My Brother's Keeper pt. 3 - A Sister's Love (REPOST)

[Guest Arie Ronshor]

Telcia

DM Member

Posted: 06 Mar 2006 04:10 pm Post subject: My Brother's Keeper pt. 3 - A Sister's Love (attn: Reds)

Ooc: This is part 3 (or four if you consider part 2 was split into two parts, a & b, which occurred simultaneously) of the on going storyline "My Brother's Keeper" (started here: http://dmpsw.com/dr/...topic.php?t=944 , followed by: http://dmpsw.com/dr/...topic.php?t=979 and http://dmpsw.com/dr/...topic.php?t=970 ) (links no longer working)

 

This story is one of the more important threads with regard to the history of the White Tower and so here's hoping we do it some justice. We hope you all enjoy!

 

-Dee aka Telcia

 

 

IC:

 

Telcia walked into the Crimson Chamber in procession with the others. She'd made this journey to the sacred place hundreds of times before, but never with such a feeling of strength, of confidence, or sense of self. Today she knew who she was and in a few moments, all of her Sisters would know who they really were.

 

The world had changed. Scars brought to the surface previous so that they might heal, were burned away. The entire world was right, despite the terrible events of recent.

 

She was Telcia Dyfelle. She was Aes Sedai.

The line between chaos and relief.

The wall between Darkness and Light.

The hope in all hours of despair.

The bandage to the bloody wound, rent deep in the soul of mankind.

 

I am RED. she thinks to herself.

 

Coming to sit in low back chair, intoning the formal words that had been such a repetition before with little meaning beyond "what must be done", she smiles. Each sound and word uttered bearing a new weight. A renewal of her oaths. A promise of her dedication and purpose under the Light.

 

For all the wrongs she'd done in this life and that had done to her.

THIS was her place; this was who she was truly meant to be.

 

Perine rose before them, yet unknowing of the truths about to be revealed. Telcia smiled at the Highest, one who she had once walked with as a young woman and helped to learn the meaning of her shawl, and she found herself wanting to laugh for all the joy in her heart.

 

She listened closely as the Highest began to instruct the leaders of the two groups to present what they'd found. Twice she'd considered bringing a copy of the written translation to read from for the moment when Muirenn had activated the Ter'Angreal, but the truth was she'd know the words now and forever, even if she'd gone deaf, blind, and simple.

 

They were etched in her soul. Struck there by lightening which was Need and Purpose. Never since the birth of her children had she felt such certainty with her place in the world, not even on the day of her raising. And today, even the thoughts of her children's death, couldn't dampen her spirit.

 

Today they, like herself, would all be Red anew.

 

Telcia Sedai

Red Sister ~ Guardian of Humanity

Proud Mentor of Aoife

Proud Advisor of Vera

 

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Muirenn

DM Member

Posted: 06 Mar 2006 09:09 pm

As always when she entered this room, Muirenn wore her shawl. But not just any shawl, the very first she had been given upon her raising to Aes Sedai. It was worn now, and threadbare, the thread of gold long since tarnished and faded, the white flame of Tar Valon yellowed from age, and she had long since been forced to weave a Keeping around it to preserve what she could. But today, there was new meaning in that shawl, in the color of her fringe. Red, as though dipped in blood, she thought, A Crimson Banner indeed.

 

But at the same time, she was fearful, and deeply, intensely sad. A feeling of failure swept over her. She had kept the watch, but at what cost? Her family was safe now, but her own life was a shambles and a complete sham. Very likely, it could never be made right. And no one of her sisters would ever guess as much. All they saw was the Legendary Aes Sedai, not the broken, defeated creature within. It was worth the cost, it had to be. Nothing mattered but Jehrad's family. The whole world could burn for his family's safety.

 

Looking to her left, she saw again her affirmation of that pledge, and at the same time her fulfillment of it. Telcia Alianin Dyfelle. Her niece. A direct descendant from her brother Jehrad. Yes, she had kept the watch, if not the one spoken of. And when threats had come so very recently from within her own family, just as they had from so long ago, she had kept the watch then too.

 

Her brother. Her Brothers now. Could that really be possible. Could such a thought even cross the mind of a Red? But then, they had always been her Brothers. Every time she had taken one, had guided and cared for him, had stood the guard, had watched him die, it had been her brother. Three hundred years of memory and time could not take that away, could not make the memory fade. It was part of her soul now. Her Brothers.

 

She saluted the Highest now, the child chosen to lead during this desperate time, saluted her with arm outstretched, letting the crimson fringe fall forward in a tide, as blood from a wound. Only one arm today, when it should have been two. She was too busy cradling that precious ter'angreal. And it struck her again that Bonwhin had known. That she had known and hidden the ter'angreal away from the world. What a heart-wrenching decision that must have been. To know, to know your purpose and worth with all your soul...and to do nothing. Bonwhin was considered by the Red Ajah to have been the greatest of all Amyrlins, a woman of dedication and personal sacrifice. But she had known, and kept silent. For what reason they would never know. But Bonwhin had kept silent. Should they?

 

 

-Muirenn Lina Alianin

Aes Sedai of the Crimson Banner

Head of the Black Ajah

 

 

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perine

DM Member

Posted: 07 Mar 2006 05:06 pm

Weeks had passed so slowly that they had felt like years to Perine. She and the rest of the Reds had been anxious to find out what the Red Amyrlin had hidden in the Library. What had been so secret that it had been concealed so well, that it wasnt found until so many years later. Perine had tried to get to know the results earlier but nothing had been available then and she had given up. She could wait to discover what was found.

