by Mariah » Sat Aug 06, 2022 7:21 pm
Wearied Novice Mariah asked to face her fears and become Journey Accepted:
-------------------------------------------
To the Hall of Sitters,
Esteemed Sitters of the Hall, Most Honorable Aes Sedai of the White Tower, Ladies of Virtue, Wardens of Tar Valon, Maker of Queens, Wielders of the One Power, Servants of All…
[…the platitudes continue…]
I vividly recall the time surrounding my coming-of-age. Having heard stories from my sisters and the girls from other Noble Houses of Mayene, I longed to be grown-up and experience my First Blood. With it came the privileges bestowed upon Mayene noble daughters including the right to attend Court season. I longed and wanted and tried to will it to come sooner but nothing I did seemed to get me a single day closer. When the day finally arrived it caught me completely off-guard. I had spoken to midwives and heard the bragging of my sisters, but nothing prepared me for not being in control of part of my body. Due to how abruptly it came on I just sat in bed, speechless and shocked before crying out to my family. My mother came to comfort me and calmed me into acceptance. Afterwards she gave me a beautiful necklace that I still wear to celebrate my womanhood.
I tell you this because of how analogous my coming-of-age is to my life in the White Tower. In the life of a girl who one day aspires to be an Aes Sedai she must first go through the Arches to become Accepted. With fair parts of excitement and anxiety this day is looked forward to by all Novices, it is a testament to her worth. She should not hide from that day nor be afraid of its coming, but yet embrace it as we are taught to do with Saidar. The day that I am chosen to walk through the Arches is not mine to make except by presenting myself as a worthy candidate through hard work. However, I write this letter to request that my current status be reviewed.
I have lain awake many nights lately trying to decide if I was ready for the next commitment. I kept thinking of the precepts that Accepted must adhere too and initiated my education to cover those areas. After careful consideration I decided that one of the core knowledge-base of Accepted is Tower policy, law, culture, history, and land. The policy and law came from edicts passed down by the Hall and taught by Accepted while history had its own set of classes. White Tower culture eluded me as foreign for the beginning years in my white dress. But coming from the courts of Mayene where interactions changed fluidly based on who possessed the influence, I showed my dynamic nature and adopted the mannerisms where appropriate. Although I learned the floor plan of the White Tower and Tar Valon quickly by running various errands, the land outside the Shining Walls took me longer to become familiar with. Never having been much of an explorer, this task took me the longest. I can now travel through these grounds with reasonable certainly. I expanded my knowledge of other cities and the routes to each so that I could carry out tasks when asked to represent the White Tower at these locations.
Concurrently with learning the lay of the land I focused on my knowledge and control of the One Power. I have committed a few of the more basic weave Element Requirements to memory because I have been told that Novices often ask Accepted about certain weaves. During my training with Sheriam Sedai I have learned that the element of fire is my weakest, though I have learned alternate weaves where appropriate to compensate with my strengths.
Throughout my enrollment in the Tower I have strived to stay current with commitment to my studies. Although I have not turned them all in, I have completed a good portion of them in my notebook, including some for the Brown Ajah that will not be graded because I missed the deadline. The tasks for the White Ajah were the closest to games that I have seen given as assignment in the Tower. I have continued to pursue my personal academic advancement along with the tasks set to me as a Novice.
I also wish to highlight a few of my positive attributes. As a Novice I have taken the initiative to obtain crystal lightsticks and supply them to the Gaidin who protect the Tower. So far I have equipped Strike Gaidin, Zsavoc Gaidin, and I believe Javier Gaidin was the third. Additionally I have in my possession another lightstick that I plan to deliver to a member of the Shienaran Lancers. I had heard that Lord Kark had asked Jenda Sedai for closer interaction between the Tower girls and the Lancers, and I felt supplying them with lightsticks would help achieve their goals. Similarly I have put the whitebridge hillmen to justice and given their useful mirrored lanterns to the Tar Valon barrel while placing some prepared food and drink around the barrel as well. I believe every little bit helps to build an image of a positive and helpful White Tower.
Personally I have grown through listening to the lessons and lectures of the Accepted and Aes Sedai above me. Particularly Accepteds Yhsabel, Azur, Ana, and Arsinoe. Their teaching along with friendships with Novices Cameo and Verathia have helped me adjust to life in the Tower and allowed me to realize how I can be productive in the White Tower society. Although we are set as equals in the Tower, our experiences and skills of our past help mold us. Through my past tutelage I have developed strong skills in horseback riding, defending myself with a dagger, a fairly fluent access of the Old Tongue, and sewing. I use these to aid my fellow Novice’s deficiencies as well as using these skills to build up and learn related skills such as swimming and the use of the dagger as an offensive weapon.
I believe I have a healthy understanding of what it means to be Accepted and am ready for the tasks that will accompany the responsibility. I have achieved the goals I have set for myself and am looking forward to setting new ones that I can not work towards until I am Accepted. I sincerely hope that my dedication, sincerity, maturity, and intelligence have been shown during my time as a Novice. And I hope that I have shown enough worth to be given the chance to face the Arch Test. Thank you.
