the Ogier and the Beast [ATTN: Aleanda, Maggie, and whoever]

[Myth]

“Aaaaaah, that feels good,” rumbled Forge as he stretched. His back ached from the constant bending over he’d been doing all day working on the human-sized inn. In fact, he and the other Stonemasons had been working here in Tar Valon for over a week. This was the third inn they’d worked on, but he had lost track of how many buildings in all they had finished. It didn’t really bother him too much, because they still had a long line remaining to be re-built. And in Tar Valon, when work of that magnitude was required, the Aes Sedai sent off for Ogier.

 

Forge still wasn’t sure what had started the fire, whether it had been arson or accident, but regardless of its cause the damage had been severe. Fortunately, few people had been hurt before the Aes Sedai had managed to put it out and put everything back to right. Except for the buildings, of course. Those had been beyond the scope of the White Tower’s power to repair. Which was why Forge was standing here, covered in sweat, soot, and stone dust.

 

Smiling in a grin that nearly split his face in two, the young Ogier called an end to the day’s work. Despite his youth, the other Masons acknowledged his authority when it came to the task at hand. They had long since ceased being amazed at his ability with Stone, and none had been surprised when Koraj, the stedding’s Master Mason, had placed him at the lead for the project. Still, he knew his authority only held sway with Stonework or Steel. In other matters, the grown-ups still teased him about not being old enough to grow a real beard or mustache yet, and that suited him just fine.

 

Besides, they knew he shaved his mustache off and kept his beard trimmed to a thin, narrow point just below his lip on purpose. They didn’t know that he still did it because Lily had liked it, but that was none of their business.

 

As the group of Ogier trod back toward the inn where they were staying, their easy give-and-take banter kept the smile on Forge’s face. This is the life! He couldn’t have been much happier, despite the fact that he was bone-tired and coated from head to wide-toed boot sole in soot. He never felt much better than he did when he lost himself in the art and craft of working with Stone. It was one of things he was born to do. On top of that, the work was progressing nicely.

 

Making their way down the crowded street, they were almost back to Maggie’s place when they were stopped by a young girl wearing an Accepted’s banded white dress.

 

“Who is in charge of the repair work here in Tar Valon?” she asked in an attempted commanding tone. She spoiled it by goggling at the massive hammers and other tools the Ogier carried.

 

Forge couldn’t help but smile even wider at the apparent dismay of the young human before responding in his deep bass rumble, “I am, little one. What can I do for an initiate of the White Tower?”

 

The Accepted stared up at him like he was a story come to life before attempting to re-gain her self-important attitude. Except for a slight stutter and repeated glances at his fellows, she did a good job. “L-lady Aleanda of the W-white Ajah requests your presence at your earliest convenience, M-master Ogier, if it pleases the Light.” Pausing as if a cat had caught her tongue, she added with a gulp, “I am to return with you if you are able to come.”

 

With a confused look toward his elders that was returned from beneath seven pairs of shaggy eyebrows, Forge accepted. “We are at the service of the White Tower. As soon as I take a hot bath and clean up, I will be on my way. You did say as soon as it was convenient?” The Accepted nodded quickly, and Forge continued. “Well, I think your White Sister will find my presence much more pleasant after I get this soot off me. Feel free to run any other errands you have.”

 

She looked at him as if he had told her to teach a pig to dance.

 

“Or you can wait for me. I’ll be in there.” He pointed to Maggie’s inn.

 

Once inside, he sadly informed Maggie that he wouldn’t be getting a chance to enjoy her fine cook’s evening fare, which was true because he didn‘t know if he had ever eaten better cooking. He was growing quite fond of Maggie‘s company, too, which it looked like he was going to miss as well. Then, he endured relentless teasing from the older Ogier about getting above himself. Laughing it all off as he bathed in a proper Ogier-sized tub, he wondered what an Aes Sedai could possibly want with him.

 

Dressing hurriedly and returning to the common room, he found the Accepted growing more anxious by the moment. As soon as he appeared, she dashed outside. Fortunately, she couldn’t leave him behind, or she would have probably disappeared.

 

They made their way like that, her bouncing back and forth between seeming a nervous servant worried about being late and almost-Aes Sedai-like stateliness, him tagging along like a 12-foot tall tourist being shown the way around. Forge would have found it outrageously funny, if he hadn’t been concerned with what the upcoming meeting was about.

 

As the sun finally fell from the sky and the last defiant tongues of flame kissed the clouds, Forge stood before the doorway to the White Tower pondering what machinations he was being led into.