 

Whe her whole Ajah was present the researchers started to arrive at the Crimsom Chamber. Perine acknowledged all of them in turn trying to read some emotion on their faces so she might be able to get some hint of what to expect. Good news or bad news? The looks onthe Sisters faces varied. Muirenn revealed nothing, and Perine had not thought that the Former Highest would show anything on ehr face. She had been Aes Sedai long enough to mask everything. It was no point to keep everyone waiting. It was time to know what Bonhwin had wanted hidden so much.

 

"Sisters" Perine begun adressing all present looking to their faces, seeing younger women biting their lips in anticipation, eyes wide to see better. Perine spoke to the two groups she had set up so long time ago, giving them the permission to speak. To fill the Chamber with the Secrets. As she had given the instructions to begin the Highest stepped down to the crowd of other Red Sisters and took her seat among them leaving the floor empty for the Discoveries of Bonhwin. Her skin was on goosepumbs and mouth dry. She feared what her Sisters would reveal.

 

 

~Perine Caral~ : : Red Ajah Highest

 

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Telcia

DM Member

Posted: 08 Mar 2006 03:52 pm

 

 

Telcia watched Maegan lead her group foward. The young Sister was really coming into her own now. She seemed ready for this presentation, at least outwardly. And while what her team would reveal today could re-write what the ajah knew of itself and the Tower forever... surly Bonwhin's diaries contained confirmation of so much which the Reds alone seemed able to acknowledge. With Hawkwing's empire gone, perhaps now the Tower would finally be able to accept the truth of what happened all those long years ago.

 

At least, she hoped it would.

 

Silently she waited for Maegan to begin her presentation, as she tired to calm her own jittery nerves before they threatened to boil over into actual facial expressions and uncomfortable shiftings in her chair.

 

 

Telcia Sedai

Red Sister ~ Guardian of Humanity

Proud Mentor of Aoife

Proud Advisor of Vera

 

 

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[Leona]

Silently Leona entered the room, the discovery that they had made had stunned her. But it had given her life a new meaning as well. The Dragons amnesty had caused a rift within the Ajah, some of her Sisters had agrued that they should actively seek out those so called Ashaman, and Gentle them nonetheless. Others, like her, had suggested a more daring approach. She thought that they had a different part in the pattern to play. The Dragon needed to live until Tarmon Gaidon, and who better to help him survive the dangers of Saidin and the Taint then the women of the Red Ajah.

 

She smiled to Viviana, one of the Sitters. The elder Red had been sort of a mentor to Leona after her initial entry in the Ajah. The Sitter had been in the same study group as Maegan, woman who had been Accepted together with Leo, and who had taken a Seat in the Hall as well. It was only because of the years of Aes Sedai calm which was etched in Leona's face to keep her from frowning as she watched Mae stand up and start her speech. The rivalry between the two Reds Sisters was not a secret the the Ajah. And Leona was not happy with defering to Maegan, she was determined to proof her worth.

 

***

 

Viviana looked at Maegan the young Sitter who had been chosen by Perine to lead the group on researching the diary of Bonwhin. Over the short time they had worked together, Viv had come to admire the woman's intelligence. Though they were on opposite sides on the meaning of some of the passages in the books. Even though Viviana was the elder of the two, she had pushed Maegan forward to do the presentation. The younger Sister needed to present herself to the Ajah as a valuable asset in the Hall.

 

 

Leo and Viv

[Guest Arie Ronshor]

Maegan held her breath a bit as she constatnly fixed the glasses on her small nose. They felt out of place, and uncomfortable. Being able to see those that enter, watching her, watching eachother. So many questions filled the eyes of those that sat. Questions and conflictions flickering.

 

Today was a day of change. Retrebution, achievement, knowledge. Redemption. Possibilities an ideas would fly across this room, words of change, of realization. Could the minds and traditions of the most steadfast and highly feared Ajah change by the single presense of a box and a book.

 

In so many ways, Maegan hoped so.

 

The door closed, the room sealed. What happened in this room was sealed to it. If that is what's to be decided.

 

Adjusting a suddenly heavier shawl, a crimson thread woven into a symbol with a suddenly new meaning, she stood and moved so that all could see an hear her.

 

"Sisters. Highest" She started. "When one looks back on our history, we look with great admiration to the great Bonwhin, and view her as a Legend. A person of great power and passion. One of true vision. Her journal changed very little of what we know about the past events. In a way it has confirmed aspectst aht were only speculated. But this was not the power that this journal held."

 

"There is a belief that Aes Sedai should not show emotions. To show these things was a weakness. To Bonwhin, this journal was her weakness. Her fears, her desires, her anger."

 

Maegan looked directly at Muirenn, the eldest. The one with the most understanding of this Ajah. "It was self explanitory as to why these two artifacts were hidden. The world was not ready for them. And it challenges us no to take on that knowledge and utilize it." Moving around slightly, looking from one sister to the next, Mae tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

 

"Bonwhin speaks very little of the box. Infact i have a theory that is was created just after the breaking whenthe taint took over the male half of the One Power. But she does, however, speaks on a more personal level about the Dragon, Lews Therin**." She paused as she sorted through her thoughts. "The journal takes the power away from the woman and and the power that surrounds her and makes her human. I believe that this is crucial to what is next to be presented. Why these things were locked away."

