It is my honor to approve the Great One's bio *bows and scrapes* CC'd

"My name is Arath."

He didn't say anything more, and instead leaned against a tree as he studied the trainee carefully. From what he could remember of that spar, it had started because Sandre had said some rather nasty things about Aes Sedai. It hadn't ended conclusively, but it didn't have to. The outcome of a fight between a Guard and a trainee was obvious. Of course, the Guard might be having a very bad day and the trainee a very good one, but chances were that he would not have lost that fight.

What he remembered of Sandre's fighting style was useless, for it was very likely that he had gotten better. He didn't doubt Sandre's word that he was physically ready to become a Tower Guard. He couldn't know for certain, but he had been decent the last time they had met. Perhaps not good enough to be raised then, but unless the trainee slacked off horribly he should be ready by now. The only thing that Arath didn't have confidence in was Sandre's attitude. He wasn't going to foolishly start a fight with a trainee again just because the fool badmouthed Aes Sedai, but that was a major fault of Sandre's. There were many people in the world who hated Aes Sedai, but a Tower Guard could not be one of them.

Arath could be wrong, but he doubted that Thera would be blind to Sandre's tallent. He was a good fighter, and had lots of potential, but Arath also doubted that Thera was blind to Sandre's feelings about Aes Sedai. It seemed like his animosity had gone away, or at least dimmed, but it had been there, which was a cause for worry. Arath had come to accept the fact that his respect for Aes Sedai was borderline-obsessive, but that meant that if he approved of Sandre, few would doubt that he was ready.

"You have a choice. An Aes Sedai is in danger, but to save her you have to abandon your friend who will be doubtlessly killed. What do you choose?"

OOC: You don't have to choose the "right" answer. You don't even have to 'pass' Arath's evaluation if you don't want to. You'll still advance :)

As he had suspected, the young man was in fact looking to become a trainee. Arath smiled slighty, thinking that D'Ashan would perhaps be a little less excited when he had to run his one-hundred welcome laps. Briefly Arath wondered if Thera even assigned those anymore. He hoped that the would-be-trainee enjoyed his last few moments before he was trained into oblivion. Apparently D'ashan knew an Aes Sedai by name- it wasn't frequent but not uncommon either that an Aes Sedai snagged a youth they thought would become a good warior.

"I'm Arath, a Tower Guard. You'll be wanting to see Thera, she's the current Mistress of Trainees." Arath motioned for the youth to follow him before he set off in the direction of Thera's office. It seemed like it had been forever since he last spoke to Thera. Breifly Arath found himself regretting his buisy schedule. As a Tower Guard, when he wasn't on a journey guarding an Aes Sedai who had yet to find a Warder, he was guarding the walls. It had been a while since he last sat down and chatted with any of his friends.

Out of the corner of his eye Arath saw D'Ashan gawking at his surrounding, but he didn't bother to point anything out. He knew that if Thera accepted him, then the first thing she would do would be to give him a tour of the Yards. It wasn't too long of a walk when they found themselves at Thera's door. "Alright, here you are. Just knock and explain yourself when you are invited in." Feeling a streak of mischief, Arath decided to play a harmless prank on the almost-trainee. "And whatever you do, don't say the word 'iron'"

Chances were that D'Ashan wouldn't need to say iron, but he would be thinking about why he wasn't allowed to say it. Perhaps it wouldn't fluster him at all, but as nervous as he already was, Arath thought it might have some affect. He waved goodbye to D'Ashan and went on his way, whistling cheerfully.

OOC: Just change the title so that you have "Attn: Thera" or something like that in there and Eqwina should come around

It's still open... I promise ;)

OOC: Since this has been sitting for a while...

IC: In a way, the Warders Yard was beautiful. It wasn't beautiful in the way that the Tower was beautiful, or the Tower Gardens were beautiful, but it had it's own beauty. It was amazing that in such a comparatively small strip of land, so many different peoples and cultures could be found united under one banner. Unlike other armies or fighters, the Tower Guard and Warders were from all over the world, and they all gathered together, forgetting their differences, to serve the greater good.

Arath didn't often get a chance to appreciate his home; he always seemed to be doing something or the other with never a moment of rest. Now that he finally had a break in the routine, Arath was in almost a chipper mood. He had just gotten off of "guarding" the front entrance to the Tower, and was still dressed in his ornamental armor and impressive red cloak. He made a rather impressive image, although it would have been far more impressive if he weren't about a hand shorter than most of the men around him.

