Like Speaks To Like [Attn Illyria]

[Carra]

Maegan Ryanne Gravitating...
The small Cairhien could not help but smirk at the smaller Cairhien and her slashed stole around her next. The smaller of the two looked rather unhappy, not that Maegan could blame the woman, but it did make things a little uncomfortable for them both. They had not exactly been forthcoming in their relationship prior to meeting in the Grey Tower. Carraidhin had every right to be upset, but thankfully it was not directed at her.

"Shall I write a letter, or let you surprise them?" She asked, finally.

Maegan gave a casual shrug. "While I would love to have my research journals back, I doubt they would be too happy to know that the person that put a hole in the Red Ajah quarters still lives and is perfectly capable of protecting herself."

"We will need to have you resworn to the Oaths. Preferably sooner than later." The Amyrlin spoke, this time the tone reflecting her station.

"In time, yes. Perhaps it is something that will be done when I pick an Ajah."

"Will you not choose Red?" The rare hint of surprise in Carraidhin's voice softened Maegan's smile.

"Your Red is not my Red, Mother."

A simple answer and now Maegan was left to her own devices. She maintained quarters in the guest wings until she could find herself an Ajah, but her predicament was.. unusual. At least, Maegan was unsure how often someone came to the Grey Tower asking to be healed from stilling. The temptation to just touch Saidar had never been so strong but she resisted. Instead, she carried her walk, carefully, through to what Carraidhin had told her would take her to the Indigo Ajah Quarters. The Ajah sung to her heart and to her talents, and she wished to know more of the Ajah. The Red Ajah had been her home for so long that it felt unnatural to her to court another, but she still loved her Ajah. She loved the Brown Ajah, and Maegan suspected that she would love the Indigo Ajah.

But was it to be HER Ajah?

She did not know, and it was not like her to make such decisions without evidence and at least some kind of connection to the Ajah she is courting. If all they wanted of her was to make Ter'Angreal then perhaps it was not the Ajah for her. Maegan was more than her talents, but was the Ajah more than just the rumors?

A steady hand knocked on the door Maegan had been directed to.

Knock Knock.

[Stasia]

Illyria Malkom Change is Universal
Her quarters, through cramped in the evening, were more spacious by daylight. A nursery was being prepared in what had been an office; she had one downstairs, filled to the brim with paperwork concerning Tower initiates, and Silas had one on the eastern side of the Tower for Captain-General duties. They had decided early on that it would be for the best if his work did not follow him to their quarters: the relationship between the Green and the Indigo was not exactly tremulous, but she doubted anyone would be pleased if they thought she played her hand where it was unwelcome.

Not that Illyria had any particular desire to have anything to do with politics. Though she was not unconvinced that Carra and Jayrd would not drive the Tower into the ground, she was more than happy to pretend that it was not happening. Her days as Keeper of the Chronicles were not days that she looked back on fondly. She was much better suited to her plain offices and concrete duties as Mistress of Novices. It gave enough room for her to participate in Ajah business, but was enough of an excuse that she could politely decline if she desired it.

It was quiet. It was useful. And it stable.

And it was about to be interrupted by the arrival of her first child. It would not be long at all before the babe was here - she felt fit to burst. The familiar fear of her own capabilities had tripled after her attending Yellow had announced with fiendish glee it would be less than a month, now. It felt like it had been a century since she'd missed her first cycle. Soon enough, she'd be able to hold her child. Anticipation was heavy and equally matched by the strengthening sensation that smoke ought to be trailing from her ears. This still isn't as bad as politics, she reassured herself weakly. That would have to be re-evaluated after she'd had a chance to try her hand at motherhood.

And then, there was Edric. Her brother-in-law was happy to follow Silas like a wet pup - though she'd never seen a puppy that was as nervous as he was. The boy clung to Silas like a shadow that was scared of its origin. He hadn't yet decided that he could be trusted, but he was better than any of the other channelers. And I thought that I had experienced culture shock... Silas had put off testing him for the ability to channel. Illyria could not bring herself to argue, despite that his family tree had strong implications for it.

The Wheel wove a complex Pattern - a Pattern that seemed to be stuck in a rut. Nothing could change, for now; she could not force time to pass more quickly. She could only hold her breath.

Tap, tap.

A soft knock gave her the opportunity to cast off her musing and tend to the present. In all likelihood, it was an Accepted, looking for the master-list of names for Ajah representatives; the novices knew that she took midday for herself, and Light help them if they did not mind their clocks. She stood slowly and wearily, having long given up on attempting to keep her dresses straightened over her expansive belly. That much of her could look as disheveled as it liked - there was no hope for it. The rest of her was very well in order, and that would surely compensate. Her hair was pinned away from her face, agelessness afforded her grace, and the great serpent ring on the first finger of her left hand reminded her that eventually, order would be restored. Eventually.

