Intro to Saidar - Group1 Class 1 - COMPLETED

[Elgee]

Larindhra paused outside the lecture room, smoothing her deep red velvet dress and making sure not a hair was out of place; nothing to distract the girls from the lesson to come.  No matter how many times she had given this lecture, she still felt a fluttering in her mid region. She rarely had the time to teach any other classes, but this first one she tried to do herself, when possible: she often thought this was the most important one.  If her charges did not take this one to heart, all manner of things could go wrong later.  This was why she preferred to give the lecture inside, with no distractions.  Satisfied that all was in order, she opened the door and strode up to the lectern, placing the parchments in her hand on the dais for later. The soft chatter faded away quickly, and several pairs of eyes focussed on her with varying degrees of excitement. She wondered how many of them would attain the shawl one day?  She would do her best for them.

 

“Before we get started I have a few rules that you must follow. Do not, I repeat Do Not, touch the Source, or Light forbid, channel, without supervision. I do not care if you have already started channelling in the secrecy of your room. That will stop today. If any of you are found violating this rule you will be in my office, howling for your mothers, before you can blink.” Larindhra thought back to the time she had done just that – the Mistress of Novices back then had had a very strong arm, and little sympathy.  “That will be for disobeying me.  Your punishment for channelling without proper supervision will be much worse, I promise you.  You think this seems extremely harsh? Think again." She paused to allow her dire words to sink in.

 

"You don't have the discipline to control Saidar or to attempt to channel it safely. The feeling is so immense and addictive that you might be tempted to take in more than you can safely handle. This could result in a myriad of bad consequences, among them hurting or killing others, hurting or killing yourself, or even worse yet, Stilling yourself. However, with an Aes Sedai or Accepted there with you, they can moderate the amount you attempt to handle and ensure that your flows don't lash out of control. This is for your safety, and the safety of your fellow novices. Punishment will be harsh for violators of this rule. Consider it the most important rule you must follow while you stay here at the Tower. Now with that said let us move on. Control will come, and one day you will be comfortable with using the Power, and it will come when you need it. Someday. But that takes years and years of effort and discipline, which will start in this course and continue even after you are raised to an Aes Sedai. Learning never ends. Remember that and you will do well here. Now on to your first lesson."

 

"The first thing you need to do, before anything else, is learn about what it is you are going to be dealing with. The One Power is classified in two ways. Saidar is the female half of the One Power, Saidin the male half. Only two to three percent of all the people in the known world have the ability to touch the One Power. When a person draws from the One Power and controls its flow to produce a desired result this is called channelling. What is Saidar exactly? Well, many people would give you many different answers to this question. What it seems to be is the very essence of energy in all things, in all life around us. A Sister channelling takes threads of that energy, the One Power, and weaves them to perform various tasks. The five threads of the One Power are Air, Water, Fire, Spirit, and Earth. Those people who have the ability to channel typically have a greater natural ability to deal with one or two of the different threads. Some rare individuals exhibit a great ability with three of the threads. Even during the Age of Legends, according to tomes we have, it was extremely rare to find someone who could handle four of the threads very strongly, let alone all five elements."

 

"In most cases, men were more adept with Fire and Earth, while women were more talented with Air and Water. Both are equally strong in Spirit it seems. Do not let this mislead you. Many girls believe just because men are usually stronger in Fire and Earth that they are stronger over all? This isn't always true. As you will learn in future classes the powers of Spirit, Air, and Water are formidable and should not be discounted. Use of the One Power is addictive. Channelling makes the person feel more alive, such that life without touching either Saidin or Saidar seems only a pale shade of what life should be. It is for this reason that channelling is dangerous - drawing too much of the One Power can at the least sear the ability to channel out of a person, at the worst it can kill. The feeling is very sweet and powerful that you will experience. You must learn how to remain strong in the face of that temptation. That is why girls who can learn to channel are brought here. Even if they do not desire to rise to the shawl, or do not have the inner strength needed to gain it, they must still learn to control the urges lest they hurt themselves or those around them. There have been many times in the history of the Tower when Aes Sedai have been cut off from the One Power as a punishment. This process is known as severing." Larindhra pulled a several pieces of parchment out of the bag she had brought with her and handed them around.

