Hail to the Chief!

I be present and more or less accounted for.

I don't know; if they were caught stealing from another COTL I can see them being turned in, but with the Children's massive 'us against them' mentality I don't know that I'd expect them to turn in a child who stole from someone outside the Children. Although I can see it splintering along faction lines- I can see someone in the Army or the Whisper turning in questioners in a heartbeat, and vice versa.  :)

I would go for the Whisper. I've never been much for authority, and I'm certainly not cut out to be a soldier; spies get orders sometimes but mostly they're left to their own devices. I like my independence- and I don't have to admit to being one of the Children if I don't want to scare people off.

Well, mostly I just meant that if they woke up mid-kidnapping it could get very ugly. After all, they aren't going to know what's going on, and they are probably going to immediately think they are being abducted by darkfriends.

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention. I'm afraid you will have to perform this exercise as nature ordained it. Strip."

Sylos stared at his instructor for a very long time after she finished talking- so long he had a feeling he was skirting insubordinance. But he wasn't exactly comfortable taking his clothes off in front of women he didn't know well- and that was without the bandage on Evelyn's head to remind him that the woman wanted her revenge. He supposed she could just be planning to hurt him more by removing the limited protection of his clothes, but he had an awful, sneaking suspicion that his wounded instructor had something much more vicious in mind.

He tried to run through all the possible scenarios in his head of what she might be plotting. It was still quite early, so it qas unlikely she would planning on gathering large numbers of the Children here to watch- and even if she was, he could pre-empt it by failing the test quickly. He hoped. After staring at her for a little while longer, he sighed and let the uniform cloak across his shoulders fall to the ground and began pulling off his shirt.

"I can see a certain amount of reason behind all this, though I suspect you haven't quite forgiven me for your self-inflicted head wound there, I have a question for you before we get too much more intimate. Is there any particular reason I have to be unclothed for this activity? And for that matter a particular reason why you don't? Equality is rather a large part of the Children's ethos, I believe."

I don't do any decorations of my own, but I helped my uncle put up his while I was in Colorado this week. That was fun.

Night-time fighting? Sign me up! :)

Well, I think Sylos would have no issue with using torture- just so long as he was the one doing the torturing. He can ethically justify it to himself, but since he doesn't know the thought processes of the questioner or how certain they are of someone's guilt before they start 'questioning' them, he wouldn't approve of the Hand very much- or the Seanchan Seekers for Truth.

And while snatching the Children out of their beds would make for an interesting test... they ARE soldiers. It would end with some nasty casualties in at least a few instances, I would think.

Boxing day? Would that make you British or Canadian? Or maybe even Australian... can never remember if they celebrate it too or not. :)

Not sure what my family will be doing for Christmas. Most of our special family traditions have died out, but we still do something every year.

Sylos took Edalia's hand and shook it, and in addition made a point of standing and bowing to her as he introduced himself. "Sylos Durian. It's a pleasure to meet you, Edalia." He replied, smiling a little. Noticing she had brought back an extra mug, he took it and poured himself some ale, then sniffed it carefully before taking a drink. He shrugged slightly after a moment.

"Decent, but I've had better. So, what are two fine young Children like yourself doing making a habit of frequenting such places of sin and villainy?" Sylos put forth his conversation-opening tactic with a sardonic air of amusement.

Two days after he had successfully escaped his wounded instructor with his life, Sylos awoke with a sense of general well-being and happiness. That lasted all of ten minutes until a knock on his door brought to his attention the presence of another low-ranking Child outside. The Child was kind enough to inform him that his instructor requested his presence on the practice field.

"Well, really! Not even a 'good luck' or 'I hope you survive' tacked onto the end there. And I thought I was making a better impression, too." Sylos said to the empty air around him as the Child quickly departed on other errands. He sighed, returned to his room and wondered how much trouble he would get in for disobeying orders. Too much, he decided, though he feared that estimate might be sorely tested by Evelyn's wrath.

He reported to the field a few minutes later, well-groomed, well-dressed, and as far from prepared as possible for whatever awaited him.

Sylos was still feeling somewhat selfconscious as he entered the Sundown, but wiped it away as best he could as he gazed around trying to spot his fellow children. He noticed a young woman who he thought he recognized as the instigator of this grand outing sitting at a table soliciting drinks with what appeared to be a very practiced ease, and moved over towards her table with a faint smile.

He waved as he approached, thought he immediately realized it might be odd for someone she had never seen to be waving at her. Shrugging it off and surging bravely onward, he stopped in front of the table. "Would you mind if I join you, miss?" He asked as politely as he could, though his manners had certainly lost some of their polish.

