Lesson 3: The Art of Disguise

Despite the reasonably neutral expression on her face, Estel’s mood was black.  Jaw muscles practically groaned with the effort of internalising yawns and powder hid dark bags under her eyes.  It was immature for an Aes Sedai to resent mornings, especially to the point of allowing it to affect her mood; however, it was a scrap of her Acceptedhood that she clung to.  Now, Estel Liones was the least favourite member of her Ajah, a jaded shell of a woman.  Longingly she remembered being a raging ball of fire at her pupils’ age; it had taken an Aes Sedai nearly physically yanking her from bed in the mornings to wake her up before the sun was halfway between horizon and zenith.

When the last student hurried into the classroom, relieved her five minute tardiness was being ignored, the Blue Sister began the day’s lecture.  “The Art of Disguise is perhaps the simplest art and certainly requires the least amount of explanation.  A disguise can be as simple as covering your face and removing your ring,” Estel twisted the golden serpent ring on her finger, “or as complicated as changing one’s hair colour and style, using a different accent and manner of speech, even walking differently.

“This art, in its most obvious form, is the least used of the three arts but can be just as, or more, vital; if you are planning any excursions to Amadicia or even Tear, I would advise not advertising you are Aes Sedai.  That is a more obvious situation, but what if you happen to be followed through a crowd?  How will you lose your pursuer?

“In a short-term situation, a few simple tips are applicable in most situations.  Try changing your gait and posture.  Do you stand straight or hunch over?  How do you walk?  If you take off your shoe and examine the wear marks on the sole, what do you see?  Do your feet angle inwards or outwards?  Do you walk more heavily on the heel or ball off your foot?”  The Aes Sedai waited a moment while her class shuffled in their seats, finding answers to the rhetorical questions.  “If you are in a foreign country, your skin colour may set you apart from the rest of the crowd or you may need to hide your face since you will all eventually develop the telltale ageless faces of Aes Sedai; even in warmer climates, dust cloaks are an excellent devise to shield help shield identity.

“However, more complex disguises are needed should you need to conceal your identity for a longer period of time.  In addition to your visual disguise, you may need a back story.  Many Aes Sedai have a number of aliases they use depending on their location and the situation.  This becomes more difficult taking into account the restrictions of the First Oath.

“When creating an alias, you must first ask yourself “where is this person from?”  Powders and pastels can alter your skin colour, adjust the appearance of your eyes or bone structure; with a practiced hand, an Aes Sedai can even disguise the look of agelessness.  Hair colour and fashion is another obvious physical trait to take note of.  Now, “how does this person talk?”  What accent should you use?  Are they well educated?  An uneducated person would not understand large words; they might fumble with their grammar and use slang while an educated person would not.  “What subjects interest this person?”  A Tairen fisherman’s wife would not talk for hours about the Borderlands nor would she even believe Trollocs and other Shadowspan to be real.

“I want you to create an alias.  Tomorrow I want you to return here, disguised as this new persona.  You are dismissed.”

ooc: First post for this lesson (min250 words): the next day Estel will ask your character who she is, describe your alias.

The expression “stabbing oneself in the foot” generally referred to a person accidentally doing or saying with an ill effect on their interests – to cause one’s own downfall.  It was a concept painfully familiar to the brunette sitting in the, also painfully familiar, infirmary.  If not for the wonders of saidar, Addison would have been covered head to toe in scars; as it was, she was being attended to by a plump, elderly Yellow who seemed to epitomise the perfect grandmother.

Tears streamed down her cheeks and the trainee struggled valiantly not to curl into a ball clutching her foot, and scream.  Blood had begun to trickle from the corner of her mouth, the result of chomping down on her bottom lip to keep in the howls of agony.  “Now, now, my dear, it will all be over in a moment.  Just keep still a moment longer.” the Aes Sedai cooed.  “It’s probably best if you look away, dear.  It will hurt less if you don’t see it coming.”  Addi whimpered in compliance and twisted her head away from the Yellow as deceptively frail hands...

...gripped the hilt and yanked it from the trainee’s foot and apparently simultaneously performed the Healing weave, evident to any but an Aes Sedai only because the patient’s body arched and convulsed mid-scream.