 

"These are the names of every Sister who has been Stilled in the History of the Tower and why. Memorize them. You may be asked later, at random, to tell me about them. I expect you will know them inside and out. If you'd like to know more you can find more information on each in the library. I encourage you to research them extensively. Only by keeping in mind our past mistakes can we succeed in not repeating them. Learn from them so you do not have to pay the price they did for foolishness. Tomorrow we will begin our working with Saidar.

 

Larindhra Reyne

Mistress of Novices

 

 

Ooc: Homework: describe how your character feels about what she’s hearing, how this lesson compares with what she was expecting Novice training to be, how the surroundings affect her, etc. You could add what you think of the MoN or AS in general, your fellow class mates, or anything else you can think of.  Have fun!

 

[Jehaine]

Jerinia walked down the hallway, deciding against running this time. She was uncharacteristically early for once, and didn't want to end up jinxing herself by running into someone -- usually carrying a pile of papers which she'd have to help pick up again. Finding her way to the classroom, she picked a seat near one of the windows and waited for the Aes Sedai that would be teaching them today.

 

It was a small surprise to see the Mistress of Novices arrive though. For a brief moment, she wondered if she had done anything wrong to have Larindhra come over to class, but she made a relieved sigh when the Aes Sedai started making her introductionary speech for class.

 

She listened to the speech that was given, storing it in her mind for later use, though she knew she'd likely need some hands-on experience at channeling in order to make sense of most of it. Still, before the lesson would begin she had a question she still needed to ask about what she heard. The times she had been sent to the Mistress of Novices for 'one small thing or another' was already pretty long as it was, Light help her if she'd be adding another.

 

- "Umm... Larindhra Sedai? About the no channeling without supervision thing... What about the ones of us who've never channeled before? How can we keep from doing something when we have no way of being able to tell until it's too late?"

[Lanaya]

 

Lanaya had been looking forward to this particular class since she arrived at the Tower, and she was making her way to the classroom with a strong feeling of strong anticipation, mixed with worry and just a little bit fear; disguised behind a proudly raised head and both eyes fixed ahead, until she finally arrived at the door. She was early, but she was not the only one, and she gave the other arrivals a nod eachhe walked into the classroom, picking one of the available chairs closest to where the teacher would be.

 

The other novices began arriving one by one, seating themselves, and Lana could hear bits of conversation popping up - someone talking about the One Power; someone else talking about the teacher. Apparently it would be the MoN herself who would be teaching this class; another curiosity - Lana had still not formed a stable opinion about Larindhra Sedai. She admired the woman's strong will, but still thought that the MoN sometimes seemed overly harsh to transgressors - she herself had received a tongue-lashing and extra chores for talking back to an Accepted.

 

The conversation silenced as their teacher arrived, and Lana straightened in her seat to listen attentively. Some was a repetition of what she had already been told; some was new - she did not need a warning not to touch saidar without supervision; she had not been able to as much as sense the Source thusfar, and she was eager to remedy that problem.

Lana tilted her head as parchments started to be handed out, but her question was soon answered as the MoN spoke again, and the young Andoran swallowed as she heard the requirement. That was an unexpected lesson ... she tried hard to ignore the massive disappointment that suddenly flooded through her, as she realized they wouldn't be working with the One Power today. She had expected to be learning how to sense saidar today.

 

She accepted her own parchment as the turn came to her, then lowered it down to read carefully. A listing of names, as Larindhra Sedai had said; they were really supposed to memorize them? It seemed a bit more like a scare tactic than a lesson, but Lana wanted to be the perfect student in this partiular class, and she started reading the names, then closed her eyes and repeated them mentally to herself, but her process was interrupted as one of the novices spoke out. She opened her eyes and turned her head to stare at the speaker.     

