Introduction to Saidar: Lesson 1

[Kathleen]

Seheria was in the classroom early making sure everything was in order. Today she would meet the next group of hopefuls to follow in the foot steps of the great Aes Sedai before them. She would be the first teacher a lot of these girls would have, and surely the first teacher of the great gift they all possess. What a big day for each of these girls! What a major step in their lives this was for them. And she would be the one to bring their future to them.

 

She loved teaching all classes, getting to see which students had the most potential and shining them up and helping them reach their potential, but this was the one she loved the most.

 

She could hear movement in the hall and decided it was time to get started. She glided to the door and opened it wide. Then she took a seat at the large oak desk in the front of the class, and forced a chearful look on her face. It was hard for her to break the straight faced gaze she always held, she hated to pretend, but she could do it if she had to, and she wanted the students to be relaxed and open to learning so she smiled at each one as they entered and found their seats.

 

When they had all found their seats Seheria wasted no time. She stood before the class and addressed them in as much of an informal tone as she could, which ended up being quite formal just the same.

 

“Good morning everyone. I am Seheria Sedai, of the Yellow Ajah. I will be your teacher for this Introduction to Saidar course." As she spoke she shifted her eye contact through out the class, giving each girl a moment of her own. "This class marks the beginning of your journey to becoming Aes Sedai. During this course you will learn about the nature of the One Power, and of course, how to channel. Now, I would like to take a moment for you to each introduce yourself to the class. We will be spending quite some time together and I'd like us to at least know a little about who we are sharing our time with."

 

Seheria listened to each girl's introduction as they went around the room, taking the time to mentally size up each of them. When they were done she contunied. "Now that we are a little more well acquainted, let us begin. This class is arguably the most important class you will take in your time with us here at the Tower. Please listen carefully and take the warnings to heart, they are for your own safety." Seheria's tone became quite harsh as she spoke, but they needed to know she meant what she said and it was not to be taken lightly.

 

"The first rule you must learn is to never, and I mean never, channel without supervision. Supervision means with the approval and direct watchful eye of an Accepted or an Aes Sedai. If you are ever caught channelling without supervision you will wish you had never come to the White Tower. The Mistress of Novices does not take lightly to such a breach of the rules. You'd be lucky if she didn't turn you out of the tower on the first breach of this kind. Do you all understand me?”

 

Seheria waited until each girl nodded that they did understand, she was not going to glaze over that question. She needed to know they truly understood how serious she was about it.“As I said earlier, every restriction that is in place is for your own safety. Young girls such as yourselves have been burned out, or killed, by channelling more of Saidar than they are ready for. We will teach you in a safe environment, and foster your abilities to bring you to your full strength.”

 

As Seheria continued the lecture she slowly moved across the front of the classroom, “Saidar is addictive. You will want to hold it all the time. You will feel more alive whilst holding Saidar; colours will be sharper and in this is the temptation to channel unsupervised. Do not fall prey to this temptation. I will say it again, and bide my words well, you will never channel unsupervised. I want to hear you each say that back to me. I want your word on it.”

 

Seheria stopped, dead center of the front of the room, and waited for each girl to repeat the promise. She stared into each of their eyes as they all swore the oath back to her.

 

Seheria tried to force some sweetness back into her voice. Truly it was more common that she speak in harsh tones, but this was supposed to be a pleasant lesson for the students, and if that meant that she had to force some cheer in her words then it was worth the effort to give these girls their best shot.

 

She smiled at the Novices seated in front of her and they appeared to relax a little. “Please take out your parchments and pens; you will want to take notes from here on in.”

 

There was a rustle of parchment and the clinking of inkpots having their stoppers removed. After a few moments, when silence had settled over the room again Seheria began to speak. “We are here today to learn about the One Power. The One Power is what drives all of Creation. It allows the Pattern to form and the World to turn. As Channellers we become conduits for the One Power, we guide the One Power to use it for our needs.”

 

She took up a piece of chalk and drew a large circle of the chalkboard on the front wall of the classroom. “We can represent the One Power as a circle such as this.” She then drew a sinuous line from the top of the circle and coloured the side that sat like a teardrop white. “The One Power or True Source, as you may hear it called, is made up of two halves. Women channel Saidar, the female half, you may recognise that symbol as the Flame of Tar Valon. While men channel Saidin, the male half, again you may recognise this symbol as what is known by many as the Dragon’s Fang.” Seheria paused to label the to two halves of the circle.

 

There were several gasps from the Novices in the class at the mention of Saidin and Seheria could almost feel the collective shudder from the students behind her at the mention of Saidin and the Dragon's Fang."

 

When the symbol was properly labeled she turned back to face the class, "Saidar and Saidin are simply two halves of a whole. Neither evil, nor good, they just are. Saidin is often regarded as evil because of the madness which consumes men who can channel. Saidin itself is not evil, it was during the Sealing of the Bore on the Dark One’s prison that Dark One reached out as his final gesture and tainted Saidin. It is this taint on Saidin that drives men who can channel mad; they often kill others before they themselves are killed. The Red Ajah’s mission is to protect not only the world from men who can channel, but to protect them from themselves by gentling men they can find with the ability to channel Saidin.”

 

“Saidar remains clean and safe to use and it is with Saidar that Aes Sedai work. To wield Saidar we must first surrender to it and understand it. The One Power is made of five elements, Air, Water, Earth, Fire and finally Spirit. Generally women are strongest in Air and Water, whilst men are stronger in Earth and Fire. Spirit is split evenly between the two. You will probably find that you have an affinity with one or two of the elements; however, you must not let your studies lag in the other elements because as our weaves become more complex we use flows of more than one element.”

