Training for Teal and Jureal

[KorasSendero]

The roosters have just ceased their calls, and the first rays of sunshine came through the shutters of Koras` windows. He was already awake and smoking a pipe near the fire, getting ready for his first training since his return. He did not know the current standards of training, but he heard rumors that some still remember the Koras laps he made his mentees run around the tower. Teal and Jureal the two new newcomers who he thought of as his new mentees, although he realized that the mentees system was not working as before, were supposed to arrive at first daylight straight to the training grounds. He looked in the mirror, and ran his right hand in his hair. He did not look a lot older than he did when he left the Black Tower two years ago. He became a father since. Did it soften him up? He shall find out today. He was wearing the black coat first time in the past two years. Two pins decorating the coat`s collar. The Dragon was his from before leaving. He kept it all this time when he was in the big world. The sword pin got lost, so he took one from Arath’s office.

 

Koras stepped out of his house, his spear hanging by a belt behind his back, Saidin keeping his warmth, preventing his bones from freezing. The black coat was hardly enough to keep a man warm in this part of the world. He missed Arath Doman – his family was there, and the Aryth Ocean.

 

The training ground was empty except for his two mentees. They were not soldiers yet, no matter what they told them in the headquarters. They would still need to pass Koras` journey for the Soldier rank. And it would not be an easy one. They will be Soldiers by the end of this day, which would last forever as far as they will be able to tell. They did not know what they were about to gain and lose in the training. He broke the newcomers, the kids, and made men out of them - guardians. Those who will go mad or stand back to back with the Dragon in Tarmon Gai’don. Koras hided a small smirk as he saw the fear in Teal’s eyes and they empty gaze of the Aiel. He will test the legends about the Aiel. Will Jureal snap?

 

“Attention!” he barked, and the two men looked at each other, not knowing what to do next. “When I say attention, recruits, you have to get in line, hands behind your back, and the man on the right is to salute fist to chest until I will salute back. Then he is to return his hands behind is back. This is how it is done” Koras illustrated the Attention stance. “When I say at ease you go to being at ease. Next time it is not done properly, you will be punished. Your training program begins today. My job is to make excellent Asha’man out of you. From what I saw until now, I wouldn’t let the two of your carry water in Tarmon Gai’don” he turned to the Aiel “or whatever you redheads call it”. He smiled as he thought he saw anger going through the Aiel’s face. He was not sure the Aiel will respect Koras` authority being a wet-lander and worst- a tree-killer. Koras will make him respect his authority, by crushing Jureal’s tree with his boot. He’ll thank him later. “What I see in front of me now are two lost men, who need guidance. And guidance you will get. It is one of the last times in your life when mistakes will be punished with physical exercise or pain. Punishment for mistakes as Asha’man will be a lot worse. In the end of it, you will be warriors of our Lord Dragon – or however you Aiel call him” he turned to look at Jureal, giving him a long meaningful gaze that said – mess with me and feel my wrath.

 

The recruits stood in attention and awaited orders. “If you newbies thought you’d be touching Saidin today, you were wrong. Before a new recruit is allowed to channel, he should first become a Soldier first. Follow me, and I will show you what I call the laps”. Koras lead them outside the tower. “The tower is more or less round in its perimeter. We’re going to do one lap now as a demonstration, and from now on when you will have to do laps, you will know what it means”. Koras started running. A commander is always to set the example for his men. They did three more laps around the tower after the first one and went back to the training ground. The three men were sweating but none seemed tired yet. “Each one of you will have to choose his weapon-of-choice before the next lesson which will be tomorrow; you can go to the blacksmith and tell him your preferences. In the end of our program you will get better weapons, but for now wooden versions will do just fine. Teal you are to bring a long wooden tipped spear for me as well, since we will do weapons training mostly by sparring” he tried to reduce the uncertainty, because he wanted the men to be focused on training only.

 

OOC: Write your weapon and OP scores before you post.

 

Back to IC:

 

The men weren’t in a bad shape, since he knew recruits who fainted after four Koras-laps. Koras had the feeling that they thought it was the end of training.

 

“For an Asha’man to serve as a Guardian he must be in top shape. You will follow me on a trip now, which will end when I will say so. We will do it running, low pace first. I am sure you Aiel will be able to outrun even me, but we shall test his hypothesis”. He’d make Jureal carry Teal if the journey would go as Koras intended. He turned his back to the men, and started running, hoping the Aiel won’t find a sharp object to stab him in the back. He held Saidin just to be sure.

 

 

 

OOC: Okay guys lets go on a small 100 mile journey in the forests around the farm. This will be your first adventure and training. It will count as a non-channeling training. I assume that the men will arrive weaponless to the first training. Jureal will probably use Aiel-spear?