[Sylvirci]

Masuko was excited to be going to her first class on Saidar. She wanted to learn so much and as soon as possible. Practically bubbling with joy at being able to finally learn, she walked into the classroom and sat down.

 

She didn't have long to wait before their teacher walked in. Suko was a little disappointed to see that the Mistress of Novices was going to give the class. and her heart sank more and more as she listened to not only the rule about no Saidar without proper supervision but that there would be no channeling this lesson at all! Feeling defeated she listened to the instructions on the list being handed out. Taking hers she glanced at it and then listened to her roommate's question.

 

In her mind she was weighing whether or not her roommates would tell if she praticed in her rooms. She might have to go somewhere else to practice. That meditative thing she did to me to test me should help and as soon as I learn more I can push further. Her mind made up she waited for the Mistress of Novices' response.

[Kara_J]

Deanne ambled in. Now this was more like it. Learning to use the One Power and thus becoming Aes Sedai. Surely it wouldn't take that long once she learned to Channel?

 

Taking her seat she started to listen then quickly became bored with the list of rules the MoN was reeling off. Not Channel?!...they drag us here to learn then tell us not to! Huh! What's the point in that?

Making up her mind that she was going to Channel when and where she liked, she turned her attention to the rest of the class. Now Larindhra (she was going to call her that in her head no matter what!) was droning about how only 2-3% of the world could Channel. That made Deanne perk up a bit. She was good at numbers and the thought of being so, well not exactly unique, but certainly rare, pleased her greatly. In her minds eye she was already lording it over the common people.

 

She was brought back to earth with a bump when Larindhra's droning voice went on about Severing and how some people had drawn so much they had stilled themselves. Determined that that wouldn't happen to her, Deanne took the parchment off Larindhra and stared at the list of Aes Sedai that had obviously been too stupid to Channel in the first place if they'd got themselves Stilled.

 

Upon hearing that she may be asked about them later and would have to go to the library to look up more information on them, Deanne sighed. She had been looking forward to going to the Warders yard later. Maybe she could find someone to copy off instead.

 

Deanne stared out of the window, but all she could see was another wall which elicited another sigh. She was getting more and more bored by the second and glared at the back of the novices head who had dared to ask a question and thus tied them all there even longer. Slouching down in her chair, Deanne rolled her eyes and started playing with her braids.

 

This Aes Sedai lark was getting farther away by the second.

[Elgee]

Esther tried to pat her fly-away hair into place, but gave up after a few seconds; at least her dress was clean, no thanks to that … trollop who now shared the room with her and Kiyi. Giving her dress a firm tug, she entered the room – only to be faced with the slouching form of her nemesis.  She gave Deanne one fierce glower before assuming her more normal placid look. Taking a seat right at the front, she carefully arranged her notebook, quill and inkpot.

 

She was just finished when Larindhra Sedai walked in.  Esther sat up eagerly; this class must be very important, if the Mistress of Novices herself was going to teach it! Esther was shocked when Larindhra started off by warning them yet again not to channel without permission – surely no-one would dare try such a thing? Of course not – such stupidity was unthinkable. It was only logical to wait for proper teaching. Reaching for her quill, she dipped it into the ink and started taking notes. Some of it she had heard before, but now it was all clearly set out in a logical way.  The mention of Saidin and men who could channel almost made her shudder, but she did wonder how many of those 2 or 3 percent Larindhra mentioned were female, and how many … male.  It would make an interesting study, she thought to herself. 

 

The list of women who had been stilled was sobering, but the invitation to do research in the famed library of the White Tower was thrilling; Esther vowed to head there at the earliest opportunity, hopefully before her other classmates could grab all the best books.