Today, poor Addison Thwait had managed to, quite literally, stab herself in the foot.

This time, for it was definitely not the girl’s first time to the infirmary, it was not entirely her fault though her remarkable ability to figuratively stab herself in the foot undoubtedly played its role.  She had been practicing her sword forms, the balance exercise called Heron Wading in the Rushes to be exact.  A group of fellow trainees was horseplaying nearby and one of them bumped into their unfortunate victim mid-form, knocking the sword out of her hand.  Apologising profusely, the group had wisely decided not to remove the three foot spatha from where it was lodged in her foot and instead had carried her to the infirmary.

Gasping for air, Addi experienced the familiar wave of exhaustion and hunger associated with the after-effects of Healing.  “Thank you, Lynne.”  After her fifth meeting with the ancient Yellow, Marilyn Sedai had insisted on waiving formalities.

“You’re very welcome, dear.  No doubt I’ll be seeing you soon?”

The trainee smiled weakly and gave a sheepish laugh.  “Probably.”

Deciding she might make it to the mess hall before they stopped serving dinner, Addison made the mistake of getting up to quickly and swayed dangerously on the spot.

Estel dealt another round of cards.  The Accepted seemed nervous to play with an Aes Sedai and most had a piled of stacked cards sitting in front of the.  The Blue looked at her new card: the ruler of cups.  She suppressed a grin and added a fistful of Tar Valon silver to the pot, matching the weight of the Accepted’s Malkieri copper and raising the stakes by a single silver piece.  It wasn’t their money that interested her, it was the favour; the Blue was painfully aware of just how important those “favours” could be.

Only one Accepted matched her bet and raised the stakes again.  Estel nodded her head but refrained from smiling.  The girl had nerve and from what she’d heard, little Jerinia was setting out to beat her record of “most penances served”.

The Blue handed the woman another card and took one for herself: nine of flames, a decent pair and high card, not a terrible hand but certainly one that could be beaten.  Estel matched the Accepted’s last bet and laid her cards on the table.  “Pair of nines backed by a ruler.”  Jerinia laid out a pair of fives; here, the Aes Sedai allowed herself a grin.  “It seems you be owe me a favour.”  After scooping her winnings off the table, she stood and announced: “As soon as your games are finished, you are dismissed.  See you next week.”

ooc: next class will be up later today.  Tig, feel free to tack on your last reply when you get back from your LoA

The boy erected a barricade, a temporary defence that would do him little good except prolong his now inevitable end.  Abrem pulled deeper on saidin, frowning as he realised this new body wasn’t as strong with Earth and Water as he had been.  Now was not the time to reminisce about his disconcerting time and body jump to this new, primitive Age.  Where once he had been able to call lightning from the sky like the Creator himself, one massive strike would have to do.  In the split second before he released the weave, the wall exploded seemingly of its own accord.  Too late to recall the bolt, Abrem hurriedly wove a barrier of Air between himself and what had briefly been a wall, expecting some form of booby trap.

Nothing happened.

Maintaining the protecting, he prepared a Shield to cut the boy off from the Source and approached cautiously.  Perhaps he had gotten lucky?  More likely the boy was lying in wait with a new barrage of attacks.  Sinking into the mud, Abrem laughed.  “I’m not as stupid as your mentor, fool.”  Fire and Air dried and area around him fast enough that the sludge could do little but cling to his boots.

ooc: Blast me!

A full month away from the stress of the Tower, focusing on controlling her temper... hell, why not add the other ninety-seven years she’d spent here, nagged and chastised about her inability to keep from letting the little things get to her – yet, less than fifteen minutes into a conversation with Lavinya, the two were snapping at each other like fifteen-year olds chasing the same boy.  The boy was blind, old, and dead but the subject of Orion was past sensitive.  “We’re the same and we both know it, neither of us has a leg to stand on.  Don’t try and threaten me, my footing’s better than yours; besides, I’m not the one begging for information.”  Furious and sneering, made a dramatic act of standing and beginning to stomp towards the door.

