The Numbers of Chaos --- &RPaward

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Ramos
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2020 3:49 pm

The Numbers of Chaos --- &RPaward

Post by Ramos » Tue May 18, 2021 11:41 am

Ely edit 29 Jul 2021:

1-6 qps, depending on length and quality.

Potential +1 qp: if part of a series: o

Total: 1 qps

*****************************************Spread the arms out flat and straight. Press one hand firmly into the shoulder.

Fold the left shoulder back. Turn the right shoulder out.

Place the knife flat against the midsection.

Pull the fabric tight and smoothly fold in half.

Ramos scowled, tucking his old guild coat away in his luggage. He had worked hard for acceptance amongst the Merchants, and caring for his coat had always calmed his nerves. Careful. Procedural. Ordered. The marks of a man of quality. This time his heart still pounded in his chest.

“Ramos the merchant?”, a soft voice asked from the doorway.

He spun softly on one heel and his knees buckled, butt slamming his half open suitcase closed. Such lovely cloth, excellent cut, and wonderful dye work. Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green. Lovely. Never cared much for the other three. Fifteen men and thirteen women bustled into the door, the draft through the door setting shawls and cloaks fluttering in the wind. Rumor must have spread faster than he expected, and grown wilder with each telling, to draw a member of each Ajah.

He gasped as the air appeared to bind his arms to his side and he was lifted slightly off the ground. As his mouth opened, the air thickened inside, gagging him. The woman in the red shawl stepped forward, proclaiming “The nations of Tar Valon, Andor, Illian, and Tear hereby charge you with thievery, attempted murder, and murder. Do you understand?”

Ramos nodded stiffly.

The sister continued. “The Amyrlin Seat and the Hall of the Tower hereby charge you with channeling Saidin. You are to be gentled and transported to Andor for execution, as they have laid the first claim on you.”

Ramos’ eyes grew wide, tears pooling on the solid air. That, was wholly unexpected. Suddenly the gag disappeared, tears falling onto his lap.

“Do you have any witnesses to speak on your behalf?”

“No, Aes Sedai, I do not. Unfortunately, my only friend was slain by the same man whose crimes you now accuse me of. As for the second charge, I am very much not in touch with the One Power.”

The Red sister grinned. She walked close, leaning in to glance over Ramos’ face. “I chose my Ajah,” she said softly, “partly because I love to hear men’s babbling stories as they try to cling to their birthright.”

She stood up straight, smiling, “You have been spotted in several cities, walking through town squares, visiting taverns, booking rooms at inns. They say the light passes right through your skin, through your clothes even!”

She glanced at Ramos, amused, “You have not tried to hide your channeling, and there are hundreds of reports from several nations that speak of it. They even say you use it to cloak your movements at night, sneaking up behind your victims and cutting their throat.”

Ramos shrugged unsuccessfully in his invisible shackles. “You can gentle me if you would like, I understand it should have no effect on anyone who cannot channel?”

The red sister scowled.

Ramos continued, “As for the man you speak of, he has always been hazy in my eyes as well.”

At this, the red sister looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

“A friend brought me to an ancient stone in the Altara plains. He pulled a small, stone disc from his pack. ‘Are you ready for some adventure?’, he asked as he pressed the stone into the column. The symbols exploded in light, and soon, we were in another place.”

Ramos glanced around the room.

“At first I thought we were in a hazy forest, covered in fog. But truly, everything was slightly translucent. It was there where I met the man you speak of, a spitting image of me in every way. After he killed Kodama, we fell through an archway in the forest as we fought. When we arrived here, he looked startled and fled. It seems he has overcome his fears, and ruined my good name in the process.”

The red sister scoffed and raised her hand to strike him, but a brown sister grabbed her risk.

“You have a ter’angreal that enables travel through portal stones?” Her mouth hung open, eyes greedy.

"It is likely on Kodama's corpse, wherever that stone transported us to," Ramos replied.

The Brown sister's gaze drifted off, unfocused. The Red smiled wickedly.

They might actually execute me, Ramos thought, fear rising in his chest.