Sounds pretty feasible to me. With a Tairen from that kind of background you could have some interesting personal dilemmas… hatred of the Tairen Lords of the Land for the loss of face for House and so on? Or shame about own House for having sired a channeler (as, most people in Tear as about as anti channeling as I am anti-getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick. Twice.) Either way, Jarron al’Tanin has ‘conquered’ Tear, the Stone has fallen, etc, and unlike in the books the Black Tower were there for that fight already, so seeking amnesty etc, etc would be quite feasible. Perhaps hearing rumours of the Dragon being able to channel would have drawn your House out of hiding and perhaps be seeking some kind of reinstatement again… who knows!

Happy to bounce any ideas around that you have :)

-Dali/Ben.

Awareness came slowly. Like a morning mist giving way to light and sunshine and fading, slowly, into the clarity of a bright new day.

Bright. It did seem bright. Eyelids peeled apart slowly and gave way to harsh reality of the outside world. He couldn’t help squinting against it, waiting for his eyes to adjust gradually.

Wooden walls, a plain room. The covers of an even plainer bed. A softly snoring mound of shape tucked under them next to him.

Skechid. Well of course it was Skechid. The man had always said if there was need, he would find him. If there was need. Well, Dalinar thought to himself, the need had surely never been greater, even if it was a selfish need. A need to survive.

Of course, the course Brent could now set the Black Tower on might be enough to Break the world again. White versus Black in all out conflict, if that indeed were his track, could surely bring a conflict so devastating that entire nations would fall. There had to be survivors. There had to be someone to stand against it.

Dalinar rolled out of bed quietly, careful not to disturb Skechid, and bare feet found their way to the window. He parted the curtains there a crack, peering outside. Ah, yes, the safehouse. He remembered now, the choice to flee. The daring risk.

It was uncomfortably warm in the room, a heavy humid stickiness in the air that made a faint sheen of sweat a familiar cloak. He could cool it, make it more comfortable for them both until Skechid woke. The Void came easily to him, the Flame scouring away that sense of tropical mugginess. The trick to ignore hot and cold would work well enough for him, but not for Skechid while Skechid he slept, paying the price for the Healing that he had rendered Dali. It was the least he could offer the man who had saved his life. Again.

Dali reached for saidin. The bitter, gut-churning torrent that would fill him, seeking to engulf him, rip him apart, but sustained him like mother’s milk did a babe. He could see it, the familiar sickening glow. He reached, strained and grappled.

Saidin evaded him every time. Like trying to catch water with a fish net. It wasn’t a Shield, he had been Shielded often enough to know that feeling, that ephemeral barrier between himself and the Source. This was different. Here there was nothing stopping him from touching the Power. It was there. He could sense it. But he could not reach it. As well reach his hand to try to touch the sun. He could almost feels its warmth on his face, but he could draw no life from it.

There was a chair by the window. Subconsciously, he realised that he had landed in it, heavily. The Void slipped from him, empty.

Empty. Hollow. Like a shell. Brittle and hard and fragile. He thought he recognised these feelings, from the description those poor men at the Farm had described to him, those who had burnt themselves out, or been severed in a training accident.

Severed. The other mortal blows Brent had struck had been horrible, but this was the worst. This was a slow, lingering, inexorable death. He could feel the will draining from him. Purpose seemed… pointless.

He sat there, not moving, barely breathing more than enough to sustain his minimal bodily function, gazing out the window into the sunlight, for a very, very long time. Why bother getting up anyway? There was nothing he could do now. Not without the Power. Not against Brent. It was all so… meaningless...

Grats Grimm :) Good to see a raising for the first time since my return! :)

OOC: Sorry mon - been a busy week!

They continued for a few more hours, until a tranquil quiet had settled itself over the Farm grounds and the moon was high in the sky casting a pale glow across the building outside.

"Enough." Dalinar called an end to the session. "We are done, for tonight."