However, it seemed her time spent in the Academy wasn’t entirely wasted.  Her hand on the latch, she stopped and winced.  Maegan’s voice muttered in exasperation competing with Sirayn’s cold insults: good cop, bad cop – Estel couldn’t help but resent even Maegan a little for getting inside her head.  Taking a deep breath and choking back just a touch of her pride, she stopped and turned around though her hand remained poised to storm out.

“Neither of us can be tied to Sirayn without information from another Order member, thank the Light the woman was as paranoid as she was.  Besides, even if someone connects either of us to her, we have a solid alibi: Watchers.  As for the risk of anyone betraying the Order, you and I are the most likely candidates; Aramina disappeared shortly after Sirayn, Serena’s only just returned to the Tower and has a reputation and tenuous position in the Ajah to protect, and Jaydena has her own reputation to protect and she risks losing her place in the Hall should she admit having sworn to Sirayn.  That leaves you and I, but you seem against the idea.”  Smirk.  “As for me, I have no intention of betraying you all a second time.  While I may be able to convince Serena to meet with us, Jaydena is unlikely to risk exposure by meeting with us.  Without Sirayn’s protection and influence, she stands to gain very little from her continued association with the Order.  If we want to force a meeting, I can threaten to expose us; after all, I have the history and most to gain from it since my oath was coerced.  Plus, it is not as if a semi-illegal oath of fealty can worsen my reputation.

“As for the Forkroot, after the little... incident with Aran, only Sirayn and Aramina knew where it was kept.  However, unless Sirayn hid it somewhere in the Tower, unlikely as there is the risk of a Sister stumbling onto it, she must have owned or rented some sort of building for storage in Tar Valon.  Considering the woman’s flair for secrecy, she probably used an alias to buy or rent the building but she must have kept the deed or contract somewhere.  I’m not sure what they did with her belongings, probably stored in the basement.  If we could manage to look through whatever papers she had...  Assuming she didn’t rent the building, or at least that her lease hasn’t expired, and that Aramina or Jaydena didn’t go in search of the stockpile themselves, it should still be there.

"Enough brain for you?"  She couldn't help adding the dig.

WS 4 to 5 - complete 1 req

Mountain Climbing

Climbing Higher: Trainee Mountain Climbing Class (19 posts COMPLETE)

The Yard's clumsiest trainee miraculously survives a mountain climb.

The four trainees set out alone the following morning, landmarks as their breadcrumbs; already tired, sore, and scratched, few words interrupted the music of birds.  Addi’s goose egg had now taken over the better... or rather, worse part of her forehead.  Her arms and legs were a tapestry of tiny scrapes, some of which began to angrily protest their abuse after only a few feet up the new cliff face.  Despite being worse for wear, the nerves she’d felt the day before were vague memories replaced by a steady flow of adrenaline.

Without Thera to guide them, the trainees ran into a number of problems the Mistress of Trainees had automatically avoided the day before.  They made their first climb with few issues, except Addi had to apologise profusely to one of her companions as he nursed a black eye – it was unanimously decided that she was permanently demoted to bottom of the line. 

Their second climb, however, presented a new challenge.  As Thera had guided them up the mountain, she had manoeuvred them up paths they were capable of scaling; unfortunately, her trainees had no such foresight.  Eventually, the four found themselves stuck beneath an outcrop of rock they could not avoid.  While it had provided and excellent anchor for their grappling hooks, there was no way to actually climb onto the ledge itself and they were stuck underneath it.  If they tried to inch their way, one side or the other, towards a place where the overhang wasn’t so perpendicular to the cliff face, they risked dislodging their hooks.  Testing all their weight on the ropes proved chancy; while the ropes were certainly secure enough to carry their weights without shifting too much, the added force of swinging backwards off the mountain and then as they trusted all their weight on the ropes was just as dangerous.  In the end, the group propelled back down to safer ground and charted a new direction glad they had lugged extra grappling hooks and rope with them.

By the time Addison stood at the top of the mountain, suffering slightly from vertigo, she was exhausted and had scraped off whatever skin had still clung to her arms during one very unnerving slip.

