Aalaryn and Telir - Of Questions and Cottages
With the recent invention of her warded collar, Aalaryn has earned or recieved, however you want to look at it, a little more freedom. But it is not freedom to laze about, no she's working. Today she is working on weeding out the herb garden. [Aalaryn]
The molten glow of the afternoon sun shines down upon the lands dedicated to the Lord Dragon's army of trained male channelers, the Farm, though the golden light warms the air only slightly. The footfalls of one of these trained men sounds softly approaching the the woman as she works at weeding the herb garden. His long black coat flares out slightly with each slow, measured step, the packed earth crunching lightly beneath the soles of his boots. The young man's hands are placed within the voluminous pockets of his coat, the two small silver pins, one a slightly curving sword and the second a small pin, glint from the high collar. A faint grin touches at the corners of the man's lips, his head tilted slightly down, allowing the twin tendrils of hair that hang before his face to sway gently back and forth with his movements. Telir pauses his walk a few paces away from the woman, his rich baritone voice kept light as he speaks, "Good afternoon." [Telir]
Aalaryn looks up from her work, a basket beside her full of various weeds she's pulled up, as she hears footfalls nearby. "Afternoon," she wipes her hands off on her skirts and stands up, leaving her collection of intrusive weeds on the ground. She looks even less like an Aes Sedai, maybe it's the clothes, or the dirt, could be both. "Should I stop for the day?"
A faint chuckle escapes the Dedicated's lips, his shoulders shaking lightly at the rumble of mirth that escapes his throat. His right hand slips from the confines of his voluminous coat pocket, holding it up in a halting gesture before he manages to find his voice, "I apologize, I do not mean to laugh, but this is not a sight I'm accustomed to." His hand falls back down to his side, his brows lifting faintly onto his forehead, his dark eyes centering on the Aes Sedai as his head fully lifts, "I believe we can give you a small break for the day." His tone remains light, nothing like the threatening tones he used with the woman upon their first meeting, "I have some good news for you." [Telir]
By this point she's gotten used to the polite chuckles, as well as the impolite ones. "It is alright," she offers a polite smile. As she's instructed to end for the day, or at least that she might have a small break, Aalaryn picks up the basket of weeds. "Oh?" she sounds truly intrigued, "Just a moment, I need to put these over so they can be burned." She hurries over to the burn pile and empties her basket out before heading back to stand with Telir. [Aalaryn]
Telir's head inclines briefly, tilting off slightly to one side, nodding only once to Aalaryn's question. He allows the woman enough time to go to the pile, empty the contents of her basket and return, his left brow arching slightly onto his forehead at some point during the interim. Once the Aes Sedai has returned, his head tilts slightly off to one side, "I have been told that the Lord Dragon's order to leave you with the coffin has been revoked and that Asha'man Navaran attempted to make you more comfortable while you slept." The Dedicated's free hand slips back into the pocket of his coat, "I have seen to it that you are given quarters that are nicer, or at least..." His head bows slightly as he trails off, his dark eyes, however, tilting up to look at the woman as he continues, "a room with a window." [Telir]
Aalaryn looks down at her hand for a moment before speaking, "Yes, I had fainted," she shifts her weight from one foot to the other, clearly the fact she fainted still embarasses her, "however, as you said, Asha'man Navaran did craft a sleeping arrangement for me. I have not had a chance to thank him." The Red listens to Telir's words carefully, a room with a window - she almost drops the basket from surprise. "Thank you." She actually curtsies politely to the Asha'man before her. Yes folks, the Aes Sedai curtsied to an Asha'man.
Telir nods slowly as the woman speaks, obviously listening though his expression becomes something unreadable and bland. Another small nod is given as the woman thanks him, though by the shift in his expression, he is not prepared for what she does next. His head tilts slightly to the side as the woman begins to bend into the curtsy, both dark brows lifting high onto his forehead as he watches her complete the movement. Though his hands remain within the confines of his voluminous coat pockets, he sweeps his right hand out to the side, flaring out his long coat in that direction, "There is no reason to thank me. You are no longer a prisoner in the strictest sense." His shoulders lift in a faint shrug as his hand, and likewise his coat, falls back to his side, "Though we cannot allow you to move around freely, we can give you some small comforts."
Aalaryn shakes her head slightly, the bells sewn to the ribbon in her hair tink and chime softly, "No there is reason to thank you, Asha'man Celidar. You and the young man whose ceremony I interupted," she briefly describes Tiernan, "I do not remember his name at the moment, which I will remedy, but thanks are needed. The pair of you spared my life, I could have been killed on the spot."
