This is the side thread for all those involved in the BT/WT thing.  Something to do while the big kids are talking :P

IC:  Daevis Thelandran shifted uneasily from foot to foot as he waited in the antechamber with the other Asha'man.  Only a very forced control kept him from easing his sword in its scabbard.  A useless thing here, where all of the attacks they might face would come from the One Power, but a lifetime as a soldier in Shienar produced hard habits to break. 

The party had been recieved peaceably enough, if not exactly warmly.  Not that he had expected a warm reception from the Aes Sedai in the first place.  The Amyrlin's antechamber had a strange feeling to it though.  A palpable tension.  As though a pack of strange foxes had wandered into a chicken coop.  Or perhaps as though a flock of strange chickens had wandered into a fox den.  It was hard to tell.  Light, he needed a drink.

Deciding to take the initiative, Daevis took a step forward and coughed gently.  If he'd felt uneasy before, it was nothing compared to what he felt when that many red shawled women all focused their full attention on him.  With a slight smile, only slightly ruined by the large scar on the left side of his face, the Asha'man asked, "I don't suppose one of you could send for some wine?  I get the feeling we might be waiting here for a while yet."

Rochel stalked down the hallways of the White Tower, hands wrinkled from hot water, and her teeth grinding.  It was a wonder she still had any teeth left after six and a half years.  Or any skin on her arms for that matter.  She doubted the cooks spent more time in the kitchens than she had.  She couldn't remember the last time her skin had been smooth.  Not that it really mattered much here, but it was still one more frustration.

As she rounded a corner, she nearly ran headlong into the last person she wanted to see right now.  Trying oh so hard not to grind her teeth straight into dust, Rochel made a grudging curtsy to Larindhra Sedai.  A small, less than pleasant encounter with the Mistress of Novices had earned her this latest week in the kitchens, and Rochel didn't quite trust herself to not say something foolish yet.

Before she even had a chance to open her mouth thought, the Mistress of Novices spoke.  "You are to come with me, child."

"What did I do now?"  Rochel almost winced as the words left her tongue, regreting them already. 

Larindhra Sedai simply arched an eyebrow, giving that Aes Sedai look that told you that the next words out of your mouth had better be 'yes Aes Sedai'.  Wisely keeping her mouth shut, for once, Rochel followed as Larindhra turned and walked away.

Several minutes later, Rochel found herself in a part of the Tower that she had never been to before, far below the ground floor.  Strange, half formed thoughts flitted through her mind as she tried to figure out what was going on.  It quickly became apparent as Larindhra pushed open a large set of doors.  Inside, a handful of Aes Sedai waited serenely at their assigned posts.  In the center of the room stood a large set of silver arches, standing on a silver ring, the bottom points touching the arch to either side.

The Mistress of Novices turned to face Rochel. “I will now tell you two things that no woman hears until she enters this room. Once you begin, you must continue to the end. Refuse to go on, no matter your potential and you will be very kindly put out of the Tower with enough silver to support you a year, and you will never be allowed back. Second. To seek, to strive, is to know danger. You will know danger here. Some women have entered, and never come out. When the ter”angreal was allowed to grow quiet, they – were – not – there. And they were never seen again. If you will survive, you must be steadfast. Faltering leads to a failure.

“This is your last chance, child. You may turn back now, and you will have only mark against you. Twice more will you be allowed to come here, and only at the third refusal will you be put out of the Tower. It is no shame to refuse. Many cannot do it their first time here. Now you may speak.”

Rochel stared at Larindhra for a moment, then turned her head to look at the arches.  She felt a tightness in her chest as she looked at them.  Not fear exactly, at least not fear of the arches themselves.  They couldn't be as bad as the accepted made them out to be.  No, she did not fear the arches.  It was what came after the arches.  Acceptance.  That was not something she wanted to face.  One step closer to being Aes Sedai, something she still didn't want. Six and a half years in the White Tower had not improved her opinion of the sisters much.  Not nearly enough to want to be one herself.  Turning back to Larindhra Sedai, Rochel slowly shook her head.  "No," she said simply, and perhaps a touch more defiantly than she should have.

