Intro to Saidar Class - Lesson 3: Do you be in Control?

[Arani Lepenque Aes Sedai]

(OOC: Several Lessons have now passed between the last class and this one.)

 

After the last class, Nenen had decided that the novices under her care had progressed far enough to move on to the next stage in their lessons. They could now more or less embrace the source reliably by now, succeeding around nine times out of ten. She was pleased at the rate that this class had set. It was rather fast, as compared to Nenen herself. She had taken nearly three weeks to master the art of embracing Saidar. This class had taken barely two. At the same time, she was envious at their rate of progression, but suppressed that emotion, which would not help her in teaching this class in the first place.

 

So it was that outside the class, she watched as the last novice entered and the door swung shut, Nenen stood there, invisible for two seconds before reopening the door with a loud bang. Several startled gasps came from different mouths, and Nenen glided in, invisibility weave now discarded. She had adopted the perfect Aes Sedai posture, straight-backed, and face serene in the midst of the calm chaos that preceded her entrance. But the class quietened down quickly.

 

There had been once when Nenen's slight leniency had brought about a sense of complacency, until Nenen had set them straight about the expectancy of her classes. She might be gentle with them, but in return, she expected the best effort from them. It didn't matter that they succeeded, but they spent their utmost effort trying to.

 

Now she stood in front of the class, arms folded, surveying them with the merest hint of steel in her sky-blue eyes, indicating that she might be gentle now, but she was being serious. "I have finally decided that you have progressed to the stage where you all can now channel reliably. You have done extremely well so far, and this class has been one of the faster classes that I have taught since I became an Accepted. However, there is still a lot more that you have to learn, about Saidar and wielding it, in order for you to progress to the stage where you have mastered control."

 

Her gaze hardened. "Before you go around patting yourself on the back, listen. You think you have accomplished much in your first two weeks here. Know here and now that you have accomplished nothing, but the first step in your lifelong journey to mastering Saidar. Prepare to put in real effort now that you have mastered your first step. It is nothing compared to what you have to do now to control the ability you possess. Every act of channeling is an act of control. To channel properly, you must learn to control Saidar properly. This level is something that you have not achieve, nor will you if you refuse to put in sufficient effort."

 

She saw dismay in some faces. "What? Did you think that all there was to being Aes Sedai was learning how to embrace Saidar? You were mistaken. Learning how to embrace Saidar is only a fraction of what a proper Aes Sedai must learn and know. Mastering control is FAR more important than anything else related to the Power that you will learn. We cannot have Aes Sedai losing control of their power in the middle of channeling. The best thing that can happen is for the Aes Sedai to be killed. The worst case scenario causes burnout, and destruction to the surroundings and everything she's ever worked for."

 

Nenen's face was hard now, staring down every Novice in the class until they looked away. Satisfied that they had gotten the message, she nodded and proceeded on to the lesson. "Now, the first step to mastering control is to learn to push away Saidar reliably, and to limit the amount at which you channel. You must resist the temptation of drawing too much of the One Power. That way lies death and destruction. Now, embrace the source." Waiting until she saw the glow of Saidar spring up in all the novices, she moved to the desk and sat down. "Now, moving on. You have imagined that the sun is the source of the Power, now imagine that there is a cloud drifting along the sky, about to obscure the sun. Imagine it being translucent, dimming the sunlight on you, and lessening the amount of Saidar in you. Do not imagine it being opaque, but instead, allowing some of the light and warmth to still shine through."

 

She repeated this until all the Novices managed to do it once, before continuing. "Now that all of you have done it once, I know it must have been hard on your mind. It was on mine too. But endure the pain for now. I'll entreat with one of the Yellow Sisters to give you Healing if they consent." "But for now, we move on. Imagine that translucent cloud obscuring the sun." She waited until she was sure they managed it, with the lights of Saidar being dimmed sharply. "Now, I want you to slowly move, or thin the cloud, such that the amount of light and warmth falling on you GRADUALLY increases. Do NOT allow it to suddenly increase to full strength, or you will feel an instant headache. Try it now." She went around the class, murmuring encouragement where necessary, and coaching them such that they managed to succeed at the technique once.

[perine]

This morning Kalinde did not need to be coaxed to waking up. She sprang up with a light step and was dressed even before her roommate had managed to open her eyes. The girl shook her head at the sight of Kalinde. She had been a novice for a lot longer than Kalinde. And was much closer to getting the banded hems of the Accepted. “Intro to Saidar again?” she asked with a wide yawn. Kalinde merely nodded while fastening the abundance of the wild curls to a ponytail and dapping some water on her face. It was cold and refreshed her immediately. “Enjoy your research!” She called out at the other before closing the door to her roommate. She would be cooped up in the library again, helping a Brown Sister with her work. Marianne had been so proud to tell Kalinde that she had been chosen for the work. But from what Kalinde understood, she was just stocking books into their shelves.

 

The class begun promptly when all novices had piled inside. It was strange that so many of the girls still spooked when the Accepted dropped her invisibility. Kalinde was seated to the front of the class today. She did not wish to miss anything. Embracing the source had come quite naturally to her, and she wanted to prove to both the accepted and herself that she could master all that the woman taught. Her self-assured pride took a large blow when the exercises started.

 

Kalinde could embrace the source, but imagining the cloud over the sun proved much more difficult. She saw the cloud over the sun, but the sun in her mind was not Saidar, it was just a sun. She struggled to connect the source to the image of the sun, but failed. She could see that the others were managing just fine. Kalinde felt anger at her lack of success and bit her lip hard. And just like that Saidar winked out of her. She slumped lower on the chair. The Accepted was going round the class now instructing some and complimenting the others. Kalinde frowned and embraced Saidar again. This time she did not let go of the image of the sun. And slowly she realized that the cloud was working.

