Aww, you got me all excited...

-coughs- I mean, I already offered to teach him with my Ashie.  :D

Darial was pacing the halls of this monolith of dark power known as the Fortress. Over the first few weeks, he had learned to embrace the source, though it still took effort to do so, and much about the Great Lord of the dark. He was however, discovering that this fortress was a labyrinth, with more twists, turns, and dead ends than any maze he'd ever heard of.

As such, he walked with paper and charcoal in his hand, mapping out this seemingly unmappable place one corridor at a time, knowing that there had to be passages through the rock that he was unaware of. He thought that maybe if he got an idea of where all the walls were, he would be able to find them. Not to mention the secret pride he felt for sticking with something for more than a week...

Engrossed in his thoughts, he was nearly oblivious to any of the people around him, these being seldom used corridors he thought watching for people was a bit useless. At least with the peace of the shadow firmly in place...

Sereth chuckled at the glee his student felt at learning this weave. He thought he'd like it, it suited the gentle nature that he was told the boy had. He Sereth cleared his throat, bringing Kassian's attention back to him. "I'm glad you enjoy this weave Kassian, if it is a bit of a challenge for you yet, soon enough you'll grow so it hardly requires thought. I've got another wave I think you will like, another non-violent utility weave."

With that the philospher wove one of his own favorite weaves, one that he picked up on more by chance than anything else. Among the explosion crazed students of the tower, it was hardly ever seen. He wove all five elements in moderate quantities, still knowing that Kassian would struggle with it. The weave's effect was perhaps not so obvious, as a circle, half white, half black with a curving line separating the two appeared in the air. Kassian might reconize it as a unification of the dragon's fang and the flame of Tar Valon, but from his studies Sereth knew it as the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai, and now more commonly the Dragon's Banner.

The image filled him with mix emotions, as it always did. Sadness, at how far male channelers had fallen, yet a sense of joy that they were making their come back, and this ancient symbol was being flown once again. "An illusion, I am sure you can think of many, many uses for such a tactic. Try it out, it is a bit difficult, but I have confidence that with determination you can pull it off."

Kain chuckled himself, "Hmm, I get to order around the great taskmaster himself? From what I hear, I should be getting many a solder revenge." Flashing a grin worthy of an Ogier, before setting out to work. "First, we will need a very stable and level base." That in mind, the Andorian wove earth into the ground, smoothing a large area out with a weave similar to rippling earth.

Satisfied that the earth was smooth enough to begin building, he moved to the other part of his foundation; making it stable. "Help me fire up a kiln here, would you?" With that, he wove copious amounts of fire into the ground, baking it to add strength. This weave took a bit out of the dedicated, but he ignored any strain he felt. The black tower had trained him better than that.

Arcon chuckled to himself as his student spoke. "Yes, you are exactly right Shadar, however, that weave is a bit more difficult, and is beyond your abilities at the moment. As soon as you get another power leap however, who could say?" Arcon wondered for a moment, if Shadar knew that men advanced in leaps and bounds in the power, while women advanced slowly, evenly. He almost brought it up, but decided that the class was of more importance.

"For now, I have an incredibly useful ward, one that I'm sure you can find many, many purposes for. Though I warn you, it uses all five elements in it's weaving. It is also the first of several ward's I will be teaching you, ward's being weaves that trigger when someone crosses them." With that, Arcon wove low to the ground, using primarily spirit, fire, and air. Though as promised, the other two were there as well. He wove around one of the rabbit's cages, allowing a sadistic grin to spread over his skeletal features.

The ward laid, he used a flick of air to unlatch the cage on the rabbit. After a few moments, the rabbit dashed out, running as nature told it that was the best way to live. Unfortunately for the rabbit, it crossed Arcon's ward, and exploded in a burst of gore and white fur. "The power on this weave is quite adjustable, it can be used to protect documents, guard your rooms, or whatever. In a few days I'll teach you the less destructive alarm ward, but for now. have a ball."

http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,35034.0.html- One more, with feeling! Weapon specialization.