A brief look passed across the Mistress of Novices' face, something that Rochel couldn't quite place.  An odd mix of disappointment, concern, and ... contempt?  And that ever present calculating stare.  She was silent for a moment, studying Rochel who stared back for a moment before looking away.

"She has refused the test.  Let no one speak of what transpired here today, not even amongst themselves.  Go now, under the Light."

Rochel felt more than a little uncomfortable under the gazes of the four Aes Sedai as they filed out of the chamber.  She could almost feel them laughing at her.  Well, let them think what they wanted.  When the last of them had gone, Larindhra finally spoke again.  "Go back to your room, child.  You will be summoned again.  Some day."

With a sigh, Rochel turned and slowly made her way back up the Tower to her room.  Larindhra's words seemed to echo in her ears ... a pronouncement of doom.  You will be summoned again.  The White Tower wouldn't be done with her until she was dead.

Rochel tried in vain to suppress a frightened squeak as the door banged open and an Aes Sedai came barging in.  She hastily hid her hands behind her, a habit she had acquired as a child whenever she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have.  She had thought that she'd broken that habit years ago, since it inevitably made you look guilty.  Some habits just died hard it seemed..

Surprisingly, the Aes Sedai didn't say anything for a while, she simply stared at them, eyes flicking back and forth between the girls, and the smoky spot where the fireball had been.  When she finally did speak, it was in the coldest voice Rochel had ever heard.  And in the White Tower, that was saying quite a lot.

“I suggest, whatever you were practicing just now, you wake Larindhra Sedai about it.” 

Somehow, Rochel thought she had just gotten off far easier than this Sister wanted, and she wasted no time in taking advantage of that.  Making a horrible curtsy that normally would have earned her a punishment anyway, Rochel made an undignified rush for the door.  As fast as she was, Evanen made it out before her, and in a flash they were racing down the halls.  Rochel vaguely wondered why Evanen was going too since she hadn't even embraced Saidar, let alone channeled, but she was glad of the company.  She even smiled a little when Evanen reached out to squeeze her hand.  It was nice to have a friend who wouldn't throw her under the wagon in a bad moment.

And by a stroke of happy fortune, only the Reds will happen to be in the hallway outside the Amyrlin's office :P

If wanted, I'll start another side thread for everyone else to play with while the 'negotiations' are going on.  Stare down an Aes Sedai in the hall outside the Amyrlin's office, scare an Accepted silly, ask to see the bathrooms ... whatever tickles your fancy.  We'll let you know when its time to follow Covai and Arath in.

Finished Intro to Saidar

Updated Novice Life - 1 post left :D

Rochel trudged along the hallways, heading toward the classroom where Claire would be waiting for her and the other novices.  It had been a rough night, and she was still tired from the efforts of the previous day.  And the pot scrubbing.  Light how she hated scrubbing pots.  Upon reaching the room, she filed in with the other's who had just arrived and slumped into her seat.  Claire's first words brought a mixed reaction from Rochel.

"Hello class, today will most likely be one of the hardest days for you since you have been at the Tower. At the end of this lesson you will be so tired that you will not want to lift a finger to do anything.  But do not worry,” Claire continued, “I have asked that you be excused from all chores today so that you can rest. This will not happen again so take advantage of it.”

She did not look forward to exhaustion, but no chores sounded like a good deal.  Rochel tried to sit up and pay attention a little better.  It wouldn't do to get punished with chores for not paying heed to the Aes Sedai's words.

“First we are going to do a small exercise. In our second lesson when you learned to touch the Source, I knew the second you held it.  Now you also will learn how to tell if another woman is touching Saidar.  Every female channeller can see when a woman is using the Source, because a glow springs up all around them the second they hold it. I want you to try to see this glow, I will walk around the room holding Saidar. You are allowed to embrace the Source, as it makes it easier to see the glow in the beginning, but try to see it also when you are not holding Saidar.”