Perhaps in twenty years, she thought with a small smile. She’d worked with too many adolescents to believe for a single moment that her child would be an adult until they were forty. But at least, it ought to be smoother sailing after the first half. She answered her door, expecting to find someone curtseying on the other side… And blinked as her expectations were dashed. Instead was a woman she had not met; petite (but still taller than she was), soft-featured, with warm, dark eyes peering out from behind delicate spectacles. She looked fairly young.

Illyria knew that appearances could be deceiving.

If this particular woman had not been at the heart of ripples and rumor throughout the Tower, she might have been anyone. Only if. This, she supposed, was Maegan Ryanne in the flesh. Now that she had been Healed, they were close in strength - not quite matched. It was still disconcerting, having a Red at her doorstep. She could not quite wrap her mind around the purpose of Carra's Ajah. Jaryd seemed nothing like her, and while she claimed that the White Tower's Red was no inspiration... It seemed no accident that Maegan had sought refuge here. She could feel the undertow scrape at her waist; should she falter, or Light help her, fail, she'd find herself dragged back out to sea.

Illyria Malkom detested politics. She'd made it her life's work to abandon them, and still, they hounded her. That was the price of her status, she supposed. Most people believed that Aes Sedai were untouchable. Illyria did her best to stay out of the way of them, in total spite of her own identity. She had no delusions of grandeur nor any desire to play puppeteer - and she disliked the notion of being on anyone else's strings. Despite her discomfort, she kept her features calm, her posture relaxed, and her gaze soft. One of the more useful things that her training had imparted was the ability to completely hide herself behind the calm facade.

"Hello," she said gently - it had been a long while since she'd heard her voice sound so calm. Novices did not even have the brains of sheep, these days. "Might I help you, sister?" She ignored the impulse to wince. The term had slipped off of her tongue customarily - but was it correct? Maegan was Aes Sedai... But not bound to an Ajah, to her Tower, or by the Oaths. Too late to correct it now, she reminded herself. At the very least, she projected an air of warm welcome. She could not be faulted for that.

[Carra]

Maegan Ryanne It was odd to her to not have her usual armor, her clothes, her ter'angreals and everything about her simply be gone. With an assist from the Amyrlin Seat, a smirk to her lips at the thought, Maegan was at least dressed well enough to feel comfortable for formal visits. Not that she had been welcomed to many, as the Red Ajah was rather notorious here even if they appeared to have accepted their Red Amyrlin and M'Hael. Her casual spectacles on her nose, hair brushed up relatively neatly it was clear that Maegan was unused to dealing with her mop of waves without aide. Being partially blind was not entirely at fault for it either.

She gave a firm nod of welcome to the woman that opened the door for her, a very very pregnant Aes Sedai. A novelty to her, it caught Maegan off guard a little before accepting the greeting from the Indigo. Pregnancy was often frowned upon in the White Tower and is often hidden and shamed. Clearly the opposite is true here in the Grey Tower and it gave Maegan hope.

"Illyria Malkom Sedai, I assume?" She used the honorifics with reverence, even if the woman was younger than herself, yet surprisingly stronger. Few were stronger than her and that also was a surprise upon entering the Grey Tower. "I have come to ask you a few questions about the Indigo Ajah. The Amyrlin Seat was gracious enough to give me someone I might talk to and you came with high recommendation. May we talk?"

[Stasia]

Illyria Malkom "Illyria Malkom Sedai, I assume?" Her name floated gracefully off a Cairhienin tongue, with a careful tone. Respectful, despite how she asserted herself; with strong posture and a strong voice, the Aes Sedai made sure to leave an impression of herself and of Tar Valon. She had been cast out from the Shining Walls, but she seemed to remain a denizen to her core. Illyria had never truly given thought to it - an Aes Sedai seemed to be an Aes Sedai. But... It was certainly a different flavor than the woman that came from Hama Valon. But, was it the crimson fringe that had once graced her shoulders or was it a true difference?

"I have come to ask you a few questions about the Indigo Ajah. The Amyrlin Seat was gracious enough to give me someone I might talk to and you came with high recommendation. May we talk?"

Illyria allowed herself a small lapse in serenity - or rather, Maegan's words stole it from her. She stared for a short moment, her eyes slightly narrowed with suspicion and curiosity - The Indigo Ajah? She had been prepared for a lecture, or a political sabotage, or... Not this. She found her voice quickly, but perhaps not quickly enough for the Red's observant eyes. "I - of course, sister."

She moved herself away from her doorway as quickly as she could manage (which was not quickly enough for her taste, but Maegan was gracious, and kept to the pace that was set) and silently invited the woman into her parlor. "I can call for tea, if you would like." It was a friendly offer, if not voiced in an entirely friendly tone: caution betrayed her. Illyria navigated her way into a seat, and gestured for Maegan to do the same, and folded her hands on her knee, as they no longer fit in her lap.

