A strong wind flowed through the abandoned field, a little to the west of Fal Moran.  The wind carried the heavy stench of smoke, of battle, of death.  The peaceful appearance of the field was at a stark contrast with the rest of the dying country of Shienar.  No matter which direction one travelled, they would soon find the ravaging hordes of shadowspawn.  The trollocs and Fades pressed on relentlessly, killing many lucky ones, capturing the not so lucky.  Only the most blood curdling screams reached this far, and even then only as faint whispers.

A sudden flash of light disrupted the quiet of the field, as a shimmery blue line appeared and began to rotate into a hole in the air.  Within moments, dozens of similar lines appeared, each opening in turn to offer the same scene.  Dozens of black coated men, all with swords strapped to their belts, and many with silver or gold pins at their necks.  Once the gateways had snapped open, the men poured through the holes in the air.  The Asha'man had arrived in dying Shienar, intent upon saving the borderlander nation.

~~~

Arath led the charge through the gateways with his attack group.  One hundred Soldiers, Dedicated, and Asha'man streamed through the portals onto the plains of Shienar, just outside Fal Moran.  He quickly ordered his men into defensive positions while the remaining forces came through.  It appeared as though the immediate area was safe enough, but if there were any dreadlords nearby they surely would have sensed the use of so much Saidin. 

Arath scanned the horizon, face palling some.  Smoke rose in great pillars in countless places to the north, east, and west.  Even from Fal Moran there was a great billowing black cloud arising, though it looked as though men still fought to keep the city from falling. 

No attack immediately fell upon the Asha'man though, and soon four hundred men of the Black Tower and their supplies had all passed through the gateways.  The Asha'man fell into ranks, quietly whispering to eachother about their bleak surroundings.  Arath took one last look at Fal Moran returning his attention to his men.  It would begin soon.  Light willing many of them would live through it.

Aslan isn't a darkfriend.  He's just really weird and has multiple personalities.  Or did last time Arath saw him anyway. :P He's simply never at the Farm because of his assignment to the Band.

My second character, Daevis, is supposed to be out there with him, but I never saw any RP's where he was needed.  I should probably have checked more.  ::)

Been mulling this over and why not?

Character Name:  Arath Faringal

Rank: Attack Leader

Would you like to hold the bond, be bonded, or are you willing to do either?  Either way is good.

If you are bonded, would you be willing to be bonded to an Aes Sedai who holds bonds to other BT Chars?  If there was a really good reason.

If you are holding the bond, are you willing to bond more than one Aes Sedai?  Only if my life and/or sanity depended upon it.

Do you have any questions or concerns? If so please state them here or PM them to me.  None that haven't already been brought up.

For the record, upon reaching Asha'man rank you can have up to 8 for a WS.  You can go higher with approval (usually not more than 10 though), or have lower if you don't care for martial weapons.

Typically, they go like so:

Soldier 1-3

Dedicated 3-5

Asha'man 6-8

Hope that's helpful!

OOC: Yes, current ranks.

IC:  Arath fought to keep his face calm, even enveloped as he was in the void.  The last time he had felt this way, that the atmosphere at the Farm had felt this way, was right before Dumai's Wells.  He kept reviewing what the M'Hael had said in his mind.

Shienar ... Arafel ... Shadowspawn and Dreadlords ... war.

"You do have your orders.  We can no be letting the borderlands be overrun.  Travel as soon as you can.  Extra supplies will be coming soon after."

Arath and the other leaders saluted, fist to heart, and strode out of the room, headed for their various destinations.  Arath, along with the M'Hael, a Storm Leader and one other Attack Leader, headed for the assembled masses on the training grounds.  The plan was simple enough for now.  A force of 400 would be sent to halt the advance of the shadow in Shienar, divided among the three leaders.  200 would remain with the Storm Leader and form the 'front line', while 100 would go with each Attack Leader and perform as striking/flanking units, under the direction of the Storm Leader.

As they approached the assembled Asha'man, the M'Hael wove air and fire to amplify his voice and explianed the situation.  He confirmed the rumors that floated around.  Trollocs and Myrdraal were coming out of the Blight and attacking Shienar and Arafel.  The Black Tower headed for combat.  Arath didn't listen much, since he had heard it all a few minutes before.  Instead he began to review tactics and battle weaves for use in the impending battle.  He had been intending to take a small group into the blight for some hands-on experience with shadowspawn, and regretted his procrastination now.  There were precious few at the Black Tower with actual experience fighting the creatures of the Blight.

In short order the men had been assigned their tasks.  Many of them filtered off into the grounds, gathering supplies or making other preperations, others forming into groups under their assigned battle commander.  When Arath's unit had formed off to one end of the training grounds, he issued his own orders.

"This unit will provide assistance wherever needed.  If the front line falters, we help them, otherwise we provide flanking attacks and strike wherever we see a weakness in the shadowspawn.  This is the real thing men.  Anyone who disobey's orders will be killed.  We can't afford mistakes.  Everyone is to watch out for the men around him and do his best to protect them.  Understood?"

He scanned the group under his command as they all saluted in acknowledgement.  They would do as he commanded.  He knew it.  He had trained many of them, and they all knew him.  Light willing they would all come back.

It took only a short while for the other leaders to finish their instructions and for supplies to be gathered.  Less than two hours after the ill fated recruiting party had returned through their gateway, the forces of the Black Tower opened gateways into the beleagured land of Shienar, and into war.