Rochel observed carefully as Claire walked around the room.  Try as she might, she didn't see anything.  She squinted, screwed up her face, tilted her head, blinked rapidly ... nothing seemed to work.  Finally, she embraced Saidar -at least that came on the first try this time!- and tried again.  Still nothing worked.  In frustration, Rochel glanced around the room at the other novices, to see if they were having any luck.  As her eyes fell on one of them, she suddenly saw a soft white glow surround her.  Rochel blinked in surprise, then turned back to Claire.  After a moment, she saw the same glow surrounding the Brown sister.  Releasing her own grip on the source, Rochel continued to stare at her instructor, but the glow vanished with Saidar.  Finally, after a few excrutiating minutes and a lot of squinting, she briefly saw the glow again and smiled.  She knew she'd beat it eventually.  The lesson continued soon after that.

“Today you are also going to learn a few weaves that use Air and Water.  I expect you to be careful since you have not had any real experience at weaving.  Please watch carefully and go slow so that you can get the hang of it. And before we start with the weaves I want you to promise me NEVER to pick your weaves apart, but to let them dissipate on their own. Picking apart a weave is very dangerous and it can cause severe explosions or even getting burned out.”

This time, Rochel leaned forward eagerly.  They were going to learn something useful!  Actual weaves!  She was a bit curious about picking weaves apart, but decided that it would have to wait until she was much more experienced.  When Claire began demonstrating the weaves, thoughts of picking them apart fled from Rochels mind quickly.

She watched curiously as they were shown how to drain water from an object, then how to create water from the air.  Rochel nodded to herself as she watched.  Both of those seemed useful, under the right circumstances.  The air weaves were much more entertaining.  Rochel watched with a surpressed grin as Devrion was lifted almost to the cieling with a large band of air around her middle.  That was most definitely useful.  A few moments later the same girl was immobilizied with an even larger band of air.  Also terribly useful.  The last weave came as a bit of a surprise, as Claire tossed an apple into the air and obliterated it by slamming it with an air weave.  Rochel pulled a small chunk of apple from her hair and logged that weave in her memory.  She could see that one having a great many practical purposes as well.

"Air and Water are the two elements that are also used in weather control. Should you develop the Talent of Cloud Dancing, those would most likely be your strongest elements. Regardless, you will learn some small amount of weather control, at a later time when you are capable of it. These are the two elements that women are usually more proficient in than men. Spirit is shared equally among the genders. 

"Now, this is your time to practice these weaves while I can watch you.  Practice with the handkerchief and bowl for Dry, the glass for Create Water, and with this feather for the weaves I showed you using Air.  The supplies you need will be found on the large table at the rear of the classroom.”

Eager to begin, Rochel quickly went over to the table and collected a cup, a bowl, a feather, and a handkerchief, then returned to her own seat.  She decided to begin with water as Claire had.  Placing the cup in front of her, Rochel embraced the Source and pulled on the water thread.  It quickly fell into her control and she began to weave with it.  She created a funnel of sorts, the bottom end hanging over the cup, while the larger, upper part spread into the air around it.  It was a little tiring holding the weave in place, but she was determined.  Soon enough, water began to drizzle into the cup, and after a short while the small cup was filled.  Rochel revized her opinion of that particular weave.  She had thought it would be useful while travelling, as she wouldn't have to carry water with her.  It was too tiring though.  It just wouldn't do to exhaust yourself trying to get a drink.  Maybe it would come easier to her in the future?

Moving on to the next weave, Rochel poured the cup of water into her bowl, and dropped the handkerchief into the water.  Holding it up with her finger, she once again wove water, this time wrapping it tightly around the sodden cloth.  Pulling the weave tighter and tighter, Rochel soon drained the water from it, leaving the handkerchief mostly dry, if a little wrinkled.  That one wasn't so hard as making water.

