Rescue Mission (ATTN: Lor, Kat, Kyn)

[Kathleen]

Kathleen listened intently as the plans seemed to form. She couldn't help but feel they were a bit rushed, but every plan had to start somewhere and gateways would help hide their arrival and hopefully the departure. The mission would easily be ended if they were seen traveling from Tar Valon to the Seanchan-held lands. She drank her tea as it cooled letting her superiors and the warder talk until she deemed it necessary to add her voice again.

 

"Creating dresses, if we do go with Jagen's route instead of attempting to get our hands on the real thing, does seem a slightly safer way, if we can be sure the patterns are exact. Getting a trusted seamstress in to confirm details would be paramount. Lor is right, we don't want a simple error of overlooking a small detail to be our undoing. The Seanchan are quite structured and I believe they would notice something out of place in a uniform as easily as they would note something out of place in our demeanor. In the same light, if we go with the collaring plan, how in the world would we attain one? I doubt they would just leave those things laying around and I don't know if there is a blacksmith in all of Tar Valon could make a false one similar enough to fool the Seanchan. I suppose we could send a blacksmith and a seamstress to see what they could do. We can decide after they present us with their work if we will go that route or if we will have to attempt a theft of the real thing, or come up with another plan altogether."

 

She hated to think about donning the apparel of the captured channelers, the grey dress, the collar. A chill ran up her back. The more she thought of it the more it terrified her.  

 

"As much as the idea of a real collar is unsettling there is so little known of them that perhaps a real one would best. What if there is a connection between all of them and we are found out for not being linked?" she sighed.

 

"Ultimately our appearance is not even the most important part. Finding the location of the girl and finding a way in and out is. Is it our plan then to send a seamstress, blacksmith, and scouts to the town ahead of time through Jagen's stable gateway to research these things and report back? I don't know that we could make much more of a plan today until we have this information. Unless I am missing something, of course."

 

She tried to phrase these things as much as questions and as much as she could as rewording what she had heard the others say as opposed to outright giving a plan of action. Not that she didn't feel confident in the plan, but she didn't know how the others would take her advice if it came out as anything  close to an order. They had to make a decision on how to move forward. Jagen seemed ready to jump through the gateway and run to the rescue today, but Kathleen could see Loraine's hesitation and she couldn't help but agree. Greens were known to run into battle, but they rarely did so unprepared. 

 

Kathleen Vandiar

Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah

[U4ea]

Loraine looked around them, nodding and turning things over in her head. She knew Kynwric thought this mission didn't stand a chance of being successful, and could see every pit that loomed before them as easily as she could. Leaving a sister there didn't sit well, but what was the cost if they failed? The first rule of war was knowing your enemy. They were sadly lacking in information there. How long could the captured sister wait while they were gathering it? If the whispers she'd heard were any indication, these people were sticklers for details, so much that the depth of a bow was cause for severe consequences, even if it was to err on the side of too much respect. 

 

"Then we're agreed. We need information and a quite a bit of it, as quickly as we can amass it. I agree, Kathleen, that getting people through those gateways to gather information is the best place to start. The three of us should increase the contacts with our Eyes and Ears in areas controlled by the Seanchan and glean any information we can. They won't have much information about these soldiers to keep channeling women, I'd wager, but any information is useful when we have none. I will scour the Tower library, as well. Do we know of any other sources for information?"  Loraine's fingers itched to write it all down, keep track of what was needed and who was attacking it. She always saw more when it was in writing. Once she was alone with her parchment, she'd attack it, but until then she just had to keep it straight. 

 

Her fingers curled into Kynwric's arm, her mind starting to click off all of the dangers he'd be walking into without her to protect him on these missions. They didn't spend much time apart, and rarely ever willingly. Keeping busy while he was scouting was probably the best thing she could do, but she hated the idea of sending him into danger without knowing what was on the other end of it. Trust didn't come easily and, while she trusted Jagen as a Sister, she wasn't sure how much she trusted her as a Red. She wouldn't knowingly send Kynwric to his death, but given her offense at the slightest tone, she would most likely have no problem sending him into unknown territory without proper knowledge to keep him alive. Warders were tools to anyone who didn't have them. Lose a sword and you can get another sword. What they never considered was how much more than a sword a warder became, particularly with a history like theirs. Her thumb stroked her wedding band and her face set in hard lines. 

 

"I want as much information as we can get before anyone leaves the Tower. No one leaves without knowing what's on the other end of the gateway, not even a few guardsmen. Blood shed I'm not opposed to, I've spilled enough of my own to know it's inevitable. I will not sacrifice a life without a very good reason, however. Not that of the missing sister and not that of a Guard, either." It was taking a lot on her shoulders and she was destined to be beating herself up for it, but she wanted it very clear that every effort was to be given to protect EVERY life on this mission. She didn't hold with perceived 'betterness' regardless of ranks.

