try to catch a deer or something as big as that because you are not expert hunters and you will get hurt with an animal that size. “ She pointed down to the tracks below her feet “these are rabbit tracks, where ever there are a bunch of tracks, recent and fresh, you know you will most likely find an animal and that would be the best place to set a trap for it. First up is slings!.”

 

Gloha took out the piece of rope she had put in her pack and gestured to all her students to take out theirs as well, then she showed them how to make a sling with them. She folded the piece of rope in half then tied a knot at the center. When she was sure it was all nice and tight she picked up a good sized rock and leaned it against the knot then whirled the sling around a few times and watched as the stone flew to hit a tree across from her. She then stood and watched as her students practiced. When she was sure they had it pretty much down she moved on to some basic traps. “Next I’ll show you some basic traps. I know none of you, or supposedly none of you, like to see rabbits or small animals get hurt but you must understand that to survive in a woods it is not enough to just eat roots and berries, you must have meat. So it is either you catch the animals and eat you or you do not survive.” With that out of the way she started on the traps. She untied the rope and retied it up into a small loop. She made sure it was tight then set it on the ground and forced a small twig so that it’s ends were caught in the loop. She showed her students that by moving the twig the loop would close and if they were to tie the end of the rope to a branch the animal would be caught in the loop. She then undid the snare and took out her small belt knife and dug a hole into the ground. She covered the opening with twigs and leaves. “Most small animals are pretty dumb, so this trap may sounds comical but it works surprisingly well”. She built another small snare with a tight loop again hanging from a branch low to the ground. "A rabbit may be running this way, not notice the loop and it's head may catch in it. A nasty little snare but effective.” “now it’s you guys turn I would like to wee you all make these traps” Gloha looked on as her class built snares and showed them to her and at last was satisfied and starting out again towards the tower. Walking back to the tower Gloha told the girls “You guys have worked hard and you have shown me that you are keen. So just two more classes, keep up the good work!”

 

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Lesson 4

 

Gloha waited till all her students approached the gates then marched off to the ogier grove. By now the students were very observant and pointed out different tracks and flora and even pointed out where slings and traps would be good. She was pleased that they were using the knowledge they had acquired. Glo stopped and turned to face them. "Today we will be learning about shelter, fire and water. Now on to the lesson at hand. Finding shelter is important if you're stuck in the woods a long time. You don't want to get caught outside with no shelter either in foul weather. A cave is always a good idea but you must be careful before you choose it as your shelter. First look on the ground for any recent tracks of any sort of big animal. If there are tracks or animal dropping that means the cave is probably an animal shelter and unless you want to spend a night with a grumpy bear you should find different shelter. A tent is always good but you need to have one at hand. If you do then it is important for you to build the proper campsite. Make sure there are not too many recent tracks again and make sure there is a fire that will always burn in your campsite so wild animals will most likely stay away, Aes Sedai use wards for this but we will not be channeling. Another shelter ,though temporary, is a comfy tree branch. It won't be fun staying on one of those but you'll be high up so no animal can get to you and if you're close to the tree top you'll be sheltered from rain and wind.“

 

Gloha stopped and rummaged through her pack, she had added a tent and some more rope to her items. She then instructed the girls to look for a proper site and soon they found a clearing with no recent tracks, so Gloha set out the canvas of the tent and showed them all how to tie it straight to branches and to keep the edges on the ground with heavy rocks and stick a branch inside so there will be room to move around and the canvas will stand erect. After watching them practice for a bit she continued.

 

"Now for the fire in your campsite, make it a bit of a distance away from your tent so it won't catch fire”. Gloha pulled out her knife and dug a small fire pit in the ground then showed them how to find dry twigs and brown grass. Finally when she built it correctly she took out her steel and flint that she had added as well and struck up a fire showing them how to use the items. She gathered smooth little rocks and placed them around the fire pit so the fire wouldn’t get out of hand. She straightened & dusted her hands off looking around to see if her students got the gist of it.

 

When she was satisfied they have she proceeded with her instructions, ”You must always put out the fire after you have set it or it may catch and make a forest fire, not good”. Glo pulled out her canteen and doused the flames with her water. She kicked some dirt on what remained of the fire pit and undid her canvas folding it back into her pack. Hiking forward she instructed them on how to look for water. “It can be very simple if you keep your eyes open for the signs. There will always be animal tracks leading to a stream and there will always be animals moving towards a water source, so if you are silent you can follow a deer or bird to the stream”. She hiked them up to a stream she knew was in the area then stopped at the bank letting them settle down. "It’s important to check that the water is good, an easy way of doing so is to look around the bank and see if there are any dead animals. If there are that means those creatures drank from the water and it killed them, move away from that water. Running water is the healthiest, so try to find streams and to avoid ponds and lakes.” She let them fill up their canteens then moved on. "Crossing water is also dangerous, you don't want to step on something and slip, and that will be the end of you. You always need to check how deep the water is, it may look shallow but it doesn't have to be. " She took a dead branch from near an oak and plunged it into the water then took it out showing her students how deep the stream is by how much of the branch got wet. She then stepped into the water slowly moving the branch in front of her. She gestured to her students to pick up a branch as well and follow her. She moved her branch before her checking nothing was abstracting her path and that there were no sudden dents in the underwater surface that could trip her, she watched as her students did the same. Once they were out of the stream she grinned at all of them “doesn’t it feel great being wet?”. When she heard their moans she grinned wider and set off back to the tower.

 

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Lesson 5

 

Gloha eyed her class. They were all standing in front of her ready to do

their final with her but she had a surprise for them. “Final is going to be a biggie like I promised you so here it is: each of you will be handed a map from me which has a different route marked on it. Your final is to navigate through your marked route and use all the elements of survival that I taught you which includes recognizing tracks, flora,

finding food and trapping, setting fire finding water and since this route will take you two days to complete; camping." She eyed them as some of her class started to look nervous. “please come and get canvas and flint and steel to add to your packs before you go. I will also be handing out flares; you may use them if you are in real danger, NO CHANNELING ladies. Remember to have fun and that this route will be done individually and not in groups or pairs. Your pickup point is the little clearing in the grove marked with the X. Now off you go and good luck to you all.

 

 

(OOC: like I said this is a biggie, I want to see detailed RP of the two days and nights. The majority of your grade will be determined by how well you present you RP.)

 

 

[Amadine]

Tactics

 

by Ember Dione

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Final

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

Units of land battles

 

Ember walked into the classroom and set her books down on the desk at the front. She looked around the empty room. Very soon it would be filled with students. She set a bowl filled with rock candy. Made from suger and crystallized on sticks. The rainbow colors sparkled in the sunlight coming in the room. She thought of the many AS teachers and their brownies on the first day of class. She smiled as she adjusted her books and shuffled her papers. She then brushed her Sleeves for what must have been the millionth time since entering the room.

 

The door creaked open and an Accepted walked in. She brushed her hair back and sat down. A Warder followed her in. He looked slightly out of place in this small classroom. The third, and final student on her roster walked in and sat down. She left the door open in case anyone decided to take the class. They sat down and looked up. Seemingly prepared to learn. Ember picked up the bowl and passed it to the Warder.

 

"This is Tactics. Perhaps later there will be other battle classes, but this is my first. I suggest this class for anyone planning on the Green Ajah. Or anyone who plans to advise leaders of nations and armies. This will teach you how to place troops and other battle gear so as to win." Ember rised her eyes from her notes. "I do like winning. It is far more fun than losing." The students laughed at this.

 

"First we will look at the many different types of troops." Ember lifted a book showing a picture of a man holding a tall spear. Half again as tall as the man. "This is a pikeman. They are slow and hard to move over long distances. They are the front line of your defense. You would want several lines, preferably as long as your battle field, in front of all of your armies. This is to protect against calvery charges, and other pikemen charges. As long as the pikemen are trained to stand and hold the line, no calvery would make it through. Pikemen are good for defending archers. Infantry isn't limited to one weapon either. Some units use polearm weilders behind sheildbearers. That way the front line can hold back and infantry charge while the second lines can attack over the shieldbearers from relative safety. Sheild bearers usually carry maces, flails, swords, or any other close range weapon, but concentrate on defending. As a side note, 'Discipline keep men alive in battle, but infantry are more likely to know it and believe than calvery."

 

Ember held up another book. It had a picture of a man holding a bow. "Now if you had to pick archers, I would advise anyone from the Two Rivers area. Not only do they have the longest range, but they are the most accurate. Smaller bows mean faster shots, but may not have the range needed. You would place your archers behind your lines of infantry, that is any foot soldiers. However they need to be close enough to hit any charging enemy forces. Preferably you would want the archers close enough to hit the other infantry, but that would most likely put you in range for the enemy archers. Archers are normally armed with a short sword as well in case they are caught in a melee."

 

"The next unit is the calvery. Heavy calvary, of which the Shienarans are the best, carry heavy lances and wear plate and mail armor. They charge the enemy lines straight on and ride over them. Light calvary (Saldeans are the best) is useful for quick flanking maneuvers and harrying retreating foes to keep them from reforming. These are horse men, preferably with battlesteeds. You would move them intermittantly between the pikemen if stuck in a narrow space, so as to get through without any major holes in your lines. However, if you are on a large plain, or can get around, calvery could flank or even move around behind the enemy from behind. Flanking is attacking your enemy from the side, where he is not prepared to attack or defend. This is a wonderful move if able. However, remember what works for you works for them. So guard your flanks."

 

She picked up another book. Showing the picture of a swordman. "Any other infantry, swordmen, flails, macemen, spearmen, ect would be placed between the pikemen and the archers."

 

She set down the book and folded her arms. "I think that is enough for today. Your homework would be a breif description of the units, and any I did not mention. (Ooc: For those of you who can come up with a fighting unit used in the book not mentioned here, Extra Credit!) Also show me your notes as you leave.

 

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Lesson 2

 

TLand Battles

 

Ember straightened her papers again. She was not comfortable with teaching an AS, but she had been put at ease by her easy going manner. The Warder reminded her of her brother and was charming. Kiya seemed unsure, while Asparuh seemed to be enjoying the class. She seethed at the thought of the annoying jerk who tried to take over her class. If he returned today she would get Sevaal to throw him out. Or notify the Mistress of Classes.