OOC: I assume that the Storm Leader will be Covai, but until he officially steps into this, it's best not to make assumptions. The name of the other Attack Leader is Kirrisin.  I want Martyn to be with my group, but everyone is free to join whichever of the three groups you want. :P  I'll get a post started on the North board ... soon :P

Post your reactions if you want, and anything else you think you should be doing right up until the gateways open.  And mention which group you are in.  It will make it easier for me to keep track of things in the battles to come :D

Woohoo! Back from LoA!

Alrighty.  This has actually NEVER been done yet.  The only new Asha'man we have had since this program went into effect managed to skip it due to our March Madness promotions.  (sneaky sneaky)

The goal is to either shield, or disable your opponent.  Dismembering, disembowling, or otherwise fatally injuring your foe is not acceptable (unless you arrange that between the two of you beforehand).

However, this is a test to see how well you've learned.  Slow and stupid Dedicateds can be/are killed in this duel.  Potentially lethal weaves are acceptable.  Fireballs, air razors, earthquakes, pitfalls and whatnot, all acceptable.  I would avoid earth spikes, since they are rather hard to dodge :o

Any other questions?

I'm headed out of town this morning and headed to a funeral .., errr ... I mean wedding.  Leaving pretty soon and won't be backuntil Monday.  Just so yous knows.

OOC:  Just thought I'd poke in once for the fun of it ;D

Arath was looking forward to a good meal at Covai's inn after the long day.  If he had to put up with any more wool-headed idiocy from the soldiers tonight ... he wasn't sure what he'd do actually, but it wouldn't be pretty.

As he reached the door he stepped aside as Kassian swept out, a curious, amused expression on his face.  Wondering what would amuse the odd, slightly disturbing soldier, Arath stepped inside.  At first glance, all seemed normal.  A few of the local women were dancing around the common room with their lucky targets.  The one seemed very familiar though.  Surely it wasn't ... Blood and bloody ashes! thought Arath as he recognized Kami, who once again wore a dress, and was now cavorting around on the arm of a clearly oblivious Dedicated.

After suffering a slightly nauseous moment, Arath turned around again and headed back to his own home.  He suddenly found himself without an appetite.  As he walked he idly wondered whether or not he wanted the Dedicated to find out the truth.  Not learning would save the man a lot of trauma, but if he did find out, there was a great likelyhood that Kami would no longer be a problem for him anymore.

With that happy thought, Arath strode off, imagining creative ways to deal with his problems.

Gah . . . one more thing that slipped my slippery mind.  Better get on this one.

Now who did I decide to take with me again?

Who's still interested?

The only three talents that are taken are as follows

Arath - Create ter'angreal

Aslan - Cloud Dancing

Covai - Dreamwalking

Everything else is up for grabs.  We don't update because Jocelyn was the one with access to update the website.  Seems to be the problem every time we change leadership. :P 

I can't approve talents, so you have to talk with Seggy for that.  But you can send me a copy of your talent application and I can give it a preliminary run through.  I've got a fair idea of what we look for with it.

In fact, tell you what.  If you don't hear from him in two weeks, I'll tentatively approve the talent, pending the official stamp.  Sound good?

Yes, join in as your current rank.  A little bit of a time warp, but that's what we're good at here at DM :D

And I want all of you in on this.  Good chance for some trolloc killing goodness.  Just be realistic about it and wet your pants when you fight your first fade.  :P

Guess I'd better give you guys a heads up on how we're going to do this.  It'll be explained IC, but you can ask questions here.

The strike force will be about 200 channelers.  100 will be with Storm Leader Covai, 50 with Attack Leader Arath, and 50 with NPC Attack Leader Jerim. Covai's force will be the frontline force, while the attack leader groups are flankers.  You're free to go with whichever group you want, and there may be a chance to switch groups as things progress, running messages or whatnot.

Any questions?  Now's the time to ask.  If not, get posting.  I want to add the next post this weekend and then move on to the North boards.

I've started this on the BT side.  Just gathering people at the Farm for now.  Once everyone has posted, I'll start the arrival thread on the North board for the arrival in Shienar.  If all goes according to plan, we'll be ready to rock this weekend. :D

It began as a normal enough day.  Normal for the Black Tower anyway.  The regular rythem of explosions sounding at the training grounds went almost unnoticed by the inhabitants of the Farm as they went about their daily business.  Soldiers carrying various items around on invisible flows of air, the wives of Asha'man carrying their own loads, children running and yelling while they engaged in whatever game came to them at the moment ... the usual pace of life.

The silvery rotating slash that appeared in mid air at the traveling grounds also caused little comment as it rotated open, revealing a hole in the air.  What poured out though, was enough to send rumors stirring througout the small city known as the Farm.  Four men in black coats came running out of the gateway, almost before it had finished revolving open.  Bourne between two of them on an invisible platform was a fifth man who bled profusely from a gaping wound in his torso.  Immediately, two of them men bearing golden dragon pins at their collars sped off down the road toward the large hall where the M'Hael resided, while the other two sped off toward the infirmary, bearing the fifth man with them.  None of the onlookers could say for certain where the group had come from, but they all saw the billowing flames and rolling plumes of smoke beyond the gateway, just before it snapped shut.

