Class log - Initiate Life I: Functions

[Aleera]

Summary: Aleera’s first formal class on Functions of Initiate Life, discussing practical reasons for many of the small (and large) experiences that all girls experience during Tower life.

POV: Aleera
Attendees: Aelrena, Chloro, Coshe, Hadley, Maddy, Melosa


In the Classroom
A board of black slate hangs on the wall near the door, suggesting this room is used as a classroom. The room is plain and windowless and has enough place to seat thirty students. A dais with a desk sits at the front of the room, where the Aes Sedai or Accepted teaching the class can sit.

Aelrena folds her hands across her waist, her eyes scanning the classroom briefly before locking upon Aleera.

Coshe dips her quill in her inkwell, while watching Aleera carefully.

Aleera seems relatively calm. She's brought some notes, but they've been set aside and she hasn't looked at them recently. She shares with everyone, "We'll wait just a few more minutes for any last initiates who might be looking to join."

Melosa coughs awkwardly, "I had yelled in the novice quarters earlier."

Maddy stares out the window lost in thought

Aelrena's lips twitch up slightly at the corners.

Coshe taps her finger along her lips thinking.

Chloro looks around the classroom before snaking her way through the desks looking at each of the initiates preparedness for taking accurate notes. Her eyes look to Aleera as she turns to head to the back of the room, if someone looked closely enough, they may have seen the haughty Gray wink to the new instructor.

Hadley has arrived from the west.

Hadley closes the door.

Hadley curtseys gracefully.

Maddy startles as Chloro Sedai walks by, quickly pulling her notepad and pen from her pack

Chloro whispers something to Aelrena.

Aelrena nods at Chloro.

Melosa whispers something to Coshe.

Coshe looks over at Hadley and returns, her gaze forward to Aleera.

Aelrena whispers something to Chloro.

Aelrena looks at Hadley.

Hadley looks down at herself.

Coshe looks at Hadley.

Aelrena arches an eyebrow.

Aleera straightens a bit, smoothing her dress as well, standing at the front of the class now. "Thank you all for attending this evening. Before beginning, it is customary to cover a couple of housekeeping items."

Aleera begins, "First, could I get a volunteer to help with the door. We certainly pray that nothing untoward happens this evening, but we wish to be prepared."

Maddy puts a water skin on her belt.

Hadley runs her hands over her dress.

Coshe says 'I can Aleera.'

Aelrena whispers something to Hadley.

Maddy eats a plate of yellow peppers and pork.

Aleera gives a sharp nod to Coshe, "Thank you."

Melosa looks at Coshe.

Coshe looks at Melosa.

Coshe moves to a desk closer to the doorway

Aleera then says, "As for snacking. I do not mind, and given ... recent events with the Dragonsworn, I think we all would appreciate everyone feeling prepared."

(All eating and drinking emotes, however, have been removed from the class log to improve readability.)

Melosa mutters under her breath, "The Tower Guard should be increasing their patrols me thinks."

Maddy pulls her dried fruit from her pack neatly placing it on the desk in front of her.

Aleera gently clears her throat then, "With that aside. I had intended to discuss two topics today, but in the interest of both time and focus, I will limit our conversation to one. I will offer a follow-up class in the near future. Today, we'll focus on the functions of aspects of Initiate Life."

Aleera leads in to the matter, saying, "We've all been asked to reflect on life as Novices, or as an Accepted." She stage asides, "Admittedly, I may have considered it more than might strictly be considered 'normal'."

Aelrena's lips twitch slightly.

Melosa smiles slightly.

Coshe smiles softly.

Maddy smiles at Aleera with a nod.

Aleera looks over those gathered, making brief eye contact with each intermittently, "How I hope to proceed is by posing half a dozen prompts of things we've all experienced, or at least wondered about, and ask what functions, or purposes these might fill in the White Tower. My premise is that, all rumormongering within the Well aside, there are sincere and significant reasons for each and every one. Time permitting at the end, I'll also open the floor for additional examples we might all discuss."

Coshe smiles and taps her finger to her lips thinking to herself.

Maddy jots some notes in her book.

Hadley peeks at Maddy’s notes.

Maddy beams a smile at Hadley.

