An Asha'man Returns - Part 1: Never Forget

[Kaelin]

--reserved for plot updates--

 

The plotline for this RP is quite fluid and might take some unexpected turns, depending on who else joins. Anybody who's interested in taking part is welcome to contact me via the 'Black Tower DR RP Group' discussion forum.

 

Roleplay Summary

 

'Reimond' is an Asha'man who has a near-death experience while away from the Black Tower, and consequently loses his memory of who he was and what he's capable of. By chance, he's discovered in Northern Andor by one of his former associates from the Black Tower. This RP explores his loss of identity, and sets the scene for his eventual re-integration into Black Tower society.

 

BT Party 1: (Kaelin + 2 Asha'man) - At Edgehill, a small town in Northern Andor. Most of the inhabitants work in the nearby mines. 

 

BT Party 2: (1 Asha'man, 2 Dedicated, 3 Soldiers) - At Fortress Oldwater, several days ride north of Edgehill, with an Andoran garrison.  

 

Main characters: Pending.

 

Story so far:

 

An Asha'man who was previously thought dead has been discovered alive in Edgehill by a Black Tower recruiting party. 

 

Meanwhile in Fortress Oldwater, another party from the Black Tower are providing logistical support to the Andoran army while they wait for the recruiting party to return.

 

Edited December 15, 2013 by Kaelin

[Kaelin]

(Reimond)

It's bloody cold out here tonight. I should be inside with Fargo and Sergeant Dax, chatting with the regulars, perhaps sipping some of Winthrop's weak ale. There's certainly no need to be standing out here in the snow, with my breath crystallizing in the air, and the Inn sign creaking above my head. Tongues of light from the windows flicker across the empty road that bisects Edgehill on its way northeast to the mines and beyond. There's nobody out here, and who would be, on a night like this? Nobody to stand guard against, no reason to be here, save the solitude that I crave and dread. A solitude that refuses to yield the answers that I long since stopped seeking, but continues to torture me with the possibility.

 

Six months have passed since the Sergeant found me outside the town gates, 'battered into a pulp' as he called it, and barely alive. My body has recovered somewhat, thanks to Healer Lee, although the tingling in my spine and the weakness in my limbs still returns from time to time, and the red scar between my eyes refuses to fade. My mind, on the other hand, is still as empty as the day I woke to the sight of Fargo's face above mine - the first face I ever remember seeing - speaking the first words I ever remember hearing. "Who are you?" she asked me, with a mysterious expression on her face. She asks me the same question again, every now and then, as if hoping she'll catch my memories by surprise and they'll come flooding out. They never have. She has that same mysterious expression on her face each time. I don't have the words to properly describe it, and perhaps I never will.  

 

I remember only one thing that predates my arrival in Edgehill. A few days after I first awoke, I dreamt that I stood beside a wooden pallisade, with the sounds of shouting and weapons close by, but somehow beyond the reach of my vision. Before me was a very lifelike stone statue with a face remarkably like mine, but unscarred. The name just appeared in my mind; 'Reimond'. The statue shook its head sadly, and then I woke. 

 

Most days I forget that there was a life before this, before Sergeant Dax and Fargo and Winthrop. It's easy to slip into the comfort of the commonplace and the familiar, and forget that most of my life simply doesn't exist anymore. Even at night, I dream only of Edgehill. My invisible past returns to haunt me only when Fargo asks me that question... 'Who are you?', or when Crazy Sue randomly declares I'm her long-lost grandson, or nephew, or son-in-law, depending on the time of day and what she's been drinking.  

 

A part of me just doesn't want to know who I was. Perhaps I was a king, or a knight, or a thief, or even an assassin - the Sergeant told me that the shredded remnants of my clothes had been black. Perhaps I'd been a Darkfriend. Now I'm just Reimond, and that's fine. I'm happy.

 

But every time someone mentions my past, I feel a burning inside me. I keep suppressing it, and I don't know why I do that, but I do. And each time it returns, it's stronger, and it's harder to force it out of my head. Today I've been standing here alone for an hour and it still isn't gone. Why won't it just leave me alone? Why won't it let me believe that I'm happier not knowing who I was? Why does it slyly offer me answers that I no longer want? Tonight I will have frightening dreams again, where people that I don't know die horribly in places that I can't even imagine existing.  

