Chloro Sedai summons Accepted Amarea for a fire side conversation, on her most recent class, her progress, and the effect of booking fumes on ones brain if inhaled for too long... Chloro leaves Amarea with possibly more questions in her brain than when she initially came to the private lesson.
View of: Chloro
Participants: Chloro, Amarea
Meeting Room of the Gray Ajah
Large, leaded glass windows surround the room on all sides, save the
southern where a large doorway leads out into a antechamber. The room
itself is dominated by a large wooden table around which sits at least
fifty matching chairs, something close to a record for the White Tower. In
the middle of the table are an assortment of unused parchments, quill pens
and stoppered ink jars. A small stand off to one side of the room holds a
large number of glass cups and a large pitcher of chilled water. An
inscription in fine lettering is etched upon the windows.
[ obvious exits: E ]
Zone: White Tower Upper Floors
Door east: door
A large round table built from black oak dominates the center of the room.
A silver-haired Aes Sedai sits here, reading.
A Gray Sister walks here, considering her options.
Annoura Larisen is here, weighing your words.
Amarea has arrived from the east.
Amarea curtseys before Chloro Sedai.
Amarea says 'Well met, Aes Sedai. It's good to see you again.'
Chloro looks up from a spot on the sofa near a kindling fireplace. "Ah, the girl who once feared fire. It is good to see you child, out of the library and those fumes."
Amarea pulls a small cart into the room, explaining, 'I brought some refreshments for you, as a courtesy.'
Amarea smiles knowingly and nods.
Amarea says 'I returned from a hard day's ride from the Blight, Chloro Sedai.'
Chloro takes the offered refreshments and places them on the side table motioning for Amarea to sit. "I was impressed by your class child. Few ever think to take it outside the Tower."
Amarea smiles and bows her head modestly at the compliment. 'Thankin' you kindly for the compliment.'
Chloro says 'Now, regardless of your current progress, you still belong to all Ajahs as an initiate. The Browns have monopolized you enough. Tell me child, what is the price of becoming Aes Sedai?'
Amarea ponders the question, blinking as she nibbles on a piece of bread. 'Hmm. That is a thought-provokin' question if I've ever heard one.'
Amarea eats a loaf of crusty fresh bread.
Chloro says 'Come now Accepted, you have had years to think about it. What is the price of becoming what you have worked towards so diligently?'
Amarea muses aloud, 'Dependin' on your point of view, one might say that a cost is that in becomin' a servant to all, it is harder to focus efforts on her own pursuits.'
Amarea says 'I think there is more mental effort required to ensure that one's words and actions are not careless, or thoughtless, lest her words or actions have greater repercussions than intended.'
Chloro reaches for the class of spiced wine taking a sip, her royal blue silk robe with splashes of cream seeming to move like water as she moves. "No child, that is what all women face. What is the price for you, what do you seek to place upon the scared alter of what could have been. I remember when you came to us, deathly afraid of fire."
Amarea looks down at her cup of tea, a momentary pang of guilt crossing her face. 'In findin' a family here, Chloro Sedai,' she replies, 'I fear I have lost touch with my own.'
Amarea says 'I'm the eldest of my siblings, and my ma and pa relied on me to tutor my younger siblings, bake the mornin' bread, keep up the accounts. I came here almost on a whim to be tested, not thinkin' of how it would set my life on a completely different path.''
Amarea admits, 'I haven't even stopped in the bakery to see my family since I earned Acceptance.'
Chloro takes a deep measured breath and nods, a touch of sympathy in her words as her face remains serene calm. "So, too does that come for us all, it is why Aes Sedai often choose to live within the Tower when not on assignment, the women within become the family that used to be. To that end, how have you developed your new family?"
Amarea puts on a small smile, looking up to meet the Sitter's eyes as the Accepted takes another sip of tea. 'Well, I have endeavored to care for the other novices and my friends the way I might for my younger sisters and brothers. Offer them help, mentorship, kindness when I can. I've tried to guide them in the ways that others have cared for me.'
Chloro takes another sip of wine. "Your efforts in that have not gone unnoticed. Nor have your efforts to bring a little of the outside world into the shining walls. I hope this is to continue as you continue your studies?"
Amarea nods thoughtfully.
Chloro says 'That is good to know. You may not be on the path of a Gray, but I have attempted to instill as much of my Ajah's values in you as I could.'
Amarea explains, 'Chloro Sedai, what I do now to teach, to research, these are things I hope to continue not just throughout my studies, but to carry on throughout the rest of my life. I am tryin' to see what the future as an Aes Sedai could look like, and I intend to dedicate my time and energy to givin' back to the Tower and the world as a whole.'
Chloro motions for the Accepted to continue.
Amarea smiles warmly. 'I have great respect for the Gray Ajah, Aes Sedai. You strive to make the world a better, more united place. When I research a weave to understands its effects, or test jumpin' overboard on the ocean ships to confirm how and where I will end up on shore -- if even one person's life is changed for the better by those efforts, then knowledge is the weapon I hope to wield in the war against the Shadow.'
