A Better Starting Point

[Amarea]

Summary:
Aleera finds Amarea in the library working on a personal project, and the two catch up, discussing Aleera's decision to apprentice to the Brown Ajah. Amarea finds her own values and ideas reflected in Aleera's reasoning, and after talking with the other Brown Ajah apprentice, Amarea finally comes to the conclusion to reach out to the Brown Ajah and request apprenticeship with them. Amarea shares some of the details about the field research project she has been working on with Liia Sedai, and the two collaborate about theories on how these principles came to be.

POV: Amarea
Main characters: Amarea, Aleera

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A Large Reading Room
The large, ovular reading room of the library extends to the south, dotted
with scroll-covered and book-covered desks. The desks are a dark wood,
which matches the furnishings of the walls and shelves. Rows of pictures
hang in dusty frames along the walls. The entirity of the northern wall is
a large, heavily-leaded arched window that overlooks the Tower grounds, one
of the few windows in the building, as light degrades the quality of ink.
[ obvious exits: S ]

Aleera has arrived from the south.

Amarea smiles happily.

Amarea hugs Aleera.

Amarea says 'Oh, it is so good to see you, Aleera!'

Amarea beams a broad smile from ear to ear.

Aleera comes in to the reading room with a small stack of books. She beams a smile as she hears Amarea's voice, head turning towards her. "Good evening, Amarea."

Amarea says 'I feel like it's been an Age since I talked to you last. How have your studies been going?'

Aleera turns her eyes up and to a corner as she considers, then offers, "In one word, expanding. But if allowed a second word, I would also say well. And a third, interesting." She offers a grin.

Amarea giggles.

Amarea looks over at the stack of books, eyeing them with a curious expression. She says, 'Aleera, could I ask you a few questions about your
apprenticeship to the Brown Ajah?'

Aleera sets her small stack down on a nearby table and then nods. "Of course you can," she shares with Amarea, open and inviting.

Amarea takes a seat in a dark wooden chair and begins, 'I remember talking to you as you were narrowing down your choices about Ajahs, and found yourself increasingly confident that you would eventually choose the Brown Ajah. And now, I'm finding myself at a similar crossroads, and possibly about to make a similar choice.'

Amarea pauses, looking for the right words to go on. 'I am wondering, first, what helped you finally make the decision to pursue apprenticeship with the Brown. And second, if you don't mind my askin', I am curious how it compares with what you expected.'

Aleera nods, listening as she settles into a chair nearby. She says, "I received a metaphorical kick in the posterior from one of the Aes Sedai. I
think she, or maybe even it was more than one, thought I was malingering over making a decision." She admits, "And perhaps they were right. I was certainly delaying it. It made me uncomfortable. I worried over perceived Ajah politics, relationships I had established with some Aes Sedai as
informal mentors, and so yes, I found excuses to not make a decision."

Aleera adds, "And then," and she makes a smacking sound as she slaps one hand with the other.

Amarea leans in, eyes widening slightly with anticipation. 'And then...?'

Aleera shares, although it seems clear there might be a bit more to the story, "I was confronted with the question ... What would you do if you were stilled, if you could never channel again?"

Amarea nods in understanding, grinning. 'Aye, I think I remember Chloro Sedai asking me the same thing, once.'

Aleera concludes, "What would help you carry on? Give you purpose? That helped push me to finally give an answer."

Aleera says, "I might have been Shielded when the question was posed."

Amarea blinks her eyes innocently.

Amarea says 'So what was your answer? What do you think gives you a purpose?'

Aleera shares with Amarea, "I don't remember my exact words, but I shared that I was awed by the library here when I first saw it. I still am." She
gestures about with her right hand, fingers twirling, "This is a gift to the future, for generations to come. I want to contribute to that, make a permanent contribution to those who will come long after I am gone, to try to give them a better life, a better starting point than we've had."

Amarea nods eagerly.

Amarea turns to take in the long stretch of hallway running up and down the library between the various depositories, and sighs happily.

Aleera shares, "There's a beauty to ideas, but I am willing to admit that my notion of such may not be shared by all." She offers a quick grin.

Amarea says after a long pause, sighing quietly to herself, 'I want to learn things. No -- Not just that. I want to discover things. I want to find
patterns, and secrets, and then be the one to decode or break through those, and then find a way to use it to serve the Light.'