 

She took her seat, wondering if what she presented was what needed to be presented. Therereally were not real findings beyond knowing that the journal was just that. A journal. The true secret was yet to be revealed. Adjusting her glasses, she waited for the next to present.

 

 

 

Maegan Ryanne Sedai

Sitter of the Crimson Banner

 

 

 

**(Replace name as nessicary.. it's 4 am and i'm too lazy to look it up.)

[Muirenn]

To see the great Bonwhin as just another woman, motivated by her own human emotions. That would be a hard task for the Reds. To read a journal written by a mortal woman who felt anger and sadness and fear like any other. But to read Bonwhin's journal would also be a privilege of the highest order for any Red. But could they handle the disappointment? The Red Ajah had built up Bonwhin as the greatest and most self-sacrificing of Amyrlins, as a woman of great merit. They had put her on a pedestal; what would they do now when all those honors were stripped away and the great Bonwhin could be seen by any as just another woman. No, those discoveries must remain secret to the Red Ajah. The Reds had safeguarded the legend of Bonwhin, and the would continue to do so. Ever to watch, ever to guard. The Reds looked after their own as well.

 

And now it was time. Reactions when Muirenn had sent a message that her group had found a way to make the ter'angreal work had been swift. Especially after the hints as to what it contained. Perine had decided to call this session for all Red sisters to be in attendance, to hear the words from so long ago.

 

Muirenn stepped forward. She had prepared a speech to deliver to the waiting sisters, a speech detailing all the Red Ajah had been through since the Breaking, the false dragons, the sad lost men, the wars, the rivalries, the tarnished reputations. Through it all, the Reds had done what must be done. They had kept the watch. But now, words seemed so poor, so inadequate to the task.

 

"I had a brother once," she began, voice smooth, calm as an Aes Sedai should be. "He was a channeler, and died at my hand, and at his request. Those events led me to the Red Ajah, to this path I have followed for more than two hundred fifty years. I am Muirenn Lina Alianin, a sister under the Crimson Banner. I swear ever to watch, ever to guard. I have kept the watch." As she intoned the formal phrases once again, she noted that some seemed puzzled. She moved to set down the ter'angreal on a table brought for this purpose. She lay it down carefully, gently, nearly caressing the surface as she did so. The most valuable object in the Tower, and she did not want to relinquish it.

 

Muirenn stood straight again, white hair pulled back in a neat bun, blue eyes gleaming in the torchlight, and surveyed the gathered sisters of the Red Ajah. She spoke once more as she carefully created the weave the would activate the ter'angreal, "I had a brother once, and now so do you all."

[Telcia]

ooc: I hope I do this justice.

 

ic:

 

Telcia rose from her seat and came to stand beside her aunt, laying a hand on her arm as the woman activated the Ter'Angreal. The two stood back as the white light flooded the room for an instant, startling everyone who was not ready for it's reaction. The torrent of wind which seemed to come from within the heart of the device whipped her ever whitening hair around her face carelessly as she managed a true smile, that touched her ice blue eyes, for the woman who stood beside her… the mirror of what she would look like in several decades.

 

In the chaos of it all, Telcia dared mouth words to her Aunt she'd never said anywhere but in private, "I love you". Turning to the group assembled as the gasps began, she knew that their eyes would not be on her or her Aunt, but instead upon what could be considered nothing short of a miracle of the Light.

 

The pool of radiant light had formed into colors and shaped itself into the figure of a man. He was tall and handsome by her standards, with thin mustashes laying like feathers neatly trimmed on his lip. At his side was a long warder's sword with a heron's mark. He was not well muscled... instead thin and lithe... like a reed. His eyes were blue and held an intensity of the sea before a storm. Were it not for the threads of Saidar woven my Muirenn, moving in and out of him, one could easily mistake him for something real and solid.

 

The man's hair was long and dark and pulled back from his face. On his forehead he wore something that looked like a candori of the Malkari with a singular object that likely held all the gatherer's attention: a small medallion, the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai.

 

One did not have to be an Aes Sedai with their talent for reading people to see that his eyes were focused upon the imagined image of someone he thought would know him and likely cared deeply for him.

 

His gaze had this way of seeming to look right through a woman to her very soul. It would be clear, to even a novice, that he had something on his mind and it weighed him down greatly. And then, just as everyone was getting use to the sight of a man from another age, suddenly they were startled anew to hear a voice come forth from his lips in a strange alien voice that seemed to speak on top of itself as if two or three men in his voice were speaking at once.

 

With his words, Telcia translated his strangely accented, the proper accent she noted, Old Tongue.

 

"Sister", she began emotionlessly repeating his word that seemed to speak of a deeper love than the word could ever have meant to her before having "met" him.

 

"I'm reminded, looking across the ocean and it's calm today, of the sky the day we last sat together on the steps of the Hall of Servants in Paaran Disen." A glimmer comes to his eye and he manages to blink it back. "I wanted to give up then," a smile grows on his face that threatens to touch his eyes even as sadness builds there. Obviously the happy memory, in his dark moment, is nearly too much to bear.

 

"But it was your conviction and courage, that fire in your eyes, your voice, your heart that not only stirred the Hall to hope when the world would say we had none, but in me as well. For that, and this dream that I am dying in, I can not begin to give you thanks enough. Had you not earned the Name already, if the world were as it was." The man carefully touches his knuckles to his lips and then puts it over his heart in a manner that was similar to what the Shienarans did still today. Telcia was uncertain what he meant by names or what it was he was getting at, but she marveled at the ceremony and importance the word carried in his tone. He might as well have named her Amyrlin for the reverence he seemed to lend to it.

