Do you know how to control your senses? (open class, male and female)

[Liitha]

ooc bear with me as this one of the things there is no written example of class for yet, i'll add a male suport teacher in my next post so this may be avaliable to both genders

 

M'bela stood in the libary, the lights from the candles on the walls was flickering omnious now late at evening. Most classes was at daytime, but some as this one was better served at nigth where minds were sleepy and light low, someone skilled would be able to replicate at lesser conditions, but for those still in learning it was positive to have all the help one could get.

 

Tonight would be a long night, and teach the students in the art of control both direct and indirect with the use of the one power. It was an intensive course in the art of manipulating your soroundings. She took in a wiff of old books as she run her finger along a shelf, and then in the distance she heard footsteps aproaching.

 

M'bela

Greater Dreadlady in retro

[Jehaine]

Rebecca walked through the corridors, her eyes accustomed to the lack of light ever since she was a child. As the daughter of an assassin, not to mention being one herself, it was a skill that she considered quite valuable regardless of who or what she was to become in this Darkfriend-run fortress. And now, she would be taking a class in the one thing that was still fairly new to her, the One Power.

 

As much as she hated not knowing what to expect, she nevertheless found herself looking strangely forward to this class. It would be interesting to see if this One Power would match up to the skills she had been taught as a child, and mastered even before she could be considered an adult. She doubted it would, but then again assassins needed to keep an open mind. Those that did not would find themselves lacking an ability to improvise, and would often not survive the first time a plan of theirs failed.

 

No, versatility had been a skill she treasured during the training she did in secret in her room. And thus, she stepped into the room feeling confident she would be able to match whatever this One Power was capable of. It should be amusing watching the others fail though.

 

 

Rebecca

One Power is no match for skill...

[Raeyn]

 

Stifling a yawn, Rendra made her way through the quiet Fortress.  Even in places such as this where evil never rested, the agents of such <i>did</i> have a need of sleep.  So, outside of an unlucky few dragged from their repose on the behest of their superiors, most garnered what rest that they might.

 

That wasn't to say that Rendra was cross at having to be awake, but quite the opposite.  She had been keyed up since receiving the missive to attend the lady M'bela.  And while she didn't know the exact nature of this class, she was definitely eager to find out.  Would it be something with <i>Saidar</i>, or perhaps another class extolling their master?  While she had learned so much, Rendra had the impression it was only the tip of the iceberg.  At least she'd have all the time she could ever want for that and more, if her masters spoke truly...

 

She thought then of the One Power as she continued to winder her way to her destination.  It made her chuckle to recall her against her ability she had been when she'd arrived at the Fortress, and how far she'd come in accepting what she was.  Not like the Tar Valon witches, no.  No indeed, the denizens of the Fortress were clearly superior.

 

Pulling herself out of her reverie, she cracked the Library door open and entered the room; time to find out what the evening would hold.

[Kura]

Darial padded through the corridors of the Fortress, practicing his stealth. If that fool Southerner can do it, then I should be able to learn it as well. As always, spite fueled his advancement. Shadar was leaping ahead of him in power, but at least with skill they were keeping close. Even with that fool's private lessons... A smug grin found its way to his lips.

 

Finding his way in the dark proved to be a task of little difficulty, thanks to his desire to have the fortress mapped out. He felt he still had miles to go, having already been through several sheets of parchment in the months he had been here, but the time had been worth it. Perhaps it was time to move onto the next project...

 

Chastising himself for not staying on task, Darial entered the library, immediately basking in the scent of old books. So much knowledge... Again curbing his thoughts, he took in his surroundings. He was slightly disturbed to not see any other males present, and was wondering if he'd been made the but of some joke, or perhaps a target for weaves of Saidar... The thought didn't sit well with him, but he decided to wait it out. As even if it were true, they wouldn't be able to slay him... leaving the opportunity for revenge.

[Liitha]

M'bela looked at her list, then counted, everyone was there, except the support teacher, then she heard the familiar steps of Michael. This was not the first class she was in lead, but she still felt respect for the older dreadlord, and well remembered times where it had been the other way around. This was her field of expertise though, and he was here merely to illustrate the weaves in saidin during the lesson.

 

As he joined her side she let flames flare up on one side of the book shelf, and she soon saw flames on the other side as well, effectively trapping the students in between two rows. At the same time she stood ready to shield anyone who dared grasp for saidar as she knew Michael did with saidin. Illusion, a very effective weave for attention. Once the reactions died out so did she let the flames. "Good!" She tossed around what seemed small stones and saw Michael do the same, "these will be returned to us this morning when class ends, anyone at any time try to misuse them and they will be expelled from the class, everyone has gotten one as needed by our measurement of strength in you, and you are not allowed to trade them around." she let the students examine the small angreals for a moment.