Amarea says 'I was studyin' the Warding vs Evil weave this week, for example. I learned one of its primary effects, to help prevent Shadowspawn from becomin' hostile towards you as often. But tonight, another soldier of the Light noted that he thinks it prevented a Fade from fillin' him with fear.'
Amarea says 'The weave has been known for decades, centuries, but so few use it because they assume it has no value -- because they don't know its potential value.'
Chloro says 'Ah so you have learned that power, without skill, is no power at all. A lesson most Aes Sedai do not learn for many years. Perhaps the book binding fumes have done you more good than harm, however I will reserve my final judgment on that.'
Amarea chuckles politely.
Chloro says 'Now, back to your studies. What have you discovered of Tower politics during your projects?'
Amarea considers the question, stabbing at the potatoes on her plate.
Amarea tastes a little bit of a plate of roast beef and jacket potatoes.
Amarea replies after a pause, 'Sometimes, knowin' the truth doesn't mean that you should share the truth, or that someone might still see a different truth than what you do. And those differences can be valuable, but also dangerous.'
Amarea says 'There was a moment durin' my class that felt somewhat awkward. Perhaps you remember it? The discussion about Artur Hawkwing and how the lack of any known survivin' heirs prompted the War of the Hundred Years.'
Chloro smiles slightly like a cat seeing a mouse. "I know the moment well."
Amarea says 'And Maddy correctly noted that Mayene claimed to have a young man by the name of Tyrn sur Paendrag Mashera in the city, and appointed him First Lord.'
Amarea says 'And in that moment, I found myself torn between commentin' only what I objectively knew to be true, and the risk of how a member of the White Tower might be perceived if asked questions about the Mayeners, especially with Far Madding soldiers in attendance.'
Chloro says 'Now you come to the heart of politics.'
Amarea chuckles politely.
Chloro says 'I have a homework assignment for you on this subject of preconception and word weaving. It is time you start practicing. '
Amarea nods thoughtfully.
Amarea finishes the remaining bite of her plate, setting it gently aside before resting her half-finished cup of tea on her lap. 'Yes, Aes Sedai?'
Chloro says 'Within the stacks you seem to be so often, is a transcript of my meeting with Mayene when they demanded a formal apology from the White Tower. I would like you to read it, then give me your thoughts on how you may have chosen different words or actions.'
Amarea's eyes light up with curiosity.
Amarea takes a breath and nods. 'That,' she replies, 'is a good challenge for me. I have aimed to avoid puttin' my foot in my mouth as much as I can, but it also means I haven't been forced to think of how to respond if I were placed in such a... delicate situation.'
Chloro says 'Gray Sisters may be master politicians, but our analytic and long-term thinking skills are not matched by many. Perhaps the Blues come close. We must be as certain as possible of how our actions, and words may influence further political dealings and the continuation of nations.'
Chloro says 'It is not uncommon for a sister in her lifetime to see a nation both rise and fall. The trolloc wars were not so long ago, neither was the nation of Malkier.'
Chloro says 'This is a good topic of discussion with Divina Sedai, she is possibly one of the oldest sisters living and has seen more of the rise and fall of nations than most.'
Amarea's eyes dip down with a modest blush at the mention of an Aes Sedai's age, sipping on her tea.
Chloro says 'Now.'
Chloro says 'Any Accepted I mentor should be capable of seeing the political landscape and where the stand in it, within the Tower. To that end, have you been fostering good relations with all Seven Ajahs? Or have you overlooked one or two?'
Amarea says 'Hmm. I have had few chances to meet with a sister of the Red Ajah, not in several months. I think I met with Isela Sedai before she took a leave of absence. And I haven't seen a Green in residence in the Tower in some time, except occasionally Vianca Sedai, at least not when I'm typically awake. But I have met with sisters of each Ajah on multiple occasions in recent memory.'
Chloro chuckles and takes a sip of her wine. "Do you feel confident in the bonds you have created, and the strings you have set?"
Amarea nods genuinely. 'Yes, Aes Sedai. I trust my work ethic, and the efforts I've made to put my best foot forward. I am proud of what I do, and how I carry myself.'
Chloro nods and then adds. "Then in true Brown fashion, we shall see how the variables respond as the experiment continues."
Amarea grins playfully.
Amarea says 'I make mistakes like anyone else. I have areas I could shore up. Ambitions that are not yet realized. But we all do, even if others aren't privy to our own thoughts on them.'
Chloro says 'You may leave your assignment on my desk or send pigeon to arrange a meeting. For now, back to your studies, rest from the library for at least a day and get some fresh air.'
Amarea chuckles politely.
Amarea says 'That should not be difficult. I aspire to be the type of Brown more known for what she has learned through action. The library is a place of solitude for me to rest and reflect, but after I've done my day's work, I think.'
Chloro stands up gracefully her robe seeming to look like water babbling down a brook. "You are dismissed Amarea, but know this, the higher you climb within the Tower, the harder and faster you can fall. A lesson all Tower Accepted must learn. Oh, and Amarea, I will be watching..."
Amarea nods thoughtfully.
Amarea curtseys before Chloro Sedai.
Amarea intones before she makes for the exit, 'The Light favor you, Chloro Sedai, and keep you safe.'
Chloro says 'Light illumine you Amarea.'