Telir allows the woman to speak her peace in silence, giving a single faint nod towards the woman as she finishes. His tongue clicks softly against the roof of his mouth, his composure regained while she spoke, though the expression he wears is passive at best, "Yes, we had every right to do so, but that does not further the goals of the Lord Dragon, nor the Asha'man." His hands spread casually out to the side, his long coat flaring out to reveal the pants he wears beneath, "Though we cannot fully trust you, or any Aes Sedai, we cannot allow ourselves to be caught up in a war with the White Tower." His chest rises and falls easily as he speaks, his voice kept light, but has almost a lecturing quality to it as he continues, "Diplomatic relations, even if they are strained, serves all of us better."
"Very true," Telir's right, the relations betwen both Towers are, strained at best, "if I can help with that, I will." Aalaryn shifts the basket from her hands to rest it's loop across her forearm looking a lot like an ageless farm girl in her attire and stance. [Aalaryn]
Telir looks very relaxed simply standing there, the light breeze rustling the hem of his long coat against the ankles of his hard black boots. He offers the woman a small smile as she gives her offer to help with the strained relations of the two Towers, "If you are to do that, then we should begin with the most basic building block and what you came here for, if I remember correctly." His right hand once more escapes from the pocket of his coat, gesturing out towards the interior of the Farm, "We could walk, if you like, but I can answer your questions and begin to teach you about the Asha'man."
Aalaryn nods to Telir, "I would like that very much, if you have questions please feel free to ask." The Arafellin woman keeps the basket with her, "we can walk, if you wish." She's at least trying to act like a guest, guests have limited freedoms while prisoners have none.
Telir turns slowly, the long coat flowing out to the opposite side lightly with the shift in movement, though he does not step off until Aalaryn steps up beside him. When he does begin to walk, he keeps a strolling pace, each step kept intentionally slow so that he might keep pace with the shorter woman, "Then ask your questions. I will answer and after we will see what more I can tell you." A faint thudding tap can be heard from the man's left coat pocket, the fabric on that side of his coat rising and falling gently in time with the staccato rhythm he has begun to tap against whatever it is that he has held within that pocket.
She has so many questions, where to start. Best to start small and build, she is learning and sharing as well as earning trust. "Well," she keeps pace with Telir, "How would you describe saidin? For myself, saidar is like.." she coniders her words for a moment, "a warm river, it holds power but only once you allow yourself to surrender to it fully can you embrace it." [Aalaryn]
Telir continues to look ahead while the Aes Sedai thinks of where to begin her questioning, not giving her any indication that he might be trying to rush her, nor that he has anything that he would rather be doing. His tongue passes briefly across his lips to wet them once the first question is spoken. His head does then turn to the side, his left brow arching faintly onto his forehead, though it seems that if there is any surprise, it is muted, "Going for the heart of our differences first, then?" He manages to allow a small grin to touch his lips, curving the left corner slightly, "I have heard similar descriptions of the embrace of Saidar in the past, but it is nothing like that for us." The young man draws a long breath, his chest visibly expanding before he releases the breath and continues, "Saidin is a roaring torrent of bone shattering ice and a raging inferno. It fills your veins with power and life and struggle." His lips twist, almost as if searching for the proper words to describe the sensation, "Saidin seems to actively want the fight for control and one must seize is by force and direct it by sheer will."
"I find it best to be direct, even if the results may be less than desirable," Aalaryn offers a smile. The halves of the power are quite opposite, just as men and women are. "Does it become easier with time and practice to touch saidin?" She's wearing brown.. maybe she should have been a Brown? [Aalaryn]
Aalaryn then questions, "Or does the taint interfere a great deal?" She knows it's a sensitive subject and she asks that question very delicately.
Telir gives a single nod in response to Aalaryn's statement about being direct, though he gives no voice to whatever it is that he might be thinking. His head turns once more, his dark eyes tilting towards the Aes Sedai at her second question, "It does become easier, but that is because our training drives us to hone our will as much as our bodies." His dark eyes narrow as he continues, apparently considering his words carefully as he speaks, "Though the struggle with Saidin itself never falters, or becomes easier. It is a harsh taskmaster." If he is offended in any way by the next question, he does not show any indication of it, "The taint is, thank the Light, something we no longer have to fight." His shoulders lift in a faint shrug, his voice dropping slightly in volume, but his tone remains easy, "The taint has been cleaned from Saidin, though we remember. The oily touch of the taint was familiar to us, but we are gladly rid of it."