 

"Otherwise I hope you payed attention, the flames were an illusion, and its quite a useful weave when you are out to set the stage for manipulating someone." She let saidar filter more slowly through her now, illustrating how she put treads together. "As you can see spirit is the main element of this weave, the other elements vary as per what you are trying to make", she let the hummingbird picture fall away and saw Michaels mouse dissipate as well, both made a few more illusions to give the students a basic understanding of which elements to pull for which type of usage. But in the end it was up to each channeler as well "now decide on one illusion to practice on each, its probably going to be flawed in the beginning, but you will get there, and we .." she nodded at Michael "..will walk around and help you as needed with finding the holes in it until you get the basic logic"

 

M'bela

Greater Dreadlady in retro

 

ooc try to figure out how to do at least 3 illusions well, feel free to use teachers help

Illusion is a A-4 F-2 S-4 W-4 Skill-15 weave with following description : The channeler uses Spirit and other elements to create illusions.

[Kura]

Darial gazed at fires malevolently, it had never been a favorite element of his. That wasn't to say he lacked potency in it... he just preferred the cold to the heat. Then the dreadlady spoke, and he caught a small red stone in his palm, gazing at it with a hint of reverence as it was explained to him what it was. A certain longing built within him, realizing that when he reached his full strength, this stone would be an incredibly useful tool... it would give him the power to pay off all his debts.

 

He let a sigh escape his lips as he realized they would take the stone from him. It looked as though he would need to work through subterfuge after all. Grinning as he watched the dreadlord weave, and keeping an ear open to the dreadlady, another revelation hit him. This would be a perfect weave for the work! Drawing through the angreal, basking in the far increased power, he began to weave.

 

The weaves proved... difficult for him to accomplish. His first illusion was a fairly simple one; a throwing knife poised in mid air. He had meant to make it appear sleek, deadly, and polished to a shine. Instead it appeared distorted and dull, not quite the weapon he had envisioned. That chilling anger rose up, and he bit down, stifling a curse. He needed concentration. He tried again...

 

And failed again, and again, and again, and again, until finally a perfect knife appeared in the air. He took a steadying breath, and worked on a couple others, again failing multiple times before succeeding. He was one of the most skilled acolytes, at least among the males, but he was beginning to realize that perhaps these weaves were supposed to be beyond the ability of the lowest ranking members in the fortress. That thought in mind, a certain pride built up at being able to accomplish them at all.

 

Refocusing his attention on the dreadlady, he waited for the next weave.

[Raeyn]

Rendra winced as the wall of flame sprung into being around the room.  After a moment, however, she realized that she felt no heat from it, and that nothing was catching on fire.  <i>”What is… wait a moment,” </i> she thought, attempting to keep herself quite still just in case it <b>was</b> real fire, and she just couldn’t feel the heat for some reason.

 

"Good!" the Mae’shadar called out, and started throwing small objects towards the class. 

 

Catching the small sparkling stone that was tossed at her, Rendra eyed it curiously.  It was a deep blue, and it almost seemed as if it had a light of its own.  As the teacher explained that it was an angreal, her eyes widened a bit.  She’d heard talk of these objects of power before, but this was her first time getting to use one.  Even if she had to give it back, it was exciting to have a chance to learn how to use one.   <i>”I’ve heard it told that angreal can make you a lot stronger; I guess I’ll find out how much stronger if what I was told about using one of these holds true!” </i>

 

Her attention turned back to M’bela as the more experienced woman explained how to make the illusions.  The threads were carefully weaved alongside her explanation, and soon the image of a bird appeared before her; before the male channeler, a mouse appeared in the air.  A few more examples followed the first one, and then all were instructed to practice.

 

Nodding to herself, she eyed the rock… erm…. angreal in her hand.  Someone had told her that the trick was to open herself to <i>Saidar</i> <b>through</b> the angreal.  It took her a few tries, but with some prodding, Rendra found herself filled with more of the One Power than she ever had before.  It made her feel a bit giddy, as if life were even brighter and shinier than normal when she was filled with the One Power.  Of course, there was still the task at hand…

 

Envisioning a cat, she wove Spirit and strands of other elements to try and shape what was in her mind.  What came out, however, was kind of spiky and not at all cat-like.  Biting her bottom lip, she mused to herself, <i> “Maybe I’m not holding the image right, or perhaps I’m using too much Earth…”</i>  Dropping the flows, she weaved anew, trying different combinations as she felt suited the image in her head. 