 

Ember placed the small wooden carvings she had made while she was sick on the table carefully. She placed the ones painted white on one side and the ones painted black on the other. They were not very intricate, but had enough detail to tell the units. She had the students gather around the table.

 

"Today we will be using these carvings to role play a battle. Do not imagine good or bad, just white and black. You have your units, pikemen, calvery, archers, others..." She tapered off as she held the small archer, and thought of another archer. "As you prepare for battle, you must know the lay of the land. To not pay enough attention could get you and your men killed. Flat plains work best with battle lines. The only thing about them is that they give neither army a tactical advantage. Higher ground is important, because it increases the range of the archers and slows charges. Men who have to climb a hill will be more tired than men who cross a plain when they reach your lines. You would be best thought to do this by moving to another area to fight, however your enemy is rarely aggreable to helping you." She smiled and waited for the laughs. All of the students just stared blankly at her. She shook her head and continued, moving the figures she formed a u, with the curve facing the opposing force. She moved the archers inside.

 

"If you are attacked from the front, you can fight and bend the curves forward to wrap the sides of the charge. If you are attacked from your flanks you are ready, and can fight to both sides, but be careful, you may be squished in between your enemies forces. If they manage to overpower you, try to have your troops form blocks around the archers. Much like a square, with the archers in the center, and the infantry facing outward. This will allow them to fire, while still being protected." As she spoke she moved the figures to the different posititions as she described them.

 

"But as you may guess not all fights are fought on open plains. Some are fought in mountains, or caverns. If you are defending a pass, much like the Shienar fight trollocs and fades in the passes to the waste, you could have a minimal number of infantry and archers, and yet hold against thousands. It would be like a cork in a bottle. You strech your lines across the pass and hold. The archers would wear down the reinforcements from behind the front line, while thier archers would not be able to fire as far." She moved the figures to show them. She placed a thin layer of infantry at the front, with archers behind intersperced with more infantry. The infantry mixed in with the archers would move forward to replace the fallen at the front line.

 

"If you were to fight in a forest your calvery would be pretty much useless. Your best bet would be an ambush. Hide archers in the tops of trees, and draw your enemy into the area by baiting them and drawing them to where you have your archers set. You may also want to set fires after they enter so as to block reinforcements. Then your infantry would attack from all sides and block them in, possibly leading to a melee. Oh what fun!" Ember moved the figures once more to show the movements.

 

"I would like to point out that while all of these ideas are basically good, nothing can replace a well trained army. Nor will your enemy ever do what you think they will. If you press an enemy, you want to leave him a way out. Otherwise, they have nothing to lose and will be harder to defeat. And without fail anything that can go wrong, will, at the worst possible moment. Next class will be on provisioning and supplies. For your homework show your notes, and decribe a plan of action if you were attempting to hold back another army. Pick your playing field and troops. (Ooc- Once again Extra Credit, describe a battle from any WoT book, and show any mistakes, or how you feel it could have been commanded better.)

 

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Lesson 3

 

Supplies and Moral

 

The students filed in, and once again gathered around the table. Ember smiled at them. "Today we will learn about provisioning and supplies. You must be able to provide for your troops. A hungry and unpaid army will turn against you. You will have supply lines." Ember took a new carving and placed it on the table. It was a small wagon.

 

"You always have a road or path connecting your army to it's source of food and reinforcements. This is nessasary for large armies. If your supply line is cut off, you are doomed. Waterways and Barges make for excellent supply lines." Ember moved the figures to show a cut off supply line. "Also if you have a camp, where you are going to be for a while, generally more than one night, you must have order. Your officers need to be intersperced and sentries placed. They should march the perimeter of your camp. Your privies should always be placed away from the camp." A few snickers rose at this comment. Ember looked at the students. "Yes, I realize it sounds like a no brainer but... It is a common mistake made by mercenaries. Speaking of mercinaries, remember that many mercenaries will not fight together. They are in it for the money, not for your cause. But I digress... Where was I? Oh, camps. You would like to have gleemen or some form of entertainment. It keeps up moral. If your troops get discourged, they won't want to fight. As anyone in battle knows, losing amounts to very little moral, and if a large number of troops are killed be prepared to console your remaining troops, as they will have a lower moral."

 

Ember quit playing with the carvings and took her seat. As did many of the novices. She readjusted her dress and continued. "As you can see, feeding an army, getting them entertainment, weapons, armor, horses, paying them, can all be very expensive so it is important to win, so you can get money." A dark look crossed her face. "Looting is not an option. You should never loot, or attack innocent peoples. While they are the enemy, they are not part of your war. Attack only soldiers, and feel free to loot weapons. But much of this depends on your ethical stand point. I however would not advise it. If you are conquering a people you will seem barbaric and evil. Thus making you the "Bad Guy" and resistances will form against you. Also remember anyone left could be an enemy. "

 

"Now if your army is trained and formed correctly there will be a chain of command and several divisions. Many countries give officer postions only to nobels. This is not a good idea as they are often not the best for the job. A professional soldier who has fought many battles is the best candidate. Your leaders should be chosen on merit. You should have divisions of main forces and reserves. The main forces attack, and the reserves wait to reinforce the line in the event of a weaken that might break. Also if advanceing at a fast pace, your cook wagons and such will not be able to keep up. So you have the main force march for a week, then stop, eat good warm meals, and have your reserves move forward and essentially becomes the main force. This kind of leap frog allows troops to refresh and recoop, that way you always have fresh troops on the front line. And as Sevaal side in his homework last class, 'A fighting retreat can be a good tactic, and rearguard ambushes play an important role in destroying an enemy, especially a stronger force. An advancing force that moves too quickly can be susceptible to ambushes.' " (Ooc- I had this stated, but it was way more confusing, and this is alot easier to understand.)

 

She smiled at the students. "We have worked hard and you have all done well. We'll call it done for today. Which is also a good idea for your troops, when they do well, reward them, and entertain them."

 

"If you have any points or additions feel free to post them, but otherwise no homework."

 

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Lesson 4

 

Shadow Spawn

 

The students filed into class and Ember waved them into their seats. "I hope you are all prepared to learn. I am about to teach you things you can't practice." She recived several confused looks. "Today you will learn how to battle shadowspawn."

 

She held up several books showing sketchy renderings of Fades and Trollocs. "These are no longer childrens tales. They are very real and are one of the only things you can fight using the power. If you take the Pyro class you will learn exactly how to form fire balls and such. But you would use fireballs, lighting, weaves of spirit to sheild them, Air to hold them in place, and even earth to cause earthquakes. One thing you must always be sure of is that you blast only shadowspawn, remember your oath, friendly fire is not a plausable excuse. Also you need to remember that you can only draw so much power. Also you might want to take Josslyns Shadowspawn class."

 

"For the other matter, if your life is endangered, the oath is null and void, so you can blast the enemy. And remember your Warder is a trained and often spectacular swordsman. They are your first front of protection, and are bound to fight for AS. They will fight along side the AS in the last battle. Which will be between the Dragon Reborn and the dark one. That is one of the reasons I teach this class. War is coming, you need to be prepared."

 

She sat down and shuffled through her papers. "As to touch on Sea battles... Well I can't really tell you. I have never been to sea, and not in battle, as I grew up in northern Tear. I would suggest upon becoming AS, find and ask your warder, or the Sea Folk, but they are notiorously closed mouthed."

 

"As a general rule of war the first would be, 'Know your enemy', second, 'Know the terrain'. Never fight in a city, you are there to perserve and save, not to detroy what is left, unless you are attempting to destroy the city completely. Lives are at stake, Make a mistake and it will be paid for, in blood. There is no such thing as fairness in war. You get your enemy at his weakest point, when he least expects it, and from behind. And do not think to distance yourself from the battle, everything changes the minute the first arrow is loosed. Only a battle lost is sadder than a battle won. The first thing to happen after a battle is the celebration of life. Those alive usally celebrate. If you have experienced generals, listen to them. Don't get so full of yourselves after having this class that you think you know all you need to. You may use this sometime, but good Generals have usually lived through enough battles to see problems that aren't apparent."

 

Ember laid her papers down and felt a familiar scar on her forehead. She ran her hand through her ever lengthening hair, and smiled at the students. "Show me your notes and if you have taken the Pyro class explain how to blast shadowspawn with a fireball. Explain how you would battle shadowspawn and prepare for the final."

 

 

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Final

 

Okay guys here is your fun. Do one or the other.

 

Rp a battle against an army of your choosing. Act as if you are the commander of the second and explain why you would use things, like pallisades or supply lines, and why you would not. Yes you can do this against each other, but I would prefer it end in a stalemate, or war of attrition, so we don't get too fiesty on here.

 

Or you can explain what you learned in this class and tell me anything NOT PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED IN POSTS, that you would add. I have taken into account everything you have all said and am presently rewriting the class.

 

 

[Amadine]

Lesson 1

 

Arie walked into the classroom with a big smile on her face. The faces of her already-gathered pupils bore various expressions and Arie couldn't tell if her smile relaxed them or made them more uneasy. "Good morning!" she chirped, determined to put them at ease. "Welcome to the Water Weaves class. If you're in this room, you are probably interested in learning more about Water. I'd like to start out by reminding everyone of a very obvious-seeming point. Water is a fluid. Because of this fact, many of our weaves will involve one or more of the other elements. However, each weave we try in this class will still be water based."

 

Arie smiled, anticipating the general reaction she'd get from the next statement. "I'd also like to point out that, since we don't want to be mopping floors after each class or worrying about potential leaks onto the heads of Sedai on the floor below us, we will be holding this class outside. At the end of each lesson, I'll tell you where to meet for the next one. Today we are going to go out to the gardens."

 

Her class cheerfully made their way out to the garden and gathered around one of the fountains. Arie stood on the circular bench that was attached to the fountain so that all of her students could see her properly. She took the brief moment that they needed to quiet down to look around and enjoy the illusion of height. As her class quieted down, she drew her attention back to her teaching.