 

As the girls finish noting what she had just explained the Yellow made her way back to her desk and stood just in front of it.

 

“Set down your pens girls and close your eyes. Now the fun begins! We will now attempt to embrace Saidar.”

 

She watched as pens were hastily laid down and each girl closed her eyes and waited, some faces held trepidation whilst other held barely concealed excitement. Seheria’s voice took on a hypnotic quality, “I want you to imagine a rosebud. Exclude everything from your thoughts except the rosebud. Become the rosebud, you are the rosebud. Think of nothing but the rosebud. Be the rosebud, feel the sun on your petals, feel the warmth of the sunlight and draw that warmth in. As you draw the warmth the rosebud opens and blooms.”

 

After a few moments some of the girls had a glow flicker around them, brightly shining and blinking out again. Every now and then one would open her eyes and give her head a shake before closing her eyes and trying again. Some took longer than others to have the glow, but gradually each of the girls in the room was able to maintain their embrace of Saidar and the glow surrounded each of them.

 

Seheria Mori

Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah

 

(OOC: RP arriving in class, introducing yourself, your reaction to learning about the nature of Saidar/Saidin and then attempting to embrace Saidar. Ask questions if you wish, and have Seheria help you if need be. In a few days I will post again to complete this lesson and then we will begin Lesson Two)

[Ledinna Sedai]

Sagneia was rather anxious as she waited in the hall for the doors to the class to open. She didn’t know very clearly what this lesson would be about, but she did realize how important it would be for her future. This would be her first ”real” day in the White Tower.

 

As the doors were finally opened, Sagneia was the very first one to enter the classroom, and she did it her usual way: full of confidence. She answered to the teaching Aes Sedai’s smile with hers, and found herself a seat from the front row. Even before Seheria Sedai introduced herself, Sagneia had already decided that she liked her. She had always liked calm teachers that knew what they were doing.

 

 

” ...and I'd like us to at least know a little about who we are sharing our time with."

 

Sagneia resisted the urge to open her mouth right away, but was still again the first one of the class to introduce herself. Calmly, she started her introduction.

 

”Good morning, Seheria Sedai and class. My name is Sagneia Kathen, and I come from Tarabon.” Sagneia kept a little silence as she realized, how unnecessary the last part was; it could be easily seen from her thin-braided hair.

 

Hastily, she continued: ”My father keeps a fabric store in Tanchico. This was actually the first time I went outside Tarabon... But I’m very happy to be here anyway” In the end she was feeling confident again. Like so many times before, she had already forgotten her weak moment and gone forward not remembering the failures.

 

For the others' introductions, she didn't pay that much attention. She did listen them, and was quite surprised of some of them, but the actual teaching and Saidar was the things she waited for. Uneasily, she moved a little on her chair for a several many times before Seheria Sedai finally began. Now the girl listened every single sentence with care and decided to remember them. She herself didn’t notice it, but she kept nodding for the talk so often that it had to be ridiculous already.

 

“Please take out your parchments and pens; you will want to take notes from here on in.”

Sagneia nodded sternly. Writing wasn’t one of her strengths, but she could always hope there was somebody else in the class feeling the same way. She concentrated to the writing so hard that she didn’t really listen to the words she wrote down. Except those words, she couldn’t help hearing them, and immediately felt the shivers running down her spine. Saidin and Dragon’s Fang. Sagneia gulped but didn’t stop writing dispite of how shaky she wrote those words.

 

Finally Seheria Sedai let them put the pens down, and Sagneia noticed not to be the only one whose wrist seemed to hurt from all the writing. Closing her eyes, she felt very different kind of feelings rush through her. This was the very moment she had both waited and been afraid of. What if she couldn’t do it? Or what if she took too much and the Saidar would kill her?

 

The hypnotic tone of the Aes Sedai calmed her. A rosebud opening to sun... But nothing happened. Disappointted she opened her eyes, just narrowly, to see how the other girls were doing. Reading the face expressions, she concluded that some actually had managed to grasp Saidar.

 

Now rather annoyed, she tried over and over again, failing poorly and becoming even more annoyed each time. The girl tasted blood in her mouth, and only then noticed how hard she had bit her lip. She started it all over again. A rosebud opening to the sun.

 

Finally she did it, probably among the last ones in the class. But now she forgot her pride and jealousy, as rare as it was. For the first time she embraced the Source, nothing else mattered. Completely overwhelmed and stunned by the feeling, she couldn’t hold a laugh of pure joy.

 

Sagneia Kathen

Novice of the White Tower

[Kathleen]

Seheria sat patiently at her desk waiting for each of the girls find the hold on the power with themselves. She didn't make a sound so as not to distract the girls' concentration. A few times girls did seem to struggle and when they did the Yellow would make her way to their desk and reminded them that they had done it before, when they were tested, so she knew they could do it. She told them that most of the time it was just nerves and pressure that made this lesson hard to do. Eventually they calmed and the the class was ready to move on.

 

Seheria stood before them again and clapped her hands together. The sudden noise made a few girls jump, and it made all of the girls lose their hold on Saidar. She had a quick moment of guilt when she saw the glow blink out of them in such a way. She knew that letting it go too quickly could mean disaster, but she had taught the class enough to know that this wouldn't really harm any of them.

 

"Well done everyone. For some of you it came sooner and others had to work harder on it before they were able to embrace. Do not be hard on yourself over this. Embracing the source, as you all just did, is not always something that comes easily. In the years you will have to practice, on your way to becoming Aes Sedai, you will become so used to it that you won't even think about the rosebud; you will just open yourself to it at will. But until that time, you will most likely need to think your way through each step.

