Stones in a Cage (Attn: Jhanic, Leala)

[Damien]

Corben

Corben walked through the stone pathways of the grounds of the Grey Tower, glad to be outside after a particularly grueling day of chores. One Tairen Dedicated had seemed to think he was getting away with something with all the time he got to spend outside. And so every chore period that day had found Corben with some imagine failing or other, and an order to report to the Kitchens. This meant that he had been forced to scrub floors and pots for much of the day, the Mistress of the Kitchens taking advantage of a steady supply of extra help to tackle the truly foul pans early. The Novices constantly chattering had not helped his mood either, but with the practice of a clerk he had made himself as invisible as possible and focused on the task at hand. The pans were foul, oily and covered in either soot or char as the baker’s apprentices had been attempting to learn their craft.

Now the bells found him marching towards the Channeling Yards, a hurried stride his concession to the lateness of his release from his duty. Kitchen duty had made him unable to change his clothes for fear of missing the meeting, but he nevertheless washed up along the walk as best as he could. The cisterns and fountains of the Grey Tower had never failed to amaze him, and as he scrubbed old grease and ash off of his face, hands, and jacket he found himself longing for the day when a simple weave could remove all the grime from his clothes.

As he approached the Channeling Yard, he massaged his shoulders, his mind imagining welts that no longer existed after the Healing he had received. Still his last meeting with a Dedicated one on one had not gone pleasantly, and as Corben entered the Yards he was glad he was at least meeting Jhanic Dedicated on his favourite part of the Tower.

He had grown to love the lessons at the Grey Tower, and although his Block presented challenges still, he enjoyed the chance to learn outdoors. Often given more solo time with instructors had been a benefit as well, even if some of the Dedicated liked to grumble about it.

“Greetings Jhanic Dedicated, I have arrived for our appointment, and I do apologize if I my chores kept you waiting,” Corben said formally. He tugged on his sleeves and fussed with the stitching to settle his nerves as he could see that the tall Aielman had been waiting for him. He had hoped to arrive before his teacher, but still he supposed the man before him would not have appreciated half done chores. No sense shaving one coin to put it on the other half of the scale. Especially with an Aielman, thought Corben to himself nervously as he recalled the rumours and whispers of Aiel and their prickly sense of honor.

[Leala]

Jhanic

The Master of Soldiers had asked Jhanic to help a soldier overcome a block. He had had a little experience with blocks, but he was never really sure that he had even had one. After knowing Asha'man Kalir for so long, he knew the man to be a little absent-minded. Still, a block was something that a channeler could not tolerate, if they were to advance in their training. Aelyn Syndovar had told him to meet the soldier, a young man named Corben, in the Channeling Yards. He was not going to teach the soldier battle weaves, but if something were to go wrong, or if Jhanic were to resort to something more...intense...to break the block, this would be the place. He arrived at the Yards, and did not see his student. He went over what he knew of blocks and the Void, which eventually led to other trains of thought. With his mind running all over the place, he was hardly ever bored.

By the time Soldier Corben arrived, Jhanic had been itching to get his hands on his notebook for all the ideas floating around in his head. He immediately focused on the soldier in front of him, though. He explained that he had been late, because his chores had held him up. Jhanic nodded. It was his first time meeting the soldier, and he had no reason to believe that he was lying. "I see you, Soldier Corben. It is good that you finished your chores before you came. It means that you can focus on breaking your block now." Light knew that Jhanic's focus was hard enough to land without knowing that there was even more work to be done. His focus now would be to see to it that Corben could channel without something impeding him. "Before we begin, tell me a bit about your block. How did you come about finding out that you had one?"

[Damien]

Corben

Corben was glad the Dedicated seemed to take his explanation at face value, and was willing to proceed without further comment. He was never certain how any given Dedicated would react until he got to know the man well, but it seemed like the stories of Aiel were so far true.

“I see you Jhanic Dedicated. I first became aware of my block when I arrived at the Grey Tower for testing. I had slain a patrol of Whitecloaks in Ghealdan that had arrested me, but after the initial burst of wild uncontrolled power I never felt Saidin’s light again the whole time I fled here. Even the Ashaman who originally tested me could see no sign of the One Power, and that was when we began to discuss what had happened that night,” Corben said, his voice stiff and formal as he wrestled with the emotions that thinking of the patrol brought up. Light they would have gutted me and left me to rot with a praise to the Light on their lips, why can’t I let the dead rest, he thought mournfully to himself.

“After hearing my story, the Ashaman had me sit upon the ground and remove my boots. It was when my feet touched the naked soil of the Gardens that I could sense the light of Saidin within my mind. It was the Ashaman who named it a Block. So far I have been able to channel when standing barefoot upon soil, sand, black earth, and even the Yards of the Citadel. I have yet to experiment with stone floors or pathways, as I have never been supervised and seeing the old Armoury was lesson enough,” Corben finished. He couldn’t recall what the terrain of the Citadel had been, but he had been able to channel while barefoot so it must have been compatible.

Thinking of the Citadel made him recall those men who had fallen, the soldiers who still remained and the startling power he had been shown. “Dedicated, I do feel that I should mention one other thing, while I was attending to the rebuilding of the Citadel wall, I was shown the Talent of Earthsinging by Valadin Ashaman. I have not explored it much, but I was able to use the talent, and wonder if perhaps it is connected to my Block,” Corben said as he then paused to allow the other man time to soak in the details of his story.

[Leala]

Jhanic

While Jhanic had been unsure about his own block, this certainly was a new one. His own had been akin to focus, which was something that both aluded and ensnared him. It was easy to overcome when he was introduced to the Flame and the Void technique. This man, however, had a block with a definitively physical element. Jhanic had never walked barefoot on grass, and he had no intention to, either. Corben continued on, saying how he had not experimented with bare feet on other surfaces. These wetlanders had no idea how good they had it. Walking barefoot on the exposed sands of the Three-Fold Land was enough to burn the bottoms of your feet.

The soldier explained further that he had worked with the Talent of Earth Singing, taught to him by an Asha'man. Jhanic rubbed his scar in thought as he studied Corben. He had been in danger the first time he used the One Power. Did that mean he had been barefoot during the assault? The One Power had quieted so much in him that an Asha'man could not bring it about until he was standing with direct contact with the soil. Perhaps experimenting might work, but that was not the point of breaking the block. The point of breaking the block was to channel anywhere without extra conditions.

"We will try something, but not standing on stones and tiles," he decided. "Take off your boots, then run a lap around the interior of the Tower Gates. Be careful not to bowl anyone over. When you come back, put your boots back on, then try to seize Saidin." If that worked out, then he could channel with his boots on, but soil on his feet.