I'm not seeing all the boards anymore... is this the place to re-join?

I haven't been on for a while 'cause of exams and stuff, but I'm back now ;D

Megain Kestharin, Novice... hopefully not for long :D

I'd like some roomies please... ;D

My character Megain fits the Yellows perfectly, but you'll have to fight the Grays for her affections - I'm still undecided :P

Yupyup, definitely interested! ;D

Hehehe, nice title. That certainly draws the eye, since it was started by you. ;)

((OOC: James, you are very, very evil. :D ))

As soon as Darienna Sedai started talking, Megain reached for the milk. Normally she'd leave the best until last, but somehow she doubted that she'd get far enough for 'last', and she had a vague memory that drinking milk before alcohol was somehow beneficial.

The warm milk went down quickly, and Megain picked up a bottle. She couldn't disguise a tremor of her hand as she lifted the cheap wine to her lips - one of her greatest fears was vomiting. And the memory of the hangover and the oaths she'd sworn to herself were still with her...

She drank. The first mouthful flew out of her mouth as her mouth automatically spat it out, just missing the braided novice. Eurgh! Vile! However, one glance at the implacable Darienna Sedai, she immediately raised her bottle again.

Sheer willpower, born from her frustration at not being able to go through the Arches, her anger at herself for breaking the rules, and her determination to change, helped her to drink the wine faster than the other novices, faster than she would have thought possible.

It didn't take long for her body to protest. Running to the bucket, she barely made it in time.

What happened next, she reflected later, would best be summarised by one word.

BLEUURGE.

Even as she concentrated on the stuff coming out of her mouth, a little voice in the back of her head was lecturing her in the voice of her nursemaid. Let that be a lesson to you, my dear! Fastest to drink it down, fastest to bring it back up again.

She looked up at the rest of the novices. Some were looking decidedly green, and all their faces were swimming slightly. The voice continued in her head.

And also, first -

She tried to get up, fell down on the floor and promptly passed out.

- to faint. Well, I did warn you...

((OOC: Maybe a carefully-applied bucket of water would be beneficial at this point :D ))

Learning about the characters would help us newbies out when we're RPing, and I'd like to learn about the Ajahs and the RPers too :)

I'm normally a good sorting person, so I'd like to help with the timeline... but what would I need to do exactly? If it requires a real knowledge of present events, I'm probably not the one to ask, although I like doing colour-coding...

Hehehe, neat advice, thanks ;)

Hangover.

Megain immediately identified her headache for what it was. Grimly, she pulled herself out of bed, dressed herself in her novice whites, and headed down to breakfast. The only way she could do this was by focusing on one thing above all - I am never, ever, EVER going to drink again. Ever.

Not that she had been drinking anything more than fruit juice, as she recalled. Someone must have tampered with it.

As she walked through the hallways, memory after memory of her misdeeds assailed her. Channelling. Attending a secret midnight party. Drinking a few sips of wine.

And worst, Estel had caught her! Estel! Light, she had had the misfortune to run into her own mentor! She winced again, then squared her shoulders and continued on her way.

She entered the breakfast room and saw Darienna Sedai sitting at a table with a handful of other novices that had been at the party. Instantly, all the fight went out of her, and she dejectedly trooped over to sit silently beside the other Cairhienin, not even needing Darienna to call out her name first.

Megain tried to process the words that her mentor was saying, but they didn't make sense. She couldn't do much more than blink up at her mentor, before suddenly turning on her side and retching.

Oh, Light, I really am drunk... Is it always like this? I'll never touch alcohol again!

I know we don't have to do ALL the requirements, but at the moment I'm not sure exactly which ones will have enough posts in them, so I've put them all here for practicality. :)

Novice Requirements

1) Arrival/Meet Mentor - Complete: 8/8 posts http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,22359.0.html

2) Freeday - Not started

3) OP Related RP - Not started

4) Choose 2 of the Following:

* Chore RP - In progress: 7/8 posts http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,23115.0.html

* Recovery - In progress: 1/8 posts http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,24502.0.html

* Prankage! Complete http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,24972.0.html http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,25671.0.html

5) Three Arches - not started

OOC: I'd be happy for Megain to be caught by BOTH Estel and Darienna. I'm evil that way. ;D

IC:

Megain hurried along the passageways, her circle-light bobbing up and down in front of her. It wasn't too easy to keep a hold on the flows - her head felt like it was wrapped in cotton wool and she couldn't seem to think straight. Maybe the fruit juice had been added to... She had a vague notion that they did that in some less civilised parties.

She turned a corner and promptly fell over a broom that a careless servant had left lying around in the hallway. As she lay on the floor, stunned by the sudden collapse, a thought came as if from far off - someone's really got it in for me tonight. Maybe that Accepted left the broom there on purpose.

At that moment, footsteps sounded from around the corner, too close for Megain to escape...

DM Handle: Arae Selidan

Character Name(s): Megain Kestharin

Email Address: cara.gaffney@btinternet.com

OOC: Me! Me! :D

IC:

Megain stared at the blank parchment in front of her. What to write? She decided to add to the notes she had taken during the lesson and continue from there.