 

There will be times, try as you may, that it just will not come to you. Times of great stress, or great fear; times when you cannot calmly focus on the process of opening yourself to it, these are the times you will find it difficult to embrace the source. And through out your lessons and years of learning, we will do what can be done to help you learn to overcome this." Seheria studied the girls as she spoke to see who reacted to the words. Some seemed upset that they would stumble, and some seemed to take it as a challenge and she could see their faces twist to determination to control it, as she had when she had learned that fact herself.

 

"The longer you hold Saidar, and the more you use it, the more tired you will become. It doesn't take long to feel the effects of holding it. I am sure that most of you are already feeling tired from the lesson today. Your threshold for this will increase with more practice, but if you hold it for too long or hold too much at once, you will put yourself in danger of burning out." Seheria paused to let the words hit the girls. This was a very serious matter. The number of girls with high potential who had burned themselves out in this way was far too high and they had to be aware, and even afraid of this.

 

"While you hold it and while you are using it, you may not think you are in danger, but the full effect of how much it takes out of you isn't truly felt until you release it. That is why it is imperative that you never practice this lesson, or the ones to follow in our future classes, with out the supervision of an Accepted or full Sister. I fully support pushing yourself to be the best and pushing your abilities to make yourself a better asset to the Tower, but burning yourself out would not benifite the Tower.

 

Not only do you have a personal potential that we wish to see you develop, you have a potential to better the White Tower as a whole, please do not put that potential for the betterment of the Tower in danger just to satisfy a momentary desire.

 

Notice now how tired you feel. Recall how you did not feel so tired while you were embracing Saidar. I knew when to stop you, you did not. You will not know when you've had too much until it is too late. For that reason, you must be certain not to try what you've learned in this class without the supervision of an Accepted or and Aes Sedai. We have learned the signs to look for. We will discuss more on this later, but for now, go rest. We will meet back here at the scheduled time for our second lesson."

 

Seheria sat at the desk when she finished speaking, letting the class know the lesson was truly over and that they really were dismissed. She started to gather her papers together, making sure to look approachable if the students had questions. She hoped the students would take the warning seriously, there were always a few novices who did break that rule and practice alone, she herself had been one, but hopefully she had at the very least convinced them to limit the amount they did if not stop them completely.

 

 

 

OOC: I will be posting the Second Lesson in a new thread in this board in the next few days. You can RP your reaction to what Seheria said at the end of this class and rp out leaving the class room. If you want to stop and ask Seheria some questions feel free to do so.

 

If you did not get a chance to reply to the first post, please feel free to jump in and RP out the whole class, just make sure to stay in the guidelines of the Req. and reply to all points in both of Seheria's posts.

[Kaylynn]

(OOC: Sorry this one is so long I had to do both at the same time and so it is long........again sorry)

 

Kaylynn walked through the halls of the White Tower, trying to rush without rushing. She past an Accepted in the hallway and the Accepted arched an eyebrow at the speed that Kaylynn was traveling through the halls. Kaylynn slowed and curtsied mid-stride towards the Accepted and continued on her way.

 

Kaylynn was running late for her first One Power class and she did not want to be tardy. Her teacher was Seheria Sedai and she heard that she could be strict and a little mean. She involuntarily shivered, even though she knew that no Aes Sedai would hurt a novice with the One Power, she wondered what the Aes Sedai did do to get such a reputation around the Novice Quarters.

 

Kaylynn turned around the last corner and notice the door just starting to open and a couple other novices in the hallway. Kaylynn hurried through the door and slowed immediately to a walk after crossing the threshold. She stopped and made a deep curtsy at the Seheria Sedai. She walked to a seat in the middle of the seats in the room. She did not want to look to eager or to indifferent to be in her first One Power class.

 

Kaylynn watched as the other novices entered the classroom and waited for the class to begin.

 

“Good morning everyone. I am Seheria Sedai, of the Yellow Ajah. I will be your teacher for this Introduction to Saidar course. This class marks the beginning of your journey to becoming Aes Sedai. During this course you will learn about the nature of the One Power, and of course, how to channel. Now, I would like to take a moment for you to each introduce yourself to the class. We will be spending quite some time together and I'd like us to at least know a little about who we are sharing our time with."

 

Kaylynn opened her mouth to answer Seheria Sedai's question but was interrupted by a girl in the first row. She looked at the back of the girl. She knew her........then Kaylynn frowned as she realized that it was her roommate. The girl had not really talked to her since she arrived the other day, which Kaylynn took as jitters but still it was also rude.

 

”Good morning, Seheria Sedai and class. My name is Sagneia Kathen, and I come from Tarabon. My father keeps a fabric store in Tanchico. This was actually the first time I went outside Tarabon... But I’m very happy to be here anyway”

 

After Sagneia finished, Kaylynn spoke up before anyone else could. “I am Kaylynn, Seheria Sedai. I am the daughter of a minor lord and a high merchant from Bandar Eban in Arad Doman......,” of course everyone knew Bandar Eban was in Arad Doman, you stupid ninny, Kaylynn scolded herself. She took a deep breath and continued, “I am the youngest and only girl of four, all my brothers are soldiers. I lost one on Almoth Plain.” Kayla paused for a minute remembering her eldest brother, “but I gave all that up to become a novice at the White Tower and I am proud to be here.”

 

"Now that we are a little more well acquainted, let us begin. This class is arguably the most important class you will take in your time with us here at the Tower. Please listen carefully and take the warnings to heart, they are for your own safety."

