*tip-toes in*

<.<

>.>

*sneaks out again*

Jeh i know you got a dreadlord, and a fade if i remember right

Yep, Rebecca Célestin (Dreadlady Adept) and Calaun Ontrix Seyr (Fadeling) it be precise :)

Still semi-lurking in teh shadows here as well, RL is being a b***h the past couple of months :/

OOC: *bumps*

Back as well, here's to hoping it'll stay :)

Hunter processed the information, and compared it to the things she knew from her own personal experience. There weren't that many wolves in the middle of Fal Sion even if they were supposed to be a sign of good luck, but what Aislyn had mentioned about enhanced senses and perfect vision at night matched. As for the talking to wolves part... Well, unless she missed her guess she was going to be here for a while, so plenty of time to find out. It was the woman's turn to ask a question of her now, and she tilted her head, her red irises looking into Aislyn's golden ones with amusement at her revulsion.

- "Hmm... Well, i pretty much grew up in a dark cell of a Darkfriend complex. From what i could tell, they were trying to create child assassins... Training was hard and cold, but long story short, we split when one of my trainers wanted some 'one on one time' with me. It took a channeler to put an end to the trail of destruction i left in my wake as i fled my cell... Good times, good times."

She smiled as if recalling a good memory. After she had been found eating the remains of the trainer that she had killed, they tried salvaging their little 'project' but she ended up attacking them as often as her targets. Plenty of red meat in her diet after that one though.

- "You mentioned you could talk to wolves... Assuming i have this ability as well, how would it work? Wolves aren't capable of human speech all of a sudden, i take it."

Hunter

Has returned

OOC: Sorry, went inactive for a variety of reasons...

IC:

Mara frowned as Pia kept repeating for her not to be scared, and that she wasn't going to hurt her. In her experience, when people started telling her that it was a reason to be careful around them in the first place. Shifting a little uncomfortably in her seat, she tried to focus on the small stone while keeping an eye on Pia from the corner of her eyes for any suspicious movements.

- "A silver penny..."

As she concentrated, she mumbled what she believed the small stone would be worth -- or at least what she was willing to pay Pia for it. It seemed to play with the light in a strange way, almost flashing. She strained to see it again, felt something inside of her as the glow reappeared but paid no mind to it.

After that, Pia announced she could channel, confirming what the other Aes Sedai had told her back in the day. Right, so what she saw as her ticket into this place was legit. Now all that was left to do was finish up with the training, graduate from whatever type of tests they'd throw at her and leave again a few years later.

- "'Kay, so wha' happens next?"

Sounds good to me as well, just hit me up with a time (GMT preferred) and i'll be there :)

I have work and stuff, but as long as i know the meeting time in advance i can arrange to be online during most hours.

Mara waited for the Aes Sedai to leave, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed as the white closed the door behind her. As Pia offered her a seat, she looked at the chair, then figured it couldn't hurt to take the woman up on her offer. She needed something from them after all, so starting off on the wrong foot might not be in her best interests. When she sat down however, she did so on one of the armrests rather than on the chair itself: Used to a ship rail, she felt more comfortable that way.

- "Ah'm Mara. On'a'yer Aes Sedai said i's able ta channel, an' ah'm 'ere ta see if tha's truth."

Her speech sounded like a mixture of various accents, but then again, growing up on the streets and living on a ship for a few years after that generally didn't make people very eloquent. If Pia would look into her eyes, she would notice a fair bit of skepticism about this whole affair -- it was obvious she didn't really know what to expect, and not placing much faith in the stories of old.

Mara

...Yup

I'm still here, Mara's just gone over to the WT but that was a planned move for a while now.

Don't worry about it too much though, it still leaves me with some 5 FLers :P

As the sun rose over the Erinin river, a small trading ship could be seen heading for Tar Valon. Though this was no uncommon sight given the presence of the White Tower in the area, its current position meant that the small ship had most likely been sailing at night, which was far less common. Still, even that could have been explained due to the ship's waterline, hinting at an empty hull. With less depth, mudflats wouldn't be much of an issue, though the risk of getting stuck was of course still present. On the ship itself Timeon, the ship doctor and First Mate, walked to the captain, who was leaning on the rail to look at the White Tower coming into view.

"Hey Cap... You sure about this?"

The captain, a young woman whose height and skin tone did little to hide her Tairen blood, turned to look at Timeon, before nodding slowly.