 

In the end, it's the sight of two shadowy figures in the distance that dispels the rising despair. They stride purposefully towards the Inn, and as they draw closer I notice they're dressed entirely in black, with coats cut in an unfamiliar style. Each is leading a horse that's far too fine to be local. The horses are covered with snow-blankets, and look exhausted. I turn away long enough to put my head through the doorway and call to Winthrop to send a stablehand, and then I turn back to the strangers. They've noted my presence, and they continue to approach. As they draw near enough for me to make out the weapons on their belts, a girl appears from inside the stable and converses with them briefly. She leads the horses into the stables, and the strangers continue their approach. They move with a grace that I've only seen twice before - the day I saw Sgt. Dax for the first time, and the day a squad of Andoran army veterans passed through Edgehill on their way north to Underbridge. These are professional soldiers - if they intend trouble, I'm ill-equipped to handle it. Yet although they look incredibly dangerous, I feel no threat.  

 

I step aside from the doorway and nod a greeting as they draw close. "Well met, sirs, and welcome to Edgehill." Now that they're closer I realise that they're not dressed as warmly as I am - and yet the cold doesn't appear to bother them. The closer of the two men has red hair, and his slanted hazel eyes and boldly curved nose seem somehow familiar, although I don't recall ever seeing such features before. He briefly glances at my tabard and the shortsword at my hip, then just as briefly meets my eyes and nods a greeting as he steps past me and into the Inn. The other follows suit, and then pauses for a moment, before turning to regard me a second time. His already fair skin slowly turns a shade of pale that even the frigid air can't explain, contrasting sharply against the dark hair that tumbles haphazardly over his brow. His blue eyes go wide in apparent shock. His companion turns back from the open door to see what's holding him up. Behind him, Winthrop has gone still behind the bar, and both Fargo and Sergeant Dax have turned to follow his gaze. The Sergeant's heavy brows are drawn down, and Fargo has the wary look of a housecat eying a hound. Something is wrong. 

 

I look back at the blue-eyed stranger, who continues to stare at me, wordlessly. Something is very wrong. I glance back at his red-haired companion, who's showing no expression at all, or more accurately, a complete absence of one, which suddenly makes him seem very threatening indeed. I return my focus to the man in front of me. He finds his voice just as I notice the winged serpent insignia on his collar.

 

"Kaelin?!" He's looking at me as though I'm a long-lost brother. "Is it really you?" 

 

I stare at him mutely for a moment before I summon a response. "I...I'm sorry, sir, but I don't... I'm not... my name is Reimond."

 

"But Reimond's dead. You..." His expression changes, as if a realisation has just dawned. I stare at him in utter confusion, and my anxiety grows. Something is terribly, terribly wrong. 

 

There's a long pause before he speaks again. "You don't remember me, do you. You don't remember any of it." 

 

I shake my head slowly. Behind me, I hear Sgt. Dax's deep baritone. "Why don't you all come inside where it's warm. I think we need to have a talk." As I turn and look up at him, I feel a sudden chill in the base of my skull, and I shiver. I realise that the answers I didn't want are about to be revealed, and after this night, my life will not be the same.

Edited December 15, 2013 by Kaelin

[Kaelin]

On a low plateau in Northern Andor, just south of the Caralain, stood a monolithic stone bastion. Built in a style of neither Andor nor the Borderlands, none knew quite how long it had stood in solitary vigil over the otherwise featureless landscape. 

 

The fortress, named 'Oldwater' for the river that ran beneath it and fed it's underground wells, had capacity enough to house an entire battalion with plenty of room to spare. But thanks to a long peace with the Borderlands to the North, Andor had left no more than a token garrison there for almost as long as there had been an Andor. 

 

Time's were changing however. Ill tidings filtered south from Saldaea and Kandor, and a contingent of the Royal Guard  had been sent north to prepare the Fortress against whatever threats may emerge from the long-dormant wastelands of the Blight and the spawn of darkness who dwelled therein. 

 

Captain Allanus Tenhammer stood atop the outer wall, gazing down at the mounted patrol that were making their way through the main gates beneath him and into the marshalling yards before the main Keep. On a clear day, his vantage point would have revealed terrain for many miles into the distance, but the snow and the fog obscured much of the landscape. The weather had been brutal, and the journey long, but it had been worth it. Within moments of their arrival the previous evening, their Asha'man allies had woven the portals they used to travel vast distances in the blink of an eye, and a stream of supplies had begun to arrive from Whitebridge and Caemlyn. Without the Asha'man, the entire expedition would have been stalled until the spring - as things stood now, it would take no longer than a week to bring Fortress Oldwater to full readiness. Light alone knew what the coming months would bring, but come what may, Andor would be ready. 

