Arath supervised his sparring students with a pained look. Many of them weren't taking this seriously. Only a small handful of the dozen or so dedicateds seemed to show any promise at all. It didn't take him long to decide which ones would participate in the next part of the lesson. Giving the last couple of pairs an extra minute or two to wrap up their fights, he walked down the line and administered healing to those who were in the worst need of it. Generally the ones who had lost their fights. Once he was finished, the Storm Leader returned to his place in front of the group and addressed his students again.

"Most of you," Arath said loudly, "are horrible. You wouldn't last five minutes against a farmer with a pitchfork, let alone a Trolloc or a Fade. Thankfully, not all of you are total losses. And a few of you are going to help teach the next part of my class. Gavin, Lir, and Baran, you three will stay here. The rest of you, run a lap of the training grounds and assemble back here."

Once the rest of the disgruntled class had left, he focused his attention on the remaining three. "Each of you have something to offer the class. A reason for why your fight ended the way it did. Lir, you seem to have had some prior training, and took full advantage of the unique circumstances of this spar. Baran, you ended your fight quickly and effectively, even if you the force you applied was a little ... excessive. Gavin you lost your fight, and obviously have no experience with the weapon you chose. Despite that, you controlled yourself well, and treated the situation as though it were real. If we could put the three of you together we'd have a decent fighter.

"So, what I want you to do is explain to the rest of the class when they arrive why your fight ended the way it did. Explain what advantage your particular attribute can give you in battle, what part of you they need to emulate, and why it will help you to defeat me when I spar with you. I expect you to at least hold your own long enough to make your words credible."

Ignoring the incredulous looks on their faces, the Storm Leader turned to monitor the rest of the class. It was always interesting to see what the Dedicated would come up with. Occasionaly it didn't work out too well, but Arath had learned enough about twisting words lately to make just about anything work to his advantage.

OOC: Again, sorry for the delay. Whoever wants to go first, give a nice little speech to the class, then prepare for a humbling. Go ahead and write the first part of your spar with Arath. He'll hold back long enough for everyone to get the idea of what you're talking about. I'll take over the end and wrap up each fight based on however you leave it hanging.

Arath hadn't expected either of the warders to speak with him that evening, let alone offer thanks for the meal, or encouragement for a job well done. "Would you be interested in trying your skills with a blade with myself or Kynwric? It's going to be a long journey, and perhaps we could learn from one another. Er, as long as you do not use your Power to win."

Arath couldn't help but laugh. "I can give it a try. I doubt you'll be able to learn much from me, other than how to poke a hole in an Asha'man perhaps. We train with the sword, but it's not where our focus lies. And no, I won't use the Power. As much as I dislike being at the disadvantage, I don't care for cheating."

Arath stared into the fire for a time before answering. "I used to be. Saidin terrified me at first. Watching the others fall all around me didn't help. Out of the ten of us who arrived at the Black Tower together, only five made it through training. One burst into flames on his first contact with Saidin. Another one went mad within the first week, screaming about spiders inside his skin. He died trying to cut them out. The third one fell in a training accident with another soldier. A fireball gone wrong. The fourth went mad shortly before he would have been raised, and killed the fifth by surprise, convinced he was actually a Myrdraal in a clever disguise."

The Asha'man continued to gaze into the fire, the light dancing in his eyes. He didn't revisit his memories very often. Dwelling on those who had been lost was simply too depressing. Better to move forward and simply accept what had happened. "If there was another way, we would do it. But there is not. We either press forward quickly, accepting the losses that follow, or creep forward cautiously, watching most fall to the madness before reaching their potential." He shook his head softly. "Either way it's not much of a chioce. But it is our choice. Every man who comes to the Black Tower does so of his own free will, knowing what the eventual consequences of his decision will be.

"I suppose that is what makes it easier to press forward like we do, despite the risks. I am not afraid of that fate, because I accept it as inevitable. The taint will kill me. I will not live long, and so I don't need to worry about what might happen to me. I don't need to hold back. I don't want to hold back."

With a sigh, Arath looked away from the fire, staring down into his hands. "It isn't easy. Burn me if it is. But there is no other way. Not for us."

The non compulsiony one

Little side note from the BT side.

Only Asha'man can hold a bond, but both Asha'man and Dedicated are available to be bonded.

Also, I've read over this thread, and talked with Elgee a bit, and it seems there's a little confusion over what the Asha'man bond entails. Specifically the compulsion factor.

There are two versions of the Asha'man bond. The first is their regular bond, used on wives and such, which functions more like a regular warder bond, compulsion aspect included. Incomplete, and heavy handed. The 'Watchers' bond is a modified version of the bond which specifically adds a heavy compulsion factor to the assist in control. It is not the version which will be used on future bonds.