 

"First we're going to start with a little review." The dissatisfied looks and barely muffled groans that comment elicited were hardly surprising. Arie knew that people didn't like review very much, but she felt it was necessary to see how much each person was capable of, since she had never been their teacher before. She embraced Saidar and pulled out the water thread. She also pulled out a bit of air and spirit. "This first weave will only be a review for those of you who have taken Intermediate Saidar. We will be creating small whirlpools by weaving the water thread through a patch of water and then starting the circular motion with tiny amounts of air and spirit." She let the weave spin for a moment before removing the air and spirit, leaving the weave of water as it was. "To make waves, rather than a whirlpool, you use the air and spirit like this." She took hold of those small bits of air and spirit again and manipulated them along the patch of water in a rocking motion that produced waves. "There are enough fountains in the garden for each of you to try this at the same time. Keep your patches small. You don't want to get worn out too soon!"

 

Arie watched her class break up and head towards different fountains. She wandered from one place to another checking up on people and making sure they understood how to do each of the weaves. Then she called the class back together by the first fountain. "As a thank you to the gardeners for giving us permission to hold classes here, we will use our next review weave for a practical purpose. You have all made clouds before, but these ones will be a bit different." Arie wove a glob of air and laced it with touches of spirit and a good amount of water. Then she warmed it with fire and spoke quickly as the cloud began to rain itself out. "The difference between this cloud and the one you made in Intro to Saidar is that we will be keeping these clouds from raining themselves out by feeding it more water." She quickly demonstrated before her little cloud could spit out its last drops. She took a small amount of air and pushed her cloud forwards, backwards, and side to side in the fountain. "Tiny gusts of air can be used to move your cloud around as you work. The practical use of this particular weave will be watering the flower beds for the gardeners. We're just watering this one garden, so please stay within it. If you will each choose an area to work in, we can be sure that all the plants get watered exactly once. We wouldn't want to drown one and leave another dry!" She smiled. "When you're through with that, come back and I'll have a new weave to show you before we go for the day."

 

She watched her students trek around the garden, keeping a mental map of where they had been and was pleased to note that when they re-gathered in front of her, they had covered all of the garden. She was really excited to teach this next part because she really liked to do things that seemed crazy, but really had a hidden purpose. She stepped up onto the fountain's bench again, then over the lip of the fountain, and right into the water. Once she had both legs over, she positioned herself under a stream of water and sat down, completely soaking her green silk dress (Which she changed from the white, because of this). She stood up again and stepped out of the fountain, grinning at the shock on her students' faces. Then she embraced the source, and ran a tight band of water from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. The band pressed her hair and clothing tightly against her skin, forcing the water out as it went. By the time the band reached her toes and she let go of the source, she was a bit rumpled, but she was completely dry. She looked at her class. "In a water class, you can expect that you will need to use this weave at some time. I assume I don't have to suggest ways of getting wet to practice it?" Arie smiled and sat down, watching as the Ladies faces slowly broke into grins. They looked at each other and then took off for the fountains.

 

When they had all finished practicing these weaves, Arie then dismissed them for the day. "The next class is at the Stables. I'll see you all there!"

 

 

Lesson 2

 

Arie finished saddling the last horse as her class began to drift in to the stables. She didn't feel it was fair to leave all the work to the stable hands when it was her class that was requesting the animals. She was rather used to doing what was needed on her own and the idea of having someone else do it for her was still kind of strange. She smiled at the girls as they arrived and tried to focus herself on the task at hand.

 

Once the class was all there and in their saddles, some more easily than others, they rode out to the Advanced Saidar practice field. Each dismounted with her own little flair, again showing just how familiar they were with riding. Arie had them form a line facing the practice dummies, a smile on her face as she said, "Today we will learn how to use water as a weapon." She faced the class and embraced the source, selecting a good large thread of water. "I will start with a good deal of water and roll it into a ball, like this. Now, remember, we said that water is fluid, so we have to have something to hold it all together. For that, I'll use the tiniest thin thread of spirit woven around the ball. Make sure the spirit is quite thin, because you'll want it to break on impact." With that, she whirled around and pitched the ball of water at the dummy. She restrained a cheer as it hit right in her target's face. She turned back to her class. "A ball of water in the face will slow attackers down, distract them, but will probably not injure them. To be more affective, try this." Arie started again with her large water thread wrapped into a ball, but instead of adding spirit, she swirled air into ball until it became ice. She hefted the ball of ice in her hand, then turned and threw it at the dummy. It gave a satisfying thunk before it shattered. She turned back to her class again. "If you are searching for something a bit more deadly..." She took up the water thread, this time pressing it into a long thin cone. She wove air into it and it became ice. She was holding the thick end of the cone with its sharp point directed away from her body. She turned and flung the ice "dagger" towards the dummy. It stuck point first, but not where she had expected. Oh well. Her class didn't really know that. She turned back towards them. "The cone of ice is a little more difficult to throw than the balls and probably takes a good deal more weapons skill. Unless you're really good with knives, the balls would probably be more useful because you'd have less chance of missing. These weaves ARE only to be used in self defence, and on the battle field, so do not take these weaves lightly. Practice each of these weaves a few times and then we'll head back to the Tower. For our next lesson we'll be meeting in the garden again." Arie made sure she was available for any questions her class might have as they practiced.

 

 

 

Lesson 3

 

When Arie's class met her in the garden the next day, she was holding a box in her hands. "Today we will be focusing on defensive weaves. Often times when you're being attacked, the logical choice is to run, rather than fight. Particularly if you are outnumbered. Some of these weaves could be very useful in that situation. The one we will start with could be used to cause confusion." She set the box on a bench and opened it, handing one candle from inside to each of the girls. "We will be learning to put out flames."

 

When everyone, including herself, had a candle, Marce went on. "As I said, this weave could be used to cause confusion. An example would be if you were to douse a campfire or torches with it during an attack. This would give you an opportunity to slip away without being noticed. The way we will practice this weave is by first lighting our candles using fire, and then putting that fire out using water." Arie demonstrated, wrapping a strand of fire around the candle wick and allowing it to burst into flame and then weaving a slightly larger amount of water through the flame to douse it. "The difficulty with this weave is that it takes a larger amount of water than flame to put the whole flame out. That's why we're staying small and sticking with candles. Each of you practice this a few times and then return your candles to the box. When I have all the candles back, we'll go on to the next part."

 

Arie sat back and watched them practice. They seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly, as she expected they would, and even those who had a more difficult time were curious about the next part of the lesson, so it wasn't long before she had all the candles back in her box. She closed the lid and stood up, walking to an area when uncovered dirt was highly visible below a strongly scented flowering plant. "In the next weave we will be making mud." She laughed at some of the more astonished looks, which seemed to be asking her if she was crazy. "Mud can be a very useful tool when you are being chased. If you think back on your own experiences with mud, I'm sure you'll remember times that it was slick and times when it caught at your feet and held you. The overall purpose behind this weave will be to provide your attacker with unsure footing." Arie embraced the source and started her weave. "If your goal is to get slick ground, you weave a small amount of water into the soil, like this." She used only a very small patch of dirt and demonstrated that it was slick by sliding her finger across its surface. "If you want a mud that will suck you in, use more water." She weaved more water into the same patch and demonstrated its result by sticking her finger in and pulling it back out again with a quiet pop from the suction. "Go ahead and try this weave, being careful to keep it small. That way the dirt we don't use can absorb the extra water. We don't want the gardeners raging at us because we turned the place into a bog!" She smiled and reminded the class to return after they'd made a few mini-bogs. She had one more thing to show them before the end of class.

 

Her final weave for the day was a more complex one. She started with an admonishment. "If I ever, ever see this weave used in a prank, I will hunt you down and set you a penance that will make you wish you'd never learned to channel! Wether Aes Sedai, Accepted, Or even if it's a novice. You do not teach this to anyone." She saw a few students react with surprise at the disappearance of her normally very relaxed demeanor, but kept her face stern. This weave was just too tempting as prank-fodder and she was not about to get herself in trouble by teaching it to those who would be irresponsible with it. She moved to stand below a tree and wove spirit into a circle of ground in front of her. She then wove a thread of spirit from that circle to the branch above it and made a hook there. She decided to make this weave as dangerous as possible to drive home the point that it could really hurt someone if misused. She wove a cone of ice and hung it pointing downward from the hook of spirit in the tree. She tied off all her weaves and then gingerly stretched out her leg and tapped her foot in the circle of spirit on the ground. The hook pulled backwards and the cone of ice slipped off, falling downward and sticking its point into the ground, inches from where her toe had been. She smiled at the shock on some of the students' faces. "Just use balls of water in your weaves instead of ice," she said. "It's easier to dry you off than it is to heal you." She told them that the next class would be meeting in the stables again, and then let them practice the weave, sincerely hoping that the pranksters would leave this weave alone outside of class.

 

 

 

Lesson 4

 

Arie was really excited about this class. She really thought that the weaves they would be using today were the most useful in the class and she hoped her students would have a lot of opportunities to try these ones out on their own, preferably out of choice and not out of necessity, though. Once the class was gathered and mounted, she announced, "Today we will be going down to the river to continue this class. Please stay together and try to keep your enthusiasm at being out of the Tower to a dull roar during teaching times." She grinned. She knew that all these girls worked really hard at their chores and lessons and would enjoy this little break, even if they did still have to learn.

 

On their way to the river, they passed a farm where Arie had already arranged to teach the first part of her lesson. They stopped and dismounted, forming a line with Arie between her class and a field of immature vegetable plants. "For those of you who have taken Intermediate Saidar, this weave will be a familiar one, but with a slightly different purpose. Say you're traveling through the woods in the springtime and you've run out of food. You come upon a plant that, if it were mature, would hold an edible fruit. You would be able to bring the plant, with its fruit, to maturity like this." Arie started the weave using minute amounts of earth to move the soil out of the path of growing roots, tiny bits of spirit and fire and larger amounts of water to encourage growth. When her plant had flowered and reached the peak of its cycle, Arie let a slight breath of air flow over the flower, pushing the pollen onto the flower's female parts and fertilizing the plant. She then continued her weave of water, spirit, and fire (not much earth was needed anymore since the plant was full grown) and the fruit began to grow. She stopped just before it ripened. "We'll leave what we make at this point so that the farmer can pull in his crop a bit early over here. Don't wander too far so his job is easier for him." Then she sat back and watched them try this weave.