~~~

"You do be certain?" said M'Hael Brent Enios after he heard the report of the Asha'man.  He had his back turned to the pair of them, steadying himself on the window sill, and trying to digest this horrible turn of events.

"Yes Sir," confirmed Asha'man Daevis Thelandran.  "I come from Shienar myself, and never have I seen such a horde as this.  With the war between the borderlander nations, they can't hope to turn the shadowspawn aside, especially if there were dreadlords among them.  I fear that Shienar will be over run in a matter of days.  Perhaps Arafel as well.  We heard rumors before the attack arrived of major trouble along their blight border as well."

Brent grimaced in revulsion.  The recruiting party in the north of Shienar had been fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to be present as the greatest host of shadowspawn since the trolloc wars had descended from the blight.  The five of them had been no match for the sheer numbers that had overwhelmed them.  They had been unable to save anyone, barely escaping with their own lives.  Only moments ago a message had arrived with the news that the injured member of the party had died, unable to survive the rigors of healing.

Taking a deep breathe to steady himself, Brent turned back to the Asha'man.  "Bring me the Storm Leaders and Attack Leaders.  We do be needing to plan this out.  And be notifying the Asha'man to assemble at the training grounds in one hour.  The Black Tower do be headed to war."

OOC:  Everyone who is coming, post your arrival at the training grounds, share rumors, whatever.  I'll get the next post up in a few days, and then we'll move on to the North boards.  Remember, as per Jocelyn's promise several months ago, anyone who participates up till the bitter end will be awarded a bonus strength point (upon reaching Asha'man rank anyway :D)

As Covai called in his students, one of the dedicated came running across the training grounds and delivered a message to the Storm Leader.  He quickly scanned the note and rolled his eyes.  "M'Hael wants to see me.  Can you finish here?"

Arath nodded.  "Not a problem."  He retrieved the pin he had just given Covai, and turned to the class as the other man walked off.

"Alright.  The storm leader showed you attack weaves involving earth.  I will show you weaves with fire.  The important thing to remember about fire, is that it can be unpredictable."  He held up his hand in front of him and wove air and fire.  A small ball of light sprang into being.  "This simple light weave is very useful to light up a small dark area, but with just a touch more fire ..." He spun more fire into the globe and it errupted into flame.  "... you have a little more than light."  He hurled the ball toward the wreckage of the training dummies, pulverizing what remained in a small explosion.