Edited November 2, 2011 by KorasSendero

[Cainam]

The night before they had overloaded Jureal with useless belongings. They gave him a black suit which he threw in the fire shortly after receiving it. They tried to assign him a room in what the wetlanders called the barracks. Atleast they gave Teal and him the same barracks. He couldn’t believe they actually wanted him to sleep inside of that place. He would never hear anything or know what was happening around him with all that stone around himself. He went about 100 paces away from the barracks on the edge of the forest and pitched his tent. He wasn’t sure if they would like it but he really didn’t care. They Car’a’carn wanted him to learn to channel not to learn to be a wetlander. He wasn’t sure if Teal would join him or if Teal would ever talk to him again after his latest outburst but he made sure to tell him he was welcome to his water and shade anytime he needed it. That night he slept ready to dance the spears just incase.

 

About an hour before the sun rose he got up and went to the training grounds and waited for his first instructions. He wasn’t sure about this Koras. But as he promised he would give the man a chance. A short time later he and Teal were waiting for Koras to arrive. They saw him striding up and as he stopped infront of them he barked “Attention!.” Jureal looked at Teal not sure what this man wanted. “When I say attention, recruits, you have to get in line, hands behind your back, and the man on the right is to salute fist to chest until I salute back. Then he is to return his hands behind is back. This is how it is done” Koras illustrated the Attention stance. “When I say at ease you go to being at ease. Next time it is not done properly, you will be punished. Your training program begins today. My job is to make excellent Asha’man out of you. From what I saw until now, I wouldn’t let the two of your carry water in Tarmon Gai’don” he turned to Jureal “or whatever you redheads call it”. Jureals face tightened slightly as koras tried to gode him.

 

“What I see in front of me now are two lost men, who need guidance. And guidance you will get. It is one of the last times in your life when mistakes will be punished with physical exercise or pain. Punishment for mistakes as Asha’man will be a lot worse. In the end of it, you will be warriors of our Lord Dragon – or however you Aiel call him” Jureal stood there on the brink of veiling and putting a spear through this man but he got control of himself.

 

“If you newbies thought you’d be touching Saidin today, you were wrong. Before a new recruit is allowed to channel, he should first become a Soldier first. Follow me, and I will show you what I call the laps”. Koras lead them outside the tower. “The tower is more or less round in its perimeter. We’re going to do one lap now as a demonstration, and from now on when you will have to do laps, you will know what it means”. Koras started running. Jureal was actually impressed he ran the lap. Most of these wetlanders was quick to tell you to do something they were not willing to do themselves. They ran a total of three laps.

 

At the end of the laps Koras said “Each one of you will have to choose his weapon-of-choice before the next lesson which will be tomorrow; you can go to the blacksmith and tell him your preferences. In the end of our program you will get better weapons, but for now wooden versions will do just fine. Teal you are to bring a long wooden tipped spear for me as well, since we will do weapons training mostly by sparring” Jureal would use his spears. He knew no wetlander could have the skill to duplicate his so he would continue to use his own. And if needed he would find a way to get more from an Aiel Blacksmith.

 

OOC: OP score. 33 WS 8

 

Back to IC:

 

“For an Asha’man to serve as a Guardian he must be in top shape. You will follow me on a trip now, which will end when I will say so. We will do it running, low pace first. I am sure you Aiel will be able to outrun even me, but we shall test his hypothesis”. For the first time Jureal gave a slight smile. This man actually wanted to run with him. He would show him why his people were known for their stamina and strength at running.Jureal still didnt like this man but he would do what was needed to become and Asha'man and help the Car'a'carn at the last battle. And who knows, this wetlander might actually find a way to show some worth. Jureal gave a slight laugh and continued running. Teal looked at him and Jureal just shrugged.

[Visar Falmaien]

(OOC: thanks for the wait, guys; Teal's WS is 0; he's a conscientious objector; OP score 28 power, 32 skill)

 

This was it, his first day of training. Teal did his best to try to suppress his nervousness, which, despite Jureal's efforts to help him get used to living in the barracks, was probably showing through clear as day. What would they do today? Would they learn how to channel?

 

He stood at attention with Jureal, adjusting his stance as necessary when ordered. He could do that much, at least, though he was not sure if he liked this Koras.

 

As the tension started to build inside of him again, Teal was completely surprised that their first exercise was something so simple, running laps. He thought he'd have to do something horrible to start with, like blow people up or whatever channeling men did. Considerably relieved, Teal fell into step besides Jureal and Koras, but found with his shorter pace he struggled to keep up. The Aiel just bounded ahead, and Koras had a murderous pace, too; the two seemed content to compete with each other.

 

Teal just tried to keep them in his sights, as he kept running. He was just a little out of breath after the second lap, and a very annoying ache developed in his ribs at the third, but he managed to finish without embarrassing himself so far. He was sweating and breathing hard, but he thought he might be able to do another lap or two before collapsing. So, that was laps, he thought to himself. Not too hard, as long as he didn't have to do fifty of them or some other such ridiculous number.