Dalinar unfolded himself and slid to his feet, staff in hand. "To bed. Training will start again tomorrow at first light. Get as much sleep as you can between now and then." And without further word, Dalinar slipped out the door to find his own rest.

-Dali.

Yes - training done.

For your other requirements you have:

"non-channeling learning RP" -- weapons, herbs, knitting, fishing, whatever you like

"one (more) free RP" -- prank, flirting with barmaid, or in Cai's case maybe stable boy lol...

Activity seems to be tragically down in the Tower (I wonder how many active players we have at the moment) so I think we could negotiate at least one of those being yours to RP out as you like - ~1000 words just one post and bam you're done rather than back and forth back and forth -- and then you might get to Dedicated (and a bit more freedom with RPing) a bit faster. That's ultimately Arath's call though!

His father's look almost seemed disappointed. "Peace, son! I thought it was clear. The Blight grows stronger by the month, the Shadowspawn seem ever more blatant with their attacks and their numbers grow rather than dwindle. This Keep stands between the Shadow and the rest of the free lands! And now you tell me you won't hold a sword, won't train, won't become a warrior to fight at my side like I did by my father's and he beside his." A shadow of a scowl found its way onto his chiselled features. "You must reconsider!" His tone became more pleading, "You must..."

Dalinar could remember, looking into his father's eyes then - grey eyes meeting pale blue. "No, father, you know I won't."

Everything blurred, twisted and... shifted.

His mother's eyes had always been just as grey as his own. She had ever been gentle, by Shienaran standards, though she kept an orderly house and brooked no nonsense. Her eyes, though, were gentle even when she was delivering a harsh reprimand. "Your father is unwell. You know how the Lurk blade has left him. Lord Argand says he would be dead already if not for your own hand." She looked away, unable to meet his eyes, a tear slipping down the side of her face. "But if the King summons then you must go. You must. He would not send unless there was dire need. Not this far." Her voice was pleading, slightly desperate, but hopeless at the same time. "But we could find a way, a reason, for you not to go. Your father needs you. Please... Won't you reconsider?"

Dalinar felt the weight of the satchel he slung over his shoulder. Was it that burden that he felt though? Or a greater burden that hung heavy over him? It seemed to drag him down, inexorably. "No, mother. You know I won't."

Blur, twist and shift.

Her hand trembled slightly in his. The porcelain agelessness of her features now seemed somehow paper thin, delicate, near transparent. A vein fluttered, thready, weak on her forehead. Her breaths were slow, but her chest rose and fell only slightly with each one. A touch of blue reached her lips and fingertips. The Yellow had been sent away, perhaps only a couple of hours before. Dali thought he had seen relief in her eyes as she left. He didn't know whether he felt relieved that she was gone, or angry. He didn't know what to feel.

"Do you understand?" Her voice was strong even in its quiet whisper.

"I do," Dali replied, unable to meet Brianna's eyes.

"And you accept this final charge, Gaidin?"

"Only with reluctance that you won't share the task with me, Brianna Sedai."

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. "Then it is done, Dalinar. The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. You will be free of the Bond soon."

Dali squeezed her hand gently, careful not to bruise her fragile fingers. "Too soon."

"Dali? Please don't leave me, not yet."

Somehow, he kept his voice steady. He was afraid. "No, Brianna. You know I won't."

Blur, twist, shift...

Dali could see the flame, feel it. Something about it resonated with him, with the fibre of who and what he was, what he had been, what he would yet become. It was like his heart beat, but an echo to his heart beat, that thrummed with a depth that made his core vibrate.

And then it was gone.

"So..." Dramon's gaze was intense. For some reason, Dali felt afraid of that look. "You, my friend, can learn to channel."

Channeling. Using saidin. The One Power. Breaking the World. Madness. Death to him, to all he loved. Dali couldn't breathe.

"You have a choice, of course. You can learn, but only if guided. The ability will not manifest without some leading. You could go about your life never having known any different, practically. Or you can join me. Join the Dragon and fight for what is true, and right, and just. Prepare for the Last Battle. For the Last Day."