 

As she was packing away her notebook, one of her fellow novices asked an interesting question, and Esther paused in the act to hear what Larindhra’s reply would be.

 

Esther Tremaine

Novice

 

[Taymist]

Kiyi silently took a seat next to Esther right at the front of the class. She was rapidly growing thankful for the other girl's presence as it had made her feel less alone and far less intimidated than she otherwise might have. She also had a feeling that they were gradually developing what would be a good friendship. She wasn’t quite so sure how she felt about their newest room mate though and Esther’s feelings on that subject were obvious. The girl was very self involved and quite patently full of herself. Kiyi suspected privately that Deanne was in for more than a couple of shocks in the coming months. Few Sisters were likely to tolerate her attitude.

 

It was a surprise to see Larindhra Sedai taking the class considering she was such a busy woman but Kiyi had taken a liking to the forthright Sister and, pulling out her notebook, she settled in to listen intently. Judging by the stillness of the room, so did most of the other novices who were taking part. Unconcerned by the admonition not to channel unsupervised since she had no idea how to, she instead wondered idly how many of these girls she’d have an opportunity to get to know. It seemed reasonable to assume that most of them would be taking other classes together. It might be nice to make new friends and perhaps the shared ability to channel would outweigh the reactions she usually got to her awful voice.

 

The information on Saidar was intriguing. Just enough to whet her appetite and kindle an excitement for the future and what it could hold. Talk of severing and Stilling were more like being dumped into a bucket of iced water however. What a terrible thing to happen to anyone! She vowed silently that she’d commit all of those instances to memory so that it would never happen to her. She was quite certain that Esther and herself could get hold of those all important books first and the idea of spending time in the Tower’s splendid Library was thrilling.

 

Suddenly the class was over. It seemed to have been rather short but another novice was asking Larindhra a question and Kiyi listened for the answer with interest, mentally making a note to drag Esther off to the Library just as soon as possible.

 

[Elgee]

 

"Umm... Larindhra Sedai? About the no channeling without supervision thing... What about the ones of us who've never channeled before? How can we keep from doing something when we have no way of being able to tell until it's too late?"

 

Larindhra turned back to see who had asked the question and saw Jerinia had her hand half raised. A good inquisitive mind there, with enough spirit to stand her in good stead … and see her in the Mistress of Novices’ office quite a few times already, along with Lanaya & Deanne.  She had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before Masuko also made that trip.  Now Kiyi and Esther … well, those two worried her a bit, especially Esther; the girl was much too quiet and self-effacing.

 

She gave the group a wolfish grin, addressing them all.  “Oh no, children – the chance of that happening to any of you is slim to virtually impossible. That usually only happens to those born with the spark, which none of you were.  I’m glad you asked the question though, Jerinia, just in case some of you thought to use that excuse. There is no mistaking the wonder of the One Power, once you feel it – which you will hopefully do at your next class.  Embracing the Source will take a conscious effort from you, NOT something that happens by accident, I assure you. No – the danger will come once you have learnt the rudiments, and it will be because you want to play with this wonderful new toy. A word of advice – don’t.  You WILL be found out, and you WILL regret not heeding my words.” She gave them all a final fierce look, that smile still upon her face, before sweeping out of the classroom.

 

Larindhra Reyne

Mistress of Novices

 

[Jehaine]

Jerinia nodded as her question was being answered, glancing at the other students to check their reactions and see if they shared her concern. Some of them did, much to her relief, but she still set about looking at the page she was given.

 

While some of the people on the list were Stilled for obvious reasons, some others had not. As far as she could tell, that was. Still, not wanting to end up having yet another reason to be sent to the Mistress of Novices -- especially one she could avoid! -- she started memorising the names on the parchment. Though, in the back of her mind, part of her was already looking forward to what had been promised in the next lesson, the first attempts at reaching for the One Power.

 

Which she wasn't allowed to do outside of class. Right.