 

While she had the size right, her mental image of what she was supposed to be weaving faltered as she thought of different cats that had been running around the various parts of Tanchico that she had been in.  While she tried to hold the simplest sort of image in her head – a generic black cat of an average slender size, it took several tries before what she was able to even get something that approximated what she had in mind.  Around this time, M’bela had made it around to her.  The older woman weaved almost lazily, easily rendering what Rendra had in mind.  Watching what was woven carefully, Rendra mentally noted how much of which elements were used to show the illusion of what she had in mind, <i>”Too much earth indeed… too much of all the elements, perhaps.” </i>

 

Under the Mae’shadar’s watchful eye, Rendra carefully laid the flows while concentrating on the image in her mind.  It was easier after having some guidance, and after a few more tries, she was able to generate the illusion of a cat standing by.  Her lips quirked into a smile, and she continued to practice the weave.

 

Of course, Rebecca's sad little attempts at oneupmanship were ignored; Rendra was too excited at her relative successes with this weaving.  A poignant image popped into her mind, and she tried her luck and presenting an image of the rose that once had graced her tiny bit of personal space in her parent's home.  While it wasn't spot-on perfect, a trace of sadness crossed her face before the image could fade away.  And while her mind was still on the sadder times, she tried for a simple image - a loaf of bread.  Of course, that was basically just a lump of brown, and she couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped before she let the image go.

 

[Jehaine]

As the flames roared to life on what seemed like every side of her, Rebecca edged back like most of the other students. It didn't take her long after the initial reaction to figure out something was wrong though, most notably due to the two teachers not moving a muscle to acknowledge the flames. Looking at the books, they too showed no sign of the flames, nor could she feel any heat for that matter. An illusion then, a trick of the mind. She found herself wondering whether their minds had been affected directly or the image was simply created for her eyes to pick up on, and the more she concentrated on what her senses were telling her, the more she became convinced it was the latter.

 

They were flawed, these illusions. If it was capable of decieving just the eyes, then she would have nothing to fear from them, nor have any use against the weakest of the enemies she would come up against. In the list of possible tactics to use, the usage of illusions dropped down to somewhere at the bottom, below even becoming her target's mistress. One Power or her blades, there were a thousand ways to deal with an enemy than to distract him with an illusion that could only be detected by the eyes.

 

As she was handed a rock -- a rock! -- she wondered whether this ability to channel was worth the trouble after all. On her list, only the ability to Travel would come in useful, everything else cheap parlor tricks aimed to distract where she needed to kill, or bring light where she needed the shadows to hide in. Even touching saidar would surround her in a glowing nimbus and alert every channeler within a mile of her presence, making it a costly way of enhancing her senses. Not wanting to anger her teachers however, she channeled, sending the weave through the rock in her hands and project the image in her mind in front of her.

 

As she expected, she saw the image of one of her daggers starting to form. Being aware of every detail on them had helped picturing them into her mind, as did the simplicity of her illusion. Pity it'd dissipate the second someone tried to touch it however, it'd be almost amusing to see the look on an enemy's face when his weapon would disappear in air as she ended the weave.

 

Noticing Rendra trying to make a cat however, she didn't want to be undone, and started thinking up an animal to use as well. Picturing the image of a dog to appear a few feet away from Rendra's cat, she noticed that the illusion was blurry and far from solid, making her spend more concentration into the making of it. Though she wasn't close enough to hear what M'bela told Rendra, she noticed the changes in the woman's weave and adjusted hers to match, trying to make an illusion bigger than hers.

 

 

Rebecca

My illusion can kick your illusion's illusionary ass

[Liitha]

ooc that was 3 illusions to mention ;) anyway continuing and you can go back or use a couple lines in the next post to catch up

 

M'bela looked at the students after she was satisfied and called their attention to her by the use of a booming voice "OK.." she droped the weave and togheter with Michael redid it "NOW LETS CONTINUE" it was a rather common weave, and she suspected the adept at least had learned it already, but illustrated to make sure they all seen how too, even those who may not still have the skill to yet. "While a flower or mouse in itself is not distrubing, a dark cellar after some starving, with rats creeping up on you, are quite the mood ripper. This is maybe not usefull for killing less you want to make the subject pay, but there may be times where you need to milk information, breaking the subject to your will then is quite handy, and most people have less hope, and have a harder time resisting if they are scared or in a dark situation rather then in their own cozy living room. If you further are inventive and use other weaves you know to suport.."