Carefully she inked her quill and started to write. She managed to think up many old stories concerning Trollocs, and wrote them down with her thoughts in what she thought was an intelligent-sounding manner, until:

Trollocs come for little girls who draw pictures when the teacher is talking.

Megain blinked and stared at the last part of her essay. That had been something that her History tutor had said. I can't write that! She quickly scored it out, and then ran an eye over what she had written:

The Trollocs were created by Aginor. (How? Using the One Power? What are jenticks?)

Trolloc clans: Ahf’frait = hawks; Ghar’ghael = boars; Ghob’hlin = wolf; Gho’hlem = bear; Ko’bal = eagle; Dha’vol = ram; Dhai’mon = goats. Funny that the goats and ram are involved, I've never really thought of them as predators. Perhaps Aginor chose those forms because of their freakish appearances?

Trollocs are cowards, and only a Myddr Mydral Halfman can hold them when they get it into their heads to flee. Which I've always thought is curious - aren't the Halfmen the children of Trollocs? Why would you need your child to keep you in line? The Shadow certainly does turn everything on its head...

Trollocs eat humans.

Rumours: Trollocs are said to be afraid of water and fire.

If they fly into a blood rage, Trollocs will carry on fighting even if their head is chopped off, like chickens.

I heard a rumour that some villages offer up virgins as sacrifices so that the Trollocs won't eat them. I'd like to think that there's no truth behind that, but some commoners will believe all kinds of nonsense.

Trollocs are afraid of the colour white, and they run from Children of the Light. My cousin Sardan told me this, and he's a Child of the Light, so it must be true.

Trollocs come for little girls who draw pictures when the teacher is talking.

That would have to do. She took the parchment and handed it to Shaneevae Sedai with a smile.

Megain listened to the conversation beside her, not even noticing that she was eavesdropping, her face getting redder and redder with each passing moment. She was just beginning to realise what a sheltered life she'd led back in Cairhien City - she hadn't even known that people played these sorts of games! To her relief, the other Cairhienin girl that was taking part in the conversation was also going red at intervals, so she wasn't the only one to find those sort of ideas outrageous.

She absent-mindedly took a sip from the glass in her hand and nearly gagged. The taste of dirt-cheap wine assaulted her tastebuds and she spat it back out into the glass as hurriedly as she could, hoping that nobody was paying any attention to her. That seemed unlikely, though. By this time, most of the novices were drunk or intent on Truth or Dare.

She sat down in her corner, shivering slightly. There were no fires in this room, only candles, and she was beginning to wonder if this had been such a good idea after all. Sorna hadn't turned up - what if she'd collapsed in a corridor somewhere from her illness? What if she was found by an Aes Sedai? That would send the Mistress of Novices to stop the party immediately.

As Megain worried about that, she noticed that the Accepted who had arranged the party was gone. A sense of terrible foreboding crept over her, and she started moving towards a door on the other side of the room, ready to make a quick escape if necessary...

I'm up for it - as I said, I just need to get my Megain through the Arches first. ;D

You're all welcome! And look: wonder of wonders, I've actually got the post set up:

http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,24972.0.html

We are going to get busted by Darienna at some point, so it would be great if the girls could get themselves in as much trouble as possible! ;) So, be creative - get tipsy, do mad dancing, break things, get into fights, spike the fruit juice with your secret supply of alcohol, whatever!

Megain tiptoed down the dark corridor, tiny ball of light hovering above one hand, trying to concentrate on both keeping absolutely silent and maintaining the flickering ball of light. It's so difficult to do anything with Fire...

She finally reached the abandoned Aes Sedai rooms where the so-called 'party' was to take place. One door had a crack of golden light underneath, and Megain cautiously tiptoed up to it and pushed it open.

The Accepted who had informed her of the party was already there, as were a few other novices. The Accepted ran up to her and pulled her inside.

"Keep the door shut!" she hissed. "You can see the light all the way down the corridor otherwise!"

"Sorry!" Megain gasped as she was jerked indoors. The Accepted closed the door quietly and turned to frown at the milling novices.

"Don't you know how to have a proper party?" she snapped.

A chorus of "Yes, Accepted" rose up from the novice ranks. The Accepted nodded in satisfaction.

"Well, go on then - get to it!"

As the other novices began talking animatedly, Megain looked around, lost. Sorna hadn't arrived yet, and this... event... seemed very different from what she'd been expecting. There were a few plates filled with food, probably stolen from the Kitchens, and people seemed to be standing around, eating and chatting. There was no dancing at all.

She looked at the Accepted who seemed to be surveying the Novices with a satisfied smirk on her face. Megain had the uneasy feeling that the Accepted was manipulating them all somehow. Still, she'd said to Sorna that she'd be here, and she couldn't go back now...

((OOC: Come in, eat, drink, be merry! There might be some wine on the table if you're interested in getting your novice drunk ;) Or start the dancing - whatever!))

Megain nodded in reply to Sorna's cautionary words. "Yes, I guess you're right..." She hesitated. "But surely it'll be the Accepted who gets most of the trouble? I don't know, I've just been a bit... I think I need a release from all this pressure we are under." She smiled at Sorna. "I won't go if you're not feeling up to it, though." She was well aware of her friend's fragile health and although Sorna had been getting a little better with regular trips to the Yellows, she was still very frail.