 

He turned to the half dozen black-coated figures that shared the wall with him. The gaunt man with the hairless head, who looked old enough to be a great-grandfather to his five companions, bore the serpent insignia of a full Asha'man. The others lacked the serpent, and looked veritably meek compared to their leader, but Allanus knew that each of them was akin to a leashed warhound, ready to spill blood and rend flesh at less than a moment's notice. 

 

"When do you estimate your colleagues will return, Asha'man Heinz?" The other two Asha'man in the Black Tower party had left for Edgehill not long after the last supply wagon had rolled through their portals of the One Power. They had yet to return.

 

The old man was silent for a long moment, still gazing out into the fog, as he had since dawn. Just as Allanus began to open his mouth to repeat his question, the Asha'man turned his head slowly to face him, and his pale blue eyes unfocussed eerily just as they met the Captain's. "Tomorrow. Today. It matters not." Though standing two feet away, it seemed as if he whispered the words directly into Allanus' ear. 

 

"Indeed," replied the Captain, uneasily. "Well, you are all welcome to remain here as long as you please. Andor owes you a great debt." The old man simply gazed at him, or perhaps through him, and said nothing. Allanus felt a sudden urge to be elsewhere. "I'll be in the armoury if you have need of me, Asha'man. For now, I bid you good morning."

 

As the Andoran turned and left, Asha'man Heinz turned to the Soldiers and Dedicated who had been standing awaiting his orders. "Hard days lie ahead. For now, go, and take your ease." The Asha'man turned away from them and gazed out into the fog again, already oblivious to their presence.    

Edited December 15, 2013 by Kaelin

[Kaelin]

(Reimond)

 

I follow Sergeant Dax and the two strangers into the Inn. After a quick word with Winthrop, the Sergeant leads us all into a private meeting chamber in the back, where the Mayor often greets visitors from other towns. The sound of revelry in the common room suddenly disappears. Fargo and I are immediately on alert, until the Sergeant tells us that it's the Asha'man's doing. I know very little about Asha'man except that they wield the One Power and are doomed to go mad and die, often violently and with a great deal of collateral damage. The thought makes me uncomfortable about being in the same room as them, or indeed the same town, but the Sergeant seems quite relaxed, so I try to follow his example.

 

The man in charge of our visitors introduces himself as Azrael Celeste, Asha'man of the Black Tower. His companion is Asha'man Van Tiersen. Sergeant Dax introduces himself as 'Sergeant Horatio Dax', the first time I've heard his given name. Fargo remains silent, so he introduces her too, as 'Private Katrina Fargo'. I notice that she is on edge, her eyes flickering back and forth between the two Asha'man as if one of them might explode at any moment. Which indeed they might. Nobody introduces me, and I don't feel any compulsion to introduce myself, since I don't even know who I really am. Nobody seems to notice. 

 

We all take seats at the circular meeting table in the center of the room, and Sergeant Dax leans back in his chair, and eyes the lead Asha'man.   

 

"I know you're here to find more of your own kind," he says, before redirecting his gaze to Asha'man Tiersen. He smiles briefly at him before continuing, and I realise that these two have met before. "We can ill afford to lose anyone, especially with what's happening up north, but I won't stand in your way. You're welcome to take anyone you need to, as always." 

 

I'm still digesting this new turn of events as the Sergeant returns his gaze to Asha'man Celeste. "Tomorrow morning I'll introduce you to the Mayor - he can arrange for you to test people as they end their shifts at the mine in the evening. He'll probably gather the rest of the village at the granary - it's large enough for your purposes and warmer than marshalling outside. He can also point out the locations of the outlying farmsteads on a map, unless you want to wait until market day and catch the farmfolk then."

 

"Thank you, Sergeant," says the Asha'man. "I appreciate your co-operation." 

 

"You're welcome," responds the Sergeant. "And now, I imagine you'll want to give my newest recruit his old life back." 

 

All eyes turn to me as the Sergeant continues. "I was returning from a trip to Fortress Oldwater when I found him on the road into town. Looked like he'd been beaten into the ground by an army of men with hot irons. I didn't think he'd survive the night, but he proved me wrong. He didn't come round for several days, and when he did, he remembered nothing of who he was." 