Aleera nods agreement, "There is a satisfaction to solving for missing pieces of patterns."

Amarea sits up a little taller, nodding at you, then breaks out into a broad grin.

Amarea says 'Aleera, I think I'm ready. I think I've known in my heart for a while, but I still wasn't quite ready to commit. But now, I believe I am.'

Aleera's smile is warm. She asks her fellow Accepted, "Do you know who you might ask to serve as mentor?"

Amarea says 'I really wanted to meet with at least one sister of every Ajah before I submitted a request for apprenticeship, but something Aelrena Sedai had me researching in the library got me thinking that maybe I was just stalling.'

Aleera shares, "There is immense value in working with all of the Ajahs, or at least a very diverse group. I think that is driven in to all of us who
might listen and I've increasingly seen the wisdom in that, even if I migth be perfectly happy to just hole up in a corner here for a few decades
doing nothing else."

Amarea takes a deep breath and says hurriedly, as if afraid to let it out of her, 'I want to join the Brown Ajah. I want to train on how to be a scholar, a true seeker of knowledge both old and new. And I think Liia Sedai would be a great mentor, if she would have me, given my apparent Talent with leylines -- weaves that tap into the inherent geometric patterns between us, the world, and everything in it.'

Aleera nods and says, "I've heard her name mentioned with respect. Unfortunately I have not personally had the opportunity to work with her."

Amarea says 'If she is not available, I genuinely would find myself happy with any of the Brown sisters I have met.'

Amarea turns around, excitedly pulling out a notebook from her backpack sitting beside her at the desk, and flips to a page and reveals it to you. The page shows a map of the Westlands, with intricate notes penned on the margins, and what appears to be algebraic equations scribbled on the sides and back.

Amarea says 'This is a puzzle Liia Sedai gave me, something that she has worked out and tasked me with trying to break down.'

Aleera nods in agreement, "I have learned something different, and in different ways, from each that I have interacted with." She leans over, peering at the map and notes Amarea produces.

Amarea says 'You know how you can easily Travel from Tar Valon to Caemlyn, and Caemlyn to Illian, but not from Tar Valon to Illian?'

Aleera nods, listening, "Indeed, something about the distances, whether that is purely physical or something more?"

Amarea says 'There appears to be a direct, linear relationship between the amount of training one has in the Travel weave, and how far she can reach across the world. It's not a matter of strength in the Power, per se, but training in formation of the specific flows.'

Amarea says 'So, Liia Sedai tasked me to see if I could figure out precisely what level of training was needed to move between two identified zones, and more importantly, show my work for how I could tell. She implied there was a correct answer, one she had.'

Amarea's eyes light up with curiosity.

Amarea says 'It was a book on mathematics and a lesson with a White sister that helped me see it.'

Amarea points to the map, indicating where a grid-like notation has been carefully drawn on the paper, and various areas such as Tar Valon are marked as squares on that grid.

Aleera ahs, looking again to the equations with some additional curiosity, "Are you working at those specifics..." and then nods as Amarea states as
much. She admits, very intentionally, "There is a logic to it, and the practical research could then demonstrate it."

Amarea nods thoughtfully.

Amarea says 'Yes! What I realized is that it's a trigonometric function.'

Amarea stumbles over the word, blushing slightly.

Amarea says 'So I thought, what if you give a designated system for marking the whole world on a grid? And then mathematically calculate the hypotenuse of the triangle that forms between you and the two axial directions to the designated zone.'

Aleera quickly says, "Don't be embarrassed. Easy for me to say. I confessed, concerned, about my lack of education before coming here. I have felt
distinctly out of depths at time. But, I think that is more common than I've imagined."

Amarea nods enthusiastically, offering a smile. 'I was a baker before coming here. I used to run legers, and I had to calculate basic sums to know how much of an ingredient to add to make larger batches. But nothing like this.'

Aleera shares, "The Way of the Light was the only book I had ever seen or read before ... here."

Amarea points her quill pen to the map. 'So that distance, as calculated in units...If you multiple it by a factor of ten, that is precisely how much
percentage of mastery you need over the weave.'

Amarea pauses, offering Aleera a sympathetic smile.

Aleera ohs as Amarea explains, "There's an elegance to that. The units, are they related sections of land (zones)?"