 

She looked at Michael, the illusion of flames went up, togheter with his altering of voice to replicate the sound of flames, she wove low but rising heat into the group of students, and fog along the floor.

 

"So you see how illusions togheter with weaves most of you would know can be turned into quite live features.." the weaves droped as steam came off a couple students shirts, hence this class is not just about teaching you weaves, but teaching you to use your mind" her eyes wandered and fell on each student in turn to make her point.

 

"Lets move on.." She grabed spirit (S-3, skill-18), looking too Michael and geting a nod she released the weave on a randomly picked student, "this is Sleep.." she held back on the weave playing some with it till she balanced it to a steady drowsy state before tying it off to make sure the student wouldnt fall over. "..a drowsed mind, reacts slower, feel less in control...and thus fears more what happens to them.." She formed a blade of air and water, a blade of ice, she looked over and wasnt surpriced too see Michael with one of fire, it was normal this way due to how the elements normaly distributed in the genders. "These are elemental blades, there are several versions of them, we are here showing the ones most typicaly used for your genders.." she tied it off as she moved forward. As she moved their soroundings grew darker and more omnious, the book racs turned into stone walls, a low cold breeze made the ligths still visible flicker, she and michael now was hiding the weaves by inverting them to remove even more controll from the students. She smiled and tilted her head as she closed down on the student group from one side, and Michael the other, the tip of her blade rose to the chin of her drowsed student, lifting the girls head so she looked up into her eyes.

 

"The one power is a tool, but a forcefull one that can help you control and manipulate the situation to your benefit.." her voice was altered, low and omnious with a hiss as a snake too it. She twisted the blade and flicked her wrist, a shallow cut opened on the chin, enough to draw blood but not enough to hurt bone, she smiled she had already shielded the student, but the girl probably hadnt noticed due to her drowsed state untill she tried to reach for the power, she heard a stumble, and saw in the corner of her eye that Michael was less sucessfull in having an impact making his subject stand still, the boy had tried to move back and stumbled over.

 

"And unlike with normal assasins, who granted can be quite skilled at blood-drawing without killing.." she hissed out, "dreadlords are better if they know what they are doing, even those not the strongest in female elements, may if they controll how they do it, repair the damage and do it again over and over and over..." her nose was almost touching the student as her hand landed on her chin and channeling the minor healing weave while looking into her eyes with her own stone cold yellowtinted brown eyes. M'bela heard Michael step back and followed suit, as she did the room brigthened as he droped his share of the weaves used, and she let hers drop as well as she steped back.

 

"Once again in case anyone didnt catch it, and to make sure our sleep walkers dont go making any dangerous combinations from the lack of how to put the weaves togheter.." she picked another student now, a male one while all the girls watched.. "sleep.." she droped the weave, and then nodded to Michael which now used one of the girls to illustrate for the boys. "...and elemental blades" she started with the ice one, drawing air and water, this time Michael followed suit "ice.." she droped it, "fire.." using purely strands of fire she now formed the blade even more easily then the last one, "and light.." drawing on all elements she showed the last blade "though this is one probably not all of you will be able too make, as its far from all of us that are balanced such in the elements as to be able to perform such a weave...but what some have in strength here they lack elsewhere in general"

 

She waited a moment to be sure they all had time to take in what she had said, "now if you can spread out and try make a blade, and as you manage that weave couple up in pairs to practise sleep, when you do this make sure that at the very least the subject is siting with their back against something so we can avoid head damages" she started walking around to help the students who needed it.

 

M'bela

Greater Dreadlady in retro

 

 

ooc practise the two weaves as instructed, and show some of the students thougths about the lesson learned in combining weaves and using the op as a tool to achive what they want by doing so. Also if anyone wants to be the npc'ed students feel free to be so, if not consider these anonymous npc intiates you may or may not seen before.

 

 

Alter Voice A/F/S-4 skill-24 Used to alter a channeler’s voice to imitate other sounds/voices

Heat F-1 skill-6 The channeler Weaves slight amounts of Fire around an object and heats it. The greater the channeler’s strength in Fire the larger and more dense an object that can be heated

Fog A/W-3 skill-15 The channeler Weaves Water and Air into the atmosphere around them, making it somewhat thin and spread out, then adds a tiny amount of Fire to warm it, creating fog. The greater the channeler’s strength in Water and Fire the larger the fog

Elemental Blades A/E/F/S/W-4 skill-9 Elemental: Varies with the prefered Elements used, Water and Air formed to a sword’s shape for ice, Fire for a sword of flame, Air and Spirit for a sword of air, all five Elements for a blade of light energy

[Raeyn]

Observing M’bela’s weaving most carefully (where she could), Rendra was most pleased to <b>not</b> be the ‘assistant’ in this class’ demonstration.  Oh sure, the two that were selected received healing, but that was beside the point!