Yours in the Light,
Novice Mariah
Wearied Novice Mariah asked to face her fears and become Journey Accepted:
-------------------------------------------
To the Hall of Sitters,
Esteemed Sitters of the Hall, Most Honorable Aes Sedai of the White Tower, Ladies of Virtue, Wardens of Tar Valon, Maker of Queens, Wielders of the One Power, Servants of All…
[…the platitudes continue…]
I vividly recall the time surrounding my coming-of-age. Having heard stories from my sisters and the girls from other Noble Houses of Mayene, I longed to be grown-up and experience my First Blood. With it came the privileges bestowed upon Mayene noble daughters including the right to attend Court season. I longed and wanted and tried to will it to come sooner but nothing I did seemed to get me a single day closer. When the day finally arrived it caught me completely off-guard. I had spoken to midwives and heard the bragging of my sisters, but nothing prepared me for not being in control of part of my body. Due to how abruptly it came on I just sat in bed, speechless and shocked before crying out to my family. My mother came to comfort me and calmed me into acceptance. Afterwards she gave me a beautiful necklace that I still wear to celebrate my womanhood.
I tell you this because of how analogous my coming-of-age is to my life in the White Tower. In the life of a girl who one day aspires to be an Aes Sedai she must first go through the Arches to become Accepted. With fair parts of excitement and anxiety this day is looked forward to by all Novices, it is a testament to her worth. She should not hide from that day nor be afraid of its coming, but yet embrace it as we are taught to do with Saidar. The day that I am chosen to walk through the Arches is not mine to make except by presenting myself as a worthy candidate through hard work. However, I write this letter to request that my current status be reviewed.
I have lain awake many nights lately trying to decide if I was ready for the next commitment. I kept thinking of the precepts that Accepted must adhere too and initiated my education to cover those areas. After careful consideration I decided that one of the core knowledge-base of Accepted is Tower policy, law, culture, history, and land. The policy and law came from edicts passed down by the Hall and taught by Accepted while history had its own set of classes. White Tower culture eluded me as foreign for the beginning years in my white dress. But coming from the courts of Mayene where interactions changed fluidly based on who possessed the influence, I showed my dynamic nature and adopted the mannerisms where appropriate. Although I learned the floor plan of the White Tower and Tar Valon quickly by running various errands, the land outside the Shining Walls took me longer to become familiar with. Never having been much of an explorer, this task took me the longest. I can now travel through these grounds with reasonable certainly. I expanded my knowledge of other cities and the routes to each so that I could carry out tasks when asked to represent the White Tower at these locations.
Concurrently with learning the lay of the land I focused on my knowledge and control of the One Power. I have committed a few of the more basic weave Element Requirements to memory because I have been told that Novices often ask Accepted about certain weaves. During my training with Sheriam Sedai I have learned that the element of fire is my weakest, though I have learned alternate weaves where appropriate to compensate with my strengths.
Throughout my enrollment in the Tower I have strived to stay current with commitment to my studies. Although I have not turned them all in, I have completed a good portion of them in my notebook, including some for the Brown Ajah that will not be graded because I missed the deadline. The tasks for the White Ajah were the closest to games that I have seen given as assignment in the Tower. I have continued to pursue my personal academic advancement along with the tasks set to me as a Novice.
I also wish to highlight a few of my positive attributes. As a Novice I have taken the initiative to obtain crystal lightsticks and supply them to the Gaidin who protect the Tower. So far I have equipped Strike Gaidin, Zsavoc Gaidin, and I believe Javier Gaidin was the third. Additionally I have in my possession another lightstick that I plan to deliver to a member of the Shienaran Lancers. I had heard that Lord Kark had asked Jenda Sedai for closer interaction between the Tower girls and the Lancers, and I felt supplying them with lightsticks would help achieve their goals. Similarly I have put the whitebridge hillmen to justice and given their useful mirrored lanterns to the Tar Valon barrel while placing some prepared food and drink around the barrel as well. I believe every little bit helps to build an image of a positive and helpful White Tower.
Personally I have grown through listening to the lessons and lectures of the Accepted and Aes Sedai above me. Particularly Accepteds Yhsabel, Azur, Ana, and Arsinoe. Their teaching along with friendships with Novices Cameo and Verathia have helped me adjust to life in the Tower and allowed me to realize how I can be productive in the White Tower society. Although we are set as equals in the Tower, our experiences and skills of our past help mold us. Through my past tutelage I have developed strong skills in horseback riding, defending myself with a dagger, a fairly fluent access of the Old Tongue, and sewing. I use these to aid my fellow Novice’s deficiencies as well as using these skills to build up and learn related skills such as swimming and the use of the dagger as an offensive weapon.
I believe I have a healthy understanding of what it means to be Accepted and am ready for the tasks that will accompany the responsibility. I have achieved the goals I have set for myself and am looking forward to setting new ones that I can not work towards until I am Accepted. I sincerely hope that my dedication, sincerity, maturity, and intelligence have been shown during my time as a Novice. And I hope that I have shown enough worth to be given the chance to face the Arch Test. Thank you.
Yours in the Light,
Novice Mariah