 

"The first rule you must learn is to never, and I mean never, channel without supervision. Supervision means with the approval and direct watchful eye of an Accepted or an Aes Sedai. If you are ever caught channeling without supervision you will wish you had never come to the White Tower. The Mistress of Novices does not take lightly to such a breach of the rules. You'd be lucky if she didn't turn you out of the tower on the first breach of this kind. Do you all understand me?”

Kaylynn nodded eagerly to Seheria's rules so fast she thought her head might come of her shoulders. She did not want to be turned out of the tower ever, she wanted to be Aes Sedai.

 

“As I said earlier, every restriction that is in place is for your own safety. Young girls such as yourselves have been burned out, or killed, by channeling more of Saidar than they are ready for. We will teach you in a safe environment, and foster your abilities to bring you to your full strength.”

 

“Saidar is addictive. You will want to hold it all the time. You will feel more alive whilst holding Saidar; colors will be sharper and in this is the temptation to channel unsupervised. Do not fall prey to this temptation. I will say it again, and bide my words well, you will never channel unsupervised. I want to hear you each say that back to me. I want your word on it.”

 

“I promise to never channel unsupervised,” Kaylynn stated aloud. She stared at Seheria's face as if she looked at the woman as she spoke she could make the knowledge sink in better.

 

“Please take out your parchments and pens; you will want to take notes from here on in.”

 

Kaylynn pulled out parchment, an ink pot, blotting sand, and her quill out of her white satchel. She arranged everything just so on her desk and then looked again eagerly at Seheria's face.

 

“We are here today to learn about the One Power. The One Power is what drives all of Creation. It allows the Pattern to form and the World to turn. As Channellers we become conduits for the One Power, we guide the One Power to use it for our needs.”

 

“We can represent the One Power as a circle such as this.” She then drew a sinuous line from the top of the circle and colored the side that sat like a teardrop white. “The One Power or True Source, as you may hear it called, is made up of two halves. Women channel Saidar, the female half, you may recognize that symbol as the Flame of Tar Valon. While men channel Saidin, the male half, again you may recognize this symbol as what is known by many as the Dragon’s Fang.” Seheria paused to label the to two halves of the circle.

 

Kaylynn only just stifled a gasp so as to not look as foolish as some of the less learned girls in the class but just.

 

"Saidar and Saidin are simply two halves of a whole. Neither evil, nor good, they just are. Saidin is often regarded as evil because of the madness which consumes men who can channel. Saidin itself is not evil, it was during the Sealing of the Bore on the Dark One’s prison that Dark One reached out as his final gesture and tainted Saidin. It is this taint on Saidin that drives men who can channel mad; they often kill others before they themselves are killed. The Red Ajah’s mission is to protect not only the world from men who can channel, but to protect them from themselves by gentling men they can find with the ability to channel Saidin.”

 

“Saidar remains clean and safe to use and it is with Saidar that Aes Sedai work. To wield Saidar we must first surrender to it and understand it. The One Power is made of five elements, Air, Water, Earth, Fire and finally Spirit. Generally women are strongest in Air and Water, whilst men are stronger in Earth and Fire. Spirit is split evenly between the two. You will probably find that you have an affinity with one or two of the elements; however, you must not let your studies lag in the other elements because as our weaves become more complex we use flows of more than one element.”

 

Kaylynn watched as Seheria walked back to the front of the class. Kaylynn just knew something special was going to happen so she hastily sanded her parchment and waited for them to start something with the One Power.

 

“Set down your pens girls and close your eyes. Now the fun begins! We will now attempt to embrace Saidar.”

 

Kaylynn laid down her pen and closed her eyes but she was so nervous and excited she felt she might jump right out of her chair if not right out of her skin.

 

“I want you to imagine a rosebud. Exclude everything from your thoughts except the rosebud. Become the rosebud, you are the rosebud. Think of nothing but the rosebud. Be the rosebud, feel the sun on your petals, feel the warmth of the sunlight and draw that warmth in. As you draw the warmth the rosebud opens and blooms.”

 

Kaylynn imagined a lovely lavender rosebud opening to the rising sun, she saw the petals opening and then she felt something tickle the back of her mind and she gasped and lost the image altogether. Shaking her head, she tried again. All in all she opened her rosebud twice to nothing, once to Saidar and then lost it, the fifth time she took a deep breath before she started. She saw the rosebud and then thought of herself as the rosebud and she started to open slowly to the warmth of the sun. Kaylynn slowly opened her eyes with a huge grin on her face, she had embraced Saidar and she still did!

 

Kaylynn knew she was grinning ear to ear but she didn't care. She could feel Saidar pulsing through her, she saw the different colors of light, the dust hanging in the air, and eat individual grain in the desk in front of her. She felt Saidar waiver and Kaylynn quickly concentrated on keeping her emotions in check so she did not loss Saidar again. She never wanted to let it go.

 

Seheria Sedai suddenly clapped her hands together. Kaylynn lost her hold on Saidar and almost felt she would cry. She straightened in her chair and raised her head and tried to make it not show how hard and emotional it was to let go of something so wonderful.

 

"Well done everyone. For some of you it came sooner and others had to work harder on it before they were able to embrace. Do not be hard on yourself over this. Embracing the source, as you all just did, is not always something that comes easily. In the years you will have to practice, on your way to becoming Aes Sedai, you will become so used to it that you won't even think about the rosebud; you will just open yourself to it at will. But until that time, you will most likely need to think your way through each step.

 

There will be times, try as you may, that it just will not come to you. Times of great stress, or great fear; times when you cannot calmly focus on the process of opening yourself to it, these are the times you will find it difficult to embrace the source. And through out your lessons and years of learning, we will do what can be done to help you learn to overcome this."