Arath lounged on his stool, relaxed, yet fully prepared for whatever might come his way. He'd half thought that the warders were going to try and run him through on the spot. Now this other Aes Sedai was watching him like a hawk eyeing a mouse. Maybe a little bit more subtle way of driving out game would be necessary in the future.

"Are you truly so hungry that a bow would not have sufficed?"

Arath thought about that for a moment, turning the spits slowly over the fire. "Which part of it bothers you Aes Sedai? The 'fairness' of the hunt? The fact that I ignore Tar Valon's 'traditional' use of the Power? Or is it just because of who ... or what ... I am?"

There was silence for a moment while the two stared at each other through the fire. "It is our way," he said finally. "Not butchery with the One Power, but a constant struggle to master it as quickly as possible. We are very much alike, you and I, and yet worlds apart. We both wield a power that could burn the whole world to ash, or cause it to bloom. You are respected throughout much of the world, I am reviled throughout all of it. You and yours have decades to learn your ability, and centuries of life to master it. Me? I've had less than 3 years to learn, and my life will probably be measured in months, or even days."

Arath paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "When a man is brought to the Black Tower, he needs to be ready to fight the Last Battle as soon as possible. So we push him. Everything he does, he does with the Power. From cutting wood, to building a house, down to cooking each meal. Even when it is far more difficult to do something with the Power, we use it anyway. When it comes to something more simple, like this ..." he waved a hand at the roasting meat. With a small laugh he added, "I can't shoot a bow to save my life anyway."

She was glad they were far enough away from the Amadician border that such noise wouldn't be noticed.

Aren't they a day's ride outside of Tar Valon?

The thunderclap wasn't that loud ...

This will be fun. I've always wanted Arath to talk training with an Aes Sedai.

Edited the first thread to show the new arrangement. Arath holds the bond with Zarinen now instead of Covai.

Speaking of which, shouldn't we ... you know ... DO something?

Arath wondered for the hundredth time why he had agreed to this. 'A show of good will and cooperation' she'd said. Right. He had grown used to it over the last few years, but it was never pleasant to feel like the world's most unwelcome guest. Which was very much how he was feeling right now. Not that anyone was overly unfriendly. One of the warders had even tried to strike up a conversation, though it had felt more like a threat assessment rather than a normal conversation. Considering the company he was in, he might have felt a little uneasy if anyone had seemed to like him. It was a strange little troupe. Three Aes Sedai, one of whom who seemed to be as new as could be, two jumpy warders, and an Asha'man. Not the oddest company he had kept, but close.

As night began to fall, the group set up camp quickly. And just as quickly, everyone else seemed to vanish. The warders were practicing with the sword, and judging by the tingling in his skin, the Aes Sedai were practicing with Saidar. And Arath just sat there, looking at the fire. For a moment he considered joining the warders, since technically speaking he had something in common with them. Only he held the bond instead of being bonded. But he doubted that they would appreciate the similarity, and he'd rather not give them an opportunity to have an 'accident' which left him bloodied. He knew very well that either of them would be able to beat him senseless with a sword, his own skills not withstanding. No ... better to avoid that altogether.

Going to join the Aes Sedai wasn't an option either. Not that it would really do any good, since he wouldn't be able to see their weaves, nor they his, but he really didn't think he would be welcome there either. And so he was left with a dilemna. What was he supposed to do? And so he sat. And stared at the fire.

A few minutes of that was all he could take however, and he found himself on his feet, looking for something to do. Finding nothing in the camp that needed preperations, Arath began to meander around the outside edges, taking in the area. It never hurt to know the area well enough to Travel if he needed to make a quick getaway. Travelling ... again, he wondered why they weren't just Travelling to Amadicia, especially if this was such an important thing for them to be doing. Maybe that was why he had been invited to join this group? Or maybe the Sisters simply had their reasons for travelling slowly. Either way was fine with him.

As he thought about his strange circumstances, Arath found himself wandering close to a grove of trees. An idea of something he could do dawned on him, and he siezed Saidin. A simple weave of air formed in front of him, and he extended it toward the trees. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if the Aes Sedai would frown on what he was about to do. Then deciding that he didn't care, he went ahead with it anyway. The little weave collapsed into a large clap of thunder, emanating from the grove. The undergrowth errupted in movement as all the animals nearby shied away from the sudden sound. Picking his targets as they sped away, Arath wove deftly with air and fire, snaring each creature by the head and ending it's struggles quickly. It was all over in a matter of moments, and Arath was quickly headed back to the nearby camp with a small deer slung over his shoulders, and three rabbits in his hand.

