Wheel of Time MUD

Ely edit 31 Jul 2021:

1-6 qps, depending on length and quality.

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

Total: 7 qps for prologue and chapter 1

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The stories you are about to read are based on true events. This is a dramatic retelling of my Master’s Quest. The logs were far too extensive and not particularly compelling to publish on their own, so I decided instead to write it up as a serial publication in the way I imagined it played out.


Prologue


“And you can promise she will be safe?”

The man’s quick words and pleading eyes tore at Kali, quick and fierce as the southern wind. She inhaled sharply through her teeth so as to avoid the worst of the foul stenches that carried on that hot breeze. A quick, measured breath. She could still taste the sickly warm taste of rotting fruit and dead flies that wafted down from the nearby Blight, but it was bearable.

The olive-skinned woman regarded the man, and the girl before him whose shoulders he grasped with white knuckles. Perhaps fifteen, wearing a simple gray dress clasped by a wide leather belt that had a wicked-looking curved knife hanging from it. The dark hair and angled eyes bespoke of Shienaran – or maybe even Malkieri – heritage. Something pulsed within her when she looked at the girl, like a flicker of sunlight that echoed off her soul.

“I promise that she do be safer coming with me than if she remain here,” Kali responded. Every word was true, in perhaps more ways than one. To leave her here could mean a death sentence. Without training, only one in four girls born with the spark survived on their own. And that did not even take into consideration other dangers of remaining here. Likely that child’s belt knife had already seen its share of use.

Unblinking, Kali fixed the girl’s father with a cool gaze from a smooth, ageless face, confident the words were enough to soothe the man’s fears about letting his daughter go. She could not guarantee the girl’s safety, but she expected the man would hear what he wanted to hear. What he really needed was permission to believe that he was doing the right thing by sending his daughter with Kali, knowing that they might never see each other again. But hopefully he would not take too long to decide, for there was precious little time remaining.

After a moment, she saw the tension drain from the man’s face. He nodded and turned his daughter around. “You will go with the Aes Sedai,” he told her, looking her in the eye as his voice cracked. “Go get your things together.”

The girl wiped a tear from her eye, but nodded as she bit her lip. She disappeared up the stairs in the back of the cottage.

Far to the south, Kali’s warder slumbered. Kali had not had time to gather up Astolfo before departing the White Tower. He would likely be sullen, but this mission demanded speed and stealth, and besides he got so few chances these days to spend time at home with his family. This task was not one that could be solved with arms and armor. But their bond still pulsed strong, and provided assistance to her even this far away. Especially as the she began to sense a bitter foulness vibrate across the bond, like a slick of rotten oil sitting atop fetid dishwater.

Shadowspawn!

This close to the Blight, it was hardly a surprise for there to be shadowspawn somewhere. But they were close. And many. Lockshear was under attack.

“No time to pack,” Kali called out after the departing girl. “We must go now.”

Almost as if on cue, alarm bells rang out across the fort. “Spawn north of Lockshear!” announced the scout at the northern gate.

The man nodded, and grabbed his daughter’s hand as she descended the stairs. He held her in his arms for a brief few moments. “Be brave and be strong. Do as they tell you. And come back to me when you are Aes Sedai.”

Just as quickly, he released her and reached up to a rack upon the wall above the hearth. His hands came back with a metal helmet and a wicked looking pole topped with a steel spike a foot or more in length.

“Remember your promise to keep her safe,” he said, as he made for the door.

Kali held her tongue as she reached for Saidar. The female half of the True Source filled her, and she sent out threads of Earth and Spirit, forming a complex weave. A vertical slash of light appeared, expanded, and rotated to form a gateway. Through the glowing portal she could see the stark gates of Fal Dara.

“Follow me,” she told the girl, as she stepped through the gateway. The girl followed behind, and suddenly they were outside the eastern gate of Fal Dara. Kali dropped the weave and allowed the gateway to wink out of existence as soon as the girl was through. The child turned to find only empty air where her home had been, and swallowed, her lip trembling.

“What happened to home? Am I safe here?” she asked in a timid voice.

“Do no be looking back,” she told the girl. “There do be leagues yet to travel before we sleep in your new home.” Kali had promised the girl’s father no such thing as safety. But she would do her best.



One week Ago


“Kali, do you have a moment?”

That sweet voice calling out from the Conservatory of the Blue Ajah could only belong to one person.

Kali Orfanos, Elder Sister, Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah, was busy stuffing her face with a most delicious pie of minced venision baked with potatoes and carrots in the Drawing Room when she heard the voice. Some of her sisters had wondered how she could eat as frequently as she did and stay mostly slender. Perhaps, even after all this time, her body was still making up for what it had missed out on as a child. Or it might be because even these days she still prepared her own food whenever she could. Regardless, she only ate when she felt like she needed to, often enough as it was. And she watched what she drank. A hot cup of Tremalking Black tea released its vapors into the air next to her plate.

Kali set her fork down and dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a cloth napkin. She laid the fabric over the meal to keep it warm and left the Drawing Room to see what was the matter.

A dark haired woman with a homely face framed with white lace and blue ruffles looked up from behind a desk. Her hair, nearly as black as Kali’s, hung straight and limp to the sides of her face. A warm, motherly smile poked out from among the ruffles. “Hello, sister,” she said, as she set down a feathered quill atop a stack of papers.