"So, Dalinar, what will it be? Will you run from your fate? This gift? This curse?"

It took Dali a long, long time to reply. But when he replied his gaze met the other man's steadily, unwavering. "No, Dramon Calgar. You know I won't."

Blur-twist-shift...

"Give up! You cannot win. You be finished. The Tower will be better for it if you concede defeat and bend knee to me. The new M'Hael. Admit i!" Brent was near manic in his words, a maddened hysteria finding its way into his words.

"No, Brent. You know I won't."

Blurtwistshift-

It was a flash, out of a dream in a dream. Blinding, clear, hurting his eyes. Skechid. Skechid bent over him. Skechid in common clothes. A most bizarre juxtaposition for the Cairhienin noble and Storm Leader - normally he did his utmost to maintain appearances.

Dimly, he was aware of something, he wasn't sure what. A Loss. An Emptiness. And an Ending yet to come.

"Don't you flaming, bloody give up, Dali. Don't you dare."

He wasn't sure if he said the words out loud or just in the echoing vaults in his mind. "No, Skechid. You know I won't..."

-Dali.

OOC: Ouch Dali must look old :P he's around 28 ;)

The Nothingness, then. It was a new name to Dali, but there were so many different names for the same things that it was no surprise really.

"I could see the use for that, though it had never occurred to me to use the Flame and Void for in such a way before I could channel. Myself, I always preferred to feel than not when it came to those moments. The loss, the grief, the pain and suffering - they were a temper for me, and feeling them I knew that my humanity was sustained. If I stopped feeling those things..." Dalinar shook himself and gestured back at the orb. "Nevermind. Suffice it to say, if I couldn't feel then I worried I would stop caring. Now, this 'light' you describe? Cai, that is saidin. Can you hold this Nothingness? Keep it about you for a time? There is no failure in seeing the light, quite the contrary. And not something you could control in any case. It is in your Nothingness that you will find saidin, eventually, and there that you will be able to draw on the One Power."

"My bauble is just a trinket. Sometimes it helps for those first learning to have a focus, something they can lose their attention in, and I have ever found that the image in the orb tends to draw your concentration in in a most curious way. For you, the orb might not be necessary. Show me how well you can hold onto your Nothingness."

OOC: Dali will go through some things, use your literary licence, to see how well you can hold the Nothingness. Perhaps just getting you to speak to start with, solve a riddle, not lose it when surprised by something. Perhaps you might want to bring things around somehow - or not - to memories of the whitecloaks in Cai's past and what effect that has on his concentration. You can touch saidin if you like, it doesn't particularly matter. We have pretty much fulfilled the requirement for this thread by now though I think - whatever 'extra' you want to do is up to you :)

A well humoured scowl painted Dali’s features, the smile in it touching his eyes. “Lord? Peace! There isn’t a drop of nobles' blood in my veins, Cai. My father was a warrior and my mother kept house as only a Shienaran woman can. Certainly our name was not of any House and our family carried no sigil. Just Asha’man. In private, Dali is fine. We’re almost of an age to be brothers or friends in any other life, I’d guess. But out there,” Dali pointed with his staff through the walls around them, “Asha’man, and a salute.”

“You are keen to learn weapons, mmmm? Well not tonight, for that. Perhaps tomorrow, or the next day. You won’t be wanting for the learning before long. I meant it when I said your days would be long, and hard. There are plenty here who can teach you, though.”

Dalinar reached a hand into his coat jacket, and pulled out a small piece of cloth. It was a dark, rich blue, with silver thread around its edges in images of water splashing on rocks in a stream, soft and almost shimmering. He unfolded the fabric carefully, almost reverently, and laid it out on the floor. Nestled in its heart was a clear glass sphere, slightly flat on the bottom, with an image of a bird of prey with wings spread wide and claws outstretched etched in it. It was odd, how it seemed almost as if the image had been carved on the inside of the glass, yet it surely could not have been, for the outside was flawless and smooth. Two tiny gleaming blue stones marked the creatures eyes, and silver tipped the claws and beak.