Their trek down the mountain was fairly uneventful until the last cliff.  Second-to-the bottom, Addi was two-thirds down their last propel when she chanced to look up.  Her shout rousted a flock of birds out of the trees below them – one of the ropes was fraying!  Too far away from it to be of any use, she was forced to nervously continue to make her way towards the bottom, pleading with the Creator.  In typical dramatic style, the rope snapped just as a second rope was secured and left the top two trainees thanking their lucky stars, clinging to the rock face.  Addison provided comic relief and fell the final three feet of her descent.

Thera seemed relieved to lead them all home in one piece, though Addi thought she’d noticed a flicker of amusement when the woman saw her rubbing head, arms, and rear.  As she kicked White Thunder back towards Tar Valon, angry red splotches began to itch all over her body.

“You have got to be kidding me!”

info's already been sent :D

Well, at least Lavinya had taken Sirayn’s disappearance better than she had.  Mind you, the woman wasn’t quite as... as she had said before, “distraught” as Estel had been upon receiving the news.  She briefly considered telling the Grey about the Black Ajah, and the theory beginning to form in her mind about their benefactor’s disappearance.  However, the concept of an entire Ajah sworn to the Dark One, hidden in the White Tower all this time, still felt foreign and her information all came second-hand.  Like the Order, she was “in on the secret” but still didn’t quite feel part of the group.  Besides, Lavinya could be Black – though that suspicion was likely the result of their ancient grudge.

As for the woman’s not-so-off-hand comment that the Order had reformed without her, Estel had considered it.  If someone had taken up Sirayn’s organisation in her absence, the most likely candidate was Jaydena since Aramina had also gone missing.  There was very little of the organisation left: their leader missing, the unofficial second-in-command missing a handful of weeks later, three members had been trapped in the Black Tower and taking sabbaticals to heal themselves after – that left barely half the organisation for Jaydena, or anyone else, to try and seize control over.  No, more likely she and Lavinya were the only former members still in contact.

The woman’s comment about working together took her completely by surprise.  Yes, over the last year and a half both had saved the other’s life, but that was a far cry from actually co-operating.  “Work together?  To rebuild what?  The Order?  Let me paint a picture of where we stood in the organisation: we were the two charity cases Sirayn took in simply for the amusement value of kicking us – and that is an improvement on our standing throughout the rest of the Tower.  What exactly do you expect us to accomplish?  Even if we can stop bickering long enough to decide on anything, what are we supposed to do about it?  Gather a group of Novices and Accepted to help?  Here in the Tower, what Sister would find anything either of us says credible, let alone worthy of her help and support.

“Without Sirayn’s help, you may be in trouble but I’ve already moved past this while you were...” despite her hatred for the woman and the fact that she’d love nothing better than to hurl her “impropriety” in her face, Estel still felt uncomfortable actually voicing the “faux pas” – probably associated with some tiny crumb of empathy she felt towards her rival, ““on sabbatical”.  Shevara has more important things to ferret out than a disbanded, illicit organisation of Sisters sworn to one of her missing, and presumably dead, predecessors.  As far as betraying the organisation to win points, the pair of us has the most to gain and the least to lose; I don’t see any of the others risking their credibility for a weak thread to the Amyrlin.

“I’ve already spoken with Shevara concerning my experience in the Black Tower,” she still couldn’t say the name without wincing, “and my absence following.  I have nothing to worry about concerning the Amyrlin and Hall.”  Estel wished she could add “I have nothing to hide” to drive her filthy semi-blackmail attempt to gain the upper hand of this tenuous possible partnership; unfortunately, the First Oath prevented such a lie.

ooc: fashionably late :P

ic:

Despite what many might say, based on the amount of time she spent choking on her foot, Addison had an unfortunate habit of over thinking things.  This wasn’t to say she couldn’t be impulsive, because Light knew she was, but after the decision was made she would rethink and regret everything.  Thus is was that Addi found herself, the next morning, regretting the amount of time she had spent regretting joining this class – needless to say, she hadn’t slept well.