"What, and have you cite me for cowardice in the face of mortal danger? Nay, my dear lady instructor, that would be unconscionable." He said, smiling gently and doing his best to make it clear he was no longer mocking her. "We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm really not nearly as annoying as I've tried to be, and I think deep down inside you're at least a little less evil than your job makes you seem."

"As such, by way of apology, if there is anything I can do for you please let me know. Until then, I've managed to convince the infirmary nurse to keep the moaning of the other patients as quiet as possible for you. I will leave you to your rest, and hope that you can forgive me for this mishap." Sylos spoke as quietly as he could, in deference to the headache his instructor was obviously suffering, and wasn't entirely sure she had actually heard him.

Having spoken his piece, he stood up and walked out of the infirmary. Once he was safely out of sight, he wiped the sweat off his forehead, thankful that he hadn't yet tamed his hair and it had hidden his nervousness. He was certainly hoping his instructor was nicer than she appeared, or her vengeance would be quite fearsome indeed!

"In all fairness, I'm sure someone must have told you before that bad things happen to kids who throw rocks at other Children." Sylos said in response to Evelyn's accusational identification of him, hoping her sense of humor was having a good day even though she wasn't. He pulled up a chair and sat down as close to the infirmary bed as he could without putting himself within range of his instructor.

"In any event, I'd like to apologize. Sort of. I'd like to say I'm sorry that the rock hit you. Because that was unintentional. I hope you'll understand that I'm rather less sorry that it knocked you unconscious and relegated you to the infirmary for a while, as I feel I owe you that much after what you've put me through. Also, before you begin formulating plans for vengeance, you may wish to keep in mind that I did get you here as fast as possible, despite the general level of concern you have shown for my well-being." Sylos managed to keep his desired level of snarkiness- minimal- throughout his explanation.

He sat back, folded his arms, and waited for whatever would happen next- his money was on either an angry tirade or an attempt to murder him, but unfortunately he hadn't been in the fortress long enough to know anyone to make bets with.

Sylos stared at what remained of his personal wardrobe, somewhat perplexed. He had been certain he'd managed to replace all the shirts his mother bought him... it seemed he was wrong. However, as all of his own shirts seemed to have varying numbers of conspicous holes in them, it was all he was left with. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the shirt, really. It was dark green, with very fine embroidery- a lovely geometric pattern that became hypnotic if one tried too long to follow it. Though he might have ensured it fit better if he had ever actually planned to wear it, he supposed. The problem was that it was silk. He found that advertising the wealth of one's family was tantamount to getting down on one's knees and begging for trouble.

Sylos had heard the ideas circulating around the mess hall about an outing, and decided to follow along-not because he had any expectation of enjoying it, but because it was important to socialize with one's peers. Throwing the shirt over his head and grumbling somewhat, he could only hope none of his fellow Children had any significant class prejudices.

Still grumbling as he left the room, he headed for the Sundown inn, hoping this would be better than his last trip to the bar- which, as he recalled, was what had made so many holes in his favorite shirt.

I've never really felt comfortable using other people's classes. I'll wait until Sylos drags himself up from the measly ranks of the uninitiated.

Ooh! Ooh! Psychoanalysis! WHAT FUN! :D

Well, I gave some serious thought to Sylos' beliefs before I decided to apply him to the CoL. He's been headed for the Whisper since his early inception in my brain, simply because I think spies and assassins are awesome.

I can't really seeing him killing Aes Sedai out of hand, though he certainly would if they presented an immediate danger to himself or other Children. Otherwise, it would just be too good a chance to learn about the Aes Sedai and their plans for him to pass up. He can't really accept the idea of killing all Aes Sedai just for being Aes Sedai, but he's equally uncomfortable with the idea of them running everything.

On a more general moral level, he's a lot shadier than most. He's definitely a 'ends justify the means' sort of person, and would have no problem lying, cheating or stealing to accomplish his goals, though his goals at least are usually more or less for the greater good.

Sylos stared as his instructor collapsed to the ground,and promptly fell off the contraption once more as he stepped forward without any thought for where he was. Swearing like mad, he brought himself to his feet as fast he could and rushed over to her. He put his hands to her neck and checked for a pulse, letting out a sigh of relief when he felt it still going strong. Pushing back her hair, he noted that while there was a bright red mark on her forehead that showed early signs of bruising, there was no blood. At a loss for what had happened, Sylos considered the irony of the fact that the only reason he knew where to take her to get medical attention was due to injuries suffered under her instruction.

