The Grey Tower

A long white dress, not too dissimilar from those worn by novices and Accepted, hung over the First Seeker loosely. She both felt and looked tired, although she was presentable. Her energy towards such things as her appearance had waned. The only mark of embellishment was her Oathsworn pin, attached up near her left collarbone.

The doors to her chambers opened. From the other end of the room, Elia watched as the Accepted approached. She smiled wanly in acknowledgement, appreciative that someone had assigned her permanent help for this last month of torture.

"Ji'val Alrim Farshera wishes to speak with you, Aes Sedai." The Accepted delivered the message with a slight bow.

Elia made a one shoulder shrug. "I will see him, but first, if you could." She gestured towards the teapot sitting in the centre of the table. The Accepted nodded before a nimbus of light surrounded her. Elia watched in silent anguish as the younger woman boiled the water within the teapot. Light send this is over soon. The First Seeker was not doing well with her newfound inability to channel.

When steam rose out from the sprout, Elia flashed another weak smile and gestured towards the exit. Elia watched as the door opened. The Accepted's presence was exchanged for a Ji'val's. Elia listened to the bells in his hair as he made his way towards her side of the room.

"Take a seat." With her good arm, the First Seeker gestured towards one of the empty chairs around the table. A few were caught in the sunlight flowing through the windows to her quarters. She liked being beside the window, able to look down towards the Great Serpent and its many students. She missed being the Mistress of Novices, not that she could have managed it in her current state. It was tricky enough to attend all of the meetings in the Hall, which was almost the only time she left her quarters as of late.

Now that he was standing closer, something about him struck her as familiar. She dismissed the notion after a few moments. Chances were that she had merely seem him somewhere before around Hama Valon.

"I don't often receive Ji'val as visitors," Elia stated lightly. "Is this a personal visit or were you sent by my--" She cut off with a bemused smile. "Or were you sent by the Master of Arms?"

Elia found herself smiling as she listened to the Ji'val. Not smiling in a way that implied an overt sense of companionship with the Arafellin. She was just pleased to be having a normal conversation. Elia also appreciated his proper use of decorum.

"If you would, thank you." She watched as he poured the tea into two of the cups arranged on the silver tray, considering his inquiries, wondering how to approach the topic with a non-channeller. "Are you thinking of joining the Indigo Ajah?" she teased lightly. "Or maybe you've found a potential bondmate, mm?" She waved her good hand dismissively before he had an opportunity to answer. For once, Elia wasn't interested in prying out secrets.

"I am confident that even the Warder Yards are capable of teaching you about objects of the One Power, but I can go over them again briefly and answer any further questions you have. There are three broad categories: Power-wrought objects, angreal and sa'angreal, and then ter'angreal.

"Power-wrought objects are miscellany that seldom have any practical use beyond the mundane. For instance, any item made of heartstone - cuendillar - is a power-wrought object. There is also a talent that some channellers possess called Aligning the Matrix. This can strengthen metal beyond its normal properties, although it has seldom been used in the manufacture of weaponry since the Age of Legends.

"Angreal and sa'angreal both allow a channeller to channel more of the One Power than they could normally do alone. It's possible you've seen the use of angreal already, likely to aid when it comes to Healing several injuries. Sa'angreal are more powerful than angreal, allowing one to do feats that may otherwise require an entire circle to perform. They have the potential to make the weakest novice into a force that an Aes Sedai may have troubles reckoning with.

"Lastly there are ter'angreal, my personal area of interest. Ter'angreal are objects created by the One Power, generally with a specific purpose in mind. You've heard of the Oath Rod I assume? That is an example of a ter'angreal. Another example is all around you." Elia gestured towards the windows of her room. "All of the glass panes covering the Grey Tower are actually ter'angreal as well."

Taking up her cup with her good arm, she sipped on the hot drink before continuing. "You look young enough... I assume you've been through the so-called Test of Honour? The archway you crossed into was also a ter'angreal, one that I actually had a hand in making for the Grey Tower." Her smile turned apologetic. "Maybe that fact more than anything else I've said informs you how dangerous objects of the One Power can be."