She packed her bags silently, preoccupied; it was with a certain amount of trepidation that she flung, missed, and re-flung her grappling hook.  The group seemed to sense her unease, or at least Thera did, and she ended up being on the bottom of the string of scraggly youths slowly working their way up the cliff.  Heights weren’t what bothered her, not directly.  Rather, it was the fact that heights increased the severity of injuries should an accident occur – and there was no Yellow on the trip.  Unfortunately, Addison was somewhat... incredibly accident prone.  During her first week in the Yards, she’d visited the infirmary six times: one broken hand, the same hand lacked any skin across her knuckles the next day, bloody and blistered feet, a sprained ankle, a puncture wound, and a broken arm.  Whether by virtue of her clumsiness, inattention, violent temper, or just plain bad luck, Addi was on a first-name basis with any and every Yellow Sister that worked or even visited the infirmary.

If Addison could barely practice her sword forms without stabbing herself, how on earth was she going to climb a mountain without dying?

Actually, the climb went better than expected – in other words, she survived.  Considering she was at the bottom, the stones dislodged by her fellow trainee’s boots gravitated towards her like flies to a corpse; tiny scratches and a number of bruises covered her, luckily the worst was a goose egg sprouting from her forehead.  Addi reached the plateau in, more or less, one piece.  She found going down, while supposedly more dangerous, easier and definitely more fun.  With every jump backwards, nothing but the rope keeping her from crashing to a painful death, she felt a jolt of adrenaline rush through her body.  When the group reached the bottom, a big grin had sprouted underneath the goose egg while at least one of the others looked more than a little green.

By the time they returned to camp, exhausted fuzzed Addi’s brain too much to think and she slept deeply – though her companions would complain, not peacefully.

She nodded silently, content to follow the older woman’s lead – while she’d never been a sheep, neither did she possess the charisma that seemed to flow so freely from nearly every other woman living in the white walls.  “Considering my reputation, I doubt the woman will see me as any type of threat... unstable perhaps, but not a threat.  Since so few of us ever returned from Watchers, it shouldn’t be difficult to get an audience.  When would she be apart from the Keeper?  And if we can’t separate the two, what then?  We’ll have the element of surprise, but I’m not familiar with either of their strengths.”  All statements of the obvious, mused aloud for Maegan’s feedback and with the expectation of being told she’d missed something.

“Without testimony from Annais, Aramina, Lillian, Telcia, or Darienna, she can’t very well charge us with treason; in the Tower, only you and I know that it was against Annais’ orders that you left.  I don’t even really know how that played out, I was unconscious.  Promise of information about Watchers should be enough to entice her into meeting with us, the rest we deal with as it comes – dodge when possible, answer when forced.”

WS 3 to 4 - complete 1 req

Prank

Hell Hath No Fury (18 posts COMPLETE)

Addison and Edana embark on a revenge mission for women everywhere.

Uncomfortable described how Addison had felt hiring the prostitute.  It didn’t come near the word needed to describe how she felt standing outside her own bedroom door, listening to their plan backfire... rather loudly.  Painful, distressing: even they lacked the appropriate connotation.  Even more unfortunately, the absolute... tragedy - it seemed the most appropriate word, considering Addi felt the need to keel over with embarrassment with each new second of added humiliation.  In any case, this day’s tragedy was not yet done.

Out walks the whore, positively beaming and spewing out words like “calling me Addison” and “top bunk”.  Her stomach suddenly felt the need to spew out what little food she’d ingested today.  Addi took her gold back woodenly, desperately trying not to wrap her head around the situation.  Edana was talking but her words went in one ear and out the other as the grey matter in the middle curled itself in foetal position and rocked back and forth.

“I told you we should have found a guy.”  Pause.  “Um... now where am I supposed to sleep tonight?”

Cairma was Jaydena’s... ex-Gaidar?

Blink.

Blink.

‘Oh damn.’