 

They remounted and moved on towards the river. When they got there, Arie took them to a spot where the water was fairly shallow. "Some of you may have more experience in this particular task than others. How many of you have fished with just your hands before?" She could tell a few knew what she was talking about by the nods she received. "Those of you who have are looking at me like I'm crazy at the moment because this gentle slope is not the kind of place you'd find fish. Normally, you'd go to a rocky overhang, or some such. If you will look down the shore, you'll see just such an area." She loved teaching like this and seeing the bewildered looks on her students' faces as they tried to figure out what she was going to have them do. The anticipation was be best part of teaching. "Today, you will be fishing down there, but you will not be going to the fish. They will be coming to you." She smiled. "Observe." Arie laid flat on the ground on her stomach with her arms in the water. She sent out a thread of water until it was broken by a form in the water. She then wrapped the thread in a sphere around the form and brought it to her. She let go of the source and stood up, a flapping silvery form in her hand. "You can catch things besides fish this way, so be sure you know what you're pulling in!" Arie said with a smile as she tossed her silvery friend back in the water. "You can choose to keep them or toss them back, but keep in mind that you'll clean your own catch if you keep them and there will not be a fish-cleaning weave in this class." She directed the class to the overhang down the shore a bit, where she knew there would be some fairly good-sized fish. She had pulled hers from a longer distance, but she had only done one that way and she was fairly strong in water. Despite those facts, she was tired. She find a nice shady place to sit and watch as they pulled in their catch.

 

On their way back to the Tower, she reminded her class that the next lesson would be their test. They would be meeting in the stables again.

 

 

 

Final

 

Arie was really excited today. She tried to mask her enthusiasm as her students mounted up. They rode towards the river, stopping again at a farm along the way. "Ok, everyone," Arie said. "Bring me one ripe fruit and one ripe vegetable and remount." Her students went and gathered their produce, which she added to a few saddlebags on the pack horse she was leading. When everyone was remounted, they went on to the river. There were a few stable boys to care for the horses as well as a few other people gathered around a fire in the clearing they had visited the lesson before. Arie handed her saddlebags off to one of those gathered around the fire and then led her class to the water. "Now, each of you catch one fish and take it back to our cooks for the evening. This will probably be the only time you get to use this weave without having to clean your own, but please don't overload our volunteers. One fish only each." She watched them catch and take their fish to the cooks. Then she gathered them again. "The best way I can think to test you on what you've learned is by giving you a chance to run free and practice it. Therefore, while the cooks are preparing our meal, we're going to play a little game. The game has a few rules you will need to know. First of all, no putting out the fire. The cooks need it to finish our meal, and even if you want the game to go on longer and think that will work, I'm here to tell you that you're wrong and you'll just get in trouble. Secondly, no making anything ice. Ice can get someone seriously injured, and while I am capable of healing, I would prefer not to need to. If you do get hurt, please come to me or send someone for me immediately. The game we will be playing is one I call Capture the Flag." She pulled a red handkerchief and a blue handkerchief out of her belt pouch. "Divide up into two teams and each team gets a flag. The area between those two large trees," she pointed to a pair of trees, one about five feet away from her and the other about 25 feet away, " will be the neutral zone, with the red team's zone behind the far tree and the blue team's zone on this side of the nearer tree. Your flags will each start out in your own territory. The object of this game is to keep the other team from getting your flag while you try to get theirs. The first team with both flags in their territory wins. Sling balls of water, make mud slicks, set traps, whatever, to keep the other team out of your area, but try to avoid throwing things in people's faces and using weaves that would hurt others. I'll be the "on-call nurse" and one of our chaperone's happens to be a yellow sister, but I'd still prefer to keep everyone in one piece, so play hard, but play careful too. Save a little of your energy to dry off when you're done, as well as put out the fire before your ride back. Have fun!" Arie stepped away from the girls and tried to put some distance between herself and them before she yelled, "GO!" and let the chaos break out.

 

She watched from the sidelines, healing cuts and bruises on occasion, and was pleased to notice that the girls really were able to do most of the weaves she had taught them.

 

After they had exhausted themselves and one team finally bested the other, they each used the weave to dry off and sat down for dinner. The cooks had really outdone themselves with the girls' fish and produce. After they had finished the main meal, Arie surprised them with a few treats she had stashed among the saddlebags. The girls' eyes kept getting bigger as she pulled out first the pudding, then the brownies, then the cookies, and finally a bag of marshmallows. One of the girls started dipping marshmallows in her pudding. Arie tried it. It was great! They enjoyed the snacks until it was time to ride back to the Tower. The girls had been seated in a circle around the fire and Arie instructed them from there. "Each of you concentrate on the area of the fire right in front of you. Take your thread of water and weave it through the flames near the wood until they die back." With that many girls working on it, plus Arie taking care of the center of the fire, it didn't take too much energy from anyone to put it out. She checked the girls before they left to make sure that each of them still had enough energy for the ride home, and most seemed pleasantly tired, but not too overworked for the ride. They made it back to the Tower safely and handed their horses over to the stable hands there. Arie made her final words brief. "I'm glad you decided to take this class. I've had a lot of fun! Now go to bed before you all fall over!" Most of them seemed quite happy to take her advice.

 

 

 

 

[Amadine]

Water Weaves

 

by Marce Dalfor

 

Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, Lesson 4, Final

 

 

 

Lesson 1

 

Marce walked into the classroom with a big smile on her face. The faces of her already-gathered pupils bore various expressions and Marce couldn't tell if her smile relaxed them or made them more uneasy. "Good morning!" she chirped, determined to put them at ease. "Welcome to the Water Weaves class. If you're in this room, you are probably interested in learning more about Water and how we can use it as Aes Sedai. I'd like to start out by reminding everyone of a very obvious-seeming point. Water is a fluid. Because of this fact, many of our weaves will involve one or more of the other elements. However, each weave we try in this class will still be water based."

 

Marce smiled, anticipating the general reaction she'd get from the next statement. "I'd also like to point out that, since we don't want to be mopping floors after each class or worrying about potential leaks onto the heads of Sedai on the floor below us, we will be holding this class outside. At the end of each lesson, I'll tell you where to meet for the next one. Today we are going to go out to the gardens."

 

Her class cheerfully made their way out to the garden and gathered around one of the fountains. Marce stood on the circular bench that was attached to the fountain so that all of her students could see her properly. She took the brief moment that they needed to quiet down to look around and enjoy the illusion of height. Marce was rather short and the different perspective she gained when she stood on something had always fascinated her. As her class quieted down, she drew her attention back to her teaching.

 

"First we're going to start with a little review." The dissatisfied looks and barely muffled groans that comment elicited were hardly surprising. Marce knew that people didn't like review very much, but she felt it was necessary to see how much each person was capable of, since she had never been their teacher before. She embraced Saidar and pulled out the water thread. She also pulled out a bit of air and spirit. "This first weave will only be a review for those of you who have taken Intermediate Saidar. We will be creating small whirlpools by weaving the water thread through a patch of water and then starting the circular motion with tiny amounts of air and spirit." She let the weave spin for a moment before removing the air and spirit, leaving the weave of water as it was. "To make waves, rather than a whirlpool, you use the air and spirit like this." She took hold of those small bits of air and spirit again and manipulated them along the patch of water in a rocking motion that produced waves. "There are enough fountains in the garden for each of you to try this at the same time. Keep your patches small. You don't want to get worn out too soon!"

 

Marce watched her class break up and head towards different fountains. She wandered from one place to another checking up on people and making sure they understood how to do each of the weaves. Then she called the class back together by the first fountain. "As a thank you to the gardeners for giving us permission to hold classes here, we will use our next review weave for a practical purpose. You have all made clouds before, but these ones will be a bit different." Marce wove a glob of air and laced it with touches of spirit and a good amount of water. Then she warmed it with fire and spoke quickly as the cloud began to rain itself out. "The difference between this cloud and the one you made in Intro to Saidar is that we will be keeping these clouds from raining themselves out by feeding it more water." She quickly demonstrated before her little cloud could spit out its last drops. She took a small amount of air and pushed her cloud forwards, backwards, and side to side in the fountain. "Tiny gusts of air can be used to move your cloud around as you work. The practical use of this particular weave will be watering the flower beds for the gardeners. We're just watering this one garden, so please stay within it. If you will each choose an area to work in, we can be sure that all the plants get watered exactly once. We wouldn't want to drown one and leave another dry!" She smiled. "When you're through with that, come back and I'll have a new weave to show you before we go for the day."

 

She watched her students trek around the garden, keeping a mental map of where they had been and was pleased to note that when they re-gathered in front of her, they had covered all of the garden. She was really excited to teach this next part because she really liked to do things that seemed crazy, but really had a hidden purpose. She stepped up onto the fountain's bench again, then over the lip of the fountain, and right into the water. Once she had both legs over, she positioned herself under a stream of water and sat down, completely soaking her gray silk dress. She stood up again and stepped out of the fountain, grinning at the shock on her students' faces. Then she embraced the source, and ran a tight band of water from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. The band pressed her hair and clothing tightly against her skin, forcing the water out as it went. By the time the band reached her toes and she let go of the source, she was a bit rumpled, but she was completely dry. She looked at her class. "In a water class, you can expect that you will need to use this weave at some time. I assume I don't have to suggest ways of getting wet to practice it?" Marce smiled and sat down, watching as the girls' faces slowly broke into grins. They looked at each other and then took off for the fountains.

 

Back to the top

 

Lesson 2

 

Marce finished saddling the last horse as her class began to drift in to the stables. She didn't feel it was fair to leave all the work to the stable hands when it was her class that was requesting the animals. She was rather used to doing what was needed on her own and the idea of having someone else do it for her was still kind of strange. She smiled at the girls as they arrived and tried to focus herself on the task at hand.