[Robin]

-Aleanda was not in charge of leading the renovation project but she knew the Aes Sedai who was well and they had spoken about it pretty much. Aleanda knew they were in the City just now and as she had never spoken to one, she had sent an Accepted to ask the, polite yet urgent, to come to her office for a chat. Aleanda was very curious to how an Ogier looked to the world, and its troubles. She had read and talked about Ogier, but talking with one was an experience unknown to her yet more reliable than reading or talking about them.

 

-One day Aleanda had seen an Ogier, she was still very young and had just received the Shawl. She was amazed and, because she had just received the Shawl, quite unable to hide her amazement which hadn't gone unnoticed by the elder White Sisters who had told her she had to learn quick to hide her feelings, something Aleanda knew but something that had been very difficult for her. Not anymore. The last time she had shown an expression on her face she hadn't wanted to show was more than a year past. She hoped she would be too amazed by what the Ogier was going to tell, if he would be coming, because some of the stories told in the Tower and in books were... peculiar.

 

-When, after a long while, Aleanda heared a knock on her door she answered by saying them to enter and stood up. The Accepted entered first, Aleanda had told her to bring the Ogier into her room. The child knew better than to decline Aleanda's instructions. "Thank you Kristen you did as I asked you. You're dismissed." The child made a curtsey for her and the Ogier, but more for her as Aleanda noticed the girl wasn't too keen on the large Ogier. "Master Builder, I welcome you to my humble room. First I would like to thank you for coming, I highly appreciate it. Please take a seat."

 

-Aleanda, after all these years, she was happy to be able to hide her emotions since she didn't want to insult the Ogier at all. "I have had them bring a special chair for you Master I hope you like the comfortableness of it. There aren't as much as there were in times long past, but there still are some and made them pick a comfortable one."

 

-Lea waited for the Ogier to sit down in the chair before she asked "I take Kristen, the Accepted, has told you who I am?" She didn't wait for the nod by the Ogier to move on "I was wondering if you were willing to share your thoughts with me on some matters that are concerning every reasonal being on our planet?" Aleanda waited for the Ogier to reply on her question, hoping an interesting conversation would be theirs to have.

 

Aleanda Antori

 

OOC: Is this conversation held in the Main Time Line? I hoped you like my post :D

[Myth]

There was no conversation on the way to meet Aleanda Aes Sedai. He tried to talk to the Accepted but she couldn’t seem to handle it. He gave it up as a lost cause after the third time he prompted her with an easy question, this time about her studies, when she turned and gave him a wide-eyed stare without slowing down. She never saw the turn, but he was sure she felt the wall. It would have been funny, if it wasn’t so sad. The Ogier have definitely become too removed from the world of human affairs if even educated people behave like this toward my kind, he thought.

 

Still, it was a little funny, but he tried not to show it.

 

So the walk through the White Tower was deathly silent, except for the eerie echoes of their footsteps following them along the empty corridors. While he had been to Tar Valon a couple of times before for repair work, this was his first time inside the White Tower. He knew from talking to the older Masons that the White Tower had been built to hold thousands of Aes Sedai and their initiates, but during his long walk up the beautifully-designed winding walkways, he only saw a mere handful of women who weren’t obviously servants. The rare appearances only served to enhance the emptiness rather than fill it. Where were all the Aes Sedai?

When they finally arrived and the Accepted knocked on the door, he heard a muffled voice beckoning them inside. He followed the young girl in, carefully squeezing his 12-foot tall body through the door, and looked at the woman who had requested the audience.

 

“Thank you Kristen you did as I asked you. You’re dismissed.”

 

So the girl’s name had been Kristen… she had been too intimidated by his presence to even share an introduction. He shook his head ruefully as the Accepted made a hurried departure.

 

“Master Builder, I welcome you to my humble room. First I would like to thank you for coming, I highly appreciate it. Please take a seat. I have had them bring a special chair for you Master I hope you like the comfortableness of it. There aren‘t as much as there were in times long past, but there still are some and made them pick a comfortable one.”

 

Forge looked where she had pointed, and his ears twitched with pleasure. “An Ogier-made chair,” he exclaimed in a bass rumble that would do credit to a bull. "I’m sure it will do very well, Aes Sedai. Thank you.” Running his hands over it reverently, Forge casually noted the skill of the builder. While it wasn’t sung wood, it was truly a masterpiece. He sat down eagerly and let out a sigh that sounded like a bull who had had a long day, before he could catch himself. “Pardon, Aes Sedai,” he murmured, “It’s been a long day,” but she didn’t seem to notice, because she began talking as soon as his butt hit the seat.