 

~Loraine

[Jagen Sedai]

Jagen was going through her Eyes and Ears contacts in her head. Besides Caiselle, who resided in a small village just on the edge of Elmora--it could be considered part of Elmora, really--she had two in Tanchico, which fell long before Elmora had to the invaders. A man and a woman. She thought about gathering their letters, but none were too full of details. She was going to have to contact them both, and quickly. Perhaps, she thought, she'd have to hand deliver notes to Feodrin, to send them off to Tanchico, and send one to Caiselle as well.

The native Taraboner listened as Loraine declined to send even a guardsman. Why was she being so stubborn, when time was of the essence? As much as the Red hated to admit it, a man on the ground was useful, more than useful. He could easily go where they would be watched. "Getting a simple guard, or better, a Warder, to pose as a swordarm for Feodrin's family--Feodrin, she comes from a merchant family, and has the money--it would be much better to gather our intel quickly. But, if both of you are so opposed to the idea, I have three contacts I can write. In the meantime, perhaps we can see who this sister is. Narrow down exactly who has disappeared, when and where... that way she may be well easier to spot. These damane, they are taught to keep their head down, that much I know."

She looked at Kathleen in the eyes, holding her gaze before her next words, "Time is of the essence. I will go to Feodrin quickly, and be ready to leave at a moment's notice. Letters must get to my contacts and cannot wait from Tar Valon. And we need to know exactly what our sister looks like. I will have Feodrin post a watch, to warn me in case of any Seanchan coming. She will be willing to take the risk."

[_Kynwric_]

"I disagree, Aes Sedai," Kyn said, looking at Loraine, "we should be taking guards, and Warders if a sister has one. I wouldn't be left here if you were going, and I wouldn't ask another to stay behind while their duty goes into danger. It isn't right. I think we could easily take 4-6 more posing as guards for a merchant's caravan. Assuming we can still use that to travel by?"

 

"I can collect the men we'll need, as I do not recall either of you Sisters as being bonded, if you wish?"

[Jagen Sedai]

(Sorry I am waiting for Loraine and Kathleen to reply before doing more :/ )

 

 

Jagen glanced at the Warder and gave a simple nod. Anything to get him out of the room so they could conduct their business without him. "If you feel we need a guard, I am fine with that, if he is competent."

Edited July 13, 2017 by Jagen Sedai

[U4ea]

"You misunderstand, Gaidin," Loraine said softly. "I want as many people going with us as possible. What I'm not willing to do is send a spy before we know what's on the other end." She looked at Jagen, her brow knitting. "If you chose to leave, so be it. We're both old enough that we didn't get here without some idea of what's what. I am this old because I don't go without information. ANY information, SOME idea of what we're looking at or for. At this moment, all we know is that we're looking for an Aes Sedai in a nest of other women who can channel that is under a heavy guard. They could be holding her anywhere in the Seanchan holdings and going to one place over another without information is just a wild goose chase. For all we know, this is a trap fed to you from someone else, leading us directly into the arms of waiting damane." She held up her hand, as the words passed her lips. "No, I know you are not lying, nor is the person who told you. However, we don't know where that information came from and saying what you believe to be true, whether it is or not, is enough to get past that oath." 

 

"Caution doesn't make me popular," she said after a moment. "It does help me live longer, though, and I've no wish to meet my end fighting Seanchan."

 

~Loraine

[Jagen Sedai]

Jagen shifted ever so slightly as a hint of a smirk crossed her lips. "'Live to fight another day', I believe the saying goes, yes?" She did not agree with Loraine's tactics, but in her words, she did give her agreement for Jagen to leave. She would not call it permission. The Red paused and opened the short letter again, going over it slowly.

After a bit she looked up. "I trust Feodrin, and as I said before, I visited last only two months ago. Feodrin is old, but a strong woman; she has been serving me as Eyes and Ears since she first became a mother. She would not betray us, nor help lure us into a trap. This is her hand writing, and I will also say this... long ago she had to ask me for help, and I gave it, but she had no need to write it. Had her signature been different than what it is, I would know if she was under duress." That would have shown as three dots worked into Feodrin's signature, but the warning sign was not there. That had been established long ago, the idea first coming to Jagen through rumors in the Panarch's Palace when she was a young girl.

 

"I will write these letters requesting information in my room, along with another request from Feodrin for clothing. In the meantime, Loraine, I would appreciate it if you can get me needed measurements for yourself, Kynwric and whichever of the guards he chooses to accompany us--as well as what kind of clothing you will want to wear." She folded up the original letter. "Does this sound agreeable?"

[Jagen Sedai]

(*bumps* I’m still interested in continuing this, if others are available)