Before long, he was seated next to the fire again, dressing his kills with Saidin. The rabbits almost seemed to jump out of their skins, hair and organs deftly removed with air razors in a matter of seconds. The deer took a little more time to dress properly, but soon it too was nothing but a neatly folded skin and a pile of meat, the bones and waste burnt to ashes with a flash of Fire.

Opting to go for a more traditional method of cooking, the young Asha'man skewered the rabbits on makeshift spits and set them over the fire. The venison would be going into his saddlebags after he wove a preserving weave over it. Using Saidin one last time, Arath used strands of earth to shape the ground beneath him, raising a comfortable stool to sit on. Releasing the power, he settled into his new seat and focused on dinner. The smells were soon drifting over the camp, sure to make the other hungry travellers at least a little more friendly.

Heh, sounds fun. A big thunderclap to drive out the animals, then demonstrate the Asha'man air razors while dismembering a deer with a hole burned through it's head. And then casually wonder a few days later why we didn't just Travel straight from Tar Valon.

Sounds suitably cheeky for Arath.

*Trundles off to write a little something something*

It took a little longer than he would have liked, but eventually all twelve of the Dedicated had arrived, been shielded, and had retrieved their weapons. A few of them looked as though they had chosen unfamiliar weapons, perhaps thinking they would have the chance to learn something new here. Did they expect him to go as easy on them as Skechid had? They were in for a rude awakening if so. Using the Power, Arath amplified his voice a little more than necessary and issued his next orders.

"Everyone hold your weapon out in front of you. You will be giving your all in this class, so I need to make sure you won't kill each other." The dedicated formed a line and held their weapons out for Arath's inspection. Starting at one end, the Storm Leader slowly moved from person to person, weaving a strip of air along all the sharp edges in order to protect the blades and his students. One fool who looked as though he was holding a mace for the first time presented a little bit of a problem, but Arath simply covered the head of the weapon in a spongy weave of air that would hopefully dampen any blows he managed to land. Not that there appeared to be much danger of that the way he was holding it.

Once he had finished, Arath centered himself on the group again and resumed his instructions. "Pair up. You'll spar with your partner for two minutes, and I don't want you holding back at all. Your objective is to take your enemy down. I don't care what you do. Fighting dirty, cheap tricks ... whatever it takes. You go until I call time, or until one of you is down on the ground and beaten." The dedicated all quickly paired themselves off and waited for his signal. Arath obliged them with a simple weave of air which resulted in a thunderclap. At once the silver pinned warriors turned on each other with varying degrees of skill. He watched them all from the sidelines, picking out examples for the next part of his lesson.

OOC: Okay, you get to write a little mini-battle with your partner. Probably an NPC Dedicated, though if you really want to, 2 of you can work it out together. Make the fights go however you wish. Win, lose, full two minues, 15 seconds ... however you want. Just make it interesting.

Covai and Linten are our only dreamwalkers ... and neither of them have been around for a while.

Soooo ... question. If this infirmary ter'angreal has a stedding type effect, does that create problems for people stuck in T'A'R? Since Stedding can't be entered from the dream world and all.

Not that it really matters, just something to think about.

What about Aes Sedai being bonded by Asha'man? Do they have to have a warder already?

I'm kind of wondering how I can jump in on this one with Arath. I get the distinct feeling that he won't be welcome around these 'ajah secret' weave ... *snicker*

Maybe a demonstration of some of the not-so-secret-super-explodey Asha'man weaves?

Class is started, in case anyone missed it.

The frigid, early morning wind blew around the solitary figure on the Black Tower training grounds. For once, Arath did not ignore the cold, instead relishing in the feelings. He did not do that often enough. Feeling. Heat, cold, or emotion, he found himself putting them all aside. Not feeling seemed to make it easier to get by without dwelling on difficult issues. And so he stood in the biting cold wind, enjoying the feeling and thinking. The last few years had been interesting. Unexpected, and even boring at times, but interesting nonetheless. As the sun crept over the trees, Arath siezed Saidin. It still amazed him sometimes. How alive the storm of ice and fire made him feel, yet how close to death the taint felt. He would never be able to forget the filth of the Dark Ones touch, even if it were to miraculously disappear. How long would it be before it took him?

As the rest of the farm began to stir, Arath allowed his distrurbed thoughts to slide off the void, and once again began to ignore the natural elements. He needed to be calm and focused for the task at hand. He was returning to his old role as an instructor, and could not afford the distractions of emotion. The Dedicated in today's lessons had been progressing well, but some of them had been spurning their lessons in the sword. He would rectify that mistake. Harshly if need be.