“My friend, the one I spoke of before, used to love this. It kept guard over her affairs, she would say, as she used it to hold down papers on her work desk. It is pretty, I think, and precious to me. But tonight, it might serve a purpose other than pleasing my eye.”

“So, have you ever heard of the Flame and the Void?”

OOC: You can go ahead and play out some learning about the Flame and Void, and trying to grasp it. Dali would warn you about saidin in the void, and not trying to reach for it. The paperweight is just a focus point, if you like. It was Power wrought - but power wrought as something like an art piece, it holds no power of its own and is not an *’angreal or anything like that. Just spectacularly detailed and lifelike, and draws the eye. A pretty nick nack. :)

-Dali.

Peace! This man from Tear was hard-hitting with his questions.

“You did something before you came to the Farm, yes? Those stains on that bag, I think you worked herbs, mm. A Reader, or Healer, Guide, Wisdom, whatever they call them down there in Tear. So you come with skills, don’t you? The day before yesterday, you didn’t know you could channel. So there is more to you than channeling, yes? Or does channeling define who you are, what you are, and what you do?” Dalinar’s eyes were cutting, grey, clear, the eyes of a man who had once held much influence in the Black Tower. “I hope not. Don’t let it.” The tension slowly eased out of his face.

“I was charged, once, by a dear friend on their death bed, to seek out the Dragon and to do everything in my Power - at the time I didn’t know I could channel either - everything I could to protect him and his cause and see him to the Last Battle. The Black Tower serves the Dragon Reborn. So, for now, our purposes align. Some oaths taken are binding. As for the other? Will I command you? The Tower has commanders aplenty and I am not one of them now. They still call me Asha’man - sometimes I think out of pity more than respect - but I do wear the sword and the dragon on my collar, so I get the respect that goes with them from most. Being… gentled… has staved off the effects of the Taint, for now, and so I have seen more and know more of the Tower operations than many here. Even someone who cannot channel is useful. The Dragon asks us to train, to fight, to protect. With the Power, and without. If you are cut off from the Source, or burn yourself out, then you can still fight. 'To spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the Last Day', I have heard the Aiel say. I was training, when you arrived earlier. It’s a nice distraction from other things that consume my thoughts some days.” Dalinar lifted the staff out of his lap, his hands caressing its smooth wood along its length, eyes running up the shaft. “I speak with no ego when I say if a staff could be heron-marked, then mine would have earned it. Most prefer the sword, but some will choose other weapons for their training. And in the rest of my time? I go back to my roots. Before, a few years ago, I earned my keep as a Healer in the Borderlands, in Shienar where I grew up. Yes, there are those here who can Heal far better than herbs and splints and poultices, but sometimes even they tire and so the more minor ailments can be dealt with more conventionally. And again it keeps me busy.”

Dali smacked the white wood staff firmly into the palm of his hand. “Light, but I go on. Weaving, smithing, cleaning, cooking there is much to do here, channeler or no. When you begin learning to channel, then that task will fall to another. Until then, there is more to teach before you sleep tonight, if you are ready.”

-Dali.

“… And so, you see, saidin is addictive. You will want it all the time, to seize it, to work with it, sometimes just to feel it running through you and-“

“Asha’man Dali, might I ask, why will you not be teaching me to channel?”

Ah. There it was. Like a thunderclap it stopped Dali’s diatribe in its tracks. Well, what response to give then. The truth was as good as any.

“You want to know, mmm? My… views once held some sway at the Farm. Some agreed with them and some didn’t. I was attacked by one of those who didn’t. He was far stronger in the Power than I, and once, why, I could almost work saidin with the skill that is written of from the Age of Legends, but it was nothing to the Power he threw against me. If my skill was akin to the Aes Sedai of old - no, not the White Tower, the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends when men and women alike worked wonders with the One Power that we can only imagine today - if my skill was akin to that, then his strength was too.” Dalinar’s grip went slightly white knuckled on his staff that he had laid across his crossed legs when he sat down earlier.