She ran a nail along the brim of her teacup as she waiting for some of what she had told the Ji'val to become absorbed. How in-depth their education was with regards to the One Power was not knowledge she possessed, but the information about the Test of Honour had to be new information at the very least.

"You asked if they can be recognised?" she continued. "Well, cuendillar can, but all you're going to find are cuendillar cups or cuendillar plates; nothing to threaten you nor your bondmate. As for the angreal, they can look like almost anything. Angreal and sa'angreal will generally be small enough to be carried in a belt pouch, but ter'angreal can be as large as a pane of glass, or as small as a stone."

"You've been in my brother's office?" she inquired. "Then you've seen his quill and inkwell? That too is a ter'angreal."

Taking up the cup again, and feeling thirsty (Light, she couldn't recall the last time she'd said so much uninterrupted), she supped away slowly, letting the Ji'val process everything.

When the teacup was half-empty, she lowered it to the tabletop. Still smiling, she asked: "I can see you have questions. Do ask."

A great many questions, she mused. The Indigo was glad for the enthusiasm, even if it was from a would-be Gaidin.

"The answer to your first question is a matter of politics, not of pragmatics. Yes, in theory we could forge an arsenal of Power-wrought weapons, but that option has only recently become available to some of us."

She raised a hand to tap on her broach marking her as Oathsworn. "I cannot make any weapons however. That is one of the Three Oaths and I am proud to keep to that tradition. But that is far from the actual reason. The Grey Tower, as with the White, are afforded some protection by keeping neutral in almost all matters of statecraft. We have the Tower Guard and the Gaidin, but we have no standing army. Were we to make ourselves a strong military force, we would invite trouble from neighbouring nations. Also, those weapons would also be at risk of being stolen.

"During the Age of Legends, such things were more common. Every army would have had access to such Power-wrought items. Now, it could swing the balance of power. It is a grim thought to imagine if any agents of the Dark One were to acquire such weapons. It is worse yet to destabilise the relative peace of the nations. This isn't a land of unification like in Artur Hawkwing's time, but it is mostly without war. We are wise to leave it that way."

She drained the rest of her cup of tea, replacing the empty cup on its accompanying saucer. "And yes, cuendillar is unbreakable. Yet utilising that would be worse yet. Unbreakable swords forged by unparalleled mastery. Never needing to be sharpened, never dulling. Polearms could have hafts made of cuendillar, so you would never fear having your weapon sundered." Her tone hinted at wonder and amazement, but her look was graven. "A very attractive possibility, but again, now long until our enemies get their hands on it? When does our initial advantage creep away from us and instead becomes a boon to the Whitecloaks or the Shadow?"

There were other reasons than those she mentioned. Tradition was a large factor as well, although maybe one that was less persuasive as the years rolled along. After all, the Grey Tower was merely a couple of hundred years old. She would easily see the Tower's six hundredth anniversary, assuming nothing happened to the Tower or herself during the years in between. Maybe in a few hundred years, everyone will be using cuendillar.

Elia did not apologise for the Test of Honour. It was a marvel, regardless of its purpose. The product from months of work between some of the finest ter'angreal makers the Grey Tower possessed. It was there to strengthen the Tower. There were those who would die from it, she knew, but that was as instructed.

"Angreal and sa'angreal are normally attuned to one gender or the other. Any Aes Sedai can recognise a female sa'angreal if they were to hold one or attempt to channel through one, but they would have the faintest clue whether any male angreal were in the room with them. It's the same on the flip side. Ter'angreal are different, however. It is a Talent to identify ter'angreal and it operates differently for everyone. Some know it by touch, others by a sense of affinity with the ter'angreal. I need to actively channel to feel out a ter'angreal, but then I can quickly establish how one works."