 

But his pause did not last, and his lovely face was once again lined heavy with regret. "I'm afraid the news is not good and so I send to you this recorder in the hopes that it finds you before my compatriots do." The man swallowed a deep pause, his tone carrying mountains of emotion to a woman no one would ever know.

 

"Despite all the research, all your wisdom and advice and your prayers, the experiment has resulted in failure and worse for some. The taint grew in those who offered themselves to the testing, and they are like their brothers before them." In Telcia's mind she could only see the rotting corpse of every male channeller she'd ever nursed through his darkest, most hate filled, and lonely hours when all the world had rejected him but the Red Ajah.

 

"I fear some who know where you were held up are coming for you and your ajah.. and they are most assuredly in worse conditions than I, mentally. Never fear though, I did not betray you - I have kept my honor. I know you will survive to reach your destination safely." The man winces a moment, a touch to his head with his hand and his image wavers slightly as if it means to fade away.

 

The first time Telcia had seen this, it had scared her and the others, but now, she understood, the man was fighting his pain in order to hold the weaves together which had somehow recorded his image and voice the way Browns recorded words in a book with a pen. He was, indeed, far gone and it was a testament to his love that he could keep his thoughts and wits enough to make this message.

 

"I have stopped who I could but I lack the strength to cut the weaves of so many different portals. And so now, I fear, the world is suffering as I record this message. In not stopping them, I have failed them as a Servant, but I take little solace that I will not live to see what has been done. This message, Sister, is my only consolation to the souls I and my brothers unwittingly have endangered and I fear that my gift to them must be a burden upon you."

 

The man wets his lips and seems to focus more intently as he continues, "Your speech to the Hall has remained with me these long days and nights. In all this time I have contemplated what would become of the world should every man find himself in danger of being as we, a sword at the throats of his sons and a plague of death upon his daughters, a misery which could only rot the soul of his wife just as I too am rotting, and I..." The man grits his teeth and in spite of herself, Telcia tears up as she always had at this part of the speech.

 

"I can not bear the thought of this more, than I ever loved this gift I have been given, which has now, through our arrogance, been turned into a curse. And so I know without doubt or fear, what must be done, but Sister, I will not live to do it and so I must ask you and your ajah Sisters to take up your words spoken that day, from this day on, as an Oath."

 

"If ever you felt anything for our bond Sister, do not let this fate be that of our world. Guardians of Humanity, that was what you called the Hall of Servants in this dark hour of the world and so you must promise to be always."

 

"Ever to Watch, and Ever to Guard not just their lives which are so fleeting in the Creator's sight, but to Ever Watch and Guard our world and the hope of a future. A future which I know that you see with the greatest of clarity."

 

"I have seen the love you have in your eyes and heart for even those who have hated you, and it is this strength to love that you must shelter in this storm of Ages. Fan it to life in each young girl who comes to learn from you. Show her how to not fear the dark and the end which comes to all things, or to selfishly hunt for and demand the Light for her own path, but to instead build up the Light within her own heart, so brightly, that it can shine as a guide for others who are so lost in this night that has fallen upon our world."

 

His lip quivers, and it clear the words that come next are a struggle. "Love us, enough to steal it away." A pregnant pause leaves a silence that could be cut with a knife. Perhaps the woman who was to hear this in the past did not know what he meant, but every woman in the room here in the age of the Dragon Reborn, did.

 

"Take the pleasure before it can be truly known to us Sister. Steel Saidin from them that they may never feel it's song or it's sickness until a remedy is found." The man's words were not spoken with eloquence at this point, though they were beautiful in their own way.

 

"In time, as with all things, these men will pass from our world and the madness will destroy the last of those who were once truly great and in that lull, you and your ajah must go forward with that courage and love and seek out all would-be students where they reside and end their pain before their pain begins. You must have the strength to grant them this mercy, though they may die just the same for the loss, they need not suffer so greatly as ... as those before them."

 

"Let their families love them ... if they have the strength and if they do not, you must be to them as you have to me" The image of the beautiful man fades away and a rotting corpse stands in all it's agony where the man had been only a second before. Clearly the recorder had beheld a powerful illusion the man had built around himself and this was the result, and the true tale of his terrible suffering.

 

"I can not come to you as THIS ... thing!" He nearly spit's the word. "I can see you there now in your horror of me and my suffering, and how your Sisters must be comforting you, and it is in their embrace you must find your strength. Let their love and care be your legs when you have none left to stand upon. When all that you are is questioned and besmeared by the world, when you are haunted by the memory of what you have done and hated for what you must do, in times when men have forgotten what my brothers and I have done to their world, THEY will remember. THEY will love you as I have loved you ..." His voice drops to a whisper another tear flowing down his cheek freely. It had been the most she'd ever seen a man cry. "As I love you."

 

The man unsheathes his sword. "The color of your banner, Sister, let it be your reminder of those who have gone on in this task; for crimson shall be everywhere anyone can see for perhaps lifetimes to come... until the time when this malady afflicts us no more and we can again be as one."

 

"Look to it, and remember me fondly as I was and not as the monster I have become. Remember my last service to all, and the last gift we shall all give when the last embrace of the mother welcomes us home. Until the day we are together again Sister... I will rest well knowing that you keep the watch." The man kneels and places the sword point to his stomach and slides the blade inward and pulls up and to the left quickly, the sight is as gruesome a thing as any Telcia had ever seen in battle.