Aalaryn glances to Telir as he speaks. "I have seen the Power used a great deal since I arrived in ways I would not have thought to use it. It does make sense, to train both mind and body at the same time." Silence passes over Aalaryn as she considers this. "When an Accepted in the White Tower is to be tested for the Shawl, we must weave one hundred weaves perfectly without paying mind to pain, cold, heat, exhaustion, anything that would and could be a distraction. It is very taxing and I think that if physical training with the power, just not to the limits that the Asha'men do, would be beneficial."
Telir gives the Red a small grin as she mentions as the test for the shawl of Aes Sedai, though he manages to not make it condescending. He offers another small nod before he speaks, gesturing out over the Farm with his right hand, "The Lord Dragon set us here with instructions to train in the One Power to become an army." As his hand falls back down to his side, his head turns to look straight ahead once more, "We are pressed every day, because we have centuries less experience than the women of the White Tower. Though we had the constant danger of the Taint driving us mad we had, and still have, to become weapons against the Dark One and his spawn." His shoulders lift faintly in a small shrug, "And the lingering effects of the Taint are something we must still be wary. I have no love for killing others like myself, but best we cut the twisted from our numbers before they can become a danger."
"I can imagine how hard that would be," Aalaryn tries to look at the situation from Telir's point of view - what if it were saidar that was tainted, what if women she had trained with went mad and had to be put down - what if she were hunted. The Red sighs and looks away, keeping pace with the tall Asha'man, "there has to be a way for the madness to fade or be healed, the Power has so many uses there must be a way." [Aalaryn]
Telir nods quietly, his head turned to study the shorter Red for a few long moments, their steps falling with him not yet speaking for a handful of heartbeats. After a moment he does speak, though somewhat haltingly, choosing his words carefully and, strangely it might seem, without accusation, "I agree that there should be a way to Heal the madness, but that has never been high on the Aes Sedai priority list, it appears." His right hand raises quickly, as if halting any words that the woman might speak before he can finish, "I do not say that as a barb against you, but you must realize we were hunted down like animals." His dark eyes focus intently upon the honey-tressed woman that he walks beside, "Your Ajah being responsible for little else than hunting us to extinction. You will find a colder reception than a Sedai of any other Ajah, though none would be greeted with warmth."
Aalaryn's nod is a solemn one. She has overheard the wives on the farm talk of how their men had been treated, only a few of the women seem to tolerate her presence and of those few maybe one has even attempted to be friendly. "I am beginning to understand. The first night I was here, I did not sleep. I thought and walked the room the entire night. I was too scared to sleep." She meets the Andoran's gaze, "It was fear and ignorance that has fueled the Red Ajah for so long, the lack of empathy only helped to kill what humanity was left."
A soft, yet rough almost harsh single chuckle escapes the throat of the young Dedicated, though he does not speak whatever thought has crossed his mind, only giving a single shake of his head as if shaking off a bad dream. Before the twin tendrils of hair that hang down before his face have even finished swaying a soft sigh escapes his lips, and it is then that he speaks, "It will take time to heal the wounds that exist between the Black Tower and the White. Time for the dragon fang to not be scrawled on doors to mark suspected darkfriends." The man's tongue clicks softly against the roof of his mouth, his lips once more twisting slightly towards a frown, "Each of us has sacrificed his former life to become a weapon, because that is all we can be. As our name suggests, we are swords for the Lord Dragon and we will cut down all that stands in his way." [Telir]
Uncertain of what to say, or ask, Aalaryn continues to keep pace with the young Dedicated quietly. After a good pause or uncomfortable silence, the Red speaks, "I will fight along side of you even if my Sisters will not. The Lord Dragon's plans and causes are mine as well." She rewets her lips, "But I have been asking all of the questions, I am certain that there are things you would like answered?" [Aalaryn]
Telir allows the uncomfortable silence to last as long as the Red will allow it, his attention focused on the ageless-appearing woman, apparently not needing to watch where he is walking since he does not lead them into anything without looking. His head inclines slowly, holding for a longer span than a simple nod, almost as if he is bowing his thanks for the woman's words. He does not include anything about the punishment of not allowing the cause of the Dragon Reborn to supersede any plans she might have had. The Andoran's shoulders lift slightly, his head giving a faint shake, "I have few enough questions, most were answered long ago." After a short pause, he does ask, "Why the attempt at cooperation now? Are the Aes Sedai still controlled by that fear of us?"