 

The power seemed to grow smaller until she could just feel herself still embracing the source. Kalinde smiled but that one gesture made her drop the image of the cloud and Saidar came rushing back. She abruptly let of the source and held her hands firmly to her head. The Accepted had not been lying about the pain. The girl next to her shook her head at her. “You are doing it wrong.” She whispered. Kalinde bit her lip hard to keep herself from glaring at the other, and tried again. And again.

 

By the end of the lesson her head was pounding like anvils but she had managed to keep control of Saidar. Kalinde could not understand why this lesson had been so hard. She still struggled to get the cloud to work properly but the Accepted had managed to teach her how to make it work. She shook her head at the empty notebook in front of her. She would have to be wary to let her own pride ruin things again.

 

 

[Visar Falmaien]

(ooc: and this took forever getting back to! My bad!)

 

Rytali sat down again in the by now familiar classroom.  What new surprises will our teacher throw at us today? she wondered.  She glanced at the desk, though by now she didn't expect the teacher to appear there.  Rytali tentatively waved her arm besides her desk.  Not there.  That left...

 

Bang!

 

Rytali, despite having mentally prepared herself for this, could not help but jump a little in her seat and turn her head, as their teacher walked into the room in a more normal manner.  Why does she always do that?  Recovering herself, Rytali opened her notebook, readied her pen, and took notes, forcing her mind to focus on what they would be learning and not their Accepted teacher's theatrical entrance.

 

She could embrace Saidar consistently now, though merely holding a bit of it for very long was still quite a challenge.  She listened to the metaphor of the sun, and of trying to imagine a cloud cover it only slightly, to allow some of saidar through but not all of it.  Rytali frowned, wondering why anyone would want to limit themselves to any of that wonderful power.  But her teacher had been clear of the risks of holding too much, and Rytali had already come dangerously close to doing so in some of her previous lessons.

 

It only took a few tries before she achieved something similar to what Accepted Nenen described; only for some reason the mental image didn't appear as a cloud to Rytali, but rather as if several layers of parchment paper were blocking some of the light of a lamp.  She wondered if she should ask about that, but perhaps it didn't matter what metaphor they used, as long as they achieved that same sort of muted hold over the Power.  It didn't feel in the least bit comfortable either, but Nenen encouraged them that this was normal and that they would get used to it.

 

Now to gradually increase their power.  To her considerate surprise, Rytali did just that on her first try, imagining the layers of parchment slowly peeling away to reveal the light.  But just as soon as she had gradually opened herself to more of the beautiful sensation of Saidar, she lost her control of it.  It flared painfully to her head, and she quickly released herself for fear of the consequences of holding too much.

 

Again! she told herself defiantly.  She would get this down, and she would maintain her control!  After many more times to hold various states of control, she was satisfied that she could do it.  Most of the time, anyway.  Her head throbbed and she was damp with sweat from the effort.  Some of the other novices bore similarly exhausted expressions.

 

To Rytali's immense relief, Nenen told her that that was enough for the day.  If they pushed themselves too hard, she said, they would risk dire consequences.  Rytali could only graciously and silently accept the end to that ordeal.  She would come back again to refine her control tomorrow.

[Kelitor]

(ooc: what Visar said. :( Sorry!)

 

Ykoria rushed into the room in a slight daze, the last of the pack. She had been feeling tired all morning and- BANG! The door flew open behind her, and she couldn't stop herself from jumping and letting out a tiny shriek.

 

As Accepted Nenen, cool and possessed as any Aes Sedai, glided as if on wheels down to the front of the room, Ykoria sank tiredly into a chair, feeling more then a little frazzled.

 

The Accepted surveyed the class tranquilly for several seconds before beginning, "I have finally decided that you have progressed to the stage where you all can now channel reliably. You have done extremely well so far, and this class has been one of the faster classes that I have taught since I became an Accepted. However, there is still a lot more that you have to learn, about Saidar and wielding it, in order for you to progress to the stage where you have mastered control."

 

Ykoria felt an eyebrow try and climb. Fast?... It didn't seem fast. It had seemed like they were moving more rapidly in their academic classes, if anything, she mused to herself as Accepted Nenen continued to admonish them to hard work and prudence. Then some fool must have muttered something or let their emotions show (idiot!) and Nenen lit into them, and she suppressed a sign of irritation.

 

Then she glanced up from her contemplation of her folded hands to see Nenen apparently glaring at her, and she twitched back, glancing away again in fright.

 

But then Nenen began to move to the desk, explaining that today's lesson would involve controlling the amount of Saidar one held. Ykoria frowned, that didn't seem particularly difficult. She embraced Saidar, sighing in pleasure as it banished some of her weariness (or so she told herself).

 

It seemed strange, Is this actually terribly difficult for some people? She wondered idly? Ykoria herself found the visualization of Saidar as a river made the exercise rather easy. True, the Accepted had used the Sun image, but this seemed more logical. The temptation was there, and to her surprise, she found herself over time, gradually embracing more. On the whole, it wasn't a major challenge, however.

 

Finally though, the Accepted must be satisfied, for she continued, ""Now, I want you to slowly move, or thin the cloud, such that the amount of light and warmth falling on you GRADUALLY increases. Do NOT allow it to suddenly increase to full strength, or you will feel an instant headache. Try it now."

 

Ykoria nodded, essentially, becoming conscience of the process that she, and many others, did instinctively. It was surprisingly difficult. Unlike the initial control of strength, what possible purpose could there be to this agonizingly slow opening? Ykoria would accidentally go too fast, producing a stab of pain in her forehead, and she would have to start over.

 

Eventually though, she looked up, with finally a reasonable quantity of Saidar in her.

 

[Amadine]

*bump*