 

The image remains only a few moments, his red blood flowing smoothly out of him like a streaming crimson banner in the wind on a clear day; ironically, or perhaps by his last weave (though the Light alone knew how he managed such focus) the torrent pooled into a vague shape of the great seal, and there, after only a few more moments of a most holy silence, it was done.

 

In a brother's blood, the Red Ajah was formed.

[Leona]

The gasps were clearly audible when Muirenn activated the ter'angreal. Even though Leona had seen the man, and had heard his story, before, she was still impressed by his story and the way he told it. Tears stung behind her dark eyes as she let Telcia's words sink in to her soul. The bravery of their brother of so long ago touched her in a way she could have never imagined.

 

When the ter'angreal went dark, the room remained silent for a few minutes. After a while Leona stood, "With your permission Highest, I would like to speak." Leo looked at Perine and waited for her to nod.

 

"Highest, Sitters and Sisters under the Crimson Banner. What you have seen today has and will change the history and the future of the Red Ajah. It is a wonderful opportunity to show the world our true duty to this world. How we have kept the watch like we promised so long ago. This information will rock the foundations of the White Tower and maybe even earn the Red Ajah the Seat once again."

 

Smiling Leo looked at her Sisters, before she took her seat again.

 

***

 

From everything Viviana had expected, the show she saw coming from the ter'angreal was something she could never had imagined. Not in her wildest imagination had she ever thought this could be the origin of the Red Ajah. She shuddered as she thought at the idea of asking a male channeler to Still her and her Sisters, to cut away that wonderful feeling of Saidar, the same way that male Aes Sedai now asked his Sister to do.

 

It was something she could hardly believe to be true, it just couldn't be true. Viv stared at her hands, they were shaking. The pregnant silence was broken by a young promising Sister, Leona, who asked permision to speak. Perine, who seemed as shocked as the rest of them granted the woman permission with a nod of her head. At the end of Leona's little speech, where she plead to tell this discovery to the rest of the world. Viviana stood.

 

"Oh this might as well be the discovery of this Age, but how do we know this for the truth. How do we know this is not a trick, a trap placed long ago. I think we should be very sure of its origin, and its impact before we even begin to think of sharing this with the world. Or the Amyrlin even..."

 

Leona and Viviana

[Guest Arie Ronshor]

if she had any wish or thought to close here eyes or remove her spectacles, the thought was lost with he slow rolling tears that built a path down her cheek.

 

She had not fully understood Muirenns admittance to having a brother, a male channeler that she was related to and had to care for as the taint consumed him. but as she watched and listened with an understanding heart, her tears were not just for the one that stood in front of them. A Handsome man by definition, but more so in his love for the sisters than in appearance. With a longing, She wished to pull the man into her embrace and fight off the pain within the mans eyes. he called them Sisters, and it was not by title, but out of love, and it struck her deep. She had though, on one form of a theory that the Red Ajah was built as a guard against humanity. But how close to home their mission truly was had been lost to her and all the others until now.

 

As she watched the film play out, newer fears echoed in her mind as she looked back and forth from each sister, knowing that they would leave this room as different people, with different opinions and different hopes than when they had first walked in. She clutched her shawl under her fists in a silent dignity and anger. What in the Light was this Tower coming to. This one ajah built with a level of fear and hatred was constructed originally out of Love. And no one in this room would know this better then the one that spoke first about a brother. Muirenn.

 

Looking to the woman with a new form of curiosity and respect that she hoped the woman would not see behind Maegans own spectacles. She really must build up the courage to approach the woman, ask her to teach her what she knows. There was not one sister in the tower that Maegan wished to learn more from then the Eldest of her own Ajah. The weave on the woman's door and around her room was enough to stir more than a simple curiosity in of the woman.

 

Her thoughts continued as she listened to the first two to speak. Leona, and then Vivian. Leona, still new, felt this was a wonderful discovery, but Vivian had a point. There was a reason it was guarded. Without standing, Maegan looked to the disc in Telcia Sedai's hands.

 

"Although both good points, i believe that it is crucial to show this Ter'Angreal to the Tower. The diary, however, should be placed in the Red Ajah vault, held to secrecy by each sister. The meaning of the book is something that shall always be a reminder to us, as sisters, as servants of the Tower.

 

There is no denying its legitimacy (sp?). How and where it was found guarantee that. And witht he help of the other ajah's the Ter'Angreal can be duplicated, and be extremely useful for Taimon Gaidon. Such a relic would be a waste to hide. As for how to present it, i think without explination and at the center of the hall would be most appropriate. How to deal with the chatter afterwards would be best to discuss then whether to hide such knowledge or not."

 

 

 

Maegan Ryanne

Sitter

[perine]

ooc. Not out of LOA. Dont want to work and well... wanted to write something...

 

ic.The whole of the Red Ajah was present when Telcia's voice boomed over them. Nothing had prepared Perine for what she heard next. When Muirenn had spoken Perine might have been able to quess something. She should have quessed something in these lines. Or at least expected a shocking discovery. The former Ajah Head was a wise woman and by repeating the oath of the Red Ajah, Perine should have known something.

 

She blamed herself in her mind now, not knowing what else to do. Would she have done things differently had she known what the Ter'angreal brought to their knowledge. Hardly. This was something the entire Ajah should know of. This news was after all something so big that it defined each and everyone of the women in the sealed room.