 

When it came to pairing up to practice, she studiously ignored Miss Snottypants Rebecca and turned to another girl next to her.  Her face lit up briefly, and she inquired, “Hello, didn’t we pair off in the last weapons class?”  The girl smiled hesitantly before nodding.  Nodding in reply, Rendra responded, “Well, as we didn’t manage to kill each other with blades, let us trust each other again to not kill each other with the One Power, shall we?”  Her pouty lips quirked into a smirk, and she almost thought for a moment that she saw the other girl smile too.

 

Taking a calculated risk, the Taraboner let the other girl go first.  It took a bit before she got the hang of the sleeping weave, and after a rude awakening from falling on the floor, Rendra was relatively pleased to find herself upright and heavy-lidded, <i>“I’ll have to remember to get her to lean against a wall, even if making her fall over would be sweet too.” </i>  she mused briefly before gesturing her partner to the wall.  She laid the weave gingerly on the other woman, who stifled a tiny yawn, but didn’t seem to be particularly incapacitated.  Still, it was better to be a tad too light in her weaving in this case, and as she carefully strengthened the flows, she was very pleased to achieve the right result. 

 

She started to wonder if she could use such a weave on herself to aid in getting to sleep, but then remembered a basic lesson – one couldn’t weave upon oneself.  Still, she could see the value in such a weave – if someone was asleep or drowsy, they would be distracted, and therefore be an easier target to prey upon.  And, of course, should one be lacking an actual weapon on hand, there were always weapons of the One Power to use…

 

Stifling a tiny yawn, Rendra nodded to the other girl, “I guess we should try to weave these blades, then?”  Her partner murmured assent, and stifled a yawn of her own.  Chuckling softly, she turned her attention to the weaves she remembered M’bela doing.  The ice blade formed easily, and she marveled at the beauty and utility of such a relatively simple weave. 

 

She then tried to emulate the fire blade the Mae’shadar had woven, but found that she wasn’t strong enough without using the small angreal she had been issued.  Even then, it was difficult, and she was most grateful to move on to trying other combinations.  She found that making a blade of ice was very simple and easy, angreal or otherwise, but that making one of the very air itself was the simplest of all.  Satisfied, she covered her mouth and stifled yet <b>another</b> yawn.

 

[Jehaine]

Rebecca watched carefully as the various weaves were shown, her eyebrows quirking up with interest as her teachers moved on to inverting weaves. She saw being able to see the weaves as one of the larger downsides to channeling as a whole, but if they could remain hidden on the other hand... She'd have to talk to M'bela about that after class.

 

First though, the weaves they had been told to practise. Even though she didn't like to stand out out of professional habit, she knew that in order to be listened to she'd need to stand out among the others. This wasn't like weapon class, where she could just manipulate the teacher into thinking their skills with a blade were hopeless to get more lessons, this 'channeling' was seen as the core class of what she was taught here, the very reason why they were here. There was a time to appear weaker, but right now, she had to show some potential...

 

Nodding at a student she had picked out, she wove Air and Water together into fog, and waited for the other woman to clear a section of the floor using Fire. If how she was doing was an indication, she mused the woman would be strong in Fire, and filed this information away in the back of her mind. Her opponent was up first now, and a blade of fire appeared in her hands, a small grin appearing on her face as she watched the blade, weighing it in her hands as she felt the heat on her face.

 

Rebecca just grinned, and decided to weave all elements together into one. It had taken her long to reach the power required, practising for hours every day in the confined darkness of her room, but in the end, she was glad she had. Though it wavered a bit at first, in the end a blade of pure light rested in her hands, shedding a soft white glow on her face and clothes. It was ironic, in a way, that she would end up wielding the Light in this place of darkness, but from her positioning she had made sure the teachers would be able to see what she had done.

 

Though it was an effort not to start sweating, she kept herself under control. The remains of her fog weave still lingered around her form, helping her remain cool in more ways than one. Let them think this was easy for her, let them think the stone she carried had more power than theirs. She was showing no weaknesses, appearing to be a master of everything. She was in her element.

 

 

Rebecca

Showing off

[Kura]

Darial paired up with a young girl, his narrow Saldean eyes eyeing her carefully. She was another acoylte, and he felt that it would be against his best interest to pair off with an adept... a sentiment apparently shared by his partner. They bowed their heads to eachother; an uncustomary gesture for Darial... but after a day with Arcon, he was learning that masks and subtlety might be the way to go...

