Warding Lessons (closed)

[Lou]

Tala dusted crumbs off her hands as she approached a mixed group of Novices, Soldiers, Accepted and Dedicated seated on rugs spread out before an Asha’man and Aes Sedai. There was no one else in the channeling yards, so it must be her class. Tala was still nervous to learn new things, but she approached, and sat near the back. Tala had not been tested for a talent for Wards, not until an Aes Sedai had thought to see if she could do it. And Tala had been able to do it easily. Hence why she was sent to this lesson, with both tiers of the Learning Ranks here. Tala pulled out her parchment, ink, and pens as soon as she sat down. Notes kept her awake and learning, and she wanted to learn as quickly as possible. She had discovered quickly that people assumed that she was no good at certain things, simply because she was Tuatha’an. And she was doing everything she could to prove them wrong.

It wasn’t hard to listen attentively to the Asha’man; even though it was early, she would rather learn then sleep. Tala couldn’t help but frown at the comment that some might think the class to be a waste of time. When was any type of knowledge a waste? She couldn’t understand it. From what the Asha’man described, Wards were marvellously useful things. The possibilities the One Power offered still amazed Tala, even after all this time.

She packed her things back into her bag at the Asha’man’s instruction to research, already looking forward to visiting the library. Being surrounded by so many books… it was like being surrounded by power, for Tala had found that knowledge really was power very quickly after arriving at the Tower. The more she knew, the better off she was.

---

The other students were already assembled by the time Tala made it back to the channelling yard, her assignment clutched in one hand so that the ink would not smear in her book bag. She had not intended to be late, but she had gotten distracted with her nose in a book. Tala sat in the back once more, glad that she had arrived before the Dedicated had resumed the lesson. She looked over her parchment, checking for errors.

In The One Power and Basic Battleweaves, an ingenious ward often used by sisters of the Green Ajah is described. The weave traps anyone, person or animal, who passes it in a net of the Power. Air and Spirit are used in the weave to first sense the presence of a person who walks through the weave and then to immobilize that person in a net of air. The weave appears to be complex, as it requires stimulus to perform its function. Based both on the previous book and on the account of using both facets of the Power in Two Sides of the Source, the weave would require fire and spirit for male channelers. Combining this with the air and spirit necessary with saidar would likely destabilize the weave. This could either cause the ward to simply fail or to release early and possibly trap the very people who created it.

Satisfied that she had made no errors and that the ink was dry, Tala stood up and went to the Asha’man to turn in her assignment. It was accepted, read and she was dismissed to sit back down for the continuation of the lesson.

[Lou]

Tala had not noticed the weave around the channeling yards, which irritated her. She turned to look, narrowing her eyes. She could see it, now that she knew to look. It was a mass of flows, too complicated for her to pick apart and understand with further study. She turned back to face the Asha'man and Aes Sedai, frustrated. Perhaps she would not have any talent with wards.

Whatever the Asha'man did to demonstrate the weave with saidin, Tala had no knowledge of it. It was interesting that male channelers could sense saidar, but women could not sense saidin. Inconvenient, but interesting. She watched Sera Sedai channel, her head tilting as she concentrated. It was far simpler than the ward surrounding the yard, and Tala could see the way that the weaves would function together to prevent sound from escaping.

At the command to begin, Tala immediately embraced saidar. She formed the flows of Air and Spirit, and a dome still appeared on the ground before her. Tala let the weave go, and the dome disappeared. Frowning as she focused, she channeled again. It had seemed as if Sera’s flows had been of slightly different thickness, and Tala wanted to try. It was more difficult to control flows of different diameter; especially the thread-like flows of Air. She took more time, working the flows carefully into the weave. It was more elegant than her first patchwork weave, and the dome that rose up in front of her did seem more stable than her first. Tala grinned; it was a little larger, if not as large as 3 spans. She tried again, even slower this time, taking greater care with each flow.

The dome that appeared in front of her was at least 3 spans large, if not bigger.

She grinned, looking around for someone she could share her success with. No other weave had ever come so easily to her, and Tala had never noticed such nuance in flows. To her chagrin, she caught the eye of another Accepted, Rhia. Tala disliked the girl; Rhia had been at the Tower longer than she had and was from a noble family in Andor, and lorded it over her. From the way Rhia bragged, she should already be Aes Sedai by now, and bonded to half the warder yards.

“Let’s pair up, Talaitha.” The other Accepted ordered her, moving so that she was siting in front of Tala . “I want to get this over with.”

Tala scowled, and channeled without a word. The dome sprang up around her, just the right height to fit her inside. She knew that the ward had worked; each time she tried the weave, it got easier. “Can you hear me, Rhia?” She asked anyways, her tone surly. The other Accepted didn’t reply, just looked at her blankly, and Tala couldn’t help herself. “I dislike you.” She told the other Accepted before letting her ward drop. For all that she trusted her ward, she couldn’t believe she had said such a thing. Rhia could have read her lips! The other novice was fond of pranks, and Tala knew that Rhia would have her vengeance if she knew.

It took Rhia three tries to create a ward that worked, and Tala couldn’t help the vindictive glee that rose up in her. Perhaps Rhia was not as close to becoming Aes Sedai as she claimed. Perhaps she was not even strong enough to be raised! Tala had not been as strong as Rhia when she had arrived at the Grey Tower, but her strength had been increasing gradually since. Tala had no doubt that she could manage more of the power now than Rhia could, but knew better than to say such things to such a prideful girl.

They both turned back to the Asha'man, who Rhia had told her was named Caspian, and waited silently for him to continue the lesson.

[Lou]

After the Aes Sedai had come around, and nodded her head to them both, Tala realised that Rhia was staring at her, eyes narrowed and lips turned down. “I don’t care about you.” The other novice informed her, and Tala stared at her in surprise, shocked out of her fear. “I don’t care what just happened. But you stay away from me.” The girl got up and flounced away, and Tala stared after her in confusion. She would never understand that girl.

She forced herself to watch with a calm expression as the Asha'amn stopped in front of her and trapped a rodent in a ward of saidin. She would not let her emotions get the best of her. But she still breathed a sigh of relief when the Asha'man moved away, towards the next student.

To be able to turn her eyes to Sera Sedai was even more of a relief. Tala couldn’t help but frown as Sera spoke; Spirit and Fire were the elements that she had the no trouble with, but Earth always was a slippery thing for her to control. This ward would not be as easy for her as the last had been.

She embraced saidar, and drew out the flows that she needed. Fire was comfortable for her, and Tala was not at all surprised that she did not have a hard time holding the flows of Fire and Air together but Earth would not come. She let go of the weave, and tried again. The Spirit at the start of the weave was good; channeling thick cables of it was tiring, and she could not seem to weave Earth into the mass of Spirit and Fire.

“Sera Sedai?” She asked quietly, drawing the attention of the Aes Sedai as she passed. “Could you show me the weave again?” The woman nodded, and channeled quickly. There was a trick to it, one that Tala had missed the first time around. Sera Sedai tied off the flows of Spirit, before moving on to Fire and Earth. “Thank you, Aes Sedai.” She murmured distractedly, already starting again on the weave.

It was simple, once she knew the trick of it, even with the flow of Earth. Deftly, she pieced the weave together, to one side of the dome before her. It appeared in the dome, a safe distance away from the mouse. Tala grinned, and pushed hair out of her face. Looking around to see if other students were done, Tala realised that many were still having trouble. She had time to practice more with the weave.

It was simple enough to create more of them inside the dome, to make a little maze. Tala had never been very good at mazes, so she worked slowly, mapping out the escape route first, before adding in other parts of the maze. When she was done, she let go of saidar with a sigh. The wards had been exhausting, and she wanted food more than anything else. She watched the Aes Sedai as she came over to her, and noted her use of the wards, and was sure she noted a little smile at the corner of her lips. She nodded and them gestured to the food table, before moving on.

As she stood and walked to the fence to get an apple, Tala could not help watching the Asha'man and Aes Sedai as they circulated amongst the other students. The apple was delicious, and filled a hole, just what she needed to continue on with the lesson.

[Lou]

Tala could not help but smile and look at the flowers eagerly. As before, a ward that seemed so simple and innocuous would have so many uses. She waited impatiently for the Asham'amn to show the soldiers the weave, her eyes on Sera. When the Aes Sedai channeled, the familiar golden glow surrounding her, Tala could not help but frown. The ward seemed more difficult than the last, and her energy was already flagging despite the apple.

She suppressed her smile at the looks some of the students exchanged when the Asha'man mentioned the upcoming test. It was silly of them not to expect it; the Tower tested its initiates whenever possible. She could not help but be interested by he Asha'man's question- what would happen if the ward were used on an animal? She itched to test it- perhaps on one of those rats? She pondered the idea for a moment before she realised what she was thinking. Tala tucked her face down to hide her rueful smile. She was getting too excited by learning and research; it would be awful if she accidentally suffocated some poor animal. She would go to the library tomorrow, and ask a Brown for a book.

After picking up a few of the flowers and returning to her seat, Tala embraced saidar. While holding the power, the flower seemed so much more beautiful than before. The floral scent distracted her for a moment, as she held the flower up to her nose.

The sound of a novice cursing quietly behind her brought Tala back to her task. Frowning, she channeled carefully, doing her best to weave the small threads of Spirit and Water into the mesh of Air. It was difficult work; Tala was not very skilled with delicate threads, and adding Water into the mix was all the worse.

Her first attempt was abysmal. She set the flower aside, frowning down at it. The ward she had made would hardly help the flower last a day. Her next try was just as awful. Tala looked up, scrutinising the novices around her. What was she doing wrong? Even Rhia seemed pleased with the flower in her hands.

Tala spun her next flower in her fingers as she watched another Accepted, Zebeline, channel. Zebeline had a grasp of saidar that Tala was envious of; the other girl’s weave was elegant and simple. Tala watched her for a moment more before trying again. This time, she followed Zebelines example, and made the ward as simple as she could. She was still careful with the thin threads of Water, and the resulting ward was far better than her previous attempts. Satisfied, Rhyka set her final flower away from the rest, and turned her attention back to the instructors who were walking around. The Aes Sedai came by her place and nodded her head once again before moving on.

[Lou]

Tala could not help the sigh of relief when the Asha'man announced that they were on their last weave. Tiredness was creeping up on her; this was the first lesson of the day, ad she had many more to go. She watched Sera’s weave carefully, hiding a yawn in her fist. It seemed simple enough. Tala was constantly amazed at the amazing things saidar could do with just a small weave. She snapped back to attention at the mention of Illusion. She had heard other novices talking about Illusion, and how it could be used to make you look like someone else. It sounded like it could be… useful.

Tala pulled out her pen, paper, and ink from her book bag. She scribbled a few lines on the paper, and then embraced saidar. The wonderful feeling of the Power almost made up for her tiredness. The weave practically flew together, so quickly that it surprised Tala. Spirit was becoming easier and stronger, the more she worked with it, and it showed in her weaves. She glanced down at her paper, just to check, and the scribbles were gone. She channeled again, a fine twist of air, and the weave dissolved, leaving her original paper.

She smiled, satisfied for a few moments before she realised that the Asha'man had given them a challenge. Stifling a sigh, she stared blankly down at her sheet of parchment. How could she make the paper show something else entirely?

It reminded her of another weave that a Brown sister had taught her in the library. The weave used Air and Spirit to transfer an image of text in a book to another piece of paper. It was marvellously useful, and had saved Tala from writing trying to remember stuff all the time.

She pulled out another piece of parchment, and scribbled down a quick picture of the Brown’s weave. How could she incorporate the weave into the illusion ward? Her mind whirled with the possibilities, and her hand shot up to catch the Aes Sedai's attention.

“About the challenge,” she started, as soon as she made his way over, “I think I could incorporate a weave that transfers an image of the page of a book to another piece of paper.” She shoved her quick drawing of the weave into her hand, hoping it made sense. “I think it might be possible to overlay that weave with the ward, tying it in where you add Air to the mesh of Spirit.” She sketched out the flows of the ward with her hands, and pointed to where she imagined the other weave could fit in. “That way, the paper will show the image of another paper, not the original words…” She trailed off, suddenly realise how fast she was talking.

Tala tucked her chin down, embarrassed. “Would that work?” She asked, her voice timid. Blood and ashes, what was she thinking! Rambling away at the Aes Sedai before her. The woman looked it over, and seemed to think about it. Then advised Tala to practise it in her free time and see what she could make happen.

[Lou]

This time, at least, Tala was not late. She had almost been; she had remembered her short essay on using preservation wards on living things, but had realised that she had left her flower behind when she was halfway to the channeling yards. Her race to arrive on time had been successful, but her face was flushed from the exertion of it. She took the time before the class began to look over her essay.

This ward is fundamentally unsuited to use on any animal or person. Wards and Their Uses discusses how the ward works; the net of Air for women and the weave of Earth for men blocks the object that is warded from the environment. This means that there is a barrier between the object and air; this is why bread and grain will not spoil after this ward is woven. Therefore, if someone tried to use this ward on a living creature, it would suffocate.

“Good morning.” Tala muttered back to the Asha'man with the rest of the class, clutching her bag to her chest. She sat in the back as the Asham'man spoke, outlining the test. It was what she had expected. She sat, impatient, as the other students who had arrived before her took their turns at the test. Some did well, and some did not. Only a few were turned away after their third unsuccessful attempts.

Finally, it was her turn. Tala stood up quickly, and strode up to the Asha'man and Aes Sedai, containing her nervousness. She handed him her essay, and presented her flower. She had watched it carefully, and it had shown no signs of wilting. It looked the same as it had on the day that she had woven the ward over it.

After the Asha'man read over her essay, Tala began on the weaves. The weave of Air and Spirit came easily to her, and the ward against eavesdropping sprang up around her. Tala was certain that it had worked, and could not contain her smile. “Can you hear me?” She spoke loudly, but the Aes Sedai made no reply. Satisfied, Tala dropped the weave and started on the next ward.

Next, she took the two pieces of paper she had brought with her, and silently showed the pair that they both had writing on them. Rhyka then embraced saidar, and wove the threads of Spirit and Air carefully. For a moment she fumbled the thin strands of Air in her nervousness. But she caught herself, and completed the first weave. She wove the ward again more quickly, and set that weave over the second piece of paper. Tala handed the papers to the Asha'man, and could not help but bite her lip as he took them. She had completed the weaves correctly, she knew it, but it was still nerve wracking to have her work tested.

There was only one weave left. The Asha'man held the rat, and Tala wove quickly. Of all of the wards, this would be the most disastrous if she failed. The thought of a rat loose made her want to squirm; it would be such an embarrassing failure. Steeling her nerves, she channeled flows of Spirit, Earth, and Fire as the Asha'man dropped the rat. The ward sprang into being, and Tala grinned when the rat turned away from the side of the ward. She had done it!

Expectantly, Tala turned to the pair, looking like she was standing taller, though she hid any sense of pleasure at managing her wards. When both the Aes Sedai and Asha'man congratulated her on her work, she smiled and headed back to her seat, as the next person went on up.