Addison had never really understood the old adage “between a rock and a hard place” until right about now.  On one hand, she was not only talking to a Green Aes Sedai, but a Green Sitter.  Despite having only arrived two days prior, she had learned quickly the hierarchy of ranks:

- She, being a trainee and a new one at that, was at the very bottom of the ladder (unless one planned to include Tower servants and often even they had the ability to boss her around)

- Novices came next, though they weren’t actually supposed to be in the training yards, trainees were expected to treat them with respect since one day they would be Aes Sedai

- Accepted

- Tower Guards which, in and of itself, had a hierarchy

- Aes Sedai and by proxy, their Warders

- Sitters

- Amyrlin Seat and by proxy, her Keeper

According to the list, Sitters were only ever trumped by the Amyrlin Seat or Keeper; it was unlikely Addi would see them any time soon, let alone try to carry on a conversation with them.  However, the problem with her list was that the position of “mentor” was sort of a ghost title.  Did loyalty trump hierarchy?  After all, it was unlikely Jaydena Sedai would ever see her any time soon; whereas Addison would be spending every day of the next... however long it took to become a Tower Guard, with Cairma. 

Yet, the Aes Sedai embodied the woman she one day dreamed of Bonding; not only a Green, no doubt complete with the bravery, tactical skills, and wisdom required of both Aes Sedai and warrior, but a Sitter, already a powerful woman.  This was the type of Aes Sedai Addison could see gleemen sings songs about: beautiful, powerful, and the strange mask covering her face lent a dose of the mysterious.  Jaydena Sedai: the name was practically musical without the added effect of harp and tune.  Jaydena Sedai and Addison Gaidar.  The stories would tell of a deep and abiding friendship; a duo in which Addi was a partner, not merely a lackey.

Unfortunately, there was no way on earth those dream would come to fulfillment if she managed to infuriate Cairma this early in her career.

‘Oh damn, indeed.’

Addi pictured herself walking along fence rails at the farm, only theses fence rails were ten feet high and she faced the possibility of ruining what would have surely been a lustrous career.  “I am enjoying my studies very much, Jaydena Sedai, thank you.”  Pause, think, balance.  “Cairma is an excellent teacher.”

*goes in search of a blue scarf* ;)

welcome back :D 

*pops open a bottle of blue bubbly*

Blues?!

*sneaks in a bottle of blue champagne*

I can be just as shameless as Lav ;)

Questions anyone?

Estel's got a clearing in the Tower Gardens that was passed down to her from her mentor.  Plus she has a soup kitchen in Tar Valon and I know there was bar she used to go before she gave up drinking - there was also a bathhouse I remember her being stalked in :D

*is feeling so very loved*

bring it on ;)

CARLY!!!

*pounces*

More than happy to collapse at Cairma’s instruction, Addi sat and nodded absently at her mentor’s instructions while absently picking at one of the half dozen blisters covering the soles of her feet.  As such, she didn’t notice the approaching Aes Sedai until the woman’s voice elicited a jump from her, exacerbating sore muscles.  More surprising than an Aes Sedai deciding to approach her, apparently ignoring Cairma, was her mentor’s reaction.  By the time Addi turned towards the blonde woman, her face had reverted to its usual stony composure but the trainee was almost positive she’d heard the infamous words “Uh oh.”

Refusing to groan, she bit back a number of whines, moans, and whimpers as she struggled to her feet.  Addi attempted a shaky bow, nearly twisting as ankle in the process.  “Good morning Aes Sedai, it is an honour. I am Addison Thwait, only recently a Tower Trainnee.”  Addison might not have looked and felt so ridiculous if only she wasn’t still panting from the workout.  Unsure of how to address the situation, considering Cairma’s reaction to the Aes Sedai’s approach, Addi erred on the side of politesse and introduced the woman.  “This is my mentor, Cairma Vishnu.”

sorry, busy summer, I'll post in a day or two

summer of disappearances...

welcome back Wyndy *pops open a bottle*

I'm actually not really allowed to work for the next few days (something to do with missing wisdom teeth and painkillers) so I'll be around for a bit right now... busy summer though

“Are you sure we’re capable of civil conversation?  We’re Aes Sedai, our grudges last the generations.”  Not spoken with her usual dry amusement nor vehemence, instead she sighed and remembered her Warder.  “I’ll never forgive you.”  Even as Accepted, before Orion had even been born, they hadn’t been friends; Lavinya had been the perfect student, toeing every line, while Estel had been the truant with a bad attitude and authority issues.  They’d mostly ignored each other despite being only a handful of years apart in age and moving through their initiate years neck and neck.  In so many very unfortunate ways, they were too much alike long before Orion.  For that, she did hate the Grey; Estel hated herself, it only made sense to hate a woman so similar.