She balled her left hand into a fist on her leg, feeling the cool metal of her Great Serpent ring touching her palm. It was good her Talent was not from touch, otherwise her ring would be frazzling her nerves every moment of every day. Her ring was still a secret known only to her. Had she come clean about it from the beginning then her punishment would have been light. At this stage, she wondered if Astoria would argue it into treason before the Hall. As if I don't have a hundred other treasonous acts hanging over my head.

When talk strayed onto the Seanchan, Elia found herself cupping the side of her neck. "Leashes, yes," she said breathily. "They are ter'angreal. The Seanchan call them a'dam." She lift her cup only to find it still empty, so she gripped onto the empty vessel instead. "I can't say whether there is a way to destroy them, but if one could, you may kill those it imprisons. But you'd never get close enough to try.

"Don't try to fight a sul'dam and her damane," she warned forcefully. "You will die, quite likely compromising your bondmate in the process. And should your bondmate be captured..." Elia shook her head with an ill expression. "Live. Live for her. Don't waste your life attempting to save her. If someone else can save her then allow them to go, but do not risk yourself. Your ongoing survival will mean more to your Aes Sedai than any number of failed rescue attempts would manage."

The sound of cracking pierced the quiet of the room. Elia looked down to the cup in her white-knuckled grip. A faint line ran from the brim down all the way to the base. As her hand unclenched, the cup came away in two halves. With care, Elia laid the two pieces down on the table.

It took the Indigo a short time to compose herself before she could continue. "Power-wrought weapons and cuendillar are nothing compared to the horrors of the a'dam. Yet they are still enough to destroy people entirely..."

More was going on than she had originally perceived. Alrim's comment about the Last Battle and the nations were not lightly mentioned. Something grim sat behind the Ji'val's dark brown eyes; he was searching for something. An answer? To what question?

She added nothing to the conversation about seeking out angreal or ter'angreal. He was right though about the difficulties. However, sometimes it was possible to identify an object of the Power by sight alone, but those objects were rarer than cuendillar. The Tairens had done as much as anyone to hoard every trinket associated with channelling, but the First Seeker suspected most of the items within the Stone of Tear weren't anything special at all.

After the cup broke, Elia sat quietly as Alrim replenished a new cup. She never intended to let her emotions show like that. Years living a dual life as Aes Sedai and Darkfriend, yet the wretched Seanchan was her undoing. She forced the thoughts away; there were always dark thoughts to become lost in.

"Bonding?" A thoughtful smile slowly appeared on the Shienaran's face. "Well, I can certainly answer those questions for you." Truly, the Warder Yards needs to do better in educating their trainees in such matters.

Something mischievous flickered behind the Aes Sedai's sharp green eyes. "Or I can show you."

A younger, less self-possessed Elia Darrow would have tittered at Alrim's reaction. She enjoyed playing with men as much as any woman, but it had been a while since she'd drawn out such a startling reaction. She played it down, smiling too sweetly over the rim of her newest teacup as he regained control over his breathing. The jingling of his bells amused her further.

Elia listened to his out-loud reasoning. She didn't approve of some of his 'conclusions'.

"I don't approve of the word 'trick'," she stated with a slight frown, "it's synonymous with calling a heron mark a mere 'engraving'. Nor is it an illusion; the bond links two people more deeply than any fantastic story depicting soulmates and love at first sight." She rejected making the veiled invitation to Alrim after his response to it. What need do I have to trick a Ji'val? Can't he see I'm Aes Sedai? I'm not some foolish chit to chase around the gardens.

Elia composed herself, because one of them ought to. Her smirk had ebbed, yet so too had her frown. Blank-faced, she settled her cup down onto the tabletop and looked Alrim straight in the eye. "I am not proposing a bond, no. Aside from that being against Tower law, I ought to think that one should have more than a ten minute conversation before making such a grave decision.

"As First Seeker, I am ever watchful for new discoveries, whether those are in the form of a new Talent or a new weave or a new object of the One Power. One of my fellow sisters has been working on a new weave that simulates part of the bond for a very short time.

"Now I can just regale you of the facts and stories about bonding, or I can offer you an opportunity to tangibly experience what it is. The choice is yours."