- "Aye... E'ery time ah've looked lately, i's nuttin but trouble in th'West. I's been gett'n bigger too, so we's need ta lay low fer a while."

The man nodded before walking away, and see to his duties, which in this case happened to be a sailor who ended up with a concussion. Mara on the other hand looked up again, taking a deep breath before looking at the clouds above. They seemed calm here, but it felt like a storm forming in the west, and for some reason she felt that it would be more a danger to them personally than to the ship. And like with every situation she didn't trust, she'd do her best to avoid it whenever possible. And if that meant hiding out in the White Tower, so be it.

She even had a basic plan thought up as well. The crew would be taking turns training and taking care of the ship, while she would go see what all that 'channeling' stuff was about. She had met an Aes Sedai during one of her stops in Illian that insisted she'd drop everything and join her to this White Tower of theirs, or end up killing herself. Lunatic woman... Still, it was as good a reason as any, and if it ended up with nothing she could always go train with the others anyway.

Given their early arrival it didn't take a lot of time for the ship to be moored, after which she walked onto the dock area, followed by roughly two thirds of her crew. The remaining third would guard the ship and keep her in good condition, and would rotate shifts with the two groups currently going ashore with her. After arriving at the Training Grounds, Mara raised her hand, making a circular motion with her hand, and the crew scattered to the first batch of training sessions of the day. She on the other hand walked right up to a woman dressed in silks -- had to be worth its weight in gold easily. Oh well, she preferred her crude male sailors garb anyway.

- "Oi, where's yer Mistress?"

From what she could remember of the madwoman's rambling in Illian, the title was Mistress something... Bah, most likely a name anyway. Master, Mistress, Boss, whatever. Either way, she needed to get there, and this woman would likely know how. At the range she was at however, the Aes Sedai would have to be blind not to notice Mara had channeled before, and recently at that.

Mara

Take me to your Leader

Hunter thought for a moment, in the meantime using her tongue to remove a piece of meat that had gotten stuck between her teeth.

- "Hmm... About two, maybe three years i estimate? Technically one would consider a period of time before that when we weren't separated personalities yet, but opinions may differ as to when it first began."

She frowned, thinking back further, bringing up memories Daciana preferred to keep hidden. She of course warned her sister in advance so she could go to sleep while she was discussing it, no use in frightening the poor girl unnecessarily. Tapping her chin, she went through what she could remember that far back.

- "The actual split happened when... around the first time i tasted human meat, i believe. Tastes like chicken, i find it rather ironic myself."

As far as the casualness with which she spoke was concerned it was almost like she was talking about actual chickens rather that human beings. She even chuckled at the added joke at the end, showing that she had no problems with it herself. Listening intently like Aislyn was, she would not be able to detect a hint of a lie for the simple reason that Hunter spoke the truth, and meant every word.

- "Your turn... I've seen a number of wolves around here, but for some reason you and they seem to... coexist. How is this possible?"

Grinning, she leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms and putting one leg over the other as she waited for Aislyn to reply.

Hunter

Taking turns, remember?

- "Excellent."

Martyn knelt in front of the Aes Sedai. It was fortunate that she was going to be the one holding the Bond, he still considered himself a married man after all, and had no intention of breaking his marriage vows on the off chance his wife may be dead. He smirked as the Bonding weave hit him, having a sudden mental image of Masura saying she'd be waiting on his return. Words fifty years old, and he could still find peace in them... It was strange, the way the mind worked.

In the meantime, he could feel... something, a presence of sorts in the back of his mind. Focusing on it, he probed it a little, sensing some feelings of anxiety before slipping back into the Void. From what he could tell, the weave was completed, and he got back up to look Raslyn in the face again.

- "Would it be better if i were to remain in the Void so we can slowly get used to each other's... presence, or would you prefer a faster approach?"

He could feel them, the emotions outside of the Void, both his and Raslyn's. She was anxious, but he couldn't tell whether it was him or the mood in the room in general, he generally couldn't read a woman's face as much as he'd like to. His hands itched for the Forms to help clear his mind, but he chose to ignore it. Drawing a sword in this room and he might as well start to channel.

Martyn

Doesn't know either, but defers to his Aes Sedai

There, voted.

Given that i traditionally stick to the RP side of things, i left half the questions blank though :P

OOC: Sorry, ended up getting sick for a few days :(

IC:

After a few seconds of silent contemplation on whether or not to release the Void, Martyn decided not to. Like Raslyn Sedai mentioned, it would be up to the two of them to give the right example, and he felt he could do that better without the memories of his wife surfacing now that he would be forced to kiss another woman. She'd likely have his hide for it, and silently he wished she would still be around to take it as he closed the final distance between Raslyn and himself.