 

“I take Kristen, the Accepted, has told you who I am? I was wondering if you were willing to share your thoughts with me on some matters that are concerning every reasonable being on our planet?”

 

Forge took a deep breath at the seriousness of the Aes Sedai’s question. It sounded like a strong wind through a giant oak tree. He decided to start their conversation over anew, because he had definitely missed something. Standing, he bowed formally with his hands on his heart and said, “I am no master, Aes Sedai. I am unworthy and the work small. Tsingu ma choba. But I will do what I can.” He bowed again, completing the ritual, then added his own greeting.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Aleanda Aes Sedai. Please, sit down yourself, for it seems we may be awhile.” Heeding his own suggestion, he sat down and continued, “Now tell me, please, what can a mere Ogier do for an Aes Sedai?”

[Robin]

OOC.My apologises for the long, long wait. Yet here is my reply which I hope you like. Let me know if you're not content.

 

 

IC.Few times Aleanda had been afraid her emotionless face and way of speaking would be interpreted in the wrong way. Many Aes Sedai knew she was from the White Ajah and knew what that meant, they had their own ideas about her and her sisters and how they did not show emotion in public. Yet this was an Ogier and though he might know various things from all Ajahs, he could be intimidated, in what ever way, by Aleanda, her empty face and her calm voice that told nothing about Lea's feelings. Yet setting aside your believes, your lifestyle is not something done very soon. Aleanda thought it unappropriate to talk about this with the Ogier and since there were some other things she wanted to talk about she didn't even want to waste time over it.

 

Aleanda had not expected to greet her in such a way the formalities told him to greet her, yet she was pleasantly surprised. Although Aleanda had been told Ogier do everything in ease and overthink everything well, or at least they try, which this Ogier was doing as well most likely, Aleanda had thought they would be a little calmer than this one. Perhaps that was because he didn't know what she wanted from him or he just wasn't used for an approach by an Aes Sedai this way. It also could be that it was excactly as he had already said, a long day of hard work which had exhausted him and which had made him long for tobacco, a hot fire, a good book and just some relaxing time. Which would have to wait.

 

"Forge, as I believe that is your name." Aleanda didn't have to wait for a nod from the Ogier, since she knew this had to be Forge for she had made pretty clear to Kristen that she had to bring the Ogier that was in charge of the repair work and the reports about the repair work lay on her desk which included the names of the Ogier that were in Tar Valon for the repair business. Still, Aleanda waited for Forge's reaction before moving on. "As I said I was wondering if you were willing to share your thoughts on matters that concern us all. Before we do, however I would like to hear if your work at the White Tower is going as planned, if you're on scedual. Perhaps you have need in anything which perhaps I can provide for you and your fellow Ogier?" Aleanda paused and quickly, before Forge could respond, added "Before I forget, tell me if I've disrupted your chance for dinner this evening becuase I could get someone to deliver some fine food for you."

 

Aleanda knew that having conversations on an empty stomach was not something very pleasant, especially not if they would take some while, and would not want to have this Ogier be in such a condition while in her room. She herself could use something too, yet she would not be impolite to order only for herself so she hoped the Ogier was having some feelings of hunger that could be stilled by the fine pieces of art the Master of the Kitchens would prepare if she would request it. Aleanda hoped this way, as well, to comfort the Ogier a little bit, if that were necessary. Lea hated to have a nervous, or intimidated, conversation partner if she did not wanted such. Though somehow she didn't find it likely for a creature as the one sitting in front of her to be intimidated to easily.

 

Aleanda Antori

Aes Sedai of the White Ajah

[Myth]

Forge’s ears perked up noticeably at the mention of food. The unexpected meeting with the Aes Sedai had forced him to hurriedly bathe and skip his evening meal entirely, and it had been a long day already. The notion of quieting the rumblings in his stomach offered a welcome reprieve from the hunger pangs and lent a happier air to the upcoming proceedings. Bowing slightly in his chair, Forge answered warmly in the rich bass tones only an Ogier could utter.

 

“I would be grateful, Aes Sedai. I haven’t eaten since the noon meal, and your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated.”

 

The giant Ogier waited patiently as the Aes Sedai left to summon a servant or an Accepted and ordered her to fetch them their supper. Patience was one thing Ogier did well even if the circumstances were as strange as these. When she returned, she sat. After she directed a gracious nod toward him, he continued.

 

“The work is going well, Aes Sedai. At this rate we should finish ahead of schedule, the Light willing,” he said politely. It paid to be well mannered around the denizens of the White Tower. Looking intently into the ageless face of the Sister, Forge asked the question that had been on his mind since he was beckoned.

 

“What would you have of me, Aes Sedai?”