“I digress. I was attacked. He won. I escaped, but as I did he - well there is a way that a man can be permanently cut off from the One Power. You must surely have heard of the False Dragon who was gentled by the White Tower only, mmm, perhaps a year ago? Well it takes many women, sometimes, to stop a man from channeling like that. But that is what they did - gentled him. And I suppose that is what he did to me. Gentled me. Severed. Cut me off from the Power. Forever it seems.” Dalinar paused, collecting his thoughts, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand. He felt tired of a sudden.

Dalinar looked off into the distance, lost in his own thoughts. “I nearly died. He had injured me far more than just my ability to touch saidin. But another Asha’man found me, rescued me, Healed me. He thinks maybe he could Heal the severing, too, the cutting off from the True Source, but that we haven’t managed yet. I don’t hold out false hope. It’s funny in a way, we had never thought to even try before, perhaps when together we could have worked it out...”

Dalinar snapped his attention back to his student. “That was a few months ago. I hid for a time. Then word came - those in the Tower who were sympathetic to my views had turned on the traitor. They killed him. And so I thought it safe enough to return. This is as good a home as I have known for some years, I suppose.”

Dali’s smile was dry, “There are many lessons in this. Never be too confident. Never take your gift for granted. They are as much my lessons as yours, now. So you see - I can talk you through channeling until we are both old men, but I can’t feel it with you. I can’t show you what you will soon be able to see, to help you learn. I can’t see how you work the flows, and so I can’t correct what I can’t see. But most importantly, I can’t protect you, if you draw on the Power but cannot stop, I may not be able to stop you. And there are worse things than being severed, perhaps. If you draw too much of saidin, more than you can handle alone, then it can destroy your ability to channel completely. Being burnt out, we call it. If being gentled, or severed, is like a wire that is cut between a man and the One Power… then being burnt out is perhaps like destroying the entire length of that wire altogether.”

Dali lapsed into silence, his gaze settling heavily on Cai’s. After several long moments he asked a simple, important question. “Do you understand?”

-Dali.

Dalinar had his coat back on and his usual staff back in hand when he returned to the training grounds... Just in time to see the new recruit clatter harmlessly through the rack of training weapons rather unceremoniously.

Cai scrambled back to his feet and mimicked the salutes he must have already seen being used around the Farm.

"Right then," Dalinar said, squinting at the sky, "There are still some hours of daylight left. And we don't really need light to begin in any case. Or to continue. I said I won't be teaching you to channel, but there is much to learn and not all of it requires you to touch the One Power."

"To start, you listen. You listen well and you mark every word - for some of them may save your life one day. Tairens have ever been ones to quash talk of channeling and the Power, so it is probably for the best that we take it back to the beginning."

Dalinar tipped his head as if thinking for a moment, and then nodded to himself. "Perhaps we will see the Infirmary today. It will give us some quiet and privacy."

Without a pause, he lengthened his stride and set off for the building in mind. Some minutes later, they arrived and Dali was thankful for the coolness that the shade of the building provided. Stepping into the shadows, he changed course for an empty side room with a few beds and chairs in it.

"Sit," Dali gestured, making himself comfortable in one of the chairs, "And listen now as I tell you how many of the stories your mother told you as a child are true."

"The Creator, at the dawn of time, fashioned the Wheel of Time, from which is spun the Pattern of the Ages. The fate, the destiny if you like, of all things in our world, and all other worlds too I suppose. The Wheel, and Time itself, are driven by an infinite source of energy that we know as the True Source, the One Power..."

OOC: A drawling commentary ensues about the Power, saidin/saidar, the Taint etc etc. The dangers, some history around the Breaking, etc etc. Pick and choose what you like. Ask questions if you like and feel free to use my character to play out responses. I'll move onto Flame and Void afterwards, so don't steal my thunder or I will have to come up with a new idea for the next bit ;)

-Dali.