 

Kaylynn tried to sit even straighter in her chair as if to show Seheria Sedai that she was one up for the challenge and willing to do her best at every turn.

 

"The longer you hold Saidar, and the more you use it, the more tired you will become. It doesn't take long to feel the effects of holding it. I am sure that most of you are already feeling tired from the lesson today. Your threshold for this will increase with more practice, but if you hold it for too long or hold too much at once, you will put yourself in danger of burning out."

 

Kaylynn's jaw dropped but she quickly shut her mouth again. She nodded in agreement to let Seheria Sedai know she understood what she was saying to the class.

 

"While you hold it and while you are using it, you may not think you are in danger, but the full effect of how much it takes out of you isn't truly felt until you release it. That is why it is imperative that you never practice this lesson, or the ones to follow in our future classes, with out the supervision of an Accepted or full Sister. I fully support pushing yourself to be the best and pushing your abilities to make yourself a better asset to the Tower, but burning yourself out would not benefit the Tower.

 

Not only do you have a personal potential that we wish to see you develop, you have a potential to better the White Tower as a whole, please do not put that potential for the betterment of the Tower in danger just to satisfy a momentary desire.

 

Notice now how tired you feel. Recall how you did not feel so tired while you were embracing Saidar. I knew when to stop you, you did not. You will not know when you've had too much until it is too late. For that reason, you must be certain not to try what you've learned in this class without the supervision of an Accepted or and Aes Sedai. We have learned the signs to look for. We will discuss more on this later, but for now, go rest. We will meet back here at the scheduled time for our second lesson."

 

Kaylynn gathered her things into her satchel and tucked it securely at her side. She rose from her desk and walked to Seheria's desk at the front of the desk. She stopped and opened her mouth, she then closed her mouth. Kaylynn looked the picture of indecision, Seheria was a yellow, the healing ajah. She had so many questions for her teacher. Do they use herbs with Saidar? Do they practice herbs as well? When can she start lessons on healing? Instead she said the stupidest thing in the world, “Does the White Tower have a herb garden? I would like to keep up my skills with herbs, my great Aunt taught me all about them.” Kaylynn stopped and almost kicked herself. Blushing a deep scarlet from neck to hairline, she quickly curtsied and walked, very close to a run, out of the classroom. She tired to not run over any of her peers and as she turned the corner, she paused against the wall. “What a stupid ninny of a question that was Kaylynn? What were you thinking?” Kaylynn then growled out loud and stalked off towards the dinning hall to do some chores.

Edited April 3, 2012 by Kaylynn

[Ledinna Sedai]

Still embracing the Source and just mesmerized by the feeling, Sagneia jumped and gave a small squeak of surprise as the Aes Sedai clapped her hands. Immediately she lost her hold of Saidar, and the world turned boring and numb again.

 

“There will be times, try as you may, that it just will not come to you. Times of great stress, or great fear; times when you cannot calmly focus on the process of opening yourself to it, these are the times you will find it difficult to embrace the source. And through out your lessons and years of learning, we will do what can be done to help you learn to overcome this."

Sagneia certainly didn’t like the fact of not being able to get the magical feeling again. However, she managed to hide her disappointed face from the teacher. Or at least thought she did. Also the “times of great fear” made her feel uncomfortable. She considered herself brave, but still fearsome things didn’t take her fancy.

 

"The longer you hold Saidar, and the more you use it, the more tired you will become. It doesn't take long to feel the effects of holding it. I am sure that most of you are already feeling tired from the lesson today. Your threshold for this will increase with more practice, but if you hold it for too long or hold too much at once, you will put yourself in danger of burning out."

Until the Aes Sedai noted it, Sagneia hadn’t even realized how tired she was; she could’ve as well run laps around Tar Valon. She noticed a light layer of sweat on her skin and really had to concentrate to keep her eyes open. It made her nervous to think, how she hadn’t noticed this while she had been holding Saidar.

 

“Notice now how tired you feel. Recall how you did not feel so tired while you were embracing Saidar. I knew when to stop you, you did not. You will not know when you've had too much until it is too late. For that reason, you must be certain not to try what you've learned in this class without the supervision of an Accepted or and Aes Sedai. We have learned the signs to look for. We will discuss more on this later, but for now, go rest. We will meet back here at the scheduled time for our second lesson."

It was just like the teacher had read her mind, but even with Sagneia’s relatively small knowledge of Aes Sedai could say that it wasn’t possible. Still, despite all those warnings and her own easily scared nature, she was eager to go to the next lesson, to learn more about Saidar.

 

As the Novice was gathering her stuff to leave the class, she suddenly saw a glimpse of the only other girl she knew here, heading towards the teacher’s desk. She couldn’t help rolling her eyes to her roommate’s back. It seemed like that Kaylynn was everywhere where Sagneia happened to be.

 

Almost as quickly as she had arrived, Sagneia left the class. She would have had a questions or two to ask, but didn’t have the patience to wait. Also, a little time without her new roommate wasn’t a bad idea.

 

 

Sagneia Kathen

Novice of the White Tower

[Kathleen]

Here is a link the the next lesson. If you have not completed this one feel free to jump in as the others before this post, and then follow that link along to the next lesson to join us!

[Leala Sedai]

Ay'Lira shook the dust from her skirts and coughed at the dust cloud now rising from them. She didn't take to allergies much, but her body rejected the dust just the same. She had just finished dusting a dirty, empty classroom. She wondered for a moment why it had been empty for so long, but didn't ponder it for too long. The fact was it was clean now and she could go to her first lesson in Saidar. Gathering her dusting cloths, she headed out the door and dropped the dirty rags in the basket of a fellow novice who offered to take them down to be cleaned. The other woman was even nice enough to help brush off some of the dust on the back of her dress. Ay'Lira thanked the girl and headed down the hall. Her dress wasn't quite as pristine as it had been, but it would do.