One more req before the big exam. =)

Darial followed the southerner, keeping his face neutral as he did so, and matching his pace as he was sped through at a lunatics pace. Still, his mind cataloged all the things he was shown to him, making sure to note the more important areas as they nearly jogged by them. Mess hall, courtyard, class rooms, and finally dormitories... He decided he'd spend a day or two wandering the halls, familiarizing himself with the area.

Abruptly, the man spoke to him. Answering quickly, he spoke a single word, "Darial." He didn't ask the man's name in return, to be frank he seemed a bit to agitated for pleasantries, and that thought nearly brought a smile to the mut's lips. The little Tarboner couldn't handle the cold...

When Arcon had learned he would be practicing forms in this class, he nearly let out a sigh. Remembering the last time that he had to go through these exercises... Even Arcon's control slipped, as he unconsciously touched the eye-patch covering his left eye. Arcon noted with a sigh that he would not be dueling today, and as such, slipped his dagger into his hand with a flourish, and sheathed his other blade.

Instinctively he entered Ko'Di, the oneness and opened with Unfolding the Fan with the added diagonal slash. His dagger moved into Cutting the Clouds, a move meant more for distraction, and against a truly unskilled opponent, maiming. His sword moved from guard stance to Courtier Taps his Fan one of his favorite moves. As his longer weapon returned to guard, the dagger lashed out in The Falcon Swoops. Moving between forms on the balls of his feet, constantly switching between dagger and sword attacks, keeping one in guard.

Arcon had developed a very opportunistic style, keeping one weapon in guard while the other made aggressive attacks, trying to force his opponent into making a mistake in his rush to save his head or heart, while the guard stance weapon waited for that opening to be made. Dalek approached, cocking an eyebrow. "Not every foe will fall to a cheap shot, dreadlord." Arcon turned to him, laughing. "Well, I suppose not, but I find an opponent that much better than me, I do have other weapons at my disposal."

Arcon considered his own words, never truly practicing with combining sword form and Saidin. He would have to do so from now on. It would be useful against even a fellow channeler, particularly if they were not used to having to defend themselves on multiple fronts. His teacher merely shook his head, walking off to help another student. With that, they were dismissed and Arcon hurried off to his room, remembering only as he was half way there to try to ensnare one of these assassin dreadladies into his web.

Oh well, there was always time for that later.

Darial approached the Tarboner, observing his misery with a bit of concealed humor. Southerners... The saldean mutt didn't answer when this stranger spoke, choosing to let Ardicus speak for him "Only if you are ready to leave, it is a wonderful day out." Ardicus' tone was devoid of humor, but his eyes lit up with laughter. In the short time that the two had been traveling together, Darial had learned to read him quite well.

He heard the newcomer mutter under his breath, and suddenly a vertical slash of light appeared in the air, and rotated. Where once was snow covered field, now a huge fortress, judging by the warm air coming through, somewhere far to the south. The two walked in quickly, and apprehensively, Darial followed. Walking further into the stone castle, he waited for someone to explain what in the Great Lord's name was going on here.

Patience however, was something that his father had taught him. So, he stood there, in the middle of a castle proper, trying very hard not to look like a wide eyed scarred little boy. He had no idea how well he was succeeding.

Arcon kept his smile in check, long since having learned to read Shadar like an open book. “There, a couple weaves that are flashy and effective, I knew you’d like them. Still, being an assassin requires more than the art of killing, one with the one power even more so. It requires you to be able to kill silently, without trace. To that effect, I will show you perhaps the simplest use of water as a weapon, and this weave could almost certainly be modified to use earth or air as well.”

For this demonstration, he would need more than fruits. He would need something live to kill, and of course Arcon was prepared. Removing another cover, a set of five cages were exposed, each with a small rabbit inside. Arcon had bought them off the same peddler whom Shade had negotiated his robes off, using similar tactics of course. Opening the cage with a flick of air, Arcon levitated a truly distressed rabbit in front of himself. Then, it was a simple matter of wrapped the beasts head in threads of water. What Arcon tried to hide however, was his weakness in this element; it was even weaker than that of earth. Still, with concentration, he managed it, and the rabbit literally drowned.