“Did Sirayn need a reason to be paranoid?”  Another lengthy grudge that was unlikely to ever be resolved.  “The woman swore an organisation of Sisters to herself but never divulged any actual information to them.  As for her disappearance, I returned almost two weeks after she was found missing and was... in no condition to learn more than Annais told me when I reported everything that had happened at the Black Tower.  Basically the Tower woke up one morning and she was just gone.  No signs of a struggle, no one noticed anyone channelling near the Amyrlin’s quarters, neither her papers nor any of her other belongings had been touched.  She just vanished into thin air.”  Taking into account Maegan’s recent revelation, Estel wondered whether Sirayn had been aware of the Black Ajah’s existence and if they were the cause of her disappearing act.

“I’m sure Jaydena must have led the few Order members left in the Tower to look for Sirayn and, of course, the Tower sent out official search parties – nothing.  After that, the Order more or less disbanded.  Not that I’m exactly the first member they’d contact if the Order were to reform and I was hardly about to seek them out.  The term for my condition at the time would probably be distraught.”

I actually have a third rule for tire swings, courtesy of my roommate

let go of the rope on the backswing not the foreswing... apparently rope to the balls hurts :P

Moving around and taking a seat in one of the soft blue cushioned chairs, Nastasia wove Saidar around an extra cup not far from their setting and set into her hands. Pouring a cup, her face was left unmoving with a rather quick tongue towards Corinne. "Perhaps it would have been better if you did as well."  It was unforgiving, harsh and exactly the words that gave her the reputation she had. "It would not take witnessing the event to see that the results were less than acceptable.  I, for one, am disappointed."  Pouring herself a cup of tea, Nastasia sipped it dark and without sweetener.

The immediate shift of control the moment Nastascia had walked in the room would have been apparent to a blind and deaf person – one might argue Estel was a figurative fit for both categories.  Rather than antagonise the situation, she sat uncharacteristically quiet; her influence in the matter was minimal at best.  It was strange how many nuances she found herself picking up on when she shut her mouth and observed like Corinne’s white knuckles or Nastacia’s eyes, carefully watching the Taraboner.

“You dare...  Your own failure is far more prominent than mine, Nasty.”  That Corinne would use a nickname while discussing what was turning into a very official matter attested to the grip that was quickly slipping on the reign of Ajah leadership.

She sipped her tea, "My only failure, Corinne, was assuming that Lanfir had at least some decency in seeing reason.  I shall not make the same mistake twice."  Her eyes glared coldly at the other Blue. "Which begs the question if you can at all."

“You’re questioning my decency?  I’m your Ajah Head, not vice versa.  If you plan to continue questioning my authority, call the meeting and I’ll defend my decisions to the Sister that were here to witness my actions, not to three Sisters halfway to nowhere when all this happened.”

Nastascia paused, her tea halfway to her lips when she set it back down. "Estel, go round up the Sisters. I think it is time that we show our First Selector the appropriate side of reason. Elyssa, go see that the Sapphire Chambers are prepared. Summon any that you need." Shaking her head, it was sad to see how far gone the woman was. She waited for the women to leave before she turned to Corinne in a softer voice. "I am sorry for this, but if you are getting so defensive over your position it begs the question if you can handle it when under the pressures of the Hall and just the sisters of your own Ajah. You have done great things for us, but perhaps it is time to allow someone stronger to lead the way."

Even with the Order disbanded, Estel found herself the lackey of those in power.  Resentfully, she followed Nastascia’s orders.  On her way out the door, she turned around for one last glimpse of the crumbling ice statue.  At this moment, Corinne’dei Susten seemed almost pathetic as she took a long sip of tea, likely wishing it was some form of alcohol.

The Domani shut the door behind herself without a drop of pity and began knocking on doors.

Nastascia Romanovni

Nasty

Corinne'dei Susten

Proud

Estel Liones

Lackey