 

She found a group of novices waiting around the door, giggling, talking, thinking about what this class would bring. Ay'Lira had apparently touched the Source before, but she wasn't sure how, and she wasn't sure what to expect from it, either. She didn't even know she had touched it the first time. She didn't know any of the girls in the group, but they said hello to her, and chatted with her to some extent. Before they could really know each other, though, the door opened, and the novices ushered themselves in. A surge of excitement went through Ay'Lira as they all filed in and took their seats. The other girls chatted with her some more. One was all giddy about meeting someone from the Borderlands. The other fawned over the color of her eyes. It felt very contrived...nothing like her conversations with Benna. She hoped her family was doing well, but before she could go on, the Aes Sedai in the front began.

 

Seheria Sedai of the Yellow Ajah was all composure, like all Aes Sedai, but she had a welcome smile for her students. Some of her nerves died down with that. Then she asked everyone to introduce themselves. She watched as her classmates went around the room, and finally her turn arrived. "My name is Ay'Lira Sonoran. I've only been in the Tower for a couple of days. I look forward to working with everyone." Tension that she didn't even know was there melted away as the turn went to another novice.

 

She listened as Seheria Sedai continued, warning them of the dangers of channeling without supervision. Burning out...she had been told that that meant never being able to touch Saidar again. But if it was really as addictive as Seheria Sedai said... What would this lesson bring? Whatever it brought, she would not breach that rule. Her father used to go on about other newling guards that learned very quickly why rules were put in place. Now she knew this one.

 

Now she needed to take notes. She unfolded her parchment, found her pen, and ink pot, and was ready. She wrote down everything the Aes Sedai said. She wasn't one of the ones to gasp about Saidin, though. She had seen stranger, more terrible things than madmen in Malkier, so close to the Blight. She even drew the symbol that her teacher drew, but colored the Dragon's Fang with black hatch marks. She continued to write until the teacher told everyone to put their pens down. Now was the moment of judgement it seemed.

 

Ay'Lira closed her eyes like all the other novices and listened to her instructions. A rosebud. She formed the image of a rosebud in her mind. Be the rosebud, though? She had never really felt like a rosebud. How was she supposed to be a rosebud? She was the furthest thing from a rosebud she could think of. As she thought, her eyes slowly opened. She looked around and saw everyone else with their eyes still closed. The Aes Sedai had a smug smile of accomplishment on her face. Be the rosebud. Closing her eyes again, she tried to go a different route. Instead of becoming a rosebud, she pictured herself lying in the sun, curled up. She felt the warmth of the sun on her skin as she thought. And when the petals opened, she pictured herself standing, accepting the sun's warmth, and...it happened. She held the Source. It was warm and...happy, and made her smile. She felt a giggle rise in her throat, but beat it down. When Seheria Sedai went on, she had to pull herself away and listen again. The Aes Sedai's words seemed dimmer, almost a mumble compared to when she held Saidar.

 

It would take some doing, but she would still uphold that rule.

 

Seheria Sedai continued with another warning about holding too much for too long, and not channeling without supervision. Now that she had truly felt Saidar, she could understand why it was considered addictive. The Aes Sedai mentioned that they may feel tired now. Sizing herself up, Ay'Lira felt as if she had dusted ten classrooms instead of that one.Seheria dismissed class, and Ay'Lira left with the others, trying to occupy her mind now with something else so as not to think too much on Saidar.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Leala Gymorraine

[jozan]

Liana hurried along the corridors as she had heard an intro to Saidar would be held soon by the Yellow sister Seheria Sedai. She had woken up a bit late today, and had to rush down the breakfast so she wouldn’t be too late to the most important class in the tower. She even held her white skirt to make it easier to run fast. When she finally arrived at the door, Seheria Sedai had just begun her lesson, and Liana curtsied and then sat down at one of the empty chairs in the room.

She was actually looking forward to this class, not just because it would be her first time embracing the source, but also an opportunity to learn a few things about it. That would surely come in handy in any future class. “Good morning everyone. I am Seheria Sedai, of the Yellow Ajah. I will be your teacher for this Introduction to Saidar course." And she eyed every one of the novices in the room and when she came in contact with Liana, she almost blinked by surprise to see a Saldean woman in her class. That made Liana smile a bit which also made Liana’s cheeks a bit red.

 

"This class marks the beginning of your journey to becoming Aes Sedai. During this course you will learn about the nature of the One Power, and of course, how to channel. Now, I would like to take a moment for you to each introduce yourself to the class. We will be spending quite some time together and I'd like us to at least know a little about whom we are sharing our time with." Liana listened carefully when each of the novices in the class told a bit about themselves. And when it was Lianas turn, she actually got a bit nervous and nearly forgot what to say. She collected her thoughts and started over “Hello, I am Liana Alore. And I come from the capital city of Saldaea, Maradon.” She looked at the others hoping for any reaction. But all they did was turning back their attention to the Aes Sedai.

 

"Now that we are a little better acquainted, let us begin. This class is arguably the most important class you will take in your time with us here at the Tower. Please listen carefully and take the warnings to heart, they are for your own safety." Seherias tone became quite harsh which startled a few in the class. Liana listened really close to what her teacher told her. She didn’t want to miss out on anything that could either get her killed or save her life in the future.