Aleera steps away from the dais, slowly moving across the front of the classroom. "So," she starts, "curtseying. The use of titles." She curtseys gracefully towards the back of the room. "This is certainly intended as a sincere display of respect. But what else might it do for each of us?"

Melosa strokes her chin thoughtfully.

Coshe moves in her seat to say something.

Aleera nods towards Coshe, "Please, go ahead."

Coshe says 'If that is not a rhetorical question Aleera, it may help us strive for something greater than what we currently are.'

Maddy puts her hand up.

Coshe says 'When I see Lady Kitiara Sedai, I think to myself that I want to be able to counted among that title, within that shawl.'

Coshe says 'I would want that responsibility.'

Aleera says, "Thank you. And no, it was not rhetorical at all. I hope for an exchange between us all. I think each of us already know much, sometimes we need encouragement to realize what we already knew; or help in putting it to words." She nods as Coshe expands on her answer, "Very good."

Chloro looks around the room before speaking up.

Aleera nods to Chloro Sedai.

Hadley disappears into the void.
Hadley has returned.
Hadley blushes.

Chloro says 'When I was a novice, we curtsied to the sisters because they gave their time and minds to us, allowing us to see the world as we had not seen before. '

Coshe nods towards Chloro Sedai, thinking to herself.

Aelrena's lips twitch up slightly at the corners.

Chloro says 'Every political system has a hierarchy, it is best you learn that now, while you are here, and how difference is shown.'

Maddy disappears into the void.
Maddy has returned.

Chloro walks up between the two day dreaming novices and looks to each before raising an eyebrow and retaking her spot at the back of the room.

Aleera nods graciously, "Thank you, yes. The White Tower is a complex organization. We don't curtsy to members of the Andoran Queen's Guard or a Shienaran Lancer. They are outside our affiliation. These acts reinforce our own group membership and everyone's place within it. As Chloro Sedai pointed out, it helps establish and reinforce the structure of the White Tower, our political system."

Melosa shifts in her seat and smooths her skirts.

Aleera then directly asks, eyes shifting between the Initiates, "Do we hesitate before curtsying, or before appropriately addressing someone with the Sedai honorific?"

Maddy shakes her head.

Coshe says 'Interesting question.'

Coshe says 'No.'

Hadley says 'It is practically a reflex at this point.'

Aleera nods to all and that points towards Hadley, "Yes, practically a reflex. If another Aes Sedai entered right now. I'd be dropping in a curtsey and there would be shifting of chairs as others joined me."

Coshe nods slowly.

Aleera shares then, "I posit that this is just a start to our lessons, a necessary prerequisite if you will. Because later, when working with the One Power, we all need to be very much prepared to respond to an Aes Sedai immediately and without hesitation. Propriety, whose absence can be deadly under other conditions, also helps prepare us for responsiveness in a different set of circumstances that also could be quite dangerous to ourselves and others."

Maddy reaches for a dried fruit, popping it in her mouth quickly before returning her gaze to Aleera.

Coshe thinks to herself tapping her finger on her lips.

Aleera transitions then, to not belabor one example, "Let's consider something else, our rooms when we arrive. Sparse and shared with another girl. And we're all placed in Novice Whites." She gives a pregnant pause before asking, "Why? What function might those things serve?"

Coshe looks to Maddy or Hadley.

Hadley says 'To divest ourselves of the trappings of our previous lives.'

Maddy flips back through her notes licking her fingers she turns the pages

Aleera gives an encouraging nod to Hadley.

Hadley says 'And we are paired so the transition is not too difficult.'

Aleera emote: Aleera gives an encouraging nod to Hadley.

Maddy beams a smile at Hadley.

Melosa clears her throat to speak.

Hadley says 'I suspect there is a method to the roommate system that I do not know.'

Aleera looks towards Melosa and nods, "Please."

Melosa says 'Yes certainly to make the transition easier. After all, novice training is meant to be difficult.'

Melosa says 'Any little help will help girls ease into the life of a novice.'

Aleera nods as Melosa shares. She then says, "Thank you both. Absolutely. Rich or poor, we're all starting afresh here and we're all as children once more. You're quite correct, it is difficult and intentionally so because there is much responsibility ahead and therefore much accountability is needed. And at the same time, the White Tower does want each of us to grow and learn."