Dalinar led Cai through the Tower grounds, nodding occasionally to people he knew and returning salutes, fist to heart, to those who directed one towards him. Many of the newer faces did not.

"That's everything with you? Well tomorrow we can see about getting more clothes fitted for you. If you've family, then you will stay in the soldier's barracks for now. Perhaps later you will earn more private quarters, but they are mostly reserved for the Asha'man. Until then the common quarters will suffice. Your days will be filled and you will spend little time there except to sleep in any case."

Dali stepped into a long, large building and headed down a corridor, talking as he went, "Thee are some of us with knowledge in herbs and tending the sick and injured though I think you will find it less than conventional how much of it is dealt with. Still, there is always use for such skills and we can see about making use of them soon enough. Perhaps tomorrow if there is time I will show you my - the Infirmary." Old habits died hard.

Opening a door into a small chamber, Dali gestured inside. "You should find what you need here. I won't be teaching you to channel, no. I can make sure there are others who attend to those needs though."

"Settle yourself in. You can get a meal halfway back down the corridor, turn right, then follow it to the end. You'll be in the mess hall. Head back out to the yard where we first met in an hour and we can start with your training. I will meet you there."

-Dali.

OOC reply here and it will be ample to fill one of the requirements. Then either you can start a new thread for your first 'class' or I will start it tomorrow. :)

Oh heck YES I hold the keys to the liquor cabinet. AND the boss is away. Suh-weet...!!

Hope it's a smooth move Arath :)

-Dali/Ben.

Asha'man. The title grated in his ears now. Was it really suited to a man cut off from the True Source? But then, the essence of it still held, perhaps. Guardian. Protector. Those who stand and fight for truth and justice and right.

"I said it was Dali, and I won't bite you for using a name I give you. But if you're as quick a study with the Power as with words, then I don't doubt you'll go far. If the Taint doesn't take you first, of course." Dalinar shook out the shirt from over his shoulder, stretching his arms over his head as he pulled it back on. "You can channel, I assume? Some come who can't, but not many. And usually only if they're following somebody or running from something. You look like you've come alone, yes? No family or girl from home following behind?"

Dalinar started off towards some buildings, looking back over his shoulder as he did so, "Come, come. We'll find you somewhere to put your things."

-Dali.

A smile tugged at the corner of Dalinar's mouth, and then his head tipped back as he let out a short laugh.

Peace! Does the Taint still gnaw at me? That was not that funny. But am I a black coat? Does the man make the uniform? or the uniform the man?

"Cai, then. Some friendly advice - Cai - and it's yours to take or leave as you will, but if I were a typical "black coat", or at least, as puffed up as half of them are, you would probably be wishing your mother had never laid eyes on your father for the next week. The Dragon chose the name Asha'man. Did the upstart who brought you here explain at least enough to know what that means? Dalinar, by the way, but most just call me Dali."

OOC: I have a long weekend ahead, so will try to get some quicker replies in if you can do the same ;)

Dali.

the healing stuff can only come in a capital "H" sense after I RP out some other stuff probably, which might take me a bit. Skechypoos can do that stuff too though ;) and I will still make another character to channel with in the mean time if need be - I had some ideas on the burner in case I couldn't play Dali when I came back any who :)

-Dali/Ben.

Dali gathered up his shirt and put the black staff back in its place. He hadn't come out with the intention of training, so his preferred bone-white staff that had been modified by Ragnar was resting in his quarters abutting the Infirmary. But it had been a good distraction. He found himself with too much free time now, he found, and could lose himself in the forms with the staff, and sparring with others training around the Farm, much as he had some years ago - before the Dragon, before the amnesty, before he knew he could channel.