"The first rule you must learn is to never, and I mean never, channel without supervision. Supervision means with the approval and direct watchful eye of an Accepted or an Aes Sedai. If you are ever caught channeling without supervision you will wish you had never come to the White Tower. The Mistress of Novices does not take lightly to such a breach of the rules. You'd be lucky if she didn't turn you out of the tower on the first breach of this kind. Do you all understand me?” Every single novice in the room directly nodded in agreement, as no one would want to get kicked out from the tower for breaching such an important rule. Liana branded that into her brain to make sure she would not forget it ever. She was here to be raised to the shawl, and she would not fail her mother.

 

Novices before us have been either burned out or even killed from channeling more than they can handle? That shocked Liana and she gave a faintly gasp that was barely audible. She hoped it was. The novice closest to her winced back when she heard the faint gasping sound from Liana, which made Lianas cheek go red of embarrassment.

 

“Saidar is addictive. You will want to hold it all the time. You will feel more alive whilst holding Saidar; colours will be sharper and in this is the temptation to channel unsupervised. Do not fall prey to this temptation. I will say it again, and bide my words well, you will never channel unsupervised. I want to hear you each say that back to me. I want your word on it.” While Seheria spoke she slowly moved across the front of the class room and sometimes looked at them to make sure they were paying attention. “I shall abide the rule to never channel without supervision of an accepted or Aes Sedai.” Liana said with a confident and serene voice to her teacher. She did understand why they were not to embrace saidar without supervision, as Leirin Sedai had told her on their journey to the tower.

She took out a parchment and pen as instructed and everyone else did the same thing. She would scrabble down as much as she could muster, to make sure she wouldn’t forget anything said during this lesson. She noted all the things she found either interesting or important information. But when she heard the male halve of the source she paused and started thinking I wonder how the dragon reborn could save the world, since the male halve is tainted and would make him go mad. Liana shuddered at her own thought and put that away inside her mind for the time being.

 

The male channeler is doomed forever to a life of madness and havoc, unless he kills himself or a red is able to gentle him before he does any more damage. This made Liana drop a tiny tear. What a sad life to live, I hope I never have to meet a male channeler. She mumbled to herself.

Liana noted what the Aes Sedai had said about the five elements that was all needed to be able to weave certain weaves, which was more complex than others. She especially noted down what element women were strongest in. It could come in handy one day.

“Set down your pens girls and close your eyes. Now the fun begins! We will now attempt to embrace Saidar.” They would now try and embrace the source themselves under tutelage of course, but still it was exciting and scary at the same time to actually embrace it. “I want you to imagine a rosebud. Exclude everything from your thoughts except the rosebud. Become the rosebud, you are the rosebud. Think of nothing but the rosebud. Be the rosebud, feel the sun on your petals, feel the warmth of the sunlight and draw that warmth in. As you draw the warmth the rosebud opens and blooms.” She has to imagine a rosebud in her mind and feel the warmth of the sunlight. But something was wrong; she couldn’t imagine the rosebud at all or feel the warmth of the sunlight. She couldn’t understand what she did wrong. Others were able to embrace saidar almost right away, while Liana was struggling on her own it seemed.

When she was finally able to imagine the rosebud and feel the warmth of the sunlight, and embrace the lovely saidar, she lost it as soon as she had embraced it. She sadly shook her head in disbelief. Would she be able to control her mind and embrace the source for long enough to make her first weave. She dearly hoped it would happen to her. Liana didn’t want to leave the tower that had become her home now.

 

"Well done everyone. For some of you it came sooner and others had to work harder on it before they were able to embrace. Do not be hard on yourself over this. Embracing the source, as you all just did, is not always something that comes easily. In the years you will have to practice, on your way to becoming Aes Sedai, you will become so used to it that you won't even think about the rosebud; you will just open yourself to it at will. But until that time, you will most likely need to think your way through each step.” That made Liana smile knowing it did take time before it was easy to embrace it, and in time it would become second nature to her when she was Aes Sedai just like Seheria Sedai.

 

And what the teacher said next made Liana think about it and she even decided to write it done on her parchment. “There will be times, try as you may, that it just will not come to you. Times of great stress, or great fear; times when you cannot calmly focus on the process of opening yourself to it, these are the times you will find it difficult to embrace the source. And throughout your lessons and years of learning, we will do what can be done to help you learn to overcome this." Liana knew she had to learn to control her wild temper otherwise she may lose it, when in dire need of saidar or worse when her fellow Aes Sedai or her friends are in grave danger. She really hopes she could learn to control it.

She listened to every word that was spoken and especially the more important stuff. Like how dangerous it is to hold on to saidar for too long, as it could be lethal and intoxicating. She had to keep that in mind when she embraced saidar next time. Leirin Sedai did talk a bit how saidar felt like and how it would drain energy from your body, till you were too tired to do anything at all. Liana had actually remembered that much from their discussion on the way to the tower.

After Seheria Sedai had dismissed the class Liana went back to her quarters to lie down and finally get some well-earned rest for the day. To get back some of the lost energy and to ponder about what Seheria Sedai had brought up during class.

[poetstorm]

{{OOC: Hoping it's K to jump in to this class. ^^))

 

Caillean Windham sat nervously in her seat. Her heart and stomach were dluttering as if her entire insides were being eaten up by butterflies. The day had finally arrived, her first classin channeling. Truthfully, she was afraid, andyet a little fascinated and eager at the same time. It made her fidgety. She could rememebr feeling much the same way when she first was told she could channel and after all this time it would finally be proven once and for all. Caillean wasn't sure if it would make mer happier to fail out of the class or to succeed and find out what it was all about at last.