Aleera extends things further, "So we arrive, are sorted, and then our movement is curtailed. The island becomes our world. We cannot go back to any family or friends we may have had prior to arriving. We're all dressed the same. We live in the same quarters. And we're assigned many chores. Many chores." She smiles, "Why?"

Coshe raises her hand slowly.

Aleera gestures towards Coshe and nods for her.

Coshe says 'it takes discipline to control the one power without hurting yourself or others, discipline is learned through hard work, and effort. Chores are a way we learn discipline.'

Maddy nods at Coshe.

Melosa says 'I have a slightly different view, Aleera.'

Coshe smile softly at Melosa.

Aleera nods towards Coshe and then turns to Melosa, "Please, add to it. I don't think there is a single reason for any of these things we discuss. But many. And each of them intentional."

Melosa says 'The conditions of being a novice and an Accepted are to foster a singular focus of becoming an Aes Sedai.'

Melosa says 'The chores, as Coshe said, are part of a disciplined regimen.'

Melosa says 'Two different matters.'

Coshe says 'I have a difference on opinions to that if I may?'

Chloro raises her hand slightly with a nod to Aleera.

Aleera nods to Coshe, "Please, go ahead, and then we'll ask Chloro Sedai to share."

Aelrena silenty observes the class, occasionally nodding along to the conversation.

Coshe says 'It is not a singular reason to come to the white tower, not to become an Aes Sedai. Think of those that never reach the shawl. I believe there are multiple reasons to come to the white tower, the first being able to control the one power so you do no harm to yourself or others, or for example with the Queens of Andor it becomes a part of their history as to why they come here'

Coshe says 'Some may become an Aes Sedai, yes.'

Coshe says 'But not everyone does.'

Coshe says 'To become an Aes Sedai may be part of why you come but it is not the singular reason why we are here.'

Aleera says, encouragingly, "Thank you, both of you." Her eyes turn towards the back of the room then, giving space and time to the Aes Sedai.

Maddy smiles at Coshe as she adds some additional notes.

Melosa says 'Indeed. The White Tower exists for the world.'

Coshe nods at Melosa.

Chloro looks to each initiate, even Aleera for a moment before speaking "Every Aes Sedai begins as a novice, I did, Aelrena Sedai did, as to Suian Sanche and Cadsuane Merilin. Every one of you had the same start, were and are treated the same, how you are perceived is what you put into it. Some rise to greatness as Aes Sedai remembered in history, some leave us, some yet still have not found what they are meant to do.

Chloro says 'Start thinking outside the box, it’s the little changes and things you do, that will set you apart from every other girl in a white or banded dress.'

Chloro motions for Aleera to continue.

Aleera bows her head in acknowledgement of Chloro Sedai's admonition. She is silent for a moment, purposefully creating time for that to settle in everyone's thoughts and allow it to find purchase. Finally, she says, "Thank you, Chloro Sedai."

Aleera says, "If I can summarize: discipline, focus, minimized distractions, creating an environment for the White Tower to be established as our family, giving us space to accomplish any of a number of different goals. Natural gifts can help influence that, but regardless of that, we also each get what we put in, never more."

Coshe continues to write, and brushes sand along her ink to dry it.

Maddy takes a sip of water before popping another piece of fruit in her mouth.

Aleera gestures down then at her dress and ring, towards the Novice's dresses, towards the Aes Sedai. "We discussed the Novice dresses on their own, but what about each of us: Novice, Accepted, Aes Sedai. These serve purposes both within and without The White Tower. But what?"

Maddy raises her hand

Coshe looks to Maddy and Hadley.

Coshe smiles softly.

Aleera smiles to Maddy, "Please, go ahead."

Melosa stares icily at the offending novice loudly chomping food until she slowly takes it out of her mouth.

Maddy says 'I think that it would make us all recognizable to each other and the rest of the world.'

Coshe nods in agreement and says "Similar to say the con of the men and women of Cairhien."

Aleera nods to Maddy and Coshe, and hearkens back to an earlier comment, "The political structure. It reinforces it within and telegraphs it without."

Aleera notes the time and says, "One last example for consideration, and I will group much in here. Given what I am about to name, I would ask everyone to please be mindful in what you might say." She then lists, "The rosebud exercise. The chores. The One Power. The Three Arches. The Test of One Hundred Weaves."

Aleera shares, "I believe although they might have individually different functions, they also all share a larger function. Any thoughts?"