"Some are," Aalaryn admits, "when Elaida was the Amyrlin Seat, I was cast out for speaking up when she banished the Blue Ajah." She lifts her shoulders in a small shrug, "I do not know fully. It seems they were eager enough to forget that in the Age of Legends Aes Sedai were men and women, working together," she pushes aside a lock of errant hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "I know it is late to try for cooperation, to make ammends for the last Light knows how many years of treatment, but it must be done. Some play games at it while others jump into things with both feet." [Aalaryn]
Telir finally draws to a stop outside of a small utilitarian building, a single window adorning the eastern-facing wall. Like many of the buildings scattered about the Farm, this one has a heavy door, though unlike many of the buildings, this one seems to be out of use for the moment. The Dedicated gives a faint nod towards the Aes Sedai as she gives her opinions on the matter as his right hand extends towards the heavy door to the building. He pushes the door inward, a faint grin touching at the corners of his lips, "I believe you will find everything in order." Once he has pushed the door open, the young man steps off to the side, though his hand remains planted against the wood planks of the door, "This will be your home for the remainder of your stay with us." After a brief moment, used for effect it would seem, he speaks further, his voice wry, "Unless, of course, you marry an Asha'man."
[BT] Black Tower [Special Guest] Aalaryn : lol Tel
[BT] Black Tower [Special Guest] Aalaryn : they'd run the poor man out of the tower with pitchforks and fire
[BT] Black Tower [Bedwarmer] Ailsa : ?
[BT] Black Tower [Dedicated] Telir <--- chuckles
[BT] Black Tower [Dedicated] Telir : Telir made a joke.
[BT] Black Tower [Bedwarmer] Ailsa : I wanna hear a joke!
[BT] Black Tower [Dedicated] Telir : Moved Aalaryn into something a little less prison cell-like and said it would be her new home...unless, of course, she married an Asha'man.
[BT] Black Tower [Bedwarmer] Ailsa : *giggle*
Aalaryn's sleps slow as Telir's do. She stops while he opens the door to the building and then explains it's purpose, or new purpose. "Thank you," she steps closer to look in the door, not certain if she should enter the cottage, yes she's calling it a cottage now, or not yet. When he makes his statement/joke about marrying an Asha'man her eyes widen a bit. Thank the Light for Aes Sedai training for she schools her expression to hide her shock and a polite chuckle is her initial response. "Oh, I don't think that will happen. I've caused quite enough trouble as it is, but I do thank you for the cottage."
[BT] Black Tower [Special Guest] Aalaryn : and her ic response was "I've caused enough trouble as it is."
[BT] Black Tower [Bedwarmer] Ailsa : hehehe
[BT] Black Tower [Special Guest] Aalaryn : I'm teling you Tier and Telir have a way of throwing Aala off of her game.
[BT] Black Tower [Special Guest] Aalaryn : just send them up for the last battle, have them talk to the DO, he'll give up
[BT] Black Tower [Bedwarmer] Ailsa : *laugh*
Telir inclines his head, "Feel free to arrange the room as you like." Once he straightens, an amused twinkle can be seen deep within those dark eyes of his, a shift in expression that is mirrored by his voice, "I was joking." His hand falls away from the door after another few moments, stepping back and away from the doorway entirely, "If you have need of anything further, send word to me." His head turns, his dark eyes glancing off into the distance before returning to the Aes Sedai, "I have other duties to perform, or I would talk longer, but I will return later if you have more questions."
[BT] Black Tower [Dedicated] Telir : Heh
Aalaryn's lips form into a smile, tricky Asha'man always throwing jokes at her from left field. "A good joke," she's not offended by it one bit though she was surprised. "I enjoyed our talk, I look forward to our next one." She steps inside of her new home and turns, "Thank you Asha'man Celidar. I will not keep you from your duties."
You are now arranging her new house now! Not accepting marriage proposals, sorry boys.
Telir offers the woman a quickly sketched bow, though one that flows smoothly enough to seem as though he has some practice at doing such things, "Enjoy your new home Aalaryn Sedai." With that, the young man turns, his long coat flaring out behind him as his right hand once more slips into the voluminous pocket of his coat. Before the hem of his coat has even settled, the man takes his first step off into the deeper recess of the Farm at a casual pace.
[BT] Black Tower [Dedicated] Telir : I have to be able to throw people off balance if I'm going to be any good at my jobs.
Aalaryn returns Telir's bow with a polite curtsey as he returns to his duties.
[BT] Black Tower [Special Guest] Aalaryn : true.
[BT] Black Tower [Special Guest] Aalaryn : this was fun, thank you.
(OoC)-> Telir says, ' np. I enjoyed it. '
(OoC)-> Aalaryn says, 'hope it's cool that she does things around the farm, helping with cooking, etc.'
(OoC)-> Telir says, ' Not a problem at all. If she hadn't done it on her own, she would have been given stuff to do. '
(OoC)-> Aalaryn says, '<--can be good, see!'