Raising some more shapes from the ground, Arath continued.  "Fire is an excellent weapon both up close and at range.  At range, a fireball is an Asha'man's most common weapon.  Up close, where an explosion is too risky, fire can be used in more personal ways."  He extended his hand toward one of the man-shaped lumps and wove fire and spirit.  Flames errupted from the top, engulfing the 'head' of the manequin.  Air and fire cut another shape in half, the top sliding down slightly before toppling over onto the ground.  Fire and spirit again, and the third dummy simply exploded.  Turning and facing the fourth dummy, Arath wove a fiery sword into his hands and sliced it through, splitting it straight down the middle. 

"The ways to kill with fire are infinite," he said, letting his flame sword vanish and starting to pull up more targets for the soldiers, "if a bit messy.  Now it's your turn to practice.  Try and duplicate a couple of the weaves I just used.  For your final target, try to come up with another way to kill it.  It's hard to go wrong with fire, but be creative."

OOC:  Just a friendly reminder, Asha'man can NOT sense the ability to channel in another man.  The only way they can tell is if the man is actually holding Saidin.

Arath had been prepared to hear any number of things after that particular question.  He had not, however, expected to hear that the man in front of him was an 84 year old Malkieri.  He thought he did a decent job of containing his surprise.  His jaw didn't drop too far, or his eyes open too wide.

He could certainly see why Martyn didn't want to share that information.  No male channeler could live to that age in this age.  He must have spent a substantial amount of time in the stedding.  "Eighty-four ... you spent more than 50 years on a stedding?"  Arath shuddered.  Even to extend his life, he couldn't imagine spending that long without being able to feel the Source.  Come to think of it, Martyn shouldn't have been able to either.  "You couldn't have stayed there the entire time.  Recruits from Far Madding report that the Guardian made them feel uneasy even before they knew they could channel.  How often did you leave?  And what did you do when you channeled?"  Tempted as he was to get every scrap of information he could from Martyn, Arath tried to limit his questions to those that would help him get past this block.

Shock-eth-ed to the core

Arath

Arath simply stared at Martyn for a moment.  What in the light was he up to?  That oath meant that he could trust anything that the other man said, so long as he wasn't actually a darkfriend.  Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke, "Under the light and my hope of salvation and rebirth, I will not share the information you reveal to me, so long as this information is not dangerous to the Black Tower or any of its initiates."  He paused for a moment, considering the oath he had just sworn, then wove a complex weave of spirit around the room, warding them from eavesdropping.  "Nobody can hear us now.  I have the room warded.

"So, since you've outright stated that you aren't who you said you were, who are you and where are you from?"

Arath

About to be surprised  :o

OOC: Martyn never brought up Whitebridge before, just so you know :D  And question, can Martyn see the flows or is he completely helpless?

IC:  Arath's eyes narrowed slightly at the soldier's tirade.  It was irritating having to find a way though the other man's irrational fears.  Did he think that the Black Tower regularly published the names of their recruits to the world?  Arath doubted that the names of more than a handful of them were known outside the farm.  Of course, it seemed 'Martyn's' name wasn't even known within the Farm.

"When you answer like an Aes Sedai, you are dancing around the question.  I've asked twice now for the exact details of the first time you channeled, and I asked for details of any other time.  And you ignored the questions.  Very Aes Sedai of you."

He fell silent for a moment, rubbing his temples.  "I'm giving you a choice," he said finally.  "You can either volunteer some information and help us reason out a way around your block, or we do it the old fashioned way and basically beat it out of you.  Put you through a series of potentially lethal obstacles that either force you to channel, or lose life or limb.

"If you want to avoid that, then tell me something.  I need the specifics.  There are infinite ways for a block to form, and infinite ways to get around them.  A man can still channel through his block under the right circumstances, so I need to know.  Maybe you can only channel when you're in great fear?  Maybe when you're angry?  All I've gotten so far is that you were about to die.  From what you've told me it could have been an Aiel, a trolloc, an ogier, or the Green Man who attacked you.  Maybe you can only channel against people who you have an overwhelming hatred for?  Who were you fighting against?"

OOC: If Martyn chooses plan B for getting rid of the block, feel free to have him walk out. :D  Swords can try to coax the block out of him.