Amarea says 'Yes and no. Some zones appear to be entirely adjacent, but operate on different logic, like they are farther apart.'

Amarea says 'Take Cairhien, for example. If you attempt to Locate something in the city, it appears as if it should be immediately southeast. But it's actually several zones that you have to pass through to get there.'

Aleera nods and then inquires, "Does it matter where in a zone one is, or is it effectively the same? Some sort of effect of the underlying ley lines
that have been hypothesized?"

Amarea says 'From what I have tested, it doesn't matter where you are in the zone, as long as it is all related to the same underlying connection with the earth.'

Amarea says triumphantly with a broad grin, 'And -that- is what we understand to be ley lines. They're the hidden lines that connect every zone, that can be represented mathematically. And if you know the map, you can better understand where things are.'

Amarea says 'I am working right now on helping Liia Sedai to generate a list of unique or less common items and people that can be Located in every single zone, and then she intends to match that up with a map she is constructing. Together, it could transform and advance our understanding of the Travel and Locate weaves.'

Aleera wonders aloud, "I wonder if some of those distances you've observed, like Cairhien, were skewed by the Breaking. That is, were some areas once physically located more or less close to one another and the earth still 'remembers'. Or, perhaps, just so significantly disrupted by the One Power during that time that there are these deviations."

Amarea pauses, eyes widening slightly. 'Oh, Aleera, that is brilliant. I had never considered that.'


Amarea frowns then continues excitedly, 'Why...maybe that could explain why the Ogier's stedding seemed to shift, and why they had to work so hard to locate them again. Disruption to the ley lines could account for a shift in the locations of the stedding.'

Amarea nods at Aleera.

Amarea says 'I have explored most of central Andor so far, to begin.'

Aleera admits, "This is fascinating."

Amarea says 'And now I find myself really truly wanting to earn the position of Tower Accepted in part because there are so many other areas I'm not permitted to go, and I want to study those too.'

Amarea grins playfully.

Aleera chuckles, "I can imagine. It is a very real and practical deterrent to your work. Even though I could travel further now, I don't believe I
have, but it feels different knowing that I could."

Amarea nods thoughtfully.

Amarea carefully stows her papers, closing the notebook reverently, then gently inserts it back into her backpack. With a mildly chagrined
look, she says, 'I've babbled at you this whole time. Thank you for letting me get that out. I want to hear about you, too, and your own things that have been interesting you, if you want to share.'

Aleera smiles, clearly not upset or disappointed in the slightest at the conversation's focus. She confides, "I am a bit of a homebody, some by
choice, some by upbringing, some by virtue that I am not nearly so nimble, quick, or talented as others when under pressure of conflict. But, I am
going to have to travel abroad. I've put off tasks to help prove myself to the Ajahs and I've been nudged that I should, perhaps, be devoting some
time to such."

Aleera shares, "Coming up with a class to teach was one of the first, very direct, tasks for my apprenticeship. But, I came up with four, and one of
those was split in two. Eventually, I imagine teaching all of them. And, I think, I will be assisting one of the Aes Sedai with a class she plans to
offer, which was unexpected."

Amarea says 'That is exciting!'

Amarea says 'I unfortunately don't think I will be able to make your first, but I look forward to reading the transcript after.'

Amarea beams a broad smile from ear to ear.

Aleera nods, "I appreciate that. The second part will be about the symbolism behind much of what we experience during our time as initiates."

Amarea smiles happily.

Amarea says 'Thank you for the meeting, Aleera. I truly feel like this has been very enlightening, and helped me gain more insight into my future.'

Aleera shares, "I am always happy to spend time with you." She then offers, "Good luck, I am sure it will go well."

Amarea nods in agreement.

Amarea hugs Aleera.

Aleera returns the hug.

Amarea says 'The Light favor you and keep you safe, Aleera. And good luck with your first class. I trust you will be great.'

Amarea beams a broad smile from ear to ear.

Aleera responds, "And you as well. Thank you."

Amarea waves.

[Chloro]

Rplizer +1 qps : +
Extra meticulous edit +1 qps : +
Length bonus +1-2 qps : -
Summary: +1 qps : +

Awards:
Amarea 3
Aleera 2

Please say "RECEIVE" at a silver-haired sedai located in every Ajah wing.

This is perfect example of context when rping, both characters were fully engaged and allowed us to see them as they would be in the Tower. Bravo!