Setting bowl and cup aside, Rochel reached for the feather.  She stopped just before her fingers closed on it, then pulled her hand away with a smile.  Some things just came habitually.  Embracing Saidar again, Rochel pulled on the air thread, which came away quite easily.  She suspected that air might be her strongest element.  It had seemed so easy to manage yesterday, not like earth and fire which had seemed to resist her command.  Deftly wrapping the thread around the feather, Rochel easily lifted it into the air in front of her, making it dance around in front of her.  Releasing the weave, she let the feather float gently toward the desk.  At least it started to.  Quickly, Rochel tried the second air weave, and wrapped the flow of air around the falling feather.  It halted its descent a few inches from the table top, encased in the weave.  Rochel poked at it experimentally with her finger.  It was like poking at a stiff, invisible jelly.  It had some give to it, but her finger couldn't reach the feather inside.

For the next while, she cycled through the weaves, practicing first water, then air.  When Claire finally dismissed them, she was surprised how tired she was.  It didn't seem like filling a cup and lifting a feather should tire you out so much, but Rochel was exhausted.  She briefly considered skipping her evening meal and going straight to bed, but decided against it.  Stifling a yawn, she walked off toward the kitchens, eager to grab a quick meal and then go to sleep.  Sleep was a precious thing here, and she meant to catch up on some. 

Looks good to me.

*BT Stamp*

*bump*

1 more?

Rochel had to fight back a smirk as Kasi drew herself up, stretching for height.  She expected a haughty speach about how rules are important and how they should consider themselves lucky to study with the Aes Sedai.  She wasn't disappointed.  Or rather, she was terribly disappointed.  It would figure that not only would she be saddled with two room mates, but one of them would be an Aes Sedai boot licker.  Now she wouldn't even be able to come back to her room and vent after putting up with Aes Sedai foolery all day long.

"It was only a question, so don't raise your nose at me.  Light knows I get enough of that from the Accepted.  Everyone comes to the Tower with their own opinion.  The Tairen's usually don't like Aes Sedai, while the borderlanders adore them.  There was an Amadician novice when I arrived who was convinced that the Amyrlin is the Dark Ones sister."  Rochel tried hard to moderate her tone, and keep the conversation casual.  It just wouldn't do to set Kasi against her from the start and have her running to the Mistress of Novices any time she even thought about bending a rule.

"From what I've seen, most Aes Sedai would not have you think that they are 'just like us'.  I don't know how many times I've been told off by my 'betters' for acting above myself.  We are in no way equals with them.  Light, we're a good ten years away from getting any respect from anyone at all.  No respect from anyone at all, but if your curtsey is just a hair too shallow ..."  Moderating her tone never really was one of her finer talents. 

Sounds good to me.  Whoever gets to it first is fine as far as I'm concerned.

I have an ongoing thread (here) with Tai'Dashan, involving a couple of rule breaking novices.  Channeling in their rooms without permission and such.

Any Accepted or Sister want to drag them off by their ears to the MoNster?  We promise not to resent you too much for it.

:D

Rochel bit back a grimace as she heard Evanen's reasons for being back early.  The other novice had told her about her lessons with this Deanne.  It sounded miserable.  Just listening to Evanen unloading after a session was unbearable.  Actually going through it herself would have put Rochel over the edge.

"I suppose so.  Though I still don't see why it should be like that.  It's bad enough that the Aes Sedai order us around worse than servants, but for some prissy accepted with a burr in her dress to do the same is just ... just ... urgh."  Rochel had experience with a few miserable Accepted, and she swore to not do the same when she reached that point.  If she reached that point.  Those same miserable Accepted seemed bent on making her miserable as well.  Another reason why she rushed to finish her chores and escape to her room. 