Anaiya stood as Kali moved to greet her. They were of the same height, but Kali still had to be careful not to crush her ruffled lace collar as she kissed the Sitter on her cheek. “How are you, Kali?” she asked.

Kali drew back to herself, but remained standing rather than seek out one of the chairs in the room. “I do be as I need to be,” she replied, her eyes glancing to the reports on the desk. Anaiya had always had an aptitude for administration, something Kali had always found more to be a chore than anything else. Nevertheless she was still able to quickly gain a fair idea of what Anaiya had been working on. “Reports on girls from the field?”

Anaiya nodded. “Every year the numbers of new initiates dwindle, even though every year we expand our network to search for girls with the spark.” She looked out the window, toward the city below. “Perhaps it is to be expected in a world that is slowly dying and falling into ruin and there might be little we can do about it.”

As dismal as that prospect sounded, Kali had to admit that the numbers among novices was of more than a little concern. When she wore novice white, the halls were bustling with other novices. The kitchens were full and the dishes were always done. These days the kitchens were frequently empty and they had to rely more and more on servants doing the dishes and the other chores, lest the novices they had never have time to attend to their studies. It was frustrating, perhaps even moreso for the Blue Ajah, who made it a priority to find girls with the spark. But not an excuse to not try, and to not hope, for there were always girls out there. Why, just a few weeks prior they’d found a girl with great potential among the Sea Folk.

“Sometimes, though, we get a glimmer of hope,” Anaiya continued. She turned back to the desk and picked up a paper, handing it to Kali with a glimmer in her eye. “My summary of the latest Eyes and Ears reports.”

Kali looked over the report. Aes Sedai serenity or not, she barely choked back a gasp. “Fortune prick me, do this be accurate?” She looked up at Anaiya, who nodded back to her. “There do be leads on fifteen girls? Fifteen? At one time?”

“As far as we know, it is,” Anaiya replied. “But there is a problem.”

Kali handed the report back to Anaiya, who suddenly blossomed with an aura of warm light. Kali watched her weave thin threads of Fire and Air, and the report went up in flames. So. Anaiya was being cautious. Or paranoid, which was functionally the same thing. The White Tower had enough enemies to make paranoia a useful skill to hone.

“We don’t know exactly where they are,” Anaiya continued. The light around Anaiya winked out. “And...some of our Eyes and Ears, the ones which would be helping these girls make their way to Tar Valon, have gone quiet without any explanation. I suspect our network might be compromised.”

Kali said nothing. It was quite clear to her where this conversation was going. And she realized she’d no idea as to where here last pair of blue stockings had disappeared. Scandalous for a Blue sister to leave Tar Valon without wearing blue stockings.

“An experienced Sister, one who knows how to handle girls like this, must go and find them. Find them, verify that they have the spark, and bring them back to the White Tower without delay.” Anaiya’s face twisted into a very uncharacteristic frown. “Will you perform this service? If I am right, they are in even more danger than usual.”

Kali nodded. “Aye, sister. I do be gone before the bells sound Full.” It looked like the rest of that pie would have to wait.

“Oh, dear, I’m sure the morning will be soon enough,” Anaiya chimed. “Surely you don’t intend to leave without taking the evening to prepare for your journey. And depart with a good night’s sleep.”

“Before bloody Last, I said.” Kali set her jaw. “These girls do be out there, many leagues away. Fortune prick me if I do no be willing to close that gap as much as I can before I sleep.”

Anaiya nodded. “Very well, Sister. The Light illuminate you and keep you safe. Is there anything you require?”

“A pair of blue stockings, if you do be able to spare one,” Kali said. “But please, no lace.”



To be continued…

Kali, you are one of my favourite people in the Tower and i am so happy to see you master. Loved reading and it was a joy to be inside Kali's head there. I especially liked the sensory details you added, and things like the image of Kali eating her pie really had me chuckling. And of course, a Shienaran girl being escorted to the Tower - love that storyline Lines I especially liked - "Something pulsed within her when she looked at the girl, like a flicker of sunlight that echoed off her soul." and this bit was such a great moment in the story - “Do no be looking back,” she told the girl.

Thanks and can't wait to read more!

Very nice. And congrats. Would love more stories

Thank you for posting. Looking forward to the next instalment.

Oh, nice and inspiring read. Thank you!

Chapter One
Sidona


Night had well and truly fallen by the time Kali arrived in Maradon. Lamplighters hustled to and fro among the streets, ensuring that no dark shadow lingered in the city for a Myrddraal to exploit. She pushed back the cowl of her own sable mantle. A crisp, icy breeze cut through her face and her hair as soon as she did. Winters in Saldaea were brutal affairs. Why do the world be so bloody cold up north? Sometimes, on the coldest nights, the trees would freeze from inside out and burst with a loud explosion not dissimilar to an Illuminator’s display. A trick of concentration kept her from shivering, but she felt the ice seep into her bones all the same.

Fortunately, it was a clear night, which allowed her to walk the streets without bringing attention to her by weaving a source of light or holding a lantern. Her walking staff of simple yew wood made a tap-tap sound on the dry cobblestