A Class is Passed

[Julio]

Daelar walked quickly, weave diagrams whirling through his head, along with some rather random thoughts of a certain Accepted. Well, they were quite unnecessary, and likely to be annoying. He pushed her out of his head, but she kept finding ways of sneaking back in. He pushed open the door, and, as usual, neither Aslalin nor Rhykana were in the room yet.

He sat carefully in his seat, placing his quills, inkwells, and parchment on the table. He had been tempted to bring his recently created refilling quill Ter'angreal to the class, but had decided against it. Didn't want to be yelled at during the final.

Rhykana and Aslalin came in, carrying large boxes. As she explained, Daelar felt a small spat of nervousness. He had never made a diagram with no professional input, nor made a diagram for Saidar. He turned, looking for an Accepted to partner with. Kyril shrugged, walking over to him. “Well, I s'pose we can work together. You're quite uppity, but you do seem to know more than most in the class.”

Daelar shrugged. “Well, I suppose that would be acceptable.”

He uncorked his inkwells, unrolled a piece of parchment, and set to work. The effect itself was very easy indeed. He had used it many times, to teach, to prepare something to practice with, and to quench his thirst. Drawing the weave, however, was a good bit more difficult. It was all water, three interlocking spirals all leading toward the inside of the bowl. With some practice it was very simple to weave, but it was very difficult to draw. He had to cross out a few of his botched drawings before he had finally completed the weave from four different angles.

He began to draw the key he had chosen to use, an ordinary weave to detect a thread of water channelled into it. Before he had gotten the first part finished, he heard Kyril frustratedly bang her fist on the table. He turned to her. “What are you having trouble with?” He asked.

Frustrated, she turned to him and answered. “I can't remember how to draw a key. I had them all memorized yesterday, but I can't remember them now.”

Daelar sat for a moment, thinking. After a moment he took a scrap of parchment and drew a small diagram, adding the equations at the proper parts. “I think I may remember the female air key. Unless I am mistaken, this is it.”

She continued her work, and he went back to his. Finishing his diagram of the key, a weave of water with a coil of spirit around it and a strange knot at the end, he drew the weave of spirit that would connect the key to the weave. This Ter'angreal was actually quite simple, as it only had one effect. The only thing that kept this from being an easy assignment was the restriction on looking for assistance in the library or from an Asha'man.

He checked his calculations, revised his drawings ever so slightly, and looked over at Kyril's diagram. She had yet to finish the weave for drawing the water out of the air. It was very different from his own; it was made of both air and spirit, a single vortex leading down into the bowl. Once she had finished with that, she had to connect the key to the main weave. She attached the key, a thread of air in a lattice of spirit, to the bottom of the vortex weave. Her attachment was a simple twist of the elements comprising the two things, air, water, and spirit.

Once she had finished with that, Daelar asked her to check his calculations. Meanwhile, he checked hers. She was just as fast as him with this, and when they were done they walked up to have their diagrams checked. Daelar's diagram was passed, and Aslalin sent Kyril to Rhykana.

Carefully setting the bowl on the table, Daelar began to channel. He wove the simple key, winding the spirit around the thread of water. He created the knot of spirit to connect the key to the rest of the weave. He took water, creating three interconnected spirals, which he attached to the other side of the knot of spirit. Satisfied with the weave, he tied it to the bowl and released it. There was a flash of light, and he felt substantially less chipper. Aslalin nodded. “Good.”

Daelar returned to the table where Kyril had been sent. She needed to alter the connection in the weave before attempting it. He suggested a braid, looking over her calculations again. Half a candlemark later, Kyril had succeeded in creating a Ter'angreal.

They had passed the class.