 

Once the class was all there and in their saddles, some more easily than others, they rode out to the Advanced Saidar practice field. Each dismounted with her own little flair, again showing just how familiar they were with riding. Marce had them form a line facing the practice dummies, a smile on her face as she said, "Today we will learn how to use water as a weapon." She faced the class and embraced the source, selecting a good large thread of water. "I will start with a good deal of water and roll it into a ball, like this. Now, remember, we said that water is fluid, so we have to have something to hold it all together. For that, I'll use the tiniest thin thread of spirit woven around the ball. Make sure the spirit is quite thin, because you'll want it to break on impact." With that, she whirled around and pitched the ball of water at the dummy. She restrained a cheer as it hit right in her target's face, a trick she had learned from her brothers. She turned back to her class. "A ball of water in the face will slow attackers down, distract them, but will probably not injure them. To be more affective, try this." Marce started again with her large water thread wrapped into a ball, but instead of adding spirit, she swirled air into ball until it became ice. She hefted the ball of ice in her hand, wishing she had remembered her gloves, then turned and threw it at the dummy. It gave a satisfying thunk before it shattered. She turned back to her class again. "If you are searching for something a bit more deadly..." She took up the water thread, this time pressing it into a long thin cone. She wove air into it and it became ice. She was holding the thick end of the cone with its sharp point directed away from her body. She turned and flung the ice "dagger" towards the dummy. It stuck point first, but not where she had expected. Oh well. Her class didn't really know that. She turned back towards them. "The cone of ice is a little more difficult to throw than the balls and probably takes a good deal more weapons skill. Unless you're really good with knives, the balls would probably be more useful because you'd have less chance of missing. Practice each of these weaves a few times and then we'll head back to the Tower. For our next lesson we'll be meeting in the garden again." Marce made sure she was available for any questions her class might have as they practiced.

 

Back to the Top

 

Lesson 3

 

When Marce's class met her in the garden the next day, she was holding a box in her hands. "Today we will be focusing on defensive weaves. Often times when you're being attacked, the logical choice is to run, rather than fight. Particularly if you are outnumbered. Some of these weaves could be very useful in that situation. The one we will start with could be used to cause confusion." She set the box on a bench and opened it, handing one candle from inside to each of the girls. "We will be learning to put out flames."

 

When everyone, including herself, had a candle, Marce went on. "As I said, this weave could be used to cause confusion. An example would be if you were to douse a campfire or torches with it during an attack. This would give you an opportunity to slip away without being noticed. The way we will practice this weave is by first lighting our candles using fire, and then putting that fire out using water." Marce demonstrated, wrapping a strand of fire around the candle wick and allowing it to burst into flame and then weaving a slightly larger amount of water through the flame to douse it. "The difficulty with this weave is that it takes a larger amount of water than flame to put the whole flame out. That's why we're staying small and sticking with candles. Each of you practice this a few times and then return your candles to the box. When I have all the candles back, we'll go on to the next part."

 

Marce sat back and watched them practice. They seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly, as she expected they would, and even those who had a more difficult time were curious about the next part of the lesson, so it wasn't long before she had all the candles back in her box. She closed the lid and stood up, walking to an area when uncovered dirt was highly visible below a strongly scented flowering plant. "In the next weave we will be making mud." She laughed at some of the more astonished looks, which seemed to be asking her if she was crazy. "Mud can be a very useful tool when you are being chased. If you think back on your own experiences with mud, I'm sure you'll remember times that it was slick and times when it caught at your feet and held you. The overall purpose behind this weave will be to provide your attacker with unsure footing." Marce embraced the source and started her weave. "If your goal is to get slick ground, you weave a small amount of water into the soil, like this." She used only a very small patch of dirt and demonstrated that it was slick by sliding her finger across its surface. "If you want a mud that will suck you in, use more water." She weaved more water into the same patch and demonstrated its result by sticking her finger in and pulling it back out again with a quiet pop from the suction. "Go ahead and try this weave, being careful to keep it small. That way the dirt we don't use can absorb the extra water. We don't want the gardeners raging at us because we turned the place into a bog!" She smiled and reminded the class to return after they'd made a few mini-bogs. She had one more thing to show them before the end of class.

 

Her final weave for the day was a more complex one. She started with an admonishment. "If I ever, ever see this weave used in a prank, I will hunt you down and set you a penance that will make you wish you'd never learned to channel!" She saw a few students react with surprise at the disappearance of her normally very relaxed demeanor, but kept her face stern. This weave was just too tempting as prank-fodder and she was not about to get herself in trouble by teaching it to those who would be irresponsible with it. She moved to stand below a tree and wove spirit into a circle of ground in front of her. She then wove a thread of spirit from that circle to the branch above it and made a hook there. She decided to make this weave as dangerous as possible to drive home the point that it could really hurt someone if misused. She wove a cone of ice and hung it pointing downward from the hook of spirit in the tree. She tied off all her weaves and then gingerly stretched out her leg and tapped her foot in the circle of spirit on the ground. The hook pulled backwards and the cone of ice slipped off, falling downward and sticking its point into the ground, inches from where her toe had been. She smiled at the shock on some of the students' faces. "Just use balls of water in your weaves instead of ice," she said. "It's easier to dry you off than it is to heal you." She told them that the next class would be meeting in the stables again, and then let them practice the weave, sincerely hoping that the pranksters would leave this weave alone outside of class.

 

OOC: Remember that some of these weaves (particularly the "trap" weave) are going to be very difficult if not impossible for you at the moment. It's ok not to complete a weave as long as you try.

 

Back to the Top

 

Lesson 4

 

Marce was really excited about this class. She really though that the weaves they would be using today were the most useful in the class and she hoped her students would have a lot of opportunities to try these ones out on their own, preferably out of choice and not out of necessity, though. Once the class was gathered and mounted, she announced, "Today we will be going down to the river to continue this class. Please stay together and try to keep your enthusiasm at being out of the Tower to a dull roar during teaching times." She grinned. She knew that all these girls worked really hard at their chores and lessons and would enjoy this little break, even if they did still have to learn.

 

On their way to the river, they passed a farm where Marce had already arranged to teach the first part of her lesson. They stopped and dismounted, forming a line with Marce between her class and a field of immature vegetable plants. "For those of you who have taken Intermediate Saidar, this weave will be a familiar one, but with a slightly different purpose. Say you're traveling through the woods in the springtime and you've run out of food. You come upon a plant that, if it were mature, would hold an edible fruit. You would be able to bring the plant, with its fruit, to maturity like this." Marce started the weave using minute amounts of earth to move the soil out of the path of growing roots, tiny bits of spirit and fire and larger amounts of water to encourage growth. When her plant had flowered and reached the peak of its cycle, Marce let a slight breath of air flow over the flower, pushing the pollen onto the flower's female parts and fertilizing the plant. She then continued her weave of water, spirit, and fire (not much earth was needed anymore since the plant was full grown) and the fruit began to grow. She stopped just before it ripened. "We'll leave what we make at this point so that the farmer can pull in his crop a bit early over here. Don't wander too far so his job is easier for him." Then she sat back and watched them try this weave.

 

They remounted and moved on towards the river. When they got there, Marce took them to a spot where the water was fairly shallow. "Some of you may have more experience in this particular task than others. How many of you have fished with just your hands before?" She could tell a few knew what she was talking about by the nods she received. "Those of you who have are looking at me like I'm crazy at the moment because this gentle slope is not the kind of place you'd find fish. Normally, you'd go to a rocky overhang, or some such. If you will look down the shore, you'll see just such an area." She loved teaching like this and seeing the bewildered looks on her students' faces as they tried to figure out what she was going to have them do. The anticipation was be best part of teaching. "Today, you will be fishing down there, but you will not be going to the fish. They will be coming to you." She smiled. "Observe." Marce laid flat on the ground on her stomach with her arms in the water. She sent out a thread of water until it was broken by a form in the water. She then wrapped the thread in a sphere around the form and brought it to her. She let go of the source and stood up, a flapping silvery form in her hand. "You can catch things besides fish this way, so be sure you know what you're pulling in!" Marce said with a smile as she tossed her silvery friend back in the water. "You can choose to keep them or toss them back, but keep in mind that you'll clean your own catch if you keep them and there will not be a fish-cleaning weave in this class." She directed the class to the overhang down the shore a bit, where she knew there would be some fairly good-sized fish. She had pulled hers from a longer distance, but she had only done one that way and she was fairly strong in water. Despite those facts, she was tired. She find a nice shady place to sit and watch as they pulled in their catch.

 

On their way back to the Tower, she reminded her class that the next lesson would be their test. They would be meeting in the stables again.

 

Back to the Top

 

Final

 

Marce was really excited today. She tried to mask her enthusiasm as her students mounted up. They rode towards the river, stopping again at a farm along the way. "Ok, everyone," Marce said. "Bring me one ripe fruit and one ripe vegetable and remount." Her students went and gathered their produce, which she added to a few saddlebags on the pack horse she was leading. When everyone was remounted, they went on to the river. There were a few stable boys to care for the horses as well as a few other people gathered around a fire in the clearing they had visited the lesson before. Marce handed her saddlebags off to one of those gathered around the fire and then led her class to the water. "Now, each of you catch one fish and take it back to our cooks for the evening. This will probably be the only time you get to use this weave without having to clean your own, but please don't overload our volunteers. One fish only each." She watched them catch and take their fish to the cooks. Then she gathered them again. "The best way I can think to test you on what you've learned is by giving you a chance to run free and practice it. Therefore, while the cooks are preparing our meal, we're going to play a little game. The game has a few rules you will need to know. First of all, no putting out the fire. The cooks need it to finish our meal, and even if you want the game to go on longer and think that will work, I'm here to tell you that you're wrong and you'll just get in trouble. Secondly, no making anything ice. Ice can get someone seriously injured, and while I am capable of healing, I would prefer not to need to. If you do get hurt, please come to me or send someone for me immediately. The game we will be playing is one I call Capture the Flag." She pulled a red handkerchief and a blue handkerchief out of her belt pouch. "Divide up into two teams and each team gets a flag. The area between those two large trees," she pointed to a pair of trees, one about five feet away from her and the other about 25 feet away, " will be the neutral zone, with the red team's zone behind the far tree and the blue team's zone on this side of the nearer tree. Your flags will each start out in your own territory. The object of this game is to keep the other team from getting your flag while you try to get theirs. The first team with both flags in their territory wins. Sling balls of water, make mud slicks, set traps, whatever, to keep the other team out of your area, but try to avoid throwing things in people's faces and using weaves that would hurt others. I'll be the "on-call nurse" and one of our chaperone's happens to be a yellow sister, but I'd still prefer to keep everyone in one piece, so play hard, but play careful too. Save a little of your energy to dry off when you're done, as well as put out the fire before your ride back. Have fun!" Marce stepped away from the girls and tried to put some distance between herself and them before she yelled, "GO!" and let the chaos break out.