“When you have advanced in your training, there is an advanced form of this weave that I will have taught to you. I may be a bit busy bending the world to my will by that point, rest assured that I will make sure you are well taken care of Shad.” He left out that he couldn’t perform the weave himself, it was unnecessary information.

Dhjorn was stunned as he looked at his companion. Does she feel compassion for these beasts?  Thinking back on Trollocs himself, all he could conjure up was slit throats, and of course, the one from whom he stole the steal daggers he carries. After a few more moments, the image of his caretaker came to mind, but he knew he would eventually be slitting his throat as well. As such, he was generally confused as to how to approach this situation.

Another moment and he realized that perhaps the best method was to end their training now. “Do what you will Calaun, I will be in touch. Perhaps the next time we can actually complete more than the initial stages of training.” The slightest twitch at the ends of his lips was the only hint of the humor he meant. “If I can’t manage to get a message to you, I will be in the clearing on the next full moon.” With that, he set off for his own camp, walking slowly in case she wished to either follow or continue speaking.

He found himself almost hoping she would.

Oh poo Tal, I was gonna suck up...

Arcon nodded, impressed with how fast Shad had picked up on the weave. Thinking he himself would have done so just as quickly, had he a teacher to show him how to do it right. "Good Shadar, you mastered one of my own custom weaves, and even managed to modify it slightly. Even a well trained army of lightfools would stop and think about attacking you after that demonstration. Not to mention the absolute terror that will be unleashed when they realize a male channeler is in their midst." A chuckle escaped his lips, a hollow sound. "Following that line of thought, let us use one of the elements I truly have no talent for, Earth, combined with fire."

Arcon selected another melon, admittedly because he loved to watch them explode. He set it on the ground between the two future dreadlords. "This weave is a bit simpler, and doesn't require quite so much finesse as the explosive ball does. However, it also has the advantage of being faster, not requiring a secondary step to the channeling." With that, he snapped earth and fire into the ground, causing a burst of rock and flames. Arcon applied much more fire than earth, turning most of those rocks into slag and the melon to ash. "Riven earth, the extra fire being my addition to it."

Arcon nodded, coming to accept the subservance of Shad, and enjoying every minute of it. Still, he could not quite bring himself to believe that the man was completely dominated by the Cairheinin, and he knew he still had to tread carefully, or else shatter the work that he had done so far in attaching the man to himself.

"Fire and air are potent when combined. I have shown you a basic fireball before, and it is a lethal weapon to be sure, but it has limits. It simple burns, when it can be made to do more. Namely, explode and utterly destroy an opponent, or as the need fits, opponents." He didn't bother telling the other man to watch; Shad knew the pattern all to well by now. Rant, demonstration, you try. It was simple and effective, and Arcon saw no point in deviating from a successful formula.

As such, Arcon whipped several large melons high into the air. Weaving air and fire generously, a normal fireball took shape. Before contact though, Arcon pulled on the threads of air, causing them to expand rapidly. This had the effect of forming a concussion wave, spreading out fire and a literally solid wave of air to smash the melons in an explosion. He kept the effect small, controlled, and again gusted the bits of leftover melon away, so they didn't fall and stain his silks.

That done, he pointed to three melons close together, and nodded, letting his student take over.

Arcon Dadread sat, idly waiting for his student to arrive. Shadar had accepted every challange that Arcon had thrown at him, with the exception to those that caused him to severe pain, but over the months that the man had been here, Arcon had learned to pull his strings. A slight turn at the end of his lips revealed his inner glee at that thought. He had a merciless killer under him, the perfect tool to be used as he saw fit. To top it off, he even liked the man, though he had no qualms about which of those brought that fox grin to his lips.