"I assume that Mother conveyed the general purpose of the Ajah, Maegan Sedai," she said carefully, watching her guest with carefully veiled unease, "If you tell me what you already know, it will be easier to answer your questions." She smiled thinly - not cold nor condescending, but... Cautious.

[Carra]

Maegan Ryanne Maegan carefully took a seat, her movements graceful for her age, but slow as her sight was not quite what it was, debating how best to approach the Aes Sedai, the expecting mother, in the comfort of her home. Surreal, she never felt that she would need to look at other Ajah's let alone fine one that would have given her pause had she been an Accepted in the Grey Tower. Centuries have passed and it was like she was Accepted once more, but with the weight of time and experience settling her bones far deeper than any Oath she carried.

"Maegan, please." The smile was gentle, but still she held back a reserve as they were not friends yet, and a new Tower was a very dangerous place to assume such familiarity. "Very little. I will admit that I did not ask her much of the Ajah, but more of her own. Having been rejected by my own Ajah the Red still calls to me as would a lifetime of habitual movements, but I do not believe that the Red Ajah of the Grey Tower is the same as the Red Ajah of the White Tower. This is both good, but it leaves me in a bit of a strange situation." Maegan paused thoughtfully, "You see, I have a Talent for Making Ter'Angreal. This was something I learned well after gaining the Shawl and had it been before it would have colored my Ajah choice drastically. It is a Talent I have cultivated in secret, private, and now with such a resource of the Indigo Ajah, I feel that it could be a great asset to the Grey Tower." That she could be, for the first time in her life, useful to the Tower and instead of having all her work done in secret she could take what research she had done and elevate it in a new and different way that had she had never experienced before.

"I can serve tea, if you will just tell me where. I do not see very well, but I can move around a little easier then you, I am sure." The matronly voice that so often touched her lips, even when she was Head of her Ajah came to her as naturally now as it had then. Serving had never been too low for her.

[Stasia]

Illyria Malkom "Maegan, please." The Indigo watched surreptitiously, careful to keep her unease from her features - it seemed strange that she would ask for familiarity so quickly. That was something she could expect from an Aes Sedai that she had trained under, not from a woman who had been banished from her home and was struggling to maintain her image. By rights, she was not Aes Sedai at all - no Oaths bound her - but Illyria knew as well as any that it was only Maegan's status that allowed her to be so frank. If she had not been Aes Sedai once, she would have been stuffed into white like any other woman that could channel the One Power.

It was odd, and though it seemed Maegan was trying to put her at ease, it only served to set her further on edge.

And then, the woman relayed something surprising - she has the Talent for making objects of the Power? - Illyria supposed that that was good enough reason to be interested in joining the Indigo Ajah, but what was so surprising was Maegan Ryanne's age. Talents that had long been thought lost to the Ages were reappearing like wildflowers returning after a hard winter - but... It had been the general consensus that these reappeared with younger channelers, and that they were merely being woven back in to the Pattern at this point in time. Maegan's Talent made her wonder if the Pattern was warping in an entirely different way - perhaps it merely enveloped anyone that touched the Power with a spark of forgotten strengths. It made sense to her. Dreamwalkers had been rarer decades before was raised Aes Sedai, and the Talent had surfaced in her not long after her first touching - but it did give her something to consider.

"Do you know how strong your Talent is, Maegan? Or any examples of your work with you?" The Indigo Ajah was always looking to increase its slim ranks - and Illyria was fairly unremarkable in her own ability to craft ter'angreal. Despite Maegan's origins... She was right. She could truly be an asset.

"And as for tea," she said in a mild tone, "You are a guest in my quarters, Maegan, and not in whites. I'll have an Accepted serve. I'm sure you're more aware than most are of how badly they need to be reminded of their manners." She smiled thinly. "But, if you would step outside, find the servant posted, and ask her to fetch Accepted Mora? You'll have an easier time getting out of your chair than I might."

[Carra]

Maegan Ryanne The former Red was undecided of her opinion of the Indigo Aes Sedai. She played politics like she breathed and every part of her just felt stiff and Maegan was fairly certain it was not from the pregnancy. Though it would be uncomfortable, that discomfort came from Maegan being there and she only regretted a little in offering some form of informality. Although the truth that was was no longer Aes Sedai even if in her heart she was made the title grate untruthfully and when an Aes Sedai could not speak what was untrue Maegan didn't want to force someone to choke on their words when addressing her.