So he found solace in that now, that familiarity. Though it was marred by the lacking he felt when he held the void in his mind. As oft as not he trained without it, just to avoid the emptiness, the frustration of saidin just out of sight and out of reach, but as well be the sun itself for all the stretching he could do to try to reach it.

Oh occasionally this or that Storm Leader would ask for his time, quiz him on things to do with Tower politics, contacts, negotiations, allies and enemies. But all in all most seemed to prefer to leave him be, or avoid him even. There were certainly many, some who he had trained to use the One Power himself, who turned their eyes and head down when they passed him and avoided making eye contact. That was better than the ones who held his lingering gaze with sorrowful, pitiful eyes. And Skechid insisted on keeping him busy some of the days, tending to minor ailments and injuries in the Infirmary, things that could be managed without the Power. He resented that in some ways more than he did the pitying looks. It just reminded him more of what was lost to him.

Skechid. He was somewhere distant today, no doubt having Travelled or Skimmed to get there. That bundle of empathy that was always lurking at the edge of his consciousness. It was strange - different somehow to his last Bond, but similar in others. Certainly it had kept him alive, if nothing else. He was in Cairhien, perhaps, No doubt playing his Game, Dali thought to himself.

The askance glance from one of the newcomers didn't go unnoticed by Dalinar, and he was aware as he approached that the initial contact was followed after by a close watch from the corner or the new man's eyes. He was tallish, for a Tairen, almost as tall as Dalinar himself, and of similar age, he would guess. He would wager, too, that the bag slung over his shoulder that looked a little too empty had once held a swatch of herbs, if the stains around the edges were anything to go by.

Shirt over his shoulder, he approached the man from Tear. "Welcome," he said in a friendly tone as he got close, "to the Black Tower. Welcome," he gestured around at the buildings and grounds around them, "to the Farm." He held out a hand in greeting. "I'm called Dali."

-D.

As he is having difficulty with board access, Cai has PM'd me this response, posting on his behalf...

Cai stepped aversely through the whole in the middle of nothing that the... Asha’man had made. It was the first ability of these black coated men he had seen done, other than the flame for his testing of course. It was going to take some getting used to.

After being, tested he had been shuffled off with this tall, intimidating looking fellow who was supposed to take him to some farm. Hopefully there were some herbs there as his bag was getting low from helping Lily out in Tear.

Once on the other side of the whole, Cai felt a rush of cool relief, if it could be called that. Something along the lines of going from a cooking pan in the middle of the day, to one at night. The other men, ranging in age, all shuffled over just as carefully and began gathering around the black coated gentlemen. Cai on the other hand choose to hang back a little and listen from afar.

“Listen up as I have other things to do then deal with you lot,” the Asha’man belted at his small band. “You will be receiving instruction on your quarters here in a moment from another Asha’man. Until then you will be fed by one of the maids around here…. somewhere, but are not to leave until you are housed. From there you will begin your training.”

Cai groaned a little at that. He hadn’t thought they would begin so soon, but it was the reason they had all willingly come. What’s done is done, as his mother always used to say. The Asha’man took off into the center of the small gathering of houses, leaving the rest of the men behind. The other men seemed a little off by starting so soon as well, but began finding areas to sit down or lean, in anticipation of food.

Cai on the other hand took the opportunity to distance himself a little further from the rest of the men, leaning against one of the surrounding buildings and taking the time to memorize his surroundings.

Cai searched all over for any sign of a barn, but nothing that looked like it contained any farm animals. The one thing that he did notice was another man a distance away, covered in sweat with his shirt off and leaning on a tall black staff among numerous other weapons. He was simply staring at the new arrival of men, blank stare the same as the first black coated men had. Cai accidently allowed himself to make eye contact with the man, and immediately turned red and looked away to listen in on what the other men were talking about. Cai was sure to make it unobvious, but he continued to watch the man with the staff from the corner of his eye.

On behalf of Cai

Only if you Heal it afterwards. With that little something extra that you know sends a shivering down my spine lol.

I don’t think so *frowns* Skechy? Arath? Are there any tricks/special permissions required?