 

She watched from the sidelines, healing cuts and bruises on occasion, and was pleased to notice that the girls really were able to do most of the weaves she had taught them.

 

After they had exhausted themselves and one team finally bested the other, they each used the weave to dry off and sat down for dinner. The cooks had really outdone themselves with the girls' fish and produce. After they had finished the main meal, Marce surprised them with a few treats she had stashed among the saddlebags. The girls' eyes kept getting bigger as she pulled out first the pudding, then the brownies, then the cookies, and finally a bag of marshmallows. One of the girls started dipping marshmallows in her pudding. Marce tried it. It was great! They enjoyed the snacks until it was time to ride back to the Tower. The girls had been seated in a circle around the fire and Marce instructed them from there. "Each of you concentrate on the area of the fire right in front of you. Take your thread of water and weave it through the flames near the wood until they die back." With that many girls working on it, plus Marce taking care of the center of the fire, it didn't take too much energy from anyone to put it out. She checked the girls before they left to make sure that each of them still had enough energy for the ride home, and most seemed pleasantly tired, but not too overworked for the ride. They made it back to the Tower safely and handed their horses over to the stable hands there. Marce made her final words brief. "I'm glad you decided to take this class. I've had a lot of fun! Now go to bed before you all fall over!" Most of them seemed quite happy to take her advice.

 

 

[Amadine]

A few notes: I’ve highlighted in red the Weaves (though God knows why Air Lift is not on the official list), etc.

 

 

I’ve also highlighted in red some of the OOC work that I feel needs to come out. Reason being: most novices (and Accepted) just want to get through their req class with the minimum of fuss & bother. We’re trying to keep things as easy and simple for them as possible. I’ve already lost at least 4 novices (who weren’t bad at rp’ing, but not brain-boxes), because of someone who got too complicated with her classes. I want this class especially, kept as easy as possible for them. I’d prefer that the Intermediate one (the one for Accepted?) be the same way. There are other classes that can be more challenging and need more from the characters, which they can choose to do if they feel up to it (these will be above and beyond the required ones) .

 

 

Then I’ve done in pink where I’ve “shortened” the work. This is basically what I had in mind (though I’ve done it very rough and ready – don’t have much time, I’m afraid L).

 

 

Lastly, we now do the Intro to Saidar in four parts (and we do it in four separate threads, though it counts as one – this is so that the slow posters don’t hold up the fast posters). This is because the reqs for novices are 4 posts per thread at a minimum of 250 words per post.

 

 

I think we’ve mostly added the last 2 together, as that makes most sense.

 

 

I just want to say again how much I appreciate you doing this!

 

 

 

Intro to Saidar (for multiple students)

Original Version: Eleanor Sedai 09-29-2003

 

Modified circa 2005: Claire Sedai

 

Current Version: Claire Sedai 2-12-2009

 

 

Note to instructors: You are welcomed to, in fact ENCOURAGED to modify this lesson plan to suit your needs. For your ease, I have highlighted areas in italics that are generally names or descriptive sections that have no bearing on the lessons themselves, and are for you to put in specific info of your own.

 

 

Information Taught In This Class:

 

Theory of Saidar

 

Embracing the Source

 

Pushing & Pulling

 

Seeing the glow around a female channeler

 

Weave: Dry—[Water 2, Skill 10]

 

Weave: Create Water--[Water 2, Skill 8]

 

Weave: Arms of Air--[Air 2, Skill 7]

 

Weave: Air Lift--[Air 2, Skill 7 – does not exist]

 

Weave: Air Club--[Air 2+, Skill 5 – should be Air 1+, Skill 4 ]

 

Weave: Shaping--[Earth 2, Skill 6]

 

Weave: Candle Fire--[Fire 1, Skill 4]

 

Weave: Globe of Light (Small)-- [Air 1, Fire 1, Skill 4]

 

 

(Note: Intro is now divided into 4 Classes, not 5)

 

 

 

Lesson 1: Introduction to Saidar and the Five Elements

 

(RP your personal intro. Keep it short, please)

 

 

(Address class - Explain rules that MUST be followed to the letter:) must NOT touch the Source or channel, without supervision. Since not here long, probably not started channeling yet. If have started already, will stop immediately. Until day you reach Accepted, will not channel unless supervised by Aes Sedai or Accepted. If you violate rule, even in this class— immediately be sent to the Mistress of Novices’ office for a suitable punishment. ‘suitable’ means extremely harsh."

 

Do not have discipline to control Saidar or to attempt to channel it. The feeling is so overpoweringly addictive, might be tempted to take in more than you can safely handle. Could result in any number of horrible outcomes (hurting or killing others, yourself, burning the ability out of yourself.) An Aes Sedai or Accepted must be there to moderate the amount you attempt to handle, ensure flows don’t go out of control. For your safety, and the safety of all in Tower. During time at Tower this is THE primary rule you MUST follow."

 

Emphasise how dangerous"If right now you are saying to yourself, ‘She is trying to scare me’, then you’re right. If you aren’t scared, then you are a fool.” Claire saw the near-terrified look on the students’ faces and knew her lecture and warning had hit home. She maintained her stern façade while on the inside she couldn’t help but smile.

 

 

She took a breath of relief; Claire was not fond of putting a pretense of harshness on with the initiates. She really did enjoy teaching, and this course was one of her favorites. All Aes Sedai started with this small first step. She turned back to her students and continued with the lesson. “Someday control will come. You will be comfortable with the Power, and it will come when you need it. Beware of becoming too comfortable, however. Comfort begets hubris, which can trip you when you least expect it. Mastery of the Power takes years of effort and discipline, which will start in this course. Your lessons in this will continue, until you are raised to an Aes Sedai. Now we shall move on to your first lesson.”

 

At this point, Claire walked to a chalkboard she had on an easel in one part of her study. On it she drew the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai, and labeled the ‘tear-drop’ shaped half Saidar, and the ‘dragon-fang’ shaped half Saidin. Turning back towards the seated women, she began her lecture.

 

 

“The True Source is made up of two complementary parts: Saidin, the male half and Saidar, the female half. Only women can touch Saidar and only men Saidin. Most people cannot sense or touch the True Source, only two or three percent of all the people in the known world have this ability. Channelling is when a person draws from the Source and controls its flows to achieve a desired result.”

 

“But what exactly is Saidar? The answers to this question are infinite. The White Ajah has debated about this for years to no real avail. However, it seems to be the very essence of energy in all things, even life itself. When a woman channels, she takes threads of that energy, the One Power, and weaves them to perform various tasks. For example I could use the Power to lift my cup of tea,” Claire embraced the Source and used a thread of Air to lift her cup, “and to heat it up again.” She wove a tiny strand of Fire in the cup until steam came up from it. Some of the Novices fairly goggled at Claire doing these things. With a suppressed smile, Claire continued.

 

 

“These are fairly easy tasks, before our lessons are over you to will be able to do this. Now back to the matter at hand. There are five different threads to the One Power, known as the Five Powers. They’re named after the elements their energies manipulate: Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Spirit. People who have the ability to channel typically have a greater natural ability deal with one or two different threads. Some rare individuals have a great ability with three of the threads. And even during the Age of Legends, according to some tomes we have, it was extremely rare to find someone who could handle four or five of the elements very strongly.”

 

“Typically, men were more adept with Fire and Earth, while women were more adept with Water and Air. Both were equally strong in Spirit it seems. But do not let this mislead you. Many Novices labor under the misapprehension that being strong in Fire and Earth means they are stronger overall as a channeler. To keep you from that delusion, please remember that there is no rock so strong that water and wind cannot wear away, no fire so fierce that water cannot quench it or wind snuff it out.”

 

 

“As I said before, the use of the One Power is addictive. The act of channeling makes a person feel more alive, so much that life without touching either Saidar or Saidin seems only a pale shade of what life should be. It is because of this reason that channeling is dangerous - drawing too much of the One Power can either sear the ability to channel out of you, or it can kill you outright. Many channelers would agree that to be killed would be better than to live without the ability to touch the Source at will. That is how sweet the feeling is that you will experience. You must learn how to remain strong in the face of that temptation. This is why girls who can learn are brought to the Tower. Even if they do not have the desire to rise to the shawl, they must learn to control the urges lest they hurt themselves or those around them.”

 

“There have been times in the history of the Tower that Aes Sedai have been cut from the Source as punishment. This process, known as severing, is called Stilling.” Claire reached for several pieces of parchment she had prepared earlier, and handed one over to each student.

 

 

“These are the names of every Sister who has been Stilled in the History of the White Tower, and their crimes. Memorize them. You may be asked later, at random, to tell me about them. If you’d like to know more you can find more information on each in the library. I encourage you all to research them extensively. Only by remembering our past mistakes can we succeed in not repeating them. Learn from them so that you may never have to pay the price of their foolishness.”

 

“Tomorrow we will begin our actual workings with Saidar. I ask that you please get a good night’s rest, and plenty to eat. This class will be your entry to a wonderful and amazing new world. Your final assignment for today is to go to the library and find information on at least one Novice or Accepted that has been burnt out. I will ask you for this report after tomorrow’s lesson.”

 

 

Claire smiled warmly at the Novices, who had been very attentive throughout the lecture. “If you have any questions feel free to ask them now, or if any come up later you are welcome back to my quarters at any time.”