 

Perine felt tears well into her eyes and did not even try to fight them back. It did not matter now. Not when so much was spoken already. Perine let the tears fall as the image of the man had finally faded away. She could not speak, though she knew she should be the first to say something. she could not.

 

"With your permission Highest, I would like to speak." The words forced Perine to turn her eyes from the now empty air to the Sister that had spoken. She nodded at the young Leona. She had been one of the researchers on the object. She would have had time to recover from the shock already. Leona's words echoed in Perine's head. Her own mind seemed to be nodding acceptance. Viviana a respected sitter stood next stating her views on the matter next causing a lot of murmures among the sitting sisters.

 

Maegan was the next to speak and soon Perine saw how her entire Ajah seemed divided under these opinions. She saw a few stand and shout their arguements when the young sister spoke. The Aes Sedai seemed to be recovereing from their shock. Perine listened with uncertanety to the voices around, before she decided it was time that she get involved also.

 

"Sisters." She said using Saidar to make her voice sound over the shouts. When the shouts had quieted down she let go of Saidar. Her voice could be heard without aid now. "Sisters, plese be calm. It has been weeks since this discovery was first brought to our attention. I'm sure the partied involved did all they could to make sure f the origin and genuanity." she said slowly. "But a question has been placed among us. One that does need our attention." Perine was suprised to find how quickly the tears had dried from her eyes and how smooth her voice seemed.

 

"I appreaciate EVERYONE's imput on this matter, but I would rather have it spoken, not shouted." She said raising her voice to make sure they understood. "I would like to first hear the researchers speak their mind. After all they have had a lot longer to ponder on these." Perine eyed Muirenn and Telcia, who had still to say their opinion. "Please, let us respect Bonwhin's memory by not making this into a massacre." she said firmly before returning to her seat.

 

Perine did not know what she wanted to do. So much in her wanted to shout to the world the truth behind the Red Ajah. So much of her wanted to keep this information to themselves. She would definately need to hear more before making any decision on where she herself stood.

[Muirenn]

Muirenn nodded as the Highest asked for her thoughts. She had considered the matter throughly in the past day since the ter'angreal had first been activated and shared it's message. And now Bonwhin's diaries had also been read. That, at least, she knew her own mind about. "The diaries of Bonwhin should be kept within the Ajah. Whatever she said or did, Bonwhin returned to the Red Ajah at her death, and we must keep her memory. No one else will. No matter what we show the world outside this chamber, they will never see any good in Bonwhin's writings, only pick out the bad. And that they will try to reflect back on the Red Ajah. No, they must remain here.

 

"For the ter'angreal..." she paused, adjusting her shawl. "It is a great puzzle still. It would be good for the world to see this side of the Red Ajah, to see this part of our mission, to validate our cause. But there must be some reason it was hidden away. Perhaps the outside world is not ready for this either? Perhaps waiting for the opportune moment to reveal it? With the so-called Black Tower having appeared, the argument could be made that the moment is upon us. For now, I will say I do not know. I must hear the counsel of my sisters on this before making a recommendation."

 

-Muirenn Lina Alianin

Sitter for the Red Ajah

[Elgee]

bumpity

 

Note: I've edited some coding snafus in especially Telcia's posts, for easier reading.

[Phelix]

The message had reached her while she was staying at an inn in Tanchico. A slightly built spice merchant saw her in the crowd and began crying out about his “burnt cinnamon for sale.” It was an old code that all Red Ajah eyes and ears knew. Clothiers would offer a sister silk in the color of burnt cinnamon, wise women would offer it in tea, and this man offered to sell it to her.

 

It was not the most important of all Ajah signals, but it was one that spoke of haste still. Approaching the man, Elin asked for the burnt cinnamon, in an eight ounce bag, signalling to the merchant that she had been without contact for eight weeks.

 

“Mistress, the message I was told to pass to any sister who recognized my sign is: The Crimson Banner calls.” He packaged up the eight ounces of dark red-brown cinnamon and handed it to her. “That will be four silver pennies, Mistress.”

 

With an arched eyebrow, Elin paid him in Tar Valon silver. She let a small smirk show at his wince. He wouldn’t be able to get a fair trade for those silver coins until he was back in Andor, at the least. It served him right for making her actually purchase the forsaken cinnamon.

 

Walking back to her inn, Elin immediately sought out the innkeeper to settle her account. She had spent a single week in the inn but her reservations were for two full months. After much haggling, Elin agreed to pay for one month on the condition that the next time she found herself in Tanchico, her first week would be free at this particular inn. She drafted the agreement quickly and after both had signed it, she poured basic candle wax on the base and pressed her Great Serpent ring into the molten wax. There was nothing particularly special about the ring or using it as a seal, but many commoners feared it had some special binding that would punishment if they broke any agreement sealed by that ring.

 

Gathering her belongings, Elin hired a porter to take her down to the harbor. There were seafolk rakers in port, but they shunned Aes Sedai almost as surely as Aiel shunned tinkers. It was a minor irritation that they would let any other passenger with the coin purchase the right to a fair trip, but Aes Sedai were entirely forbidden. It was a worry for another time.

 

She eventually found passage on a Tairen boat that was sailing for its home port. From there, she was able to hire a riverboat to take her North to the Island City, to Tar Valon, the only place she had thought of as ‘home’ for almost a century.