Maegan acquiesced to the offer of an Accepted serving, through she was unsure if the comment of an Accepted knowing their place came from one of three things. Genuine opinion, her position as Mistress of Novice, or if she was trying to give Maegan comfort or something of familiarity. Either way, Maegan did not comment on the jib and left the topic alone, no longer offering a hand of serve to help. She was a guest and this was Illyria's home, Maegan would keep to what was acceptable.

"I have no gauge to say how gifted I am or am not. I worked with my talent for about 100 years on my own and every bit of that research is now rubble." There was a quirk of a smile, "Those I called sisters wanted the power and notes I had left behind, foolishly thinking that once gone it was easy pickings. I suspect a few ledgers of black while some was likely just greed." Maegan accepted her tea once it was offered to her, proceeding to fill it with more than an acceptable amount of sugar, waving away offers of milk. A childish notion, but she had always favored generously sweetened tea.

"My work crossed over into science, working at ways to make work more efficient. The wells that held One Power were simple but effective enough that I could channel a touch while in Far Madding. An odd loophole in the Pattern, if you ask me. I had journals of idea's but with so little information available to me I spent more time studying the art then practicing the art. But when I did attempt to make Ter'Angreal, they were... exceptional." Already the weave to create her light globes forming in her mind. Simple, yet incredibly useful if the light of candles was not enough. Especially for failing eyes.

[Stasia]

Illyria Malkom Illyria sipped her tea carefully. Honey, sugar, a little cream - the same as she had taken it since she'd been raised to the shawl and allowed more than weak and bland tea. She was careful not to drink too much, as the Yellows said that she should try to avoid it, but she couldn't avoid politics. And when one was attempting to maneuver safely, one played by the rules - and the rules included tea.

"It's a shame that your work was destroyed," she said beneath her breath. Tar Valon's vaults were far more expansive than Hama Valon's; the things that Maegan would have had access too... Perhaps beyond imagination. While the Grey Tower's population of those who could craft new objects of the power was greater, the White Tower had the great advantage of housing more objects from the Age of Legends.

"I can provide you with materials if you would like to continue your work, Maegan," she said lightly, setting her cup down on its saucer,
"Do you know if you can read objects of the Power?" She couldn't pretend that she wasn't intrigued by Maegan's claims that her work was remarkable - Novices and Accepted, Accepted especially, were prone to boasting. An Aes Sedai who had been working for a hundred years? Not likely. Perhaps, if she was lucky, she could retain Maegan's interest in her Ajah. Remarkable work was rare, even in the Tower that was more populated by those who possessed the Talent.

[Carra]

Maegan Ryanne "That is.. Incredibly generous of you." Maegan was humbled by the offer. A lifetime of work had been hard to leave behind and starting over was a pleasant enough idea, but it was the work that needed to be put back into it that was once again daunting. "I will have to think on your offer, but from the bottom of my heart, Thank You."

"I have some gift in it. I kept much of it hidden from my Sisters due to complicated politics, so I did not stretch out my abilities as much as I suspect I could here. If you wish to test my abilities, I'll happily give it a try. I have never been... tested on my abilities." She sipped the tea, appreciating the flavors buried under the sweetness. It was a treat and possibly the best tea that she had in years. "This is really very lovely. I would love to know your supplier if you are willing to share."

[Stasia]

Illyria Malkom Illyria offered Maegan a small smile - she was so unassuming and polite, it was easy to forget that she was dealing with a woman from Tar Valon. Her interest in information and in the Indigo Ajah seemed genuine, and as she had not hopped straight into Carra's Red Ajah, Illyria hoped that she could trust Maegan's trend of behavior. She did not seem so threatening as she had a few minutes ago.

"That is.. Incredibly generous of you." Maegan said finally. "I will have to think on your offer, but from the bottom of my heart, Thank You."

She then addressed what Illyria was most curious about - whether or not she could read ter'angreal. Lacking the ability herself, in addition to the painful fact that it was a rare skill... The Indigo Ajah could use someone that could sift through the Storerooms.

"I have some gift in it. I kept much of it hidden from my Sisters due to complicated politics, so I did not stretch out my abilities as much as I suspect I could here. If you wish to test my abilities, I'll happily give it a try. I have never been... tested on my abilities."

"That part will be easy - you'll only need to touch a few. We can start with known items, and cross-compare, and if you have the skill... It would be good to have your help sorting through our collection. There are plenty of mysteries to unravel."

"This is really very lovely," Maegan said, wandering from the course of the conversation, "I would love to know your supplier if you are willing to share."

"Of course. Hama Valon is not exactly a center of trade, but most of my tea comes through Emond's Field. I try to keep blends from everywhere stocked; the novices like a taste of home. If I'm not mistaken, this is... Andoran?" It was a heavy black tea, beyond bitter without sugar or honey to help it along. "At any rate, the merchant comes through a few times a year; I can get you his name, if you would like some for your personal stores."