 

That however, was for another time. Now, they needed to weave. Darial seized Saidin, drawing on spirit the way that Micheal had demonstrated... and failed miserably... The girl appeared to grin at this, and tried it herself, sending an invisible weave at Darial... Though he scarce felt drowsy. The Saldean mut chuckled in return at her crestfallen features. "Looks like that one is for the older children." His cold voice held a hint of humor... though inside his that frigid rage was settling into place...

 

He tried again several more times... and managed to illicit a small yawn from his opponet... though he was nearly sweating with the effort of it all. Still... it was a victory, even if it was a hollow one. Still, it was time to move on. Darial watched with glee at as the woman struggled to form a rather pethetic looking sword of ice. He'd studied this weave, loving the flavor of a weapon made of ice, and thinking of how it could be changed... The thought of releasing a small hailstorm greatly pleased the sadistic saldean.

 

Again, he chastised himself for not staying on topic. He drew through the stone, a crystal blade of ice forming in his open palm. Finally... something I can actually do! He took a few eperemental slashes, weaving to shift the weight more towards the hilt, and thinning the blade. It was easier to make slashes that way...

 

Michael approached, a chuckle on his lips. "You might want to learn to use that thing, boy..." Darial clenched his jaw, but nodded. He didn't appreciate being repremended. Though the mut reconized there was little sense in fighting back, well, at least not yet. Weaving heat to rid the world of his creation, he awaited his next lesson...

 

((Will have to proofread later... class is done.))

[Liitha]

M'bela waited till Michael gave her the sign after both made several rounds that the students got it.

 

"Ok, in the conected group rooms there are servants on penance for wrong doings" M'bela didnt go into what, it was irrelevant for the students to know, "they been given an option or alternative rather in assisting in this class rather then spending the night down in the dungeons with someone asigned to oversee the penance." She nodded to Michael and he went off behind her to open the doors, "each have been given a unique piece of information, you are to extract this from them, severe damage that may threathen their life is not allowed..." she looked sternly around on the class.

 

"The stake is as thus, come back to me with the piece of information of your prisoner and you can take the night, the prisoner will be sent to the dungeon to finalise their penance. If the prisoner can withhold the information to dawn they get the day off to recoup instead, if not then at dawn they will meet at your room to personaly attend to you till dusk. You may use the knowledge from this class in combination with earlier gained knowledge from various classes, the doors will contain your name on the inside as revealed now by Michael, and the subjects been asigned with thougth of your skills and ranks, as well as the reason for earning their penance."

 

She steped aside and motioned with her arm, "Michael will patrol the rooms to see you overhold the rules, I'll stay here so you know where to contact me, and to ensure everyone keep to the right rooms. You may begin"

 

ooc be creative and reason around how you succeed or fail (both being an option, though i'll let you choose which for better char development)

[Raeyn]

 

OOC - hopefully this is alright? :)

 

---

 

Once in the room she’d been assigned, Rendra looked at her subject.  It was an old woman, bent and withered.  Her iron-gray hair was in a bun, and she was eying the young Adept warily.

 

The Taraboner smirked, and opened herself to <i>Saidar</i>.  Binding the serving woman with flows of Air, Rendra said nothing for a long moment before speaking, “You have some important information for me, and I think that you should consider giving it up.”  The old woman sniggered; it was obvious that she didn’t think much of Rendra or her current situation.  “Silence!” Rendra proclaimed, extending her existing weave to gag the prisoner.

 

<i> “What kind of pranks have some of the students here gotten up to for a servant to be so blasé about being bound with the One Power?” </i> she mused as she paced the small cell, <i> “Perhaps she’s mad or something.  Or perhaps she’s a repeat offender, and knows that I cannot kill her for this.”</i>  Glowering, she continued to pace and think.

 

Over the next few hours, Rendra tried several different ways to get her prisoner to talk.  She bound the woman’s ears and tried the illusion of fire, complete with little weaves of the element dashing at her toes.  The ear blocking, of course, was so she didn’t have to deal with getting laughed at for not getting the sound right; it was easier to not attempt the illusion of sounds yet.  She attempted weaving images of Trollocs and other such monstrous creatures, but as her ‘skill’ with such was so new that the effect was really laughable… at least, as best as someone can laugh around a gag of Air.

 

As she despaired of ever breaking her subject, Rendra recalled something that had been said, “…severe damage that may threaten their life is not allowed...”