Arath tried hard to keep his frustration in check.  He could tell it was showing in his eyes, no matter how he tried to keep his face neutral.  But this was getting nowhere, fast.  "Look.  I can't help you unless you stop dancing around my questions.  You're probably trying to protect someone by leaving out important details of your past.  Understandable.  I'd say one in five men around here do the same.  Everyone has someone or something they either want to protect or just don't want anyone else to know about.

"You're not helping anything by hiding.  You only hurt yourself.  I can't help you get around your block if you won't tell me exactly what has brought on your channeling before.  Was your enemy about to finish you off?  Threatened a close family member?  Kicked you in the groin?  What?"  Arath gestured toward the door.  "If you don't want to tell me the truth, feel free to leave.  We're wasting my time otherwise."

Arath let himself float in the void while he listened, picking out everything important that Martyn said.  And everything he didn't say.  'Went to Kore Springs', not 'Went back to Kore Springs'.  Not originally from Kore Springs then.  Arath quickly tried to figure out where Martyn might be from then.  Too tall for a Cairhienen, so he was either really Andoran, or from a borderlander nation.  Or Tar Valon perhaps.  They were the only areas even close to the black hills.  And close was a very relative term.  It took less time to reach Lugard than it did to reach the black hills.

Arath chewed his lip thoughtfully.  If Martyn had been a tower guard in Tar Valon that might indeed explain the way he felt about male channelers.  The red ajah probably made sure that the whole city loathed them.  It might also explain why he was so loathe to speak about his past.  There were no Asha'man from Tar Valon, and Arath didn't believe one would be very popular either. 

"Tell me more about the time you first channeled.  Your exact circumstances, who you were fighting ... everything.  And also tell me about any other time you know you've channeled.  Every block has a way of getting around it, and the more I know about you, the more I can help."  He spoke the truth, but he was also fishing for the sliver of information that would make Martyn's past easier to understand.

Aes Sedai were held in high respect?  That didn't sound like any Andoran town that Arath was familiar with.  More like the Borderlands.  Maybe the Aes Sedai were respected in the far north of Andor though, being that much closer to Tar Valon.  But Arath let his question go un-asked. 

"If I'm to help you, I need to know everything I can about the problem.  And your history with channeling."  He racked his brain for a moment, trying to remember his conversation with Martyn when he had first arrived at the farm.  "You say you went to a stedding after the first time you channeled.  What did you do?  And how did you know that it was you channeling?"

"I thought you were going to cut it off, not blow it up," Arath muttered, but with a grin.  "Make it two drinks and I'll forgive you."

When Covai asked his question, Arath said nothing for a moment.  He simply watched as the soldiers destroyed their targets.  "Martyn is hopeless until we can figure out a way around his block.  I talked with him earlier, but ... I don't know.  He might be holding something back from us.  Something he did or saw in the past that he doesn't want to admit to us.

"Kassian ... disturbs me.  He seems wide eyed and innocent enough, and plays the part of a light blinded pacifist almost too well."  He watched as the soldier lobbed a grenade with perfect accuracy to take the head off of his target.  "But somehow I don't buy it."

He paused for a moment to remake one of the targets, this time in the hulking shape of a trolloc.  "Hard to tell how things are going to turn out though, isn't it?"

Arath watched Covai's class for a while, contemplating their progress.  Covai never had seemed to care about skill level when he picked his students.  The little group in front of him, practicing with earth spikes was no different.  A wide range indeed.  He remembered some of his own classes at Covai's hands.  He'd broken a shoulder in one.  But he'd learned quickly.  Hopefully these newer soldier's would learn as fast.

Shaking his head, he started forward to stand next to Covai.  Reaching into an inside coat pocket, he pulled out a silver sword pin and handed it to the Storm Leader.  "This is for Geirrin, if you think he's ready.  He seems competent enough for me."  He looked toward the busy, sweating new Dedicated who wiped a muddy hand across his forhead, smearing it with dirt.  "Usually."

More than happy to have you Covai.

And due to our severely depleted numbers, I'll through this open to the soldier's too.  Otherwise there'd only be (*counts fingers*) three of us going.  And that's not much fun.

Besides, soldiers in the books got to fight too.

So, Ze'el and Martyn are welcome to come if they want to.

oooooo . . . I forgot all about this thing

thanks!