When he saw a trainee standing around doing nothing, Arath nearly sent him off to Thera, but when he saw the textbook "lost" look on his face, Arath had to hide his smile. It didn't seem like so long ago that he himself had the same look. He was sure that eventually the trainee-to-be would find his way, but Arath was feeling friendly enough, so he approached the young man.

"You're looking a bit lost, do you need some help?"

When the trainee made a quip about a strained wrist, Arath found himself remembering who the man was. However, if he wasn't mistaken, they had parted on... bad terms. This made him all the more suspicious about why he would be standing in his room, fully armed. Although, listening to the speech Arath couldn't help but wonder if his memory had exaggerated things a little bit. The trainee had a certain air about him that wasn't quite friendly, but at the same time the words were comfortable, almost as if he were talking to a rival. Arath mentally shook his head; he probably just hadn't gotten enough sleep and was over-analyzing things.

So the trainee... Sandre he thought his name was... wanted some sort of evaluation from him to help prove to the Mistress that he was ready to become a Tower Guard. Arath mentally groaned, Sandre couldn't have chosen a few hours later to wake him up? He was on a rare day off and wanted to spend the time sleeping, but he would feel bad if he ditched the trainee. In the end, Arath ended up sighing and pushing the bedclothes to the side. "Alright, wait outside while I get dressed," Arath ordered. When Sandre complied, Arath groaned audibly and stretched to wake his body up. A normal man would not want to spar right after waking up, for obvious reasons, but as a Tower Guard Arath was trained to be combat ready in any situation.

If he remembered correctly, this particular fighter tended to be a quicker fighter who utilized all sorts of dirty tricks, but that could have changed since Arath last fought him. Nevertheless, he decided to don only light armor so that he could move unrestricted. He didn't typically wear anything more than light armor unless it was a special occasion anyway. Stepping outside, Arath motioned for Sandre to follow him and made his was to the nearest unused training ground.

Handle: Dhaimon

Email: Fohs@gmx.de

Name: Ibram Mizra

Gender: Male

Weight: Around 65 kg

Age: 19

Nationality: Tarabon

Description: Around five feet and eight inches tall, at first glance there is nothing that would truly set Ibram apart, neither his bright brown hair quite common in Tarabon nor the nearly black color of his eyes. He bears himself like someone used to military drill, though, and despite his youth already has wisps of grey at his temples. His face, missing the mustache typical for Taraboner fashion, also has a constant, troubled expression most of the time.

History: Ibram was born into a soldier's family, a profession quite common in his birthplace; located at the border to the Almoth Plain, the "threat" of Plain bandits and Domani thugs was all too real. Regularly Tarabon's Kings would set out for campaigns into Almoth Plain, sometimes even hated Arad Doman, to further the glory of the Tree of Man and to make Tarabon's mortal enemies pay.

His father eagerly volunteered to be part of the King's forces on one of these endeavours, when Ibram's fifth naming day had barely gone by. He never returned.

His mother, a nurse in the town's sickhouse, never truly recovered from that, and isolated herself ever more, fervently losing herself in her profession. Ibram was mostly looked after by good friends of the family, and when he decided to become a part of the town's militia at the age of 14, his mother's only comment was, "You, you must do what you must."

In the militia, he got a first idea of what an armed man's life was like, and soon chose the spear to be his weapon-of-choice. For three years he remained in the militia, three very quiet years for the bordertown, with barely any brigand's raids. A growing itch settled into Ibram: Keeping the peace simply wasn't enough for him. He wanted to get out there, to find his father- or to avenge him.

Not long after his 17th nameday another call to arms was announced, another strike to be launched- at the heartland of the Domani themselves. Ibram was quick to answer the call, and since he had proven to have sufficient skill as a spearman was confirmed into the expedition's ranks. Unlike all the other mothers of the town who cheered their sons onward, his own mother never so much as looked at the procession.

As the campaign progressed, Ibram's fancies and daydreams were all but crushed by the realities he faced: There was no glorious battle to be fought with the cowardly Domani or Plain dogs at the other end of the field. When the host was not moving through no-man's land, killing or shackling any unlucky enough to cross its path, it was three things:

Looting, pillaging, slaughtering. And worse.