 

He looks to me, and I take a deep breath before continuing where he left off. "It's been six months, and all I've been able to recall is that my name was Reimond." I lock eyes with Asha'man Celeste. "But you seem to know differently." 

 

For a moment, the Asha'man's eyes shift as if he's looking through me, then they re-focus, and he replies in a clear voice. "Your name is Kaelin Elan Norinth, and you are an Asha'man of the Black Tower."

Edited December 15, 2013 by Kaelin

[Kaelin]

(Reimond)

 

Fargo breaks the long silence that greets the Asha'man's pronouncement. "You... you're one of - them?"

 

She looks as though she's been kicked in the gut. Our eyes meet for a long moment, mine widening in confusion, hers becoming inexplicably liquid. Then suddenly she rises and darts towards the door. I hear a strangled sob as she disappears from view. 

 

The Sergeant is half out of his seat. "Katie...!" he starts, then he sighs and sits, shaking his head sadly as he looks at the rest of us. "Her brother was a channeler." He raises an eyebrow at Asha'man Celeste. "Perhaps you knew him? Kyle Fargo." The Asha'man nods, a pained expression briefly crossing his face. "Yes, I see that you did," continues the Sergeant. "What a wonderful young lad he was. Their parents died in a mining accident when Katie was young. Kyle was her whole world. After he incinerated himself along with most of Fartherness Bridge, well, it took her a long time to put herself back together." He turns to me. "And now it seems you're also at risk of insanity."

 

I'm still reeling from the implications. Her brother was one of them. I'm one of them. I'm going to go mad. Maybe I already did. Those horrific dreams - did I kill those people? Is that why I was burnt and broken and all but dead when the Sergeant found me? My thoughts are spiraling rapidly, my peripheral vision is a strange shade of indigo, and all I can see is the Asha'man's face. "Help me," I implore him. "Please, make it go away. I don't want to be an Asha'man. I want to stay here and be normal." 

 

The man's tone becomes colder and sharper than the winter wind. "Oh really? And when Shadowspawn spill out of the Borderlands and obliterate this town, what are you going to do then? Or perhaps you'll obliterate it yourself!" He jabs angrily at the winged serpent on his collar. "This isn't about being a hero. It's about accepting that you must die, and knowing that you will sell your life dearly so that hundreds - perhaps thousands! - of others can survive. You taught me that, Kaelin. You."

 

"Stop calling me that! My name is Reimond!" I'm furious. I don't remember standing, but I am, and the table is creaking as my hands do their best to crush it's edge. My eyes close, as I realise that the fury isn't directed at him. I don't know why, but all I want to do is scream, and it takes a tremendous effort of will to release the table and sit back down. I notice that I'm hyperventilating, and I try to slow my breathing, but to no avail. 

 

All of a sudden, all sight and sound disappears. My ears are ringing, and for a brief moment, my vision is pure incandescent white. Then I am elsewhere, kneeling over the broken body of a woman I don't know, a woman whose heart beats in my chest, and mine in hers. An animal roar of anguish explodes from my throat, as I scream at the Creator for an explanation, for any sign that he is not the cruelest being in existence. I receive none. The woman becomes still, and as her heart stops beating, I feel something punch through my chest, take a tight grip on my own heart, and squeeze hard. Jagged shards of agony explode throughout my body. The ground rushes up to meet me, and I pass through it, falling... falling.... 

 

And then, just as suddenly as it started, it's over, and I'm back in the Inn. My hands are shaking, and I'm barely repressing the urge to vomit. The throbbing pain in my chest is the only evidence of the strange vision, and then even that disappears.   

 

I have clarity. I know what I have to do. I look up at Asha'man Celeste, and when I speak, my voice is alien to my own ears. 

 

"Tell me who I am," I say. Where my heart had throbbed painfully a few eternal moments ago, there is an empty void. "Tell me everything."

 

Edited December 15, 2013 by Kaelin

[Kaelin]

(Kaelin)

 

We're at the table for most of the night. Within the first few minutes, I interrupt the Asha'man and fetch an empty sheaf of paper, a quill and some ink. There's no way I can remember all of this and I don't want to forget anything important. 