 

Not that she had spent much time there. Elin had roved the world as soon as her shawl was securely on her shoulders. Yes, she came back every so often to see the Highest, especially when a new one was raised, and she did make sure to keep up a lively correspondence with Bennu. The Brown was almost always working on some new ter’angreal, and Elin enjoyed the break their letters gave her from her own personal work.

 

When the boat had docked, the harbor master sent a runner to the Tower to alert them that Elin Sedai of the Red was home for a visit, so when she reached her rooms they had been properly aired and prepared for a sister’s presence. The room was done in the style of an Andoran High Seat’s chamber’s, at least the style one would have had more than 90 years prior. Elin rarely stayed in the rooms more than a month, so there was little use in updating them. There was a small note tacked to her door: Elin, please join me at your earliest convenience. ~Perine

 

Placing her cloak and purse in the closet, Elin used a small weave of Earth, Air and Water to cleanse the dust, dirt, and stains from her clothing. The Highest wanted her as soon as she was able, which was “at your earliest convenience” meant, so Elin was working to get there quickly. Just because Perine was decades younger than Elin, and had supplanted a woman Elin respected was no reason not to show her the proper respect one showed the Highest.

 

Even if it grated on her nerves to be called back to the Tower like an errant hound.

 

The halls of the Red Ajah were oddly full, but the sisters looked haunted. It worried Elin to see so many here in the Tower, especially when they mostly looked like they had been kicked in the gut. The Reds did not show such weakness. Many of these women had been raised while Elin was out in the world, but that still did not give them the right to go about displaying their weakness. She made a mental note to speak with Perine regarding their behavior. Perhaps it would do them some good to have an older sister around to put some steel into their spines.

 

In Perine’s study, Elin was offered tea, which she politely accepted. One never turned down tea unless one wished to insult the host... rather, unless one wished the host to know they were being insulted.

 

After a short explanation about research groups and projects that sounded much more like Bennu’s realm of interest, Perine pulled a cloth aside revealing a smooth box that was obviously a ter’angreal. Apparently, thinking of Bennu had been the right instinct.

 

When the Highest channeled into the box, it shimmered until the image of a rather handsome man appeared. He spoke in the Old Tongue, his accent like nothing Elin had heard before. This ter’angreal recorded the words of one of the last Male Aes Sedai, and he called them sisters. It had been more than a century since any man had called her “sister” out of affection, and not because of the ring and shawl she wore. Nile would have looked something like this man.

 

He claimed to have been working to preserve the secret location of an ajah that was working to Heal the taint on saidin, and he claimed he had failed... but hoped he had done enough to let them escape. This man was truly dan, a true brother. He sought to protect the world from the madness of his brothers, from his own madness, and he sacrificed everything in the end for that protection.

 

When the image stopped, and Perine let the weaves drop, Elin merely nodded, unshed tears in her eyes. In her heart of hearts, she knew she had joined the Red Ajah out of love for Nile and a desire to protect the world as a whole from mad men and individually from fools and their biggotry. This ter’angreal only confirmed that she had joined the right Ajah.

 

Bonwhin’s journals were another matter. Many Reds held Bonwhin up as a Legend, much like others held Tetsuan, but to Elin both were flawed heroines. Benwhin let her pride supplant wisdom, and she nearly brought down the entire Ajah with her folly. Likewise, Tetsuan who endangered the world for her jealousy.

 

These journals merely confirmed for Elin that Bonwhin was a woman, like any other.

 

“Is that all, Highest?” Elin kept the proper level of respect in her tone, nodding her head the proper angle.

 

At Perine’s nod, Elin stood and left.

 

Weeks of travel and wasted opportunity in Tanchico for an afternoon in front of a ter’angreal and some musty old books. These particular musty old books and ter’angreal were sealed to the Crimson, but if they weren’t, Elin would have taken them to someone who would have appreciated them: Bennu!

 

Stopping by her room to change into a more comfortable dress, Elin began to make plans for the rest of her visit. She would not stay long, probably only long enough to share her journals with Bennu regarding the World of Dreams. That area of study proved enough to interest the Red. The Tanchico Museum had so many artifacts, Elin was sure that some were ter’angreal, but she had only just scheduled an audience with the Panarch. Well, water under the bridge. She would have to wait until there was a new Panarch to renew that particular interest.

 

She had been in Tarabon looking to see if any girls had been smuggled out of Amadicia going the opposite direction from Tar Valon, much like Elin’s own exodus, but the opportunity to view the Tanchican collection did not come every day. Elin tried to bring home at least one ter’angreal a decade for her Tairen friend. The Tower saw some benefit, but Elin did it in form to honor the agreement they had made when they were Accepted, but in spirit because she enjoyed the joy her friend felt at each new discovery. Elin felt a pang of guilt at not being able to share the Red's new discovery with her friend. Bennu would be in raptures over that box.

[Jagen Sedai]

The world could wait on the White Tower, as Jagen saw it. Whatever she was doing, and no matter how far she was, she would drop it and head for the Tower. That beacon greeted her in welcome triumph every time she returned to Tar Valon, and this time seemed no different. The world was changing around them, and quickly, but the White Tower would be there through it all; she would be there. A symbol of timeless power and strength.

 

It was her home, and it gave her comfort. Even though she looked as if she just came from Tarabon, braided and veiled as on her first day in the city, Tar Valon, and the Tower truly was her home; her mother died over century and a half ago, and she had no living relatives she was aware of; nor did she care. Her sisters were here, in the White Tower, the place that shaped Jagen and showed her who she truly could be and what she could become. Since the day she took the shawl, the Red Ajah had her devotion.