"Evening my friend. It is about time we kick your training up a notch." Arcon reached to a large canvas beside him, and ripped it away. Under was an odd assortments of fruits and lathes, though much thicker than those used for weapons training. He reached for one of these bundles, "Most do not know this, but if you soak lathes in water for three days, they become almost the exact same strength as a human man's neck." Leisurly, he tossed it in the air and seized the source. Deftly he wove six long air razors with the sharpest edge he could muster and laid them in a grid pattern. Setting them to spin, he attacked the bundle, slicing it to bits. With a gust of air, he blew the remains over to his student.

"There are many, many ways to kill with Saidin. Especially those who can not channel themselves. I will be furthering your education on these methods today, using nearly all of the elements. It is time you became what you were born to be Shadar, a powerful warrior, and an assassin in the Great Lord's name." Arcon's grin only widened, transforming it from a fox grin to a sadistic smile. His almost skeletal features giving him a look of the grave...

Lol, I'll try again later. I blame the dreaded return of classes tomorrow. Killing my arguing skills. -nods-

Lol, making this a bit hard on us? How about you play with us non-taint-driven psychopaths? Like my Sereth, he is a bit off, but its just him being a nut.  :P He is a total mad scientist with a heart of gold.

Very interesting and well written bio. Approved by CotS.

Arcon Dadread entered the class with a solemn expression on his face, not truly interested in what the class had to teach, but he was here regardless. Who knows, maybe something would spark his interest? Looking around as he entered, he believed his eye caught on something that might just do that. The tall woman standing in front of the class caught his eye. Tall with raven locks, and a complexion even paler than his own. Still, there was something off about her, and even the Adept's well trained eyes could not place her nationality.

She was tall as an Aiel, yet pale like those of his native land. Was she some kind of half-breed? Pondering that line of though, he discarded it, the likely hood of such a union was astronomically low. Perhaps her accent would give it away when she turned to speak...  Watching the students file in, he doubted it would be to much longer until she was forced to do so. Unless she planed to unnerve them all by not even turning to look at them...

((Couldn't resist a couple things in that post...))

Again the man succeeded, that was good. He was shaping himself up nicely for Arcon's purposes. The man's glee when using the destructive weaves was evident, and his purpose was coming into mind, exactly what tool he would be to fulfill that purpose was still unclear, but it was shaping up nicely. As Shad bowed his head and pledged his servitude, it took every ounce of his training to keep himself from leaping up into a heel click.

Still, it had been almost too simple for the kind of devotion that this man was displaying. There had to be a trick, or a half truth. "You live to serve, hmm? Quite the statement there, and in return, I will make you ready to serve." He believed he had found the truth behind the man's statement, referring to the Great Lord instead of the Adept. Still, Arcon would gain his loyalty, at least as long as they remained useful to each other.

The question was though, how would he maintain that loyalty? He couldn't teach him forever, at least not in the power. What other life lessons would he need, or maybe other arrangements would be made. As Shad had his head bowed, a smiel crept over the pale features of Arcon Dadread. Yes, that would do.

Arcon smiled as his student wove, "Good! Now, to get a bit more advanced. Weave the threads, use multiple elements. nautural law usually applies to the power. Air makes fire bigger for instance, water and earth make mud or some variant." Arcon again seized the source, pulling a stone to his hand. "This weave is called a grenade, the first of the true combat weaves I'll be teaching you." Into the stone he wove air and fire, and simply threw the rock. It landed 10 paces away and exploded into a shower of rock. "Barbaric, but effective. Most of the true attack weaves are a combination of earth, fire, and air. Of course the others can be used as well, but these are the simplest."

Arcon wove fire and air together, causing a globe of light to form in the air. "Another utility weave, even though we serve the shadow, we lack the night vision of the Fades. Though with more strength, "He wove thicker strands of fire, with a touch more air and the ball ignited. "A fireball, as useful a destructive device as any I'd say."

Arcon looked over the Acolyte, and nodded his head. "Though in truth, you've got the basics of weaving down, and over the next couple weeks I will pound so many weaves into your head, it'll be a wonder if you remember them all on the first try. I want to teach you something more today, how to make a weave last." With that, he again wove air and fire, bringing a globe of light to bear, and twisted the ends together, tying off the weave, and then released the source. Of course, the globe remained. "Try it, it'll be another thing to practice, along with something I know you have wanted."