Knowing enough not to shake someone who had just fallen unconscious, he carefully picked up his fallen instructor and began carrying her to the infirmary. He was not exceptionally strong, but fortunately Evelyn was not a particularly heavy person. Somewhat disturbed by the eerie silence that seemed to have decided to fallen upon the Fortress, he began to talk- as much to himself as to his unresponsive tormentor. "You know, some people might consider this karma for all the pain you've been putting me through." He said accusingly to Evelyn's unresponsive form. "Some people would say you deserved this. Even I would say it, if I weren't feeling rather sorry for having kicked that rock at you." Sylos continued rather sheepishly.

Turning the corner into the hallway outside the infirmary, he tripped over what he would later swear to himself was a loose flagstone but what he knew full well was his feet, and nearly dropped Evelyn to the ground. Fighting hard to steady himself without knocking her into the wall, he finally succeeded and stepped into the infirmary.

"Um... my instructor... ah... well, you see... a rock hit her. And she fell down. Um... she's unconscious, so I'm not really sure..." Usually collected and coherent, Sylos' nervousness had reduced him instantly to a complete wreck, and he had a sneaking suspicion he was just confusing the apothecaries even further.

Sylos looked down at his boots for a moment, wondering if there was some approopriately snarky comment to be made on the fact that he had no shoelaces- then he considered that riling his instructor right before she started throwing rocks at him might go down on his list of very bad ideas. So he simply smiled- here, at last, was something he wouldn't have too much trouble with. He had no doubt that Evelyn could aim her throws very well, but one didn't get to be much of an explorer- especially in rocky terrain- without being able to keep one's footing. Not to mention, he thought sourly, that the last exercise ought to have counted for balance as well. He stepped up and jumped onto the contraption, turning to face his instructor with a cocky grin that he could almost guarantee would get him in some kind of trouble.

He was right, though he supposed Evelyn would have thrown the rock before he settled in properly with or without the grin. He had little difficulty stepping out of the way, but his foot caught a depression in the log and he nearly tumbled backwards off of it- not a pleasant proposition after landing on his backside mountain climbing not so long ago. He looked down, expecting to find that holes had been carved in it to make the task harder, and just barely had time to register that it was an isolated defect in the wood before the second rock narrowly missed taking off part of his left ear. He yelped, jumped a foot in the air, and came back down with the heel of one foot caught squarely in the depression.

Lying on his back on the ground, he briefly considered the irony of his early self-confidence before getting back up on the contraption, determined to keep his mind focused. Five misses by his beloved instructor later, he was feeling somewhat more cheerful. The log contraption wasn't easy to balance on, but it was more a matter of rediscovering old balance than learning it from scratch for him. Therefore, he was forced to conclude that the sixth rock was entirely unfair. It came whistling towards him as he found himself on the far edge of the log, giving him little of either room or time to react. Almost certain he couldn't dodge the throw, Sylos decided to respond in a manner he almost immediately regretted- he kicked the rock straight back towards Evelyn. Wincing already, he watched, hoping that at least she wouldn't get hit by it.

Do we need to have taken a class to teach it?

Present and accounted for!

IC:

"You may begin." The words finally broke through Sylos' haze of amusement at the implication that his taskmaster could be considered cuddly, though he had listened to the directions just well enough to understand he was expected to scale the cliff, and was not going to be allowed to splatter unless he really tried it. As he had, on one particularly memorable occasion, attempted to do just that, he had no intention of repeating that particular brand of foolishness.

Sylos had climbed cliffs before. It was a handy way to make shortcuts, and few people tracking him expected him to manage it. He had not, however, ever felt the need to do so quickly. He was already quite sore from the exertions of the day before, but he had the distinct feeling he could already feel the cuts and scrapes being added to his pain. With a heavy sigh, he took a good look at the rock face and lept up, grabbing for handholds he had spotted from the ground.

Or at least, he thought he had. He reflected, while regaining his breath and ignoring the laugher of his instructor, that it was a very good thing his head hadn't hit the rock, and his only complaint for the first failed attempt would be a sore posterior. His pride had long since been shelved, of course. He made a point of studying the rock face once more, and instead of leaping for the handholds settled for the somewhat less flashy method of reaching for them. He yelped as one of them proved to be a hiding place for a rather sharp rock, but upon determining that his hand wasn't bleeding he continued upwards.

He made steady progress to about halfway upwards. He had a good memory for paths and was comforted to know he could follow the same path again if he fell. He was so comforted, in fact, that he forgot to pay attention to what he was doing, and missed the handhold he had been reaching for with his left hand by several inches, instead jaimming it down on a particularly sharp rock. With a startled cry of pain, he jerked his hand back- and unbalanced himself enough that maintaining his grip with his other hand became impossible, sending him off the edge of the cliff with a startled 'ACK!'.