- "Very well. I must admit i know little of the ways Aes Sedai bond their Warders, judging by what has happened so far i'd say the process is... different between Asha'men and Aes Sedai."

A look at Aslan left little to doubt what could have caused that thought. Wrapped in the Void as he was, he could clearly see the mark Jagen's fist left on his face. If the Bonding ritual was truly the same, he doubted she would have reacted as such. He turned back to Raslyn again, unsure of what he was supposed to do now and watching her for even the slightest hint on what he was supposed to do next.

A thought brushed the edge of the Void, of his wife, and he silently hoped he would not end up kissing after all.

Martyn

Aslan got off easy...

After what seemed like an endless moment of studying and weighing, one of the Aes Sedai stepped forward. She had gray hair, which was a good thing as it spoke of age, and the cut of her clothes hinted at a personality that liked to go straight to the heart of the matter without dancing around the question. It suited him fine, to be honest, as it reminded him of the disciplined life of a soldier he had led so many years ago.

Within the void, he could detect the urge to smirk flowing across the edges when he was called a 'young man'. He wondered whether she was aware of his true age -- one never knew with Aes Sedai! -- though judging by Raslyn's hair color he suspected her to be older than him in any case. Taking a deep breath, he crossed the remaining distance to the Keeper, now noticing she was only a few inches shorter than he was. He avoided looking her in the eyes, instead focusing on an invisible spot on her forehead, and waited until Raslyn had introduced herself before doing the same. Malkieri customs were hard to break even if he had wanted to.

- "I am called Martyn Stonebridge. Not my true name, i fear, but the world does not look kindly upon men like us, and letting my true name be known might endanger my relatives. My apologies for this. As for my rank, i am one of the Black Tower's instructors in weapon combat."

For a moment, he considered letting go of the Void to make his voice a little less cold in response to Raslyn's smile, but given the amount of Aes Sedai standing in front of him that might end up doing more harm than good. And besides... though he was almost ashamed to admit it, he still did not fully trust the Red Ajah due to what he was. The Void formed a capable defense, and without it it would likely only have taken the Aes Sedai a minute to make him tell them all his secrets, and end up reciting the Karaethon Cycle backwards.

Martyn

Trying to make a good impression

As Burrich explained to her what he wanted her to do, she simply raised an eyebrow at him.

- "You want me to... smell herbs that make me fall asleep? Doesn't that sound a little odd to you?"

While she had come to know Burrich over the past couple of months of training, controlling dreams sounded a bit far-fetched, though she did concede the point that she'd seen far stranger things so far. Talking to wolves for example, though she was still blocking them out. Taking a deep breath, she cast a wary glance at the large man that spoke of trouble if she woke up to find even a single hair out of place, she spread her cloak out to get a little more comfortable. The last thing she wanted was to fall into the fire in her sleep.

It was... strange when she opened her eyes again. Or at least thought she was opening them. The world looked like the kind of place that it would have in a dream, during that brief moment at night where one was aware that they were dreaming, but not quite ready to wake up yet. She looked at the sky, the trees, taking in all the small details that made it look like it was the real thing, were it not for the way things seemed to shift when she wasn't looking at them.

Remembering the reason she had actually come here, she ran towards the light of teh fire, arriving at the campsite a little earlier than she had anticipated. Perhaps distances were different here? Burrich stood there, dressed in what she guessed was his travel gear. His face looked suspiciously amused about something, and she wondered what it was.

"Forgive me, but look at your clothes Arienna."

- "What do you mean, my..."

As she spoke, she looked down, noticing that where her clothes used to be were now twigs and leaves, making her look more like a forest spirit than a human being. The first thing crossing her mind was disbelief, after which Tel'aran'rhiod followed suit and made the outfit disappear. Fast as lightning, she covered her now naked body with both arms, blushing furiously and sending a murderous glare at Burrich who, if she had more control of the dream world, would have to fight hard not to spontaneously combust.

Arienna

Burrich's lucky she has her arms full

Jerinia had been mostly out of view, pressing herself against the door to the Amyrlin's Room as the tension in the room increased to visible levels. The moment one of the Aes Sedai not only lost her composure, but even clocked an Asha'man in the jaw was the last straw for her, and she cracked the door open to flee from the room. She felt confident about her ability to channel Fire, but experience told her that she would likely end up setting the entire room on fire -- and the latter brought on memories of her Arches that she'd rather not think about.

