Plotting for BAH

[Bridget]

So based on the new info from the Companion... I have ideas!!!! So my ideas above are an option, but I think that we should go the more canon route now that it is possible.

Since the BA is supposed to watch and test potential new members, it is obvious that Lydie worked outside of the boundaries of the BA. She didn't test any of our characters, merely recruited them and allowed them to know of the existence of the Black. For our fic, I propose that Emmond finds out that she has done this, and has to react in order to protect the Ajah. So he calls in Makenna, Mirin, and Rhykana, and very blatantly tells them that they have been recruited outside the norm of the Black Ajah, and that this is irreversible. He can tell them of what should have happened, and insinuate that Lydie is in very deep trouble for recruiting people to herself instead of to the BA. I think he should very simply give them the option of 'the Black Ajah or death'. They all agree, obviously, and I think that they should be given tasks similarly to how Moghedien gives orders to Liandrin and co in the books. These tasks can be oriented towards testing them, to be certain that they are loyal to the black and no other (including Lydie). For example, for Rhykana the task would be to kill Aslanin, the only friend she has at the Tower, and Mirin and Makenna would be given just as difficult of tasks.

What do you guys think?

[Jenny]

I have a few ideas. I've taken a few days to think things over, and I'm just throwing these thoughts out there. These aren't options, they're just random ideas that we can mix and match

1) We can have the girls kidnapped together. Basically go through the whole ceremony mentioned in the Companion, except without the Oath Rod. Then they form a heart of three, and have one contact outside of their heart. Not sure who...would Emmond take a personal interest in them? I think that it's more likely that he'll send a minion, but coming up with another history/personality/NPC seems too much effort... lol, which is why I'd prefer for Emmond or Lydarian to be their contact.
- In this scenario, we can each write our own POV for the ceremony.
- I do have some realism concerns about recruiting them as Accepted. Because without the Oath Rod, how could the rest of the Black Ajah trust them to not betray them? Perhaps this could add some tension with people who disagree with Emmond's decision to recruit them? Hm...

2) We can have Emmond confront them face-to-face as you suggested. I like this idea too, and what's what I was going with at first. But now, I feel that this isn't scary enough for the Black Ajah lol! Maybe I'm just getting into the Halloween spirit. Anyways, we could still use this scene, but maybe after they have been sworn to serve the Great Lord?

3) I think that their tasks should each be kept secret, although they may seek to find each other's tasks out. It just adds more mystery! So we can come up with our own.
- This would give a reason for Rhykana and Mirin to argue/fight.

Btw, I check the Google doc every 2-3 days even if I don't make any changes. I think Bree has been kinda busy (and I've been prepping for NaNoWriMo ) which is probably why things seem slow. But I have been keeping this in my thoughts!

[Bridget]

I am so excited about all of this! The entries in the Companion are the coolest...

I'm not of a fan of the idea of them going through the ceremony as Accepted. I think the ceremony should be saved for when they are raised to Aes Sedai, just because I'm so in love with that idea. Plus, Liandrin obviously knew of the existence of the BA as an Accepted according to the Companion, and she knew the reason she was being tested. So I think #2 is the best one!

I love the idea of Emmond getting them to swear to serve the Great Lord! I also agree about the tasks being kept secret, although I'm so curious... What will Mirin's task be?!

[Bree]

I would love to see the fic collaboratively written and then posted in short scenes by each of us as a fic-RP. I feel that this is too important to bury by going straight to the fan fic archives. We need to be sure to archive the RP though. keep it as a fic once complete and all...

Also, the timeline for post final raising is IMO the best idea. As Accepted, they can be given questionable assignments and watched and coached but the real deal should be when they have the Oaths on them.

Sorry I have been absent. I have been nose deep at work - really tough deadline for October but I met it and now it is writing time.

So, I am all for the tests but I think Emmond is going to be more flexible than we have written for him thus far. He is Gray and he is super smart. I feel that the most insidious evil that we can finesse out of this character is going to be his ability to reach into each person's character and require from them the thing that betrays their own personal moral priority. For most people that is going to be killing someone or betraying a friend. Those are the commonly shared number one challenges to the moral character of most people. Everyone can relate to that. That is going to play nicely to the audience for Rhyka.

Makenna can not. She is going to have to betray her reason for living. She is going to have to do something that jeopardizes her ability to save her daughter. Not sure what that is yet. Probably giving up the journals about inverted weaves. That would make them open to being taught selectively to anyone in the whole of the BA as an ajah specific weave set or benefit. But it would also endanger Makenna's ability to use those weaves in the Tower.

What do you guys think?

[Bridget]

I love that idea, Bree. I think it is the hardest thing Makenna could do. But why would she? So far, at least to me, it seems like Makenna is very dedicated to learning and then saving her daughter. At this point, she's been Accepted for awhile, and honestly knows quite a bit about the OP. If she was given a choice between death at the hands of the BA, or proving her loyalty to the Black by jeopardizing her quest to save her daughter, why wouldn't she just run away? What is motivating Makenna to the BA other than her daughter? Is there something she is hiding from herself, some reason other than her daughter that she is not yet prepared to recognize?

You're right, also- if we do it as a thread, people are more likely to read it. Why don't we finalize all the things Emmond is going to say, and just do a thread? We'll have to rewrite the first part that Mirin wrote up, at least a little, to incorporate the drama with Lydie going against the Black.

[Jenny]

Let's do it! Someone else besides me should rewrite the first part so your ideas and writing style can be incorporated too.

[Bridget]

I went ahead and started a RP write up. Take a look and see what you think! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BKd ... sp=sharing

[Bree]

Weird deadline issues and a short month at work and holidays coming up, ... I am here and I will be dumping alot of writing in at once but it will likely all be on Saturdays. <3

As for Makenna's "other" reason for joining, she is very philosophical and has a huge amount of moral philosophy exploration to do. She is a hard character to really explain. And I think she might be smarter than me so that makes it hard to explain her too. :p

She is eventually going to discover that her daughter died and then she will learn that she has a bent as a not-mother toward the "evil" but right now, it has to be that she is covering her bases. In the working out of it all, she is going to realize that if she gives these weaves to them, they will likely have things to teach her that she won't have access to otherwise and she will be able to call on far more resources this way than by walking away.

[Jenny]

Great ideas girls! Since everyone else has revealed a bit of their character's motivations, I feel like I should say a little bit too and ask for feedback.

In Mirin's current thread with Lydarian, she's frightened and uncertain about being discovered. I think that Mirin is the most malleable right now, since she doesn't have a defined goal that is driving her. She is simply an insecure girl who is selfish, ambitious, and hungry for knowledge, influence, and power. In that thread, she says that she "walks in the Light," but if given the chance, her actions demonstrate selfishness, greed, and a willingness to cast morals aside to further her own ambitions. She is quite blind to her own flaws.

She sees the Black Ajah as another opportunity to develop her abilities and gain influence/power. She likes feeling powerful and "superior." For Mirin's task to prove herself, she wants to kill Aria Sedai. But instead, she is told that her test will come later and she needs to continue developing her Talent under Aria Sedai's "guidance", which she finds incredibly irritating and unfair. Eventually, the expected test comes - in an unexpected fashion - and she finds killing to be not so easy after all.

Does this make sense? What do you think?

[Bree]

I kind of like the twist. Wants to kill, denied the permission and chafing under the restriction. That requirement to keep herself under control because someone else is exercising authority over her... nice. Then being required to reexamine her moral ambivalence when faced with murder. I really like that. Not a pat and easy "evil=kill". I love that we are all exploring the range of what evil is in this world.