Greater settlements in the Almoth Plain were avoided, the smaller ones, though...It was made certain that "survivors" did not carry word of the approaching army, so that Arad Doman might be prepared to counter it or the villages in the Plain band together to drive it off.

Ibram did not take part in the...crimes...and remained silent. Untill they reached the Domani bordertown.

While murder commenced all around him, and he was even encouraged by some of his "compatriots" to have "some fun" with one of the "Domani wenches", he could not bear it any longer. It was one against two, and somehow, for a wonder, Ibram was the one left standing. Taking the frightened victim by her hands, he flew the town, and tore his tabard off him along the way. When he had put enough distance between himself and the ravaged town, without any pursuers evident, he sent the poor woman on her way, and went his own way.

Since his desertion, he had tried to put as much distance between himself and Tarabon as he could, trying to join up with local militias in places that did not show a Taraboner the door, if not worse, or else tried to get hired as a merchant's guard. For close to two years, his life went on in this fashion. He did not remain in any one place for very long, for fear of being tracked down by Tarabon's justice. He could not, because he was restless. The injustice and vileness he had witnessed during his time "soldiering"...This Dragon-fellow's followers weren't above that, so it was heard everywhere, neither were the 'cloaks. The only ones that could remedy all the evil, Ibram was certain of it, were the Aes Sedai. So it was that he made his way to Tar Valon, to become a shield for the White Tower.

Arath was having a rather pleasant dream. He couldn't quite put his finger on what his dream was about- everything seemed to be happening at the same time, and he couldn't make any sense of what was occuring- but he definately knew that it was pleasant. Therefore, when he was awoken he much prefered to remain in bed. However, in the Guard you were liable to be called upon at any time, and so he didn't throw anything at the intruder. Briefly Arath wondered what a cup cake was, but shook off the thought and his sleepiness and sat up in his bed.

He was a bit confused at the unfamiliar sight- it wasn't often that he saw fully armored men in his room waking him up. What made it stranger was that the man was young; he was at an age where Arath couldn't tell if he was a young Guard or an old trainee. The fact that he was in the Guards' Barracks at all made it likely that he was a Guard, but the red cloak and signature dagger were missing. Many Guards did not wear them, but new Guards usually chose to adorn them so that people didn't confuse them for trainees. Also the fact that he was in full armor made the lack of the cloak and dagger more suspicious.

Arath came to the tentative conclusion that the young man was a trainee, but that made it more curious that the trainee was in his room, waking him (rudely at that). "What do you want?" His question wasn't exactly phrased in the most polite way, but the other man hadn't been very polite to begin with. Even though he had no idea what the trainee would be here for, Arath still couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this particular trainee from somewhere...

Oops, I'm afraid that's what happened. I send a reply but I guess it didn't get through. Check your spam box. :)

All is forgiven. But I'm about five minutes away from leaving so happy holidays everyone!

I may be old to DM but I am VERY new to the BT.I usually prefer to keep myself sequestered in the WT Tower with my Warder and Aes Sedai, and I occasionally visit the Three-Fold Land with my Head Wise One, but the Black Tower is a whole new world.

 

I just sent my bio in, so when its approved I should be ready to start. As it stands I only know a few people here and I don’t know their BT characters at all. *grins at Jehaine and Sieve and plants a kiss on her Warder* So…who else is around and what characters do you have and what levels and all that. *searches under rocks for the MIA Covai, whistles and gets out cookies* Maybe a bribe will work ;)  :-*

 

My characters name is Mathis Trakelyn, brother to Thera Trakelyn (WY MoT) he is a year older than her and they are nothing alike. Don't worry! I am not playing another grumpy drunk.

 

I feel forgotten ;) but welcome to the darkside anyway

Am I too late to welcome you? :)

Concider it CC'd, but I don't know if the server is big enough for two Trakelyns ;D

I'm up for a WY party ;)

And it looks like the staff is officially gone for the holidays. :P

Well, have fun Mat. :) I figure this is a good place to post that I'm going to be gone from th 24th to the 27th with limited to no computer access

OOC: Well, since this seemed to come to a screeching hault I guess I'll just post something... :)

IC: Once they had studied multiple games for a suitable enough length of time, the Storm Leader suggested that they should play a real game. It was rather simple: Covai would be playing both of them at once (on two different boards) and would be teaching them while doing so. He found that the game was a lot harder than it looked. The first game he had gotten completely crushed. Ze'el could see that he had been completely crushed, but he didn't even know where he went wrong. The next game, he learned a very important rule- you can capture more than one stone at a time. As long as you surround a group of stones completely, so that there are no more places the group can extend to, the entire group is captured. That increased the complexity by a lot, because no longer were groups of stones safe.