 

When her turn came to intriduce herself she stood. "My name is Caillean Windham. I'm from Taren Ferry. My parents work in textiles, but I've spent the last few years travelling with a Gleeman and learning music and stories before coming here." It was brief, but to the point. She took our her inkpot and parchmnt and made her best attempt at taking notes, though her thoughts were all over the place. But two things came clearly across through her nervous thoughts. No channelingwithout suprevision was the first and Caille thought she would have no problem with that. She was frightened to do it here with supervision! A shudder went through her at the mention of saidin, the tainted source that drove men mad. Even Finn the gleeman knew stories about that.

 

And then it was time. Caille closed her eyes obediently, though her heart was now hammering in her chest. She tried to picture the rosebud Seheria Sedai mntioned but hre thoughts were so scattered she could hardly hold the image in her mind. Or maybe she was afraid to. What would happen? What would saidar feel like? She approached the mental image again but fear made her back off at the last second.

 

This is silly. If I'm going to find out I might as well do it., she thought, steeling herself and pushing aside the onrush of fear. After all the Aes Sedai weren't afraid. The people in those wonderful stories were never afraid. If she could just this one be brave like Birgitte and just let it happen. Taking a deep breath, Caillean went at it again, refusing to allow fear to creep back in. She held on to the picture of the rose, feeding it with more detail, like dew drops and the refletion of the sun on them, the soft red petals, as much detail as she could imagine, and Caille had a vivid imagination. Suddenly there was light and warmth, as if the sunlight poured right down into her and everything felt clearer somehow. She took a quick breath of surprise. This wasn't scary at all...it was wonderful!

 

Suddenly her eyes flew open at a sound in the room and the strange warm feeling evaportated leaving her startled and somewhat disappointed. Seheria sedai went on to explain about the dangers and Caillean shivered again. There were rumors and tales of novices that had burned themselves out. It was whispered from whisper hole to whisper hole though you could never get to the root of it. It was always a roommate of a rooomate, or some such vague person. But it was still frightening. Caillean paled a little in the face of Seheria's dire warnings. And she now understood why novices were tempted to try. That feeling, she could hardly stop thinking about it. But she didn't dare.

[Leala Sedai]

Aureli tucked her paper under her left arm and carefully picked up her pen and inkwell with her hand. She had had to make sure the pen was completely clean and that the inkwell was completely sealed before heading out. She didn't want to dirty her own dress or that of another novice. Before any of this, she had made sure the door was open, too. She couldn't very well open the door with no hands. To someone else, having one arm would be such a nuisance, but Aureli had lived with this her whole life. It was an everyday thing to think preemptively about how to move about. When she left the room, she closed the door with her foot. Today would mark her first lesson in learning how to channel. How in the world did someone do that exactly? The Aes Sedai seemed to do it so easily, without thinking. Was there a trick? Well, she'd find out soon enough.

 

As she approached the classroom, she saw other novices starting to file in. A cheerful girl with gold curls asked if she needed any help with her things. Aureli smiled, but said that she needed no help. The girl chatted at her until they were in the classroom. They took seats toward the front. She barely even noticed that others seemed to find her lack of a right arm strange. It was such a regular occurrence. She had thought how much easier her life would be with the other arm, but she never dwelt on it for long. The other novice hadn't even brought it up. She had more tact than the others whispering and speculating behind and around her.

 

The Aes Sedai began right when everyone was seated. Her name was Seheria Sedai of the Yellow Ajah. To begin the class, she asked the girls to stand up and introduce themselves. She watched as the other women in white dresses stood up one at a time and said their names and a bit about themselves. When it came to be her turn, she stood up and said, "My name is Aureli Yenda. I am from Tear. And I'd like to be treated like everyone else, despite only having one arm." It felt like a bit of the tension in the room melted from that. The girl next to her stood up and introduced herself as Narie from Andor. She had tried to say something else, but she giggled too much.

 

Then the Aes Sedai started in on the first part of the lesson: the rules. One must never channel Saidar unsupervised, because it is addictive. Although, the thought of having enhanced senses was very tempting. And what did she mean by "more alive"? she calmed herself down and waited for further instructions. Aes Sedai seemed to be able to tell things about the One Power that novices didn't understand, like how that Aes Sedai had seen that Aureli could learn to channel. Strange as it was, it felt like she was constantly being watched on some level.

 

She took out her parchment as instructed. She started to open the inkwell by holding it between her knees and twisting the lid off, but Narie offered to help, because she thought of Aureli as her friend. She smiled and let the girl help this time. Together, one holding the inkwell, and the other twisting the lid, they opened it. Aureli took notes about what Seheria Sedai said. It was fascinating to learn about something that had been around since Creation. It was something that not everyone knew about. It felt like she was learning some great secret. Seheria let them know that the lecture was over and that it was time for practice. Now Aureli would learn the most important trick.

 

As instructed, Aureli closed her eyes and pictured a rosebud in her mind. No. She had to be the rosebud. So, she thought of herself as enclosed by the petals and leaves of a rosebud. She could feel the warm sunlight just beyond her cocoon. Slowly, she opened her petals, yearning for the warmth and the power, the answer to all of her secrets. And there it was. She felt the power rush in and take her. She felt it fill her. But she remembered what the Aes Sedai said about it being addictive, and it was gone. She opened her eyes and blinked. She wanted to reach for it again to see how much she could hold, but the lesson was over.

 

Narie helped her cap her inkwell back to its original sealed state. She put a clean sheet of paper over her notes so that any wet ink wouldn't harm her dress. She licked the ink off her pen, and headed out with Narie back to the Novice Quarters.