With a shake of her head she tried to push thoughts of any of her 'betters' out of her head and concentrated on her weaving.  She was getting better ever since she started doing this.  Holding Saidar came easier, and holding and controlling weaves was ... a little less difficult.  She was certainly better at it than she had been a couple months ago.  She continued the juggling pattern with the other novice for a time, concentrating hard on keeping the weaves steady, not letting the globes flicker. 

A sudden whim of curiousity struck her then.  A desire to experiment.  She had been told that experimentation was dangerous, but surely nothing could come of this.  She considered the two balls of light that floated in front of her.  Changing the color had not been difficult.  Just a touch of another element to give it a new hue.  Could she make them brighter?  Releasing one of the weaves to give herself better control, Rochel brought the blue ball up in front of her and began to feed more fire into it.  Just as she suspected, the globe grew brighter.  Wondering how far she could push it, she continued to feed more and more, until the ball shined brilliantly.  Caution urged her to stop there, but Rochel couldn't help but push it just a tiny bit more.

With a yelp, she jumped backwards as the globe of blue light burst into a small ball of flame.  She hastily released the weave, and it winked out in a small puff of smoke.  A fireball?  Breathing heavily and trying to push her heart out of her throat, she turned to look at a startled Evanen.  "Well that was interesting.  Guess I won't be trying that one again."  Sitting down on her bed, Rochel glanced at the spot where the ball had hovered.  What if it had exploded or something?  Maybe the Aes Sedai actually were correct.  She still felt the desire to continue on her own, but she finally understood some of the need for caution.

Mat's a great general, but his weakness is that he hasn't lost a battle yet, so he hasn't learned from a mistake.

Mat hasn't lost personally, but he remembers dying in several lost battles in his borrowed memories.  They probably have the same effect.

Yes.  It was more to cover Perrin's tracks, so nobody would be paying much attention to where he went.  Nobody would want to be seen near the man that the Dragon Reborn had banished.

Perrin just had the misfortune of starting their 'argument' over the captive Aes Sedai, a sore point with Rand anyway.  Rand got a bit more realistic than intended.

It took a great deal of effort for Rochel to not sigh in relief.  With a slight smile, she crossed the small room and sat on her bed facing Evanen.  "Thank you."  Maybe the girl wasn't so bad.  Maybe she ought to give Evanen a little more credit. 

Returning her attention to her weaves for a moment, Rochel added a small green ball of light next to the first, blue one.  Holding two weaves at once was straining, and the little globes flickered a little, but they held.  With a glance at the other girl, Rochel began to pass the lights back and forth, in a basic twirling pattern.  It was a lot harder than it looked, especially when the weaves touched and passed through each other.  Until she got into the rythme of things the ball of light would vanish more often than not.  Fortunately, it was one of the few exercises that Rochel saw a point to.  This one would obviously help build up dexterity with weaving ... wouldn't it?

"So, what are you doing here?  I had to rush through my evening chores as quickly as possible to get here this early.  How did you get here so fast?"  She stifled a curse as her concentration slipped and the blue ball vanished.  Swiftly re-weaving the glowing light, she waited for Evanen's reply.  She really was curious.  What had worked to get Evanen away from her chores early might well work for Rochel too.  "You didn't just forget to go did you?"

send in a grp of strong aes sedai via gateways to capture elaida  and then bring her to trial and still her w/o her arround diplomacy may win out

travel in skim out or sneak in annd skim out

The problem there is that you risk teaching the other side Travelling, which can then be used just as effectively against you.

Not that anyone would really be eager to rescue Elaida nowadays... but there's always the possibility.

Rochel slowly made her way though the novices quarters, carefully listening for anyone nearby.  It wouldn't do at all for anyone to walk in on her while she was ... busy.  She had finished her chores as quickly as possible in hopes that she would be done before anyone else and have at least a little while to practice channeling on her own.  It couldn't be as dangerous as the Aes Sedai let them believe, and she hadn't had any problems at all the last several times she had done this.