That knowledge made him last a little longer, but he was still being destroyed by the Storm Leader completely. Luckily, however, Covai was giving them tips along the way. The next crucial thing he realized was that he was going after individual stones. In other words- Ze'el had been playing to capture stones, while the real point of the game was to capture territory. Once he realized that, he realized that sometimes you had to sacrifice stones. For example, Ze'el began to see that there were situations where trying to get his stone out of danger would just put even more stones in danger, and so he began to abandone stones, or even whole groups, and try to attack elsewhere.

He was getting better every game he played, but he still wasn't up to Covai's par. The man was a good teacher, however, and after a few games he could definately see improvement. Ze'el wouldn't call himself good at the game; in fact, he was still quite bad, but he could see why he was loosing. He still wasn't good enough to prevent Covai's attacks from working, or to keep from falling into his traps, but he could see why he lost, and improve from there. It was definately a complex game, but Ze'el liked it. It was very mentally stimulating, and very rarely did he ever get any mental challenge. Phsycial challenges were as common as brown eyes, and challenges with the Power were just as common, but a good mental challenge was more than welcome.

CC'd

OOC: Sorry that it took me a few days to get to this, I was crushed by homework/studying in the past few days.

IC: Arath was starting to get irritated. At first he thought that the trainee was just lousy. He wouldn't have minded if the trainee was horrible, because everyone started out skill-less. From the responce that Davian had given him, he had thought that he was willing enough to learn. Davian's forms had made Arath mentally cringe, but he had still been hopeful that he could help at least a little. He didn't have too much experience in helping trainees, but he had enough to give him a few tips. "Hold your sword a little higher when you do that, so that you can keep better ballence." Davian nodded and mumbled something that sounded like an affirmative.

Arath kept giving little tips, and the longer they went on the more he could see that the trainee wasn't putting any effort into it. Not only that, but he was completely ignoring the tips that he was given. Arath felt himself getting a tic in his forehead; the insufferable trainee wasn't trying at all. Weakness was excusable; laziness was not. Apparently the trainee noticed it at the same time that he did, and looked guilty. Arath's face was a little tight, but otherwise he appeared more strict than angry. He didn't know the trainee well, so Davian could just be in a slump, but that didn't excuse the outright disrespect shown towards a superior.

"I don't know what is going on, but laziness is not acceptable. If you're just distracted today, or something happened to upset you, then snap out of it. If you're just lazy..." Arath let the sentence trail off, letting Davian's imagination fill in the blank. "But the true infraction is that you have been ignoring every word I've said. If you did that with the Mistress of Trainees you would be worked into the ground, but she's not even the worst case scenario. You are living amongst Aes' Sedai, if you don't pay attention to them... well you don't want to know what happens then."

He scowled at Davian, making sure he had his full attention. "Luckily for you, I'm a lot nicer than any of them." And he didn't have the athority to punish Davian, but he didn't need to know that. "Now tell me what it is that is so distracting?" If it was a girl than that could be taken care of easily, but in any case the first step to solving the problem was the figure out what it was.

If you want an extra hand I'm in for this, but my character won't be getting bonded, so he won't be very active in the AS Bonding thing.

Kassian "Ze'el" Loreen

Dedicated

Neutral to the White Tower

I believe that he wasn't in the Tower at the time of the Watcher's RP

Jehaine- I had always thought that Death Gates were just regular Travelling Gateways that you could fling at enemies. The sharp edges of the gates cut people apart and/or sent them far, far away.

Very good bio :) CC'd

;) I stole it from your "Jasine box"

*clears throat*

So, Jehaine... I've got the rope if you've got the DL... ;)

Welcome! I'll try to answer your questions the best I can. :)

1) I'm not the Black Tower bio checker so I can't give you official answers, but in my opinion making up small superstitions isn't that big of a deal. But from what you've described I wouldn't be able to make a judgement unless I actually read the bio, so my advice is to just send the bio to the bio checker. After all, it's their job to sort out things like this :)

2) In my experience, the upper limits are generally ignored.

no need to rush, I'll leave it up for a while :) But thanks  :D