 

They were to go on a journey, one that would take quite a while. Teal felt nervous and fretful; what did he need for the journey? He didn't know. He brought a small hunting knife that he could use for utility, and himself with a good change of clothes, but he didn't really possess anything else such as a saddlebag, or a horse, or any sort of pack to carry supplies. Would Koras provide supplies or were they supposed to live off the land?

 

Teal arrived for the day of the journey, already sweating. He looked up at Jureal, who actually seemed excited! There seemed to be some rivalry going on between the Aielman and their trainer. Teal just wanted to survive whatever trip ordeal this was. They were to start at a slow run.

 

"Oh great, more running," muttered Teal. They ran for a ways, and Teal was already starting to get tired and drop behind. He just couldn't run as fast as the other two at their pace! He was used to a lot of exercise, but give him a rowboat over a running course any day!

 

"Asha'man Koras," Teal asked as he finally managed to catch up at one point. He wanted to ask what in the Light they were doing, just running off into the forest, but he thought that might not be a good question. "What are we doing for umm, supplies and such, sir? Were we supposed to leave with packs?"

 

Teal hoped he hadn't spoken out of turn, and waited to hear what they were going to do other than run for a long time. He was thirsty, and starving!

 

-Teal,

confused and starting to suffer

Edited December 9, 2011 by Visar Falmaien
taking out mention of weapons

[KorasSendero]

OOC: Okay guys, great first posts. Let us take it further.

 

IC:

 

Koras stopped at Teal’s question. Jureal stopped and turned away, not meeting Koras` eyes. “Supplies? I will hunt them down, and you will pill their skin off and fry them. You keep forgetting that” Koras channeled and an arrow of Air was sent towards a random rabbit that gave them a weird gaze on Koras` right hand side. It hit the rabbit between the eyes and it fell down almost silently. “You’ve asked for it, use your knife to clean it. Jureal, let’s see if we can make a fire here” Koras did not consider hunger. He is to take a better care of his mints. A small pond was also nearby where they will be able to drink. The mentees were running pretty well so far.

 

After food was ready they have sat beside the fire. Jureal did a good job in starting it, and Teal worked well on the rabbit. Koras weaved Air and swirled the rabbit on top of the fire. They were resting. The day was receding, the sun going down. “So before we continue into our night run I wanted to tell you that all my mentees went through such journey in order to turn from recruit to a Soldier - the first rank in the Black Tower” they would stop at the pond around ten miles away from their location and it will be their last stop for today. But not before eating and talking a bit. "Any questions you may have I want to hear them all? I will answer them as long as it is nothing personal, and has a connection to the Black Tower” Koras wanted to hear out if the mentees had any problems and questions regarding their first days in the tower.

 

OOC: Okay guys let’s start a small conversation before leave-taking again. Koras wants to hear if you have adjustment issues, and questions. Then he will tell you a small story of a battle.

 

 

 

 

[Cainam]

As they came to a stop from there run Koras told Jureal to get a fire started. So he went off nearby to gather dried twigs and some logs for the fire. His new friend seemed as lost as he was and he knew he was going to have to teach Teal to survive. As he came back to the little camp he dug a small pit and went to work starting the fire.

 

As they all sat around the fire Jureal leaned back and sharpened his belt knife. The knife was already razor sharp but it gave him something to do with his hands. He was still unsure about his new mentor Koras. In one point he was strong for a wetlander but he was still an oathbreaker. Although it pained him he thought to himself that he could see himself beginning to like him.

 

“So before we continue into our night run I wanted to tell you that all my mentees went through such journey in order to turn from recruit to a Soldier - the first rank in the Black Tower” Koras said over the sounds of Teal eating. "Any questions you may have I want to hear them all? I will answer them as long as it is nothing personal, and has a connection to the Black Tower” Jureal looked at Teal who was intent on eating so he took the lead. "Tell us about the training to become Asha'man. Such as what is involved and how we advance." He said in a calm tone.

[KorasSendero]

OOC: Sorry for the delayed response, its holidays and I am home with the kids (less puter time).

 

IC:

 

"Well" Koras lit his pipe and inhaled. "The road to become an Asha'man is not one. There are parallel paths you go. Officially you have to master some One Power skills and get other training that we in the farm find necessary for your mature self, as Asha'man. Unofficially, I've prevented rank from those I found unworthy, until they've proved me wrong. Or until they died trying..." he sucked on his pipe some more. "Asha'man is not only a rank, but also a status, and a form of commitment to serve who you call the 'Car'a'carn'. So now I want the two of you to tell me what your expectations are from our training until you're Asha'man, and what do you want to achieve as an Asha'man... that is before going mad and being killed..." he gave a cynical smirk. He wanted to hear the men out. "Also, I want you to tell me in short what defines you, by telling a short story about yourselves".

 

He smiled and waited for the stories to come. The food was good, but he enjoyed the setting around the fire much more.

 

OOC: If you have questions do not hesitate to ask on the BT board, or PM me.

 

Koras Sendero,

Ashy.