With that Arcon seized the source and wove air and fire, and sliced the globe apart. The recoil from slicing his own weave was... odd, but manageable. He spun eleven more globes, slicing another one for demonstration, and tying off the rest. "Go ahead, slice them to bits." With that, he again released the source.

Arcon wanted Shad to succeed at this, for one reason. He knew he damaged his chances with being so aggressive, and needed to repair that damage. Shad seemed to need a gentle touch to push him. He'd have to quiz Terra a bit, her particular brand of manipulation seemed to fit this one better...

Arcon stopped weaving, and closed his eyes. Still, he held the source, but its warmth couldn't quite chase out the chill he felt. Looks like I pushed the golden child to far. "I'm sorry Shadar. I am still new to teaching, and I thought if I forced you, you would prosper. It looks like I was wrong." With that, he walked over to the man, slicing his shield and laying a hand upon him. He wove a basic healing weave, it was never his primary skill. It was however, strong enough to rid the man of most of the aches and pains. "What you did, you fell into yourself... You took the pain. I have seen that before, when people are so accustomed to it they simply grunt through it."

Arcon took a few paces back, "I am sure that reflex has saved you in the past, but..." He wove, not at Shadar, but in the area. Fire and air combined to make a torrent of flame 6 feet tall, he wove earth into the ground, making small spheres form. Using air he flung them into the air, and then air and fire to force them to explode. Deftly he wove a shield of air around the pair to protect them from falling debris. "Against a channeler, your only chance is reaction. That is what I was trying to teach you. Now release, grasp, and weave something 10 times. Get used to the feeling of it leaving you Shad, and force it to come back to you whenever you desire. I don't care what you weave." With that, he turned back to face Shad, releasing the source.

If the man wanted to retaliate, Arcon would seize it once again, but he did not wish to threaten the man further.

Arcon smiled as Shadar approached, the man had come very far in such a short time, but still, the man was no where near complete in even the Acolyte stage of his training. "Good morning Shadar. It is time to teach you the basics of weaving the one power." He waited for a moment, letting those words sink in. yes, the man had come astoundingly far for the time he had been here, but he wasn't even out of the basics yet.

"You've done pretty well for how long you have been here Shad, but its time to train you how to really become a channeler of the shadow." With that Arcon seized the source, weaving slowly he made several variations of offensive air weaves. Clubs, nearly blunt air razors, and the like. He was showing off, holding 5 weaves at once. "I have shown you two basic shields, earth and air. Use one to guard yourself." With that, Arcon sent an Air Club spiraling towards his mentee. The purpose of this was easy, teach him to grasp the source whenever needed, and use it immediatly.

Arcon full expected to have to heal Shadar after this session.

This of course isn't my thread, however with the groups apparently buggy, I can't add Tai so he can't do this himself, as such, I'll keep track of his reqs until such a time as he gets permission to view this board.

Training with the Power-http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,38687.0.html

To say the least, Arcon was impressed. The man had managed to cover weeks of training in a single night. Still, another intriguing thought was the ant that the keeping had been woven around. It didn't move a hair, and Arcon's mind buzzed with possibilities. Stasis... "That was...impressive Shad." Right then he considered telling the man how far he had come, that Arcon had forced his training. The Adept thought better of it. "That concludes your training for today. I suggest going to the mess hall, grabbing a bite to eat, and then sleeping off the traveling and channeling you have done."

He had intended to leave the man to his business, after all he was supposed to meet with Terra in an hour, but he wanted to plant a seed of loyalty in the new Acolyte, seeing the potential in him. "Shad, I will meet with you tomorrow, some time before noon most likely. We will work on your grasping and releasing until you have it down to at will, and your basic weaves. I've decided to take a special interest in you." Again Arcon flashed Shad an award winning smile, and went off to his rooms to prepare his notes. Terra was coming quite far in her studies of Daes Dae'mar...