He wasn't sure how long he stood waiting before the first of his students arrived. There were a full dozen of them today, but he waited only for the first three before he began. Siezing the Source, Arath wove Spirit and cut each Dedicated from the source with a thick shield. Tying the shields tightly in place, he gave them their first simple instructions. "Today, you learn battle plan B. What to do when you can't channel. Go to the weapons shed at the north end of the training grounds and grab your weapon of choice. Move!"

As each new man arrived, Arath repeated the procedure, shielding them and sending them off for their weapons. When the last of them had finally arrived and gone off in search of a weapon, Arath channeled his own blades into being. Kneeling down, Arath placed each hand on the ground and channeled Earth, Air, and Fire. Moments later, he wielded a pair of solid earthen blades, each glowing a with a strange red hue. Less fire than he usually would have used since he didn't want to actually harm the Dedicated, but he had found this glow to be rather intimidating. Especially when they had never seen anything quite like it before.

Grounding the tips of his blades in front of him, Arath waited for the Dedicated to return. Light willing, this class would go well.

Dedicated have a WS of 5. So you can at least wave a sword about without stabbing yourself in the foot.

In light of the fact that we now have 3 dedicated, a feat which we haven't duplicated here in ... over a year now I think ... I'll be starting a Dedicated Weapons Class, taught by Storm Leader Arath. A chance for everyone to interact a little with one of the Guardian Council, and the main liason to the White Tower. And for everyone to get a sound one on one trouncing.

So, anybody who is interested, post below. And I'll get it started up, hopefully this weekend.

Well well, it seems we have a couple more promotions now.

Congratulations to Soldiers Lir Gilbearn and Gavin Mortisane! Ehm ... my bad ... Dedicateds Lir Gilbearn and Gavin Mortisane.

Congratulations boys!

Thats what YOU think ...

And I guess you'd be thinking right.

*Official Stamp*

Gratz

Looks good to me

*Official Stamp*

No. You cannot combine word counts from two seperate RP's.

Considering the word count on that thread, and the fact that you joined late, I'll give you credit on that one if you do one more post on it, just to wrap up the class.

As for the other one, I'm sure you can poke one of the others into a reply to get that last post out.

Oh yeah, one thing I noticed reading over your threads. Gavin's weird gleemans cloak. He would not be allowed to wear that around. The Asha'mans black coat is a military uniform, meant to make everyone look the same. On equal ground. Asha'man are expected to sever all ties to the outside world upon joining the Tower. Even a king wouldn't be allowed any special wardrobe. As a dedicated, he might get away with it if he was performing at the inn, but definitely not as a soldier.

A good way to think of Soldier rank is something like military boot camp. The whole point is to break you down and build you up the way you're needed. There's not a lot of freedom to anything until getting that silver sword pin.

EDIT: Ha! Grimm beat me to it. You can problem get several posts out of him. Keep him busy for a bit. Problem solved :)

It's sort of a yes and no thing. Yes, your character is expected to learn the sword. Unless you're a specialized type of warrior (i.e. pikeman, halberdier), it is the standard military weapon. If you find yourself suddenly in need, a sword is the weapon you're most likely to find to arm yourself. It's also by far the easiest weapon to form with the power. Fire swords and such. I would say as a Soldier, you are required to learn the sword. Not necessarily become proficient, or even know forms, but be able to hold it without eviscerating yourself or your neighbor (unintentionally anyway ).

As a Dedicated, where you have more freedom to develop your talents and explore your own skills, you can also branch out with martial weapons. Axes, staves, guinea pigs, fruit cakes ... whatever floats your boat. My secondary Asha'man uses the standard WoT sword (the hybrid katana/longsword) since he was a Shienaran soldier, but my Storm Leader uses duel short blades. Nothing wrong with variety.

That being said, I would stick with a weapon that you could reliably use to defend yourself from a Fade or a Trolloc, alone or in formation with others. Something a little sturdier than duel belt knives.

Downtime? For soldiers?

Oh wait ... you were serious?

Well, wildlife would probably be pretty scarce around the farm, what with 1000 crazy men running around, all the stray dogs they attract, and their loud explosions all day long. Might make the local critters skitish. There's no problem with spontaneous Saidin hunting when the opportunity arises, but I don't think Soldiers would be allowed to take a hunting trip. Soldiers aren't even allowed to visit the inn without direct permission from an Asha'man. They only get some semblance of freedom again with the Sword pin.

Now if you happened to run across a bear on patrol duty outside the walls ... thats a different story Or, it might be concievable that an Asha'man who wanted to go hunting could drag a couple soldiers along in order to demonstrate/practice attack weaves on a living creature. Or as his pack mules.