 

The pages fill with the details of someone else's life. Born in Cairhien to a minor Cairhienin lord and his Andoran wife. One twin brother - Reimond - and no sisters. Parents die in a stagecoach accident. Leaves home with the twin brother to visit mother's village somewhere in Andor. Runs into Dramon Calgar, the False Dragon and first M'hael of the Black Tower, and becomes a central part of his following. Loses his twin brother to the Taint on saidin. Marries Catherine, his childhood sweetheart. Trains a generation of new Asha'man. His wife is killed by a mad Asha'man. He fights at the Battle of Tear, and in several other campaigns. Rumours spread that he is losing the battle against the Taint, but he fails to show any obvious signs of madness. Finally, he disappears in a burst of flame during a military action six months ago. He is declared missing, presumed dead, and quietly mourned by those who grew to love and respect him as a brother Asha'man and a friend.

 

In my head I've accepted that this man, this Kaelin, is me, but in my heart he's still a stranger. I wonder if that will ever change. I recall the vision I saw earlier, and I'm reminded that it's possible. I remember the last six months, and I realise that it may take quite some time. I wonder how things might be if Kaelin's wife - my wife - were still alive, and was re-united with a husband who didn't know her anymore. I briefly feel relief that she's not, and then guilt as I remember how Kaelin... how I felt when she died. There's so much to take in, so much to think about. 

 

A few hours before dawn, a light snore from Sergeant Dax's direction reveals that he's asleep with his eyes open. We decide to follow his example and get some rest, and agree to regroup a few hours after dawn. The visitors go to rooms that Winthrop has prepared for them, and Sergeant Dax and I return to the house where he and Fargo and I sleep when we're in town. 

 

I'm dead on my feet as I bid Sergeant Dax a good night. I pass Fargo's room on the way to my own, and I think I can hear quiet weeping from behind her door. I briefly consider going to her, but it occurs to me that I might be the last person she wants to see right now. I continue to my room, and sleep quickly takes me. 

 

I dream.

 

I'm back beside the wooden pallisade, with the sounds of shouting and weapons close by. Once again, I see the very lifelike stone statue, but this time I'm on the periphery, observing my past self as he looks sadly at the statue with the face so remarkably like his own.   

 

"Goodbye Reimond," he says, his voice catching on the words.

 

"I'll never forget you."        

 

Edited December 15, 2013 by Kaelin

[Zhon]

Four weeks.  Four long weeks of hiking, riding, earning a bed at inns by using what gleeman skills he had learned from his old mentor, and here Gevin was headed up to northern Andor following another probably-useless lead.  He had been searching for weeks since his recovery from that strange sickness, trying to find them, but he had never been lucky enough to be in a town at the same time as those recruiters.  All he ended up with each time was rumors of holes in the air, of those men showing up and taking anyone who volunteered to join the Dragon Reborn's cause then vanishing as if they never were.  And those were the tame bits, stories about the Asha'man spread like wildfire even in these frigid conditions.

 

According to his sources in Caemlyn, in the last week or so men in black coats had been purchasing supplies and sending them through those strange portals, and one of them mentioned a place called Oldwater.  A little more digging revealed the place to be a fortress on the northern border, useless before the Shadowspawn had begun moving south but now it probably served as a very important lookout point to watch for anything coming southward.  Unlike the other stories he’d chased, at least this one had a decent reason for Asha’man to be there, so now it was a simple horse ride and a roll of the dice.

 

As his horse wove her way through the snowdrifts toward a fort that neither of them could see, Gevin tried to imagine what life would be like after he joined up with the Asha’man.  Dangerous, obviously, what with saidin being tainted and them being the Dragon’s personal soldiers, but there had to be more to it than that.  Daily life, training, would it be like some army drill sergeant or perhaps more like his gleeman training?  “Well, however it works out it’s got to be warmer than this eh Tessa?”  The horse whickered in response but kept plodding forward.  “Oh what I wouldn’t give for a nice hot cup of tea right now, a nice thick wool blanket, a pipe filled to the brim with tabac- wait, is it getting warmer?”  He pulled Tessa to a stop as he looked around, trying to find the source of the sudden burst of warmth, but even as he stopped it was blown away by a strong wind.  Bloody ashes, I did it again…  Gevin shuddered and urged his horse forward again.  He really hoped the Asha’man would be there this time, these random moments of channeling were starting to scare him.

 

A voice called out from the snow, “Halt!  Stay where you are.”  Gevin stopped Tessa again as he was surrounded by a group of soldiers in Andoran armor.  “Alright, who are you and what are you doing out here?”