Holding her breath as she heard a sound behind her, Rochel spun around quickly, excuses ready to fly.  Fortunately, it was only a servant, bustling down the hallway with an armful of towels.  She sighed in relief, drawing a bemused look from the servant.  She might not say anything, but she knew when a novice was up to something she shouldn't be.  At least Rochel hoped she wouldn't say anything.

Quickly, Rochel scurried the short distance to her room and slipped inside.  She had barely closed the door behind her when she embraced Saidar, letting the exhilarating feeling wash over her.  Pulling out the now familiar threads of air and fire, she created a small ball of light as she crossed the room to sit on her bed.  As she began to weave a second ball, her breathe caught.  Someone was laying an one of the other beds.  Forcing herself to remain calm, she continued weaving as though she had a perfect right to do what she was doing.  "Hello Evanen.  What are you doing here?"

So let me get this straight. You guys think the ends justify the means?

Lets see ... save the world but be reviled as one of the biggest jerks the world has ever known, or let the world burn, and let everyone you've buried your feelings for suffer for your incompetance ...

I'm gonna have to go out on a limb and say the whole 'saving the world' path is the better one.

Wanting the supreme evil being to win just because you don't like the hero is just childish.  You're offered the choice between an icecream cone and a kick in the groin, and you take the kick because the cone doesn't have sprinkles.

Wow ... and I thought we had problems.

:D

*BT Stamp*

i think it's better to lead people with courage, fairness, and good ideals rather than scaring people to submission or roughshodding them.

Generally speaking, that might be true.  However, when you're the reincarnation of a man remembered and reviled for causing the breaking of the world, and slaughtering all of his loved ones, that stacks the odds against you.

For 3000 years, men have been popping up claiming to be you, and causing untold amounts of death and destruction.  You've been used as a story to frighten small children into obedience, right along with the Forsaken and the Dark One himself.  And the prophecies all state that you're going to break the world AGAIN.

You have limited time to unite the world behind you, since the seals are already breaking by the time you figure out that you're able to channel, let alone who you really are.  At every step of your journey, you face massive opposition, even from the people you are destined to save.

When the entire world hates you since before you were born, do you really think you have time to gain their trust and love before Tarmon Gaidon?  Especially with Tar Valon, the Whitecloaks, and the Seanchan all against you, and your most vocal supporter is the Prophet, a psychopath who sanctions extreme violence against all of those 'too slow' in their support of you.  Plus other packs of bandits independant of the Prophet roam the countryside, committing whatever atrocities they want in your name.

With the odds stacked that badly against you, fairness and good ideals won't get you very far, and you don't have time to impress people with courage.  The only reason the Tairen nobles obeyed Rand at all was because he could, and would, kill them for disobedience.  And even then it was hit and miss.

I can just imagine how well things would go convincing Elaida to your side with courage and good ideals.

Hey there.

As far as timeline, we are past the Bowl of Winds, currently in the very late and harsh winter. 

The manner of coming to the farm is entirely up to you.  If you want to be recruited out of your home, thats fine.  If you come in response to the amnesty, thats fine too.  Either way is perfectly acceptable. 

If you do come in response to the amnesty, you have to go to Tear, since that is where most people believe the Farm is located.  It's really in Andor, so upon arrival in Tear you get Travelled northward.  Recruiting parties take you straight to Andor.

The only time we have an age requirement is for sparkers.  Generally speaking, men manifest the ability between 18-26.  16-17 isn't unheard of, but we discourage it.  If you want a sparker, don't make him any older than 27.  Anyone who's been channeling on their own for a year or more is likely to be affected by the taint.

For learners, the same lower limits apply, but there is no upper limit. 

Edit:  Way to beat me to it Tai ...

Be interesting to see how you pull a bright personality out of that one :D

*BT Stamp*

*stunnded silence*

But ... but you're ALWAYS here ...

Lol.  Have fun.  Don't do anything I wouldn't do.  >_>

So how's this going now?  Any good ones come up yet?

We haven't gotten any bites at all on the BT version of this. :(