Jerinia

Flee!

-----

Martyn took a deep breath as he looked at the events taking place in the room. Wrapped in the Void as he was, he was simply leaning against the wall as Jagen punched Aslan in the face, unsurprised at the turn of events. He had seen it coming, noticed every detail in the woman's stance, the expression on her face, and the movement of pulling back basically telegraphed her intentions to him as well.

Geirrin's channeling caused him to stop crossing his arms for a moment though as he considered going for Saidin himself to contain the damage, but before he could succeed his fellow Asha'man was already receiving a firm paddling on the backside. So far, the situation remained manageable with the Aes Sedai resorting to physical violence as opposed to channeling. Not quite the serene picture he imagined of Aes Sedai, but perhaps teh tension was getting to them.

Realizing he was one of the now shrinking list of Asha'men that were still to approach an Aes Sedai, he stepped forward, his mind made up on what he was going to do. With more calm than floated outside the Void he walked up to a few feet away from where the Aes Sedai were looking at them, looking at him, and simply stopped to wait.

Now standing where he had a better view of the door, he noticed the young Accepted he had spotted earlier was gone, and he couldn't quite blame the poor girl. Thinking back on his old self, if it hadn't been for the Void he would likely have attempted to do the same, probably ending up with him receiving a similar treatment as Aslan and Geirrin had.

Not knowing what to say, he simply stood there holding his hands behind his back, wordlessly trying to spread the calm of the Void throughout the room. Whether it succeeded or not was one thing, but it would be clear from the way he was looking at the Aes Sedai that he was expecting one of them to approach him with a request to Bond. From the way he was brought up, it felt like it was one of those matters that only a woman had the right to decide on.

Martyn

Malkieri through and through.

Daciana nodded enthusiastically, and took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them again, it would be clear to anyone that the person standing in front of them was far from the almost childlike woman that Aislyn and Lorelai had been talking to just a few seconds ago. Oh, outwardly there was no change in appearance of course, but looking into her eyes the two could not have been farther apart.

- "According to my sister you wished to speak to me... From what i heard you wish to discuss our nature."

Hunter glanced at the two of them, weighing them, their stance and their appearance according to a mental scale of potential threats. The eyes got a slightly longer look however, and when she broke the stare a second or two later, she felt she had read everything she needed to know. If Aislyn and Lorelai would have done the same during that brief moment of direct eye contact, they would have seen the eyes of one who would try to kill both of them without a second thought if she considered it a better alternative.

- "Very well, i approve. In return however, i must ask you about yourselves. It would only be fair, would it not?"

She crossed her arms, waiting for them to answer. She was aware her way of speaking was quite different from Daciana's, but unfortunately she could emulate her other self as badly as she could emulate her, so that wasn't an option. She was aware of not having her dagger on her -- shame that, it had a good strong blade! -- but was confident enough in her own strength and her ability to fight unarmed that she would not be caught by surprise by these two should it come to that.

Hunter

State your business

(OOC: Heh, that makes two of us... But yeah, i'm still iunterested if you are :))

Heh, my own Myrddraal (who gets angry when called a Fade btw) is pretty much like the Clan she grew up in. People behave according to what they see around them while growing up, and since all she's seen around her is fighting and weaponry it makes sense for her to be driven for combat in much the same way.

For that reason, she believes in giving her opponents a fighting chance, 'stealth kills' are out unless absolutely necessary. She 'gets her fix' by being better than the one she's fighting, regardless of whether the odds are even or uneven.

There is a comic (which i bought after creating the character btw) i have that ended up describing her way of thinking perfectly in the opening narration. If you're interested i could post it here?

I'd like to give the point to Mara Novares please...

[\late]

...From what i'd like to call my New Year's Extended Leave. Normally, i visit forums according to a schedule and a certain amount of routine. Post here, post there, and generally manage to cram everything into a couple days after which the process is repeated.

Between Xmas and New Year however, i usually stay at my parents' house where internet access is limited. It 'breaks the habit' so to speak, and usually takes me a couple of weeks to get back in the rhythm.

So yeah, sorry for being away and everything, had some stuff to take care of as well and as usual i'm horrible at time management -- couldn't keep track of a schedule to save my life.

So what'd i miss? ;)

I have a Fadelinbg as well if i recall, and am currently trying to pick up from where i slacked left off... PM if interested ;)