Thinking about the Yellows automatically sent Megain into a daydream about which Ajah she would choose if she got to be Aes Sedai. It would be wonderful to Heal people. But that's not of much use in the greater scheme of things - you can only Heal one person at a time. A Gray would make a much larger effect, but that would force me to do more public speaking...

She blinked, coming out of her reverie to catch the end of Sorna's reply. "Sorry, I was daydreaming - what did you say again?"

Yupyup, sure! ;D As I said, I should have it set up soon...

Megain gave a start when Shaneevae Sedai dismissed the class. She had been so intent on what the Aes Sedai had been saying that she hadn't even realised the time.

She remained in her seat for a few moments, digesting the information she'd been given. The magic sy-ence called genticks - or was that jeneticks? - sounded interesting. She wished Shaneevae Sedai had said a little more on the subject. But maybe it was a forbidden subject or something, because it involved a Forsaken? She had no idea.

She looked around the class. Most of the other students were beginning to get up and move about. As she started to get up, an Accepted who she didn't know passed her and muttered under her breath, "Party in the unused Aes Sedai rooms at midnight tonight. Be there."

Megain frowned as the Accepted moved off, giving her invitation to others in the room, before leaving the class. "A party...?" she said quietly.

Normally she wouldn't even consider it, but she'd been so stressed lately, a party sounded a wonderful idea... "What do you think, Sorna?"

((OOC: http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,23907.0.html - If you want, you can either decide to go to the party or run off to tell the Mistress of Novices ;) ))

OK, then, here's an idea. The one who's set up the party is an Accepted who wants to misuse her authority over the novices. How about it?

I'll have the post set up soon, promise :D

Megain was lying on her small, hard bed, staring up at the ceiling.

So much work… so many chores… and strangest of all, she had completely accepted it. I never thought I’d ever get used to doing so much work.

But now, only a handful of years after Megain had first come to the Tower, she was washing the dishes and scrubbing the floors without even the merest hint of a thought of complaining about it. Her, the daughter of Lord Kestharin, the leader of House Kestharin, completely reconciled to acting the servant girl –

There was a knock at her door. Megain pushed herself up off her bed and crossed over to it. She opened it up, a smile ready for whoever it was. That smile faltered when she saw the Mistress of Novices, arms folded, wearing her shawl.

Shawl. Oh, Light. It’s my Testing for Acceptance.

“Come with me, child,” Darienna said, not unkindly, and briskly turned to walk away.

Megain followed, the shock reverberating through her mind. Light. The test. The test. Her mind couldn’t register anything else. She was filled with a numb, paralysing horror.

The walk down to the room in which the Arches were kept seemed to take an age, and yet was over far too quickly. Before long, they were walking into the large room with the three silvery arches, with the Aes Sedai who were working them

"Megain, listen carefully," Darienna Sedai said. "What I tell you now, no woman hears until she is in this room. Firstly, there is this. Once you begin, you must go on. Refuse, and no matter your strength and ability, you will be put out of the Tower with just enough silver to support you a year and you will never be allowed back. The 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 went quiet, they – were – not – there. And they were never seen again. If you will survive, you must be steadfast. Faltering leads to a failure."

In the silence, there was only the quiet breathing of the Aes Sedai around the arches, and of Darienna. Megain couldn’t take in a breath, couldn’t expand her lungs at all; she stared at the flickering light within the arches and a horrified, paralysing fear gripped her spine.

"This is your last chance.”

The words sent a chill down Megain’s back, as if someone had breathed on her neck.

“Refuse now, and it counts only as the first. You may still try twice more. If you accept now, there is no turning back. It's no shame to refuse: many sisters could not do it their first time. Now you may speak."

Megain stood frozen, unable to move a hair. Darienna Sedai watched her, her calm Aes Sedai face displaying a hint of sympathy for the terrified girl.

"Choose, Megain."

The silence stretched on. Finally –

“I can’t do it.” The words came out as a whisper.

The Mistress of Novices nodded, giving her a sympathetic smile. “Very well. You will try again, later in the next few months. For now, go back to your room, and rest.”

Megain nodded, weariness folding down on her shoulders like a heavy, almost leaden blanket. She turned and went back down the corridor, misery enfolding her, making every step a torture.

I failed, was all she could think to herself. I failed.

Yaaay! ;D *dances* So, three of us so far... anyone willing to be the troublemaker? ;)

In the sudden silence after the Warder trainee spoke, Megain shuffled nervously. "I've never been near a Shadowspawn, Shaneevae Sedai." She smiled sheepishly. "I have long believed them to be a story for young ones..." Now everyone was looking at her. The one who had last spoken was almost glaring at her, and she didn't blame him. Light, what a stupid thing to say! "I believe in them now, of course," she added hastily.

She breathed a sigh of relief when Shaneevae Sedai nodded and turned away. "That was embarrassing," she muttered to Sorna, feeling her crimson cheeks. "Light, I hate speaking in front of people."