-Ben/Dali.

A faint sheen of sweat covered Dali’s long, lithe body, beading on the tight muscles over his chest and shoulders. His shirt and coat hung on a nearby weapons rack leaving him freer to move in the blasted heat.

His staff spun in his hands and his knees bent low in a duck as the shaft swung in a low arc that would have knocked the legs out from under an opponent. The momentum carried him forward and up, he whirled and the middling raised up in a block against an imaginary blade thrust, a twist to deflect the steel and a sharp jab to bring his sparring partner to his knees.

Out of the corner of his eye across the yard, a silver slash twisted and spun into being. A black-coated Asha’man, collars adorned with the silver sword and golden dragon pins, stepped through. Behind him trailed a couple of young men, not in the Tower uniform, looking around them and taking in everything they could at once.

The Tear gate, it was. A cordoned off section reserved for arrivals from the Stone. Most of the major cities had their own transit space now, for Skimming or Travelling gateways to open and close and to avoid unpleasant… accidents. Even Dali’s once-Talent with Healing had not been enough to save a man nearly sliced in two by being in the wrong place at the wrong time as a gate opened, and there had been other accidents, not fatal, but that had left a few permanently scarred and maimed.

He shrugged off those thoughts, if he dwelled too long on them he would start to taste bitter resentment in his mouth again at what was lost. Saidin. Healing. Purpose.

He paused for a time, casually resting against the weapons rack and leaning on his staff, appraising the new arrivals as they received some curt directions from the Asha’man who then abandoned them for some more pressing task.

Dali.

I have started an “arrival” thread. I think you need 2 x 4 posts minimum (on your side) as part of the raising req’s, so this could count as one of them.

And don’t worry about it being your first RP - things are fairly free form here so you’re really just telling a story :)

I’ve tried to leave it open to lead into Cai being one of the new arrivals from Tear. Your turn to post! :)

-Dali/Ben.

Sure thing Cai :) anything particular you wanted to start with? Have filled myself in on your bio - our chars are not dissimilar in some ways! ‘cept Dali was raised in Borderlands, but started out life before things got more complicated as a herbal Healer. Down the track will be happy to play out some of that if you want to develop your character to have a Healing talent.

-Dali/Ben.

Hi all,

Things seem a bit quiet. Maybe the time of year who knows? But I did just notice a post on the progress board from Dedicated Gavin who has been a member over a year from the look of things - and his looked like the only post there in quite some time!

I'm sure most of you don't come to the BT to play a soldier/Dedicated interminably. So if you are active and wanting to fulfil those raising requirements please post here so we can try to get some action to it. After all

My main character has a LITTLE inconvenient problem with being unable to channel at the moment. But I will put in a bio to have another character who can fulfil channeling teaching requirements as well if that's what it takes to get some people promoted and try to stimulate some activity. My main, for the purposes of 'teaching' can do weapons work (he scores fairly well in that department, particularly in hand-to-hand and staff work). He could also perhaps participate in other miscellaneous non-channeling RP work (pity the severed ex-M'Hael fallen from grace and power and the Power... pranks... etc...)

You can do more than one raising requirement concurrently - so if you have a class running (say with Koras) but want to start another RP thread (another class, or one of those random RP requirements) then you can do them at the same time.

Interdiv stuff I am not so up to date with as I've only just come back to RP, but will try to facilitate that as well if I can, or annoy Skechypoo and Arath to help make it happen.

Cheers,

-Dali/Ben.

haha yes - something like that Skechy. But that was several turnings of the wheel ago, so to speak, and the bio has been changed around a bit since those days.

Thanks for the welcome - no WT character yet, Elgee - but thinking about it! My only consistent character was Dali. I did some NSW bits and pieces here and there for the Dragon and a couple of short stints on the dark side but no solid characters.

-Dali/Ben.

haha yes skechy has the right of it - just seeing who is around these days :)

-Dali/Ben.