 

 

 

OOC: Homework for this lesson is to write about your character listening to the lecture. What does she look like, what does she feel during the lecture. Etc. If she has any questions, be sure to ask! <S>Feel free to start thinking of ideas for the burnt out Novice or Accepted report, it will be due later.</S>

 

Lesson 2: Touching the Source for the first time

 

Claire looked up from her book with a start. Good Heavens, is it time for the class already? She had come down to the classroom early, and passed the time by reading a treatise on the Karatheon Cycle. Standing and smoothing her skirts, Claire greeted the Novices as they entered the classroom. “Good morning everyone. I hope you slept well last night. Today we’re going to start working with the Power.” Claire noticed the eager and anxious look on the girls’ faces, and tried to remember the first time she touched the source, so many years ago.

 

 

“The first thing you must learn, before anything else, is learn how to embrace the Source. This is the first step in preparation for channeling. You must surrender yourself fully to its power; you must place yourself within it. Only by surrendering can you embrace it. This is not as easy as it sounds, many people find it hard to give themselves up completely. They flounder and try to seize control, instead of letting the power fill them like sinking into a warm bath. I will teach you a novice exercise to help you surrender yourself. You will not immediately succeed at this exercise. Or you may not succeed your second, fifth, or tenth try. But do not let this frustrate or embarrass you. I once sat as you did trying desperately to take hold of Saidar and I never thought it would come, but it did. So take a deep breath and close your eyes." Claire watched as each Novice took a deep breath and closed eyes framed with long lashes.

 

"Now, wipe clean your mind of all thought but a single flowering bud. Picture it clearly, every facet and petal as if it were in your hands. Once you have the image firmly in your mind, begin to picture the sun on the bud, warming it. The bud begins to flower in response to the sun, yearning for its warmth and light." Claire walked slowly around the room as she spoke. Very similar words had helped Claire and countless others over the years touch the source for the first time. She noticed one of the Novices frowning in concentration with her eyes shut, and she placed a soft hand on her shoulder. “Do not try to seize it, child….relax and it will come to you.”

 

She continued talking to the girls about the flower and sun for a few more minutes, until finally she saw a brief glow light up around each of the Novices. “Excellent job, ladies! You just touched the Source for the first time. Exciting isn’t it?” Claire beamed as the Novices opened their eyes and looked at her with incredulity.

 

 

Claire remembered the way one of the girls had seemed to clench up when she tried the first exercise. “Class, I want to teach you another exercise that I feel will help calm you before trying to reach for the Source. Imagine that you are the sea, rolling wild and furious. Now you are the sea becoming the river, heading ever inland…the banks that contain you calm you and give you purpose and direction. You are the river contained by the bank, and you flow endlessly and steadily.” Claire watched as each girl pictured this in her mind, and it seemed that every one of them maintained a calmness this time.

 

 

“Very good. Now, I want you to sit here for the next hour and work on these exercises; first be the river contained by the bank, and then imagine the rose and the sun until you can touch the Source with more ease.”

 

Claire went back to her reading, but kept an eye on them as they practiced. Every time the young women succeeded in touching the Source, Claire felt her pride in the Novices grow. Finally the allotted hour was over, and Claire stood. “You may stop now, class. You have done very well today, but I must remind you to NOT touch the Source when you are not under an Aes Sedai’s supervision. I have decided to give you an extra day for your assignment.” Many of the girls’ faces lit up at this, but Claire promptly made sure they knew that they were not being coddled. “Today’s lesson has prompted me to add a bit to your lesson. In addition to the information on a Novice or Accepted who has burned themselves out, I would like for you to also research and find a second calming exercise like the River and the Bank that you like. You will find a list of these in the Novice section of the library.”

 

 

“Please have your research prepared for the beginning of class tomorrow. Sleep and eat well again tonight, as tomorrow’s lesson will be much more difficult.” Claire stood and directed them to the door. “Now shoo! I know you have chores and classes to attend to along with my assignment. See you tomorrow!” Claire smiled once more at the retreating backs of the Novices, then shut the door.

 

 

 

 

OOC: RP touching the Source for the first time, and your reaction (scared, blissful, etc). What kind of flower did you choose? RP how the River/Bank exercise feels and if it helps you be calmer for the Rose/Sun exercise. Assignment info: Have fun with this! Make up a novice/accepted who burned themselves out, and the circumstances surrounding the incident (about a paragraph or two is fine.) If you want to, you can make up a calming exercise to use instead of River/Bank….it can be your signature exercise and your character can continue to use it when she is a Sedai! I will have you hand it in with the next lesson.

 

 

 

Lesson 3: Pushing and Pulling

 

Claire reached the classroom a little late this morning because she had been in the gardens preparing her surprise for everyone. She loved taking her students out of the classroom and the gardens always seemed to help them relax. She knew Novices hardly had free time to see the gardens because of all the other classes and chores they do. When she reached the door to the classroom, the students were waiting in the corridor outside for her. She opened the door to let them in, then turned and faced the young women.

 

"Good morning, class. I hope you are ready for a more strenuous lesson today. First I would like you to place your essay from yesterday and the description of your new relaxation exercise on my desk.” She waited until the girls had carefully placed the sheets of parchment on the desk before she announced her surprise. “Now that that’s done, I feel that we need a little fresh air. I’m taking you out to the gardens today. I think if you are put in a quiet and serene atmosphere, then concentrating on this particular lesson will be much easier for you.”

 

While they were making their way out of the Tower, Claire briefly went over her notes regarding this lesson. When they reached the secluded area she had set aside for her class, she asked the Novices to take a seat on the arrayed benches. Then she began the lesson. "The theme of today’s lesson is control. In life, control will be an integral part of everything you do. As the Source will be a big part of your life as well, it would do you well to learn control of it. The most common technique for controlling the Source is called Pushing and Pulling. The objective is to embrace and hold the Source, but hold it as far away from you as you can without releasing it. This discipline will help you to back off from the Source before you reach a level you can’t control. This will also help you when it comes time to learn linking in your later studies."

 

"Now close your eyes, everyone. I want you to first use your new relaxation technique, then picture your flower bud again. Once the light of the sun has hit it and it has opened, just hold yourself there." Claire watched as the glow of Saidar winked into being around the girls. When the light shone steady and did not waver, Claire continued.

 

"Now, the sun’s rays being filtered by a cloud passing in front of it. As the light from the sun is diminished on the flower, so should your hold on the Source. Push it away from you, while still maintaining contact. The sun still provides heat behind the cloud, just as the Source can still flow into you at a smaller rate. To pull it back into you fully again, imagine the cloud drifting away from the sun, and the full light and heat back on the flower. Beware of losing the cloud too quickly, as snapping it back can hurt." Claire had taken the bench directly across from the Novices to make sure she could see their faces. The look of troubled concentration was back on some of the young womens’ faces, and it seemed that perhaps some were not succeeding in pushing away the Source. "You may take a break for a moment.”

 

She saw the Novices open their eyes and look at her expectantly. “Now I have noticed that it seems hard for some of you to push the Source away, but you must try harder. Female channelers know when you are holding the Source. It appears to us as a glow around you, like a nimbus. As you become more practiced at channeling, you will also begin to see the glow around others. My point is this: if you hold the Source simply to feel the joy of it, you are weak of mind. It is an addiction, and if you cannot struggle against it then will not learn how to control it. In the end you will most likely burn yourself out or die.” Claire watched as many of their faces went pale at the consequences.

 

“I am sure you understand the necessity of this lesson better now. So please close your eyes again and concentrate." She made the Novices do this for most of the class until she decided that they were making an effort to push the Source away. Satisfied, she instructed them all to take a break again. After a few minutes, Claire continued on with the lesson.

 

 

“In order to weave you must know what the elements are. The five elements are Air, Water, Fire, Earth, and Spirit. I’m going to show you which threads are which.” Claire then embraced the Source and strands of all five elements together into a thick rope. The threads wrapped tightly around each other in a spiral pattern; each thread stood out clearly. “Now can you tell me which thread is which?” One of the women pressed a finger to her lips in thought, and then answered, “Air is Blue, Water is Green, Spirit is White, Fire is Red and Earth is Brown.”

 

 

Claire was pleased that the Novice had caught on so quickly. “Good, I see you have been studying. Now, I want each of you to come up and work with me to identify the different threads. You will have problems doing this at first, but if you work hard it will get easier.” The Novices and Claire worked on this task for another hour or so, until Claire was satisfied that the young women could pick out each strand fairly well. She then dismissed them with no homework for that night.

 

 

 

OOC: Alright for today’s lesson: Write about meeting me at the <S>classroom and leaving your essay and relaxation exercise on my desk, include the text of your essay (in italics) in your post so that I can read it</S>. RP how it feels to Push and Pull the Source. Be sure to RP <S>your new</S> the calming exercise before your first attempt at Pushing and Pulling. RP picking out the threads with me, which ones are easiest for you? Which ones are hardest? Realize this is not a statement of which element you’re strongest with according to your OP score but which comes to you easiest right now. Keep in mind that Fire and Earth will probably be most difficult for you.

 

What is your physical body doing when you pick out the threads? Some Aes Sedai find physical movements help them with working in the power. Perhaps you make gestures with your hands or maybe you have to think about something (like your calming exercise) to keep your concentration. Nothing you do here has to be a serious or long lasting thing, but everyone has their little tricks that help them learn. Maybe you have one too?

 

Lesson 4: Air and Water Fire, Earth and Spirit

 

Claire started the day ready to teach. She had been very happy at how far her class was progressing and she knew that the group had a good grasp on the importance of caution and control. She placed the things she had brought with her on her desk and sat to wait for the Novices to arrive. As she waited she reflected on how much they needed every Novice and Accepted to succeed. The time was fast approaching when Aes Sedai of all Ajahs would need to fight and the more they had the better. Claire was brought out of her reverie by footsteps at the door. It was the Novices, as expected. Once they were seated, Claire launched into today’s lesson.

"Hello class, today will most likely be one of the hardest days for you since you have been at the Tower. At the end of this lesson you will be so tired that you will not want to lift a finger to do anything.” The Novices all had a properly concerned look upon hearing that remark. “But do not worry,” Claire continued, “I have asked that you be excused from all chores today so that you can rest. This will not happen again so take advantage of it.” Claire smiled and began to lecture.