 

Finally!  He must have made it to Oldwater!  With a great big smile he stood up on top of his horse and gave them his best theatric bow.  “The name is Gevin Dallor, sir, glee-well, gleeman in training anyway.  I’ve been traveling through this snowstorm for a while and was hoping you would allow me to stay at your outpost until it passes.  I’ll happily entertain you and your men in exchange for room and board, and perhaps some extra feed for my horse here.”

 

The guardsman was sighing before Gevin was even halfway done.  “Just what we need, another mouth to feed.  Fine, you can stay until the snowstorm passes, but if you try anything you’ll be on the end of my sword in seconds.  Understand?”

 

“Of course sir, of course, these are dangerous times after all.  Now then, which way to the nearest fire?”  By the time the patrol brought Gevin into Oldwater with them he already had several of them laughing, and as he stabled Tessa he smiled at his horse.  “Well, we’ve arrived old girl. You get yourself warmed up while I see if our friends are here.”

Edited December 18, 2013 by Zhon

[Zhon]

Ah, nothing like a fort in the middle of winter.  Drafts?  sure.  Sudden areas of cold?  definitely.  But there were also a great many warm areas, as well as places with food for soldiers who couldn't make it to the mess hall.  One could go to and seek warmth anywhere within, and possibly a bite to eat too.  Any port in a storm, and any fort in a snowstorm.

 

Gevin smiled and made short friendly conversations with the guards he passed on his way to the mess hall.  Their responses were guarded, but at least they were willing to respond.  That gave him a place to start.  The words of Gevin's old master echoed in his mind: Always gauge the mood of your audience before you start.  Use them to determine what you'll perform.  He may not have completed his training as a gleeman, but he still knew a lot about entertaining others.  But better yet, he saw little evidence of full supply wagons able to move quickly in this weather, so the fact that this fort was fully supplied and none of the guards seemed stressed or underfed meant someone was helping them out - like an Asha'man who could move across any distance in a blink of an eye.

 

He found his way to the mess hall with the aid of a few soldiers pointing the way.  Not many people here at this time, it seemed.  For that matter, what time of day was it anyway?  The skies weren't clear enough to tell by sunlight alone.  Well, no matter.  Soldiers needed to eat, and they knew what that time would be.  He'd just have to wait here, and warm up for showtime.  In the meantime though he walked over to where the kitchen was, conversing with the chefs – who kept a wooden spoon on hand and watched him for any filching, apparently the soldiers here had quite an appetite – and spoke with them for a time, asking questions about their work, what they were preparing, could he sample a bit… no?  alright then, but surely they could share something about any other visitors to the fort besides himself.

 

The head cook grew silent at that, then turned and got everyone back to work without another word to the Lugarder.  But that was the last nail in the coffin for Gevin, they were here today.  Finally, he’d be able to speak with someone who could help him learn to control this… ability of his.  Assuming they didn't kill him outright, one never knew what could happen with potential madmen - after all, here he was coming to learn how to channel rather than hiding someplace where this ability couldn't hurt anyone.

 

Gevin found a well lit corner in the mess hall and sat on top of one of the tables, drawing out a number of brightly colored balls and juggling them to warm his limbs up.  First it was a simple pattern of three, then four, then five, then swapping out the balls for different colors without missing a single beat.  Always advertise your presence before you get to the good stuff.  The few guards present in the mess hall now would spread the word, and by the time they came for meals he'd be ready to start performing for real.  “Gather round, gather round, I bring tales from afar with news for all!  Great deeds in the works my friends, by young and old, man and woman, come hear their stories when the feast is served!”

 

The soldiers present noted him, some of them even smiling a bit and heading out to tell others.  Gevin continued to juggle the balls, shifting them to one hand as he prepared other items for the show – perfectly balanced throwing knives, a small jar of lantern oil for the flaming displays, drawing up specific stories by memory, all the things that had been drilled into him over these last couple years.  Despite having been separated from his master just a couple months ago, Gevin had picked up a few tricks in his travels that the old man hadn’t quite been willing to teach yet because he was inexperienced as an entertainer.  Well, time to see how good he’d gotten.  Let the hour approach, he’d be ready for a fine performance – and then a long talk with the Asha’man who were probably up in the lookout or map room, places where he’d never be allowed to go as a stranger.

 

The stage was set, all he had to do now was wait and perform.