Coshe says 'To unite us'


Aelrena's lips twitch up slightly at the corners.

Maddy says 'They are all learning steps towards being responsible and disciplined '

Aleera beams a smile to Coshe.

Hadley says 'Enduring the same trials as all who advance within an organization creates a bond and, as you said before, unity.'

Coshe nods slowly at Hadley.

Maddy quickly scratches some more notes in her book

Aleera says, "Thank you both." Holding up three fingers, she shares, "Those first three, since I included the Rosebud Exercise, might likely only be experienced by Novices of the Tower." The fourth finger coming up, "The Arches, then only being Accepted," and her last finger, "And The Hundred Weaves, only a full Aes Sedai." She nods to each, "Experiences shared by a very limited group, this group," and she gestures broadly to encompass the White Tower.”

Aleera says, "They reinforce our belonging here and knowing when we look to another girl or to an Aes Sedai, that they too have experienced what we have. Those outside these walls cannot and never will understand these things." She notes the time and then says, "I apologize all, I've gone a bit over. I do not want to hold anyone over long. I am, however, quite willing to stay and talk further with anyone with questions, or to follow up at a later time."

Coshe says 'Thank You Aleera for the lesson, I appreciate the insight and your views.'

Aelrena's lips twitch up slightly at the corners.

Coshe gathers her things and shuffles them into her bag.

Coshe curtseys gracefully.

Maddy says 'Yes I second that. Thank you.'

Coshe opens the door.

Coshe says 'Apologies for leaving so abruptly.'

Coshe leaves west.

Hadley thanks Aleera heartily.

Maddy curtseys gracefully.

Hadley says 'I appreciate the opportunity to look at our daily lives from multiple perspectives.'

Maddy says 'I need to make water may I please be excused.'

Hadley snickers softly.

Aleera says, "Thank you Hadley, Maddy. And please, depart as needed." She smiles.

Maddy leaves west.

Hadley leaves west.

Melosa twists the Great Serpent ring on her finger as she thinks.

Melosa says 'I did not think the lesson had ended yet.'

Melosa smiles slightly.

Chloro says 'Well perhaps this is your time to shine, ask your questions Melosa.'

Aelrena looks at Melosa.

Melosa says 'As you say, Chloro Sedai.'

Melosa says 'The question is one of a more overarching nature.'

Aleera leaves the front of the class, moving towards Melosa, shifting the nonverbal tone towards the informal.

Melosa says 'How does this information help our aspirants?'

Melosa smiles slightly and continues, "I would love to highlight the key lessons in my own classes'

Aleera shares, "I think I was asked," and she makes an exaggerated face of thinking, "At least half a dozen times, what does it mean to be a Novice. My hope for the Accepted here, is that today's discussion might arm you with some additional ideas on how to push a Novice into thinking about their life in the White Tower."

Melosa nods in agreement.

Melosa says 'Novice training is indeed difficult. As instructors and those who have come before, I believe wholeheartedly that it is our responsibility to make their time here in the Tower fruitful and full of learning'

Aelrena's lips twitch up slightly at the corners.

Melosa continues, eyes twinkling, "Apart from all the chores Laras sets them of course"

Chloro shares a knowing look with Aelrena and nods at Melosa's comment.

Aleera nods with Melosa, "I agree completely," and then smiles, "That is just more learning."

Aelrena whispers to you, 'I'm going to go ahead and retire, would you please share a transcript with the library?'

Melosa catches herself, "I meant Mistress Laras of course."

Aelrena's lips twitch up slightly at the corners.

Aelrena nods in agreement.

Aelrena nods to Chloro and the Accepted before gliding out of the room.

Aelrena leaves west.

Chloro lingers moment before lifting her silken skirts an inch and leaving herself.

Chloro leaves west.

Melosa smiles happily.

Melosa says 'Alright then.'

Melosa smiles at Aleera.

Melosa claps Aleera on the back.

Melosa waves.

Melosa leaves west.

Aleera stands quietly in the room, looking about it, to each desk and chair. She smiles softly, then gathers up her notes from where they had earlier been set aside before departing.

[Aelrena]

I've retroactively awarded all of the girls who attended a qp for attendance, and Aleera two for putting the class together and teaching it. I have also awarded Chloro a rpkudos for her own attendance.