When he had finished emptying the contents of his stomach on the ground after the sharp drop to only a few feet from splattering- the retching had almost, but not quite, drowned out the laughter from the top of the cliff- he tore a few inches off the bottom of one pant leg to create a makeshift bandage for his hand. While not bleeding badly, he didn't need the blood running in his eyes or making the climb even more slippery.

As Sylos returned to his climbing, determined to make the third attempt the last, he found he had correctly gauged his ability to follow his path back to halfway up. He had not, however, accounted for his muscles, which decided it was a good time to remind him he had been using them a bit more than usual lately. Fighting an increasingly painful ache in his arms, he continued to climb upwards, carefully watching for stones- an attempt that failed only once, when he moved his arm to wipe sweat out of his eyes and accidentally knocked loose a shelf full of gravel, which pelted him on it's way down. By the time he had reached the top, several of the pieces had become painfully lodged in his shoe, and it was only because he couldn't actually see her very well that he didn't throw them at Evelyn as he removed them, thankful that the discipline of the Children manning the rope prevented them from doing more than smirk and chuckle at his misfortunes.

Not looking forward to returning down the rock face, he sat to catch his breath, contemplating that this might, after all, be revenge for his consistent attempts to annoy his instructor- though they seemed not to be working. As the sun began to rise higher, however, he came to the conclusion that soonest was best, and began his climb back down.

It turned out Sylos had waited a bit longer than was wise, as the minor scrapes and bruises he had not felt himself recieve had been given time enough to make themselves known, and constant twinging threatened to unbalance him- and, twice, sent his hand right into rocks that were thankfully not sharp enough to cause serious bleeding, though they certainly hurt. Halfway down he paused to rest, holding tightly to the cliff face and very carefully wiping the sweat from his face, before looking down. He had, he realized, drifted significantly from his previous path, and there were no handholds to be found below him. It was sheer luck that he had stopped when he did. Swearing under his breath, he climbed several feet back up towards the top, carefully watching his path as he righted himself and continued down on the proper course.

He succesfully maintained his pace until he reached what was, by his count, the last foothold before the ground. It was here that his leg, sore from previous exercises, banged and scraped from the climbing, and suddenly forced into alarmingly sharp contact with the rock face by a bad step, gave out. Screwing up his eyes as he felt himself began to fall, Sylos did the only thing he could and leapt from the rockface, making it out to be a deliberate as best he could, and struck the ground hard, rolling several feet untit he felt his head hit something. He realized, as he opened his eyes and found himself gazing upwards at his instructor, that it was a shoe.

"Please. I am begging you. Tell me that counts." Was all he said, to terrified of making the climb again to even manage any of his usual insubordinate voicing.

OOC: Oh what fun. Cliff-climbing with the COL. Hope you liked it!

Having already gone through one test involving physical endurance, Sylos had no illusions as to the permanence of his physical strength. He had a sneaking suspicion that this was going to start getting especially ugly as the day wore on.

The first few hours went by slowly, but without any significant difficulty. After a few minutes of gazing at the clouds, he decided he was bored of that particular clever plan and moved on to attempts at revenge on his instructor. Having a large repertoire of travelers' and tavern songs available, and having been informed in terms varying widely in their level of politeness that he was tone deaf, he began to whistle loudly, managing to emit a sort of high-pitched warble that made a vain attempt at following each tune. His primary hope was that this would annoy his instructor as much as it had almost everyone he had met.

After a few hours of his going through all the tavern songs he could whistle without actually annoying himself, the usefulness of the tactic began to wane as the pain in his legs from standing in one place for so long holding up so much more weight than usual outweighed his ability to focus elsewhere. He looked about for something else to keep his mind occupied, but had rather limited luck. And so when, an hour and a half afterwards, the weight being put on led to a loud sigh and a rather noisy collapse, Sylos contented himself with rationalizing that it was not a physical failing that had defeated him, but rather the enormous weight of his boredom.

Sylos looked down his nose towards Bert for a long, long time before he answered, though he continued to walk alongside the man. "Are you suggesting we should avail ourselves of certain foodstuffs left lying on this window to cool? Because if so, I should warn you- I have quite a prodigous reputation for bad luck in such ventures." he said with a faint smile.

"My brothers and I once attempted to... borrow... a full set of pies from a woman who lived next door to us. Each of my four brothers took their's and escaped. I was walking towards the window, working up the courage to get mine, and all at once a gust of wind blew the pie out of the window and into my arms, just as the woman came out the door of her house. I managed to escape with the pie, and my brother's were quite impressed- but nonetheless I was discovered." He related the tale with a slight twist to his mouth, as if remembering consequences that he was choosing not to share.

"Just fair warning."

OOC: Not a problem. I have almost unlimited patience.