 

Nodding slowly to herself, she slightly constricted the weave of Air wrapped around the serving woman.  The subject looked at her steadily, but the young Adept could see a bit of doubt creeping into her eyes.  Smiling, she wove another flow of Air and whapped the woman across the back with it.  Not waiting for the initial reaction to die down, she thwapped the second weave against the back of the woman’s legs.  She kept this up, slightly constricting the first weave here, increasing the size of the second weave there.  It wasn’t too long before she released the bit gagging the woman’s mouth, and not much longer past that before she was able to retrieve the desired bit of knowledge.

 

Rendra unbound the woman, and shut the door behind her.  She was extremely tired, but relieved to be done with this task.  She wasn’t sure what she felt for her subject – it wasn’t pity, but more annoyance that she couldn’t threaten her with anything worse.  Still, judging by the reactions, perhaps if she was a repeat offender, none of the other students who had worked her over in the past had thought to go for the physical.  She wasn’t terribly happy that she’d resorted to that, but didn’t want to lose to… that sad little thing.   <i>”Still,” </i> she reflected tiredly, <i>”I could stand to learn more about interrogation… I’m sure that not everyone would fold to a beating…”</i>

 

[Kura]

Darial took his assignment with a grin. Hurt him, eh? Just don't kill him... Darial entered the small room, and looked at the rather large man who stood before him. The man was from Illian, judging from the mustaches. "And who do..." Darial cut him off with a flow of air, wrapping him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of the man. The mutt chuckled, and spoke with a horrible illianer accent. "I do believe I be the one who'll be asking the questions."

 

Another blow of air knocked him into the chair provided, and Darial wove bands of ice around the man, modifying the sword weave he had been taught. He expected a wince, or at the very least a shiver, but the man stared at him with proud eyes, unblinking. Be glad I'm forbidden to maim you, you arrogant bastard! "I suppose you've been briefed. It is my job to retrieve a parcel of information from you. If you'd be so kind as to turn it over to me...[/i]

 

The other man laughed in his face. A frosted glaze spread over the border of the void in response. "Oh my... You do be as arrogant as they said you'd be. Pompous mutt!" Slit eyes grew narrow, and Darial added another band around the man's mouth. Darial simply stood there for a while, staring at the man who'd insulted him so. He was proud of his mixed heritage, despite the hell it had caused him growing up. Will no one leave it alone!

 

"Southerners. I'm really beginning to hate you filthy, sweating pigs. You sit in your homes, trying desperately to ward yourselves from the heat, ignoring the smell of rotting fish. All the while not dreaming of the the harsh realities of the north. Allow me to show you a few, and then we'll talk." Darial drew deeply on Saidin, using spirit to draw away the heat from the room, putting it in the stones. Slowly the temperature began to fall. "Your coldest winter is nothing to a fall in Saldea... Oh, and the winds!" He wove gusts of air, each driving the chill deep into the now shivering man.

 

He continued to draw the heat, until the water forming from the melting bands of ice refroze, and he was forced to weave a ward around himself, heating it as he was shown. He wove spirit into the man, the weakened form of sleep he could perform, perpetuating the drowsiness from the chill. "Careful... if you fall asleep, the cold claims you." Darial watched as the proud eyes drooped, a touch of fear finally crawling into them.

 

"Not to mention the other things... Horrible things." Bracing himself, he wove the elements to form a black shape in the corner, roughly manshaped. It was supposed to be a perfect replica of a Half-man. Still, to a friend of the dark, who'd never seen one of the Eyeless, and was under the effects of the sleep weave and biting chill... Darial laughed, a cold biting sound, and sliced off the band over the man's mouth. "Now tell me, what was this little piece of information?"

 

The man's answer was immediate, if stuttered. "I... I will learn to respect... my superiors, and..." He steadied himself, "And let go of my spite, lest I be left in the hands of the dreadlords, powerless." Darial nearly lost his grip on the power at the man's words. The Saldean turned at the sound of laughter behind him, and saw the ice melt in a wave of fire, a gentle heating weave placed upon the victim. Michael stared at Darial, "Good job Darial Da'Shan. Return the stone to me, and you may return to your rooms."

 

Without mouthing a word, he handed the small rock over, and back peddled out of the room, thinking of the Illianer's words. Despite the hour, when he finally reached his room, he found it difficult to get to sleep...

[Jehaine]

Rebecca stepped into a room that seemed no bigger then her own, and in the center of it sat a woman, Andoran judging by her features. Though she made no move to get up, she glared defiance at the door, only to have it change into a look of brief surprise at seeing a woman enter. Due to her height and looks it was hard to mistake her for anything other than Cairhienin, and she made no attempts to hide that from her.