 

“First of all, are you having any problems with the topics we have covered so far?” The Novices each shook their heads no, but Claire wanted to be sure. “If so, I will work with you until you get it or until I get tired of you.” She tipped a wink at the Novices to let them know she was joking. “If you ARE having any problems, please let me know after the lesson so I can know where we have weak spots to work on.” The girls nodded at Claire, and so she moved on. “First we are going to do a small exercise. In our second lesson when you learned to touch the Source, I knew the second you held it. Now you also will learn how to tell if another woman is touching Saidar.” Claire smiled at the Novices, who were trying very hard to keep the eager look off of their faces. They have a thirst for knowledge, so they do…perhaps some of these will be Browns.

 

 

“Every female channeller can see when a woman is using the Source, because a glow springs up all around them the second they hold it. I want you to try to see this glow, I will walk around the room holding Saidar. You are allowed to embrace the Source, as it makes it easier to see the glow in the beginning, but try to see it also when you are not holding Saidar.” Claire walked around the room while holding Saidar. She watched as the girls squinted and followed her with her eyes. Each of them in turn broke into big smiles after only a short while. Claire stopped walking and turned to the Novices. “Wonderful job! You now can see when a woman is holding the source.”

 

Claire gave the class a short break, then continued the lesson. “Today you are also going to learn a few weaves that use Air and Water. I expect you to be careful since you have not had any real experience at weaving. Please watch carefully and go slow so that you can get the hang of it. And before we start with the weaves I want you to promise me NEVER to pick your weaves apart, but to let them dissipate on their own. Picking apart a weave is very dangerous and it can cause severe explosions or even getting burned out.” They all looked sufficiently cowed by this, and mumbled assurances that they would never pick apart a weave.

 

She then turned to her desk and pulled out a handkerchief. She dipped it into the bowl she had placed on the desk earlier. She held the dripping wet cloth over the bowl and embraced Saidar. Weaving pure Water, she slowly drained the water in the handkerchief back into the bowl. (OOC: This Weave is called Dry, and requires Water score of 2) When she was done, she held it out for all to see. She saw a look of awe and puzzlement cross the Novices’ faces. “Now you watched that I used a pure weave of Water to drain this, right?” They nodded. “You can not only use Water to dry something, but also to gather water to you.” Claire took the glass she had placed on the desk and concentrated, weaving Water she gathered all the moisture from the air and guided it to the glass. (OOC: Create Water: Water score 2) The Novices watched all of this carefully, and Claire was satisfied they had seen the way of that weave.

 

“Next, we're going to move on to Air. (Random Novice), would you please stand up?” The Novice obliged, pushing back her chair to stand in front of Claire. Still embracing Saidar, she snared the girl in flows of Air, which snaked out and wrapped around her waist. She was slowly lifted up. Claire stopped lifting her with Air when her head got to close to the ceiling. The young woman looked like she would faint. Claire swayed her slowly back and forth in the air while speaking.

 

"Air can be pretty handy when you are trying to protect yourself." Claire then let the Novice down to the ground slowly in front of her chair. (Air Lift requires Air 2+ …. Note by Elgee: no such weave on list.) She then let the girl loose from the threads only to quickly wrap her up in another weave of Air. The young woman struggled against the bonds but was totally immobile. "As you can see, or feel….you cannot move at all." Claire then released (Random Novice) from the weave, who quickly collapsed into the chair right behind her. (Arms of Air requires Air 2+) "Not only can Air be used to protect but it can be used to attack or damage as well," Claire added. She tossed an apple into the air and then with a blunt flow of Air she smashed it and sent it flying across the room. (Air Club requires Air 1)

 

"Air and Water are the two elements that are also used in weather control. Should you develop the Talent of Cloud Dancing, those would most likely be your strongest elements. Regardless, you will learn some small amount of weather control, at a later time when you are capable of it. These are the two elements that women are usually more proficient in than men. Spirit is shared equally among the genders."

 

Close to exhausted from handling that much Air and Water, Claire sat down and faced the class. “Now, this is your time to practice these weaves while I can watch you. Practice with the hankerchief and bowl for Dry, the glass for Create Water, and with this feather for the weaves I showed you using Air. The supplies you need will be found on the large table at the rear of the classroom.”.” After all of the students had practiced awhile and seemed to have the hang of all of the weaves, Claire dismissed them and promptly went to take a nap.

 

 

OOC: For this lesson, please RP seeing the glow around me, my lecture, and practicing with the objects I mentioned. Does your character have a hard time with these things? Or is it easier than she expected?

 

 

 

Lesson 5 (final):

 

Claire sighed as she heard the unmistakable sound of initiate footsteps in the hall. She always felt a little sad when the last lesson came. At least she could rest easy in the fact she had given these young women their first steps in the road to Aes Sedai. She decided she would give them another trip to the Gardens and that they would also have a small celebration after the final examination.“Today we’re going to talk about the other three elements, Earth, Fire and Spirit. It’s going to be another hard lesson, but an important one. So, let’s start with Earth, Earth can be used for helping crops to grow, finding mineral and ore deposits, detecting fault lines, and for destructive purposes. It also is used to search the ground for other things such as unstable areas that can be used to your advantage. Everything can be buried under Earth but you can also use it as defense by creating a wall to block an enemy’s path. Another thing you can do with Earth is Shaping things.” Claire embraced the Source and concentrated. She deftly wove fine threads of Earth and intertwined them until she had a sword made of pure Earth. “Now I don’t expect you to make something as large as this right now, but I want you each to try to Shape something of your own.” (OOC: This weave is called Shaping, it requires Earth 2) She watched over the Novices as the young women inexpertly recreated the weave Claire had shown them. When they all finally succeeded, Claire gave praise for the young womens’ creations.

 

 

Today upon all of their desks were candleholders with a small tallow candle held upright.

“The next element for today is Fire, it can be used to make campfires, for warmth, and for light, among other things. The one crucial lesson about Fire is to never draw the heat out of a fire to extinguish it. You would cook yourself alive. Instead, use a dome of air to seal it off, or water to douse it out." She picked up a small unlit candle and placed it in a crystal candlestick holder. “Next, we are going to light a candle. Please watch carefully. You do not need to use a large amount of Fire. You simply take a tiny strand of Fire, wrap it around the wick until it touches itself again, and the wick should ignite. As soon it ignites you can stop the flow.” As promised, the wick of the candle sprung alight with fire. Claire snuffed it with a quick flow of Air wrapped into a sphere around the wick. “Now I want each of you to try and light the candle (OOC: This weave is called Candle Fire, it requires Fire 1) Claire smiled and watched as the Novices all managed to light the candle sitting on the desk in front of them. “Excellent! Now, I showed you how to douse the candle with Air, I want you to practice that same method. Once you have it out, please light it again and then snuff it. When snuffing it the second time, use the exact same type of spherical weave, but with Water instead.”

 

 

Again, the girls all performed the weaves asked without too much struggling. Claire was once more impressed with the potential of this group. She quickly moved on in the lesson to keep herself from prodding the young women about Ajah choices.

 

 

“The last element of this lesson is Spirit. Spirit is the least understood and most underestimated of the five elements. Many people think it is not a very useful element, but that is absolutely not the case. It is used to bind together other elements in a weave, it can make the effects of your weaves strong and longer lasting. Spirit is used in Healing weaves and with other weaves that affect the body. It has also been used for mind control such as Compulsion, or Milking Tears. You will not be taught weaves such as those last two because they destroy the free will of the victim. Spirit is also used in the Bonding of a Warder and Aes Sedai. The Bonding weave settles upon the body of both Warder and Aes Sedai, linking them physically and somewhat mentally as well. Additionally, it is utilized for wards, which are meant to guard anything from a campsite to a jewelry box. Spirit is the only element that you can use while asleep, and you can even use it to guard your dreams from outside influence.” The girls took all of this information in like a sponge. Encouraged, Claire went on. “Spirit is also a main element in the skill of shielding another channeler from touching the Source. You will not learn that skill until much later, but it is essential you learn it eventually, as it might save your life if ever you are confronted with a male channeler.” At the mention of male channelers, the Novices’ eyes grew wide for a moment before they regained their composure. Claire hid a smile. Not that I don’t react the same way when I think of male channelers…I am just better at hiding it by now. She continued on with the last part of her lecture.

 

"Now the final thing Spirit can be used for is Severing. There are many names for this such as, Stilling or Gentling. This is the act of permanently removing the ability to channel from a person. Similar to being burned out, which can be done accidentally or as a conscious decision, Severing is only done for punishment or by force. At the first lesson I gave you a paper with the names of every Aes Sedai Stilled, let’s see if you remember them. Can you name one of the women on that list?”

 

 

They all frowned for a moment, brows furrowed in thought. But yet again, they all came through with a correct answer when it was their turn to speak.. Delighted, Claire put an end to the lesson.

 

“This concludes the class on Introduction to Saidar and the five powers. Now I will ask you to show me what you have learned during this course of instruction. I think a change of scenery will be helpful, so let us retire again to the gardens where you will demonstrate what you have been taught thus far.” Claire ushered the initiates out of the room and down into the gardens. She led the young women to a small courtyard with a fountain in the middle. The water spray was sparkling in the sun as they took a seat on the stone benches. “As soon as we are done here, I have brought some brownies and punch for you and I to share, and we can talk about anything you want.” Claire smiled. It would be nice to converse with these bright young ladies outside of the context of lessons. “But first, I need you now to pass one final test. This is what you need to do: Embrace the Source, push Saidar away and pull it back, and using what you know of the powers, I want you to make a Globe of Light…this will be a glowing ball of light that does not dissipate quickly. I will give you a few moments to think about what elements might be used in such a weave. You may begin when you are ready.”

 

 

OOC: Ok, last lesson! Please RP using Shaping (think of something creative to make with Earth), lighting and snuffing the candle, listening to me talk about Spirit, name a Sedai who has been stilled (make up her name and her crime). Then RP going to the gardens and doing your final exam. Hint: There is no wrong answer, everybody has their own way of weaving, after all. However I recommend you check out the One Power section at the White Tower site: http://www.aliciawilkerson.com/whitetower for information about what threads are usually used in weaves (including Globe of Light) After you RP this, we will eat and talk about whatever your character wants to.