 

She took in the sights of the city as she rode in, but did not slow her large, black horse. Past all sorts of unique shops like none others in the world, the city seemed a little more crowded than usual to her. Perhaps it was because of the war, and famine. And the Dragon.

 

Jagen left her horse with the young woman in the West Stable and glided up the wide, graveled path. She plucked velvet her gloves off as she recalled the message she'd been given; the reason she was now enveloped by the shadow of the most powerful symbol in the world. The Crimson Banner calls. She climbed the spiraling staircases up to the Ajah quarters; once she opened the door that lead to her home, she saw many Reds there, some faces showing urgency. Others anticipation. Jagen certainly felt that way, but she kept her features smooth, giving a couple of smiles to those she knew. It was not long before one of the Sitters spotted her and told Jagen to attend at once; she was jsut in time for the important meeting.

 

In her room, she washed up and dug out a deep red gown threaded with gold. She then chose her oldest shawl for the occasion, the first she had ever been given, preserved with a weave to look as new as the first day she had received it. The long, red fringe went to the back of the tall sister's knees when she wore it high on her shoulders, wrapped around like a banner.

 

She made her way thusly with the other Sisters to their most secret chamber. Jagen almost wondered if, perhaps, just perhaps, this was a call to attend the Grand Emergence. She was not sure how she felt if that was the case. While some sisters did not care to dwell on the unsure, Jagen wanted to be prepared. Just in case. One could not be too careful with anything.

 

Yet nothing could have prepared her for the smooth ter'angreal box that was uncovered by Muirenn, after she had revealed how she came to be in the Red Ajah, and Jagen had newfound respect for the other Red. She was not expecting the journal, either. Bonwhin's journal. What an odd thing, Jagen thought initially. She did not keep a personal journal, only a log recording some activities that were important to her. She thought journals frivolous, silly things. But sometimes useful.

 

As for Bonwhin herself, Jagen was not sure what to think. She was better than Tetsuan, she supposed, but still had her faults. Whatever other Sisters in other Ajahs saw, the facts to Jagen were in her favor. Bonwhin ruled for more than fifty years, one of the longest of any Amyrlin, and under her rule Guaire Amalasan, one of the most dangerous False Dragons in the Age, had been gentled. Artur Hawkwing may have brought him, but did not listen to her--a simple matter of respecting Tar Valon's law!--and that had caused a Light forsaken mess. Hawkwing was a fool, whatever else he did, in her opinion.

 

But Jagen held few illusions; whatever her triumphs and faults, Bonwhin was but a woman. Learning of what was in her journal was unsettling in some manner, but the Red was so intrigued by the knowledge gained, few of the revelations bothered her--until the picture became clear.

 

Then there was the ter'angreal. The recording, however that was done, was real. A man... had begged a sister, his sister in the Power, when both were Aes Sedai, to help them. She ketp herself from gasping, unlike some others. But still she breathed deeply. Between the two items and all they meant, Jagen's mind was working fast to process it all. She breathed a bit deeply, but it was more because she was so focused on what she was learning it made her run out of breath. Seeing that man from the ter'angreal had been both unsettling and fascinating.

 

Leona talked first after asking Perine's permission. "Highest, Sitters and Sisters under the Crimson Banner. What you have seen today has and will change the history and the future of the Red Ajah. It is a wonderful opportunity to show the world our true duty to this world. How we have kept the watch like we promised so long ago. This information will rock the foundations of the White Tower and maybe even earn the Red Ajah the Seat once again."

 

The question came then if they held this to the Crimson Banner, or to reveal it to the rest of the Tower. Jagen's instinct was to keep it to themselves, at least for now. What purpose would it serve in revealing it? There was no obvious answer yet.

She listened to the others, and nodded her head in agreement with Maegan, that the journal stay hidden. She was of the opinion the ter'angreal be shared. Perhaps that would be well, but Jagen hardly cared what the other Ajahs thought of the Red, as long as they agreed with their necessity.

 

She stood with the others to leave once she had taken it all in, choosing not to share her voice; she wanted time to think on this matter. The Taraboner shook her head slightly, standing there briefly. It all bared thinking about certainly. But all she said at a fellow, younger Red's inquiry of her thoughts was, "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills."

 

Indeed, it did. But was it mocking them, or was it what they needed? Was there some clue in what was revealed, in Bonwhin's journal that needed more reading to uncover, that would give them an answer to how to move forward, or lead them towards one? After all, whatever the beginning of the Red Ajah--Jagen frowned thinking about it that way--it hardly changed their purpose now... didn't it?

 

She soon found herself in her room thinking about it in an almost dreamlike state. She had ordered a tray brought to her room yet hardly touched the food upon its arrival. The Dragon was reborn, and channelers were showing up everywhere. Men who could channel had started to gather under his direction, and she loathed the thought. It was why she had been in Andor right before coming here. She hoped they would end up killing themselves; let them fight and go mad among each other and leave the rest of the world out of it.

 

She channeled her food warm again, ate, and dressed for bed. The sun had gone down hours ago. She took a deep breath and tried to relax herself. When the sun rose tomorrow, she would have to think of what this would mean for her Ajah, and how she could help make sure they remained as strong and timeless as the Tower.

 

 

***********

 

OOC: Old topic but I felt the need to respond.  (And encourage other Reds who weren't around at the time to do so!)

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by Jagen Sedai