 

- "So, they say you have a piece of information i am supposed to be interested in. I don't suppose you're willing to tell me? No? Thought not. Oh well."

 

And with that, she simply sat down on the floor, leaning against the stone wall as she took out one of her daggers. The sight of bared steel caused the woman to jump up from her chair, but Rebecca paid her no attention, simply proceeding to clean her fingernails with the blade. The woman sat down again, hesitantly, and watched her warily.

 

- "I take it you've been briefed on the rules of this little game, correct? A pity they're so open to misinterpretation these days..."

 

The dagger disappeared again, and this time she produced a small white comb, with which she started to comb her hair. From the corner of her eye, she watched the look on the woman's face turned to confusement, then concern as she started second-guessing the intentions of those that had given her the penance. She kept the expression on her own face blank, only wincing when she muttered something about split ends in her hair. After about half an hour, the woman hesitantly spoke up.

 

"..W-What do you mean?"

 

She looked up for a moment, giving the woman a genuine smile. The best way to fake an emotion, she knew, was to not fake it at all, but rather make yourself think you want to feel that way. If you want to be sad, think of sad things. If you want to be happy, recall good memories. Genuine emotions were the hardest to fake, as the first person to be decieved would have to be the deciever herself. After a brief pause, she spoke up.

 

- "Nothing, my dear. Still, you'd have to admit these people can twist words like any Aes Sedai."

 

More concern followed on the woman's face. Good. Unless she missed her guess, the promised day of recovery was what was keeping the woman from sharing her piece of information with her, and in order to increase her own chance at success she just had to make her doubt her motivation. It made people that more malleable, forming them to agree with her suggestions instead.

 

"Wait... They'd give me a day to recover! They promised!"

 

Rebecca took a deep breath, placing the comb on the floor in front of her as she looked up. Just a little bit more...

 

- "Yes, and where are we now? You'd have a day without tasks in a Fortress filled with people and Shadowspawn that torment people out of general principle. As a matter of fact, wouldn't put it past them to make you 'recover' in a cell full of male prisoners."

 

She watched the woman's face, keeping her own clear of any signs of hostility. The look of fear that appeared on her face told her how successful her tactic had been, as the woman's hope had now turned into a scenario she desperately wanted to avoid. Now would be the time to strike.

 

- "Now to be honest, there is an alternative..."

 

"What... What do i need to do?"

 

The woman swallowed nervously, trembling slightly with fear. Rebecca herself stood up, pocketing the comb again though making sure it stuck out of her pocket slightly. She walked over to the Andoran, and leaned down in front of her, placing both hands on the woman's shoulders. Though this meant they were looking into each other's eyes at close range, she was confident in her own skill, as well as the fear she had previously planted clouding the woman's own judgment.

 

- "Here's the deal... I get the information, and come dawn you report to my room. I'll order you to clean my room, which should take you about half an hour all things considered, and the rest of the day you can do what you want. Wash up, brush your hair, sleep on a real bed... I'll only drop by once or twice during the day anyway. I get the information, you get a day off in safety, both happy. Deal?"

 

The woman blinked, listening to a voice deep down that said there had to be a hidden catch somewhere, a trap she was not seeing. But any trap the woman could come up with still seemed almost insignificant next to the mental imagery her doubts played on her.

 

"Y-Yes, deal! Here's what they're looking for..."

 

Listening to the information, Rebecca nodded, stepping away from the woman again. Reaching down in her pocket, she produced the comb she had been using only a handful of minutes before, and softly placed it in the woman's hand, smirking at the slightly confused look on her face.

 

- "To honor the promise, my dear. Keep it safe for me, and you may hold on to it until the morning."

 

She turned around, calmly walking out of the cell and closing the door behind her. All this time, she had not channeled once, and she still managed to extract the information she needed to know. In addition, she had gained a valuable ally. Servants heard everything, and if she played her cards right the Andoran would be the first of the network of eyes and ears she was planning on setting up.

 

'...Just like dogs. Show them affection when they expect punishment, and they'll love you 'till the day they die.'

 

The Dreadlady couldn't resist a soft chuckle as she made her way through the corridor, back to where M'bela was waiting. It would take time, but these Dreadlords had made the mistake of placing her at the heart of their organisation, where the new members were training to strengthen their numbers. If she planted her seeds here, she might even end up running the show rather than some fool hermit locked in a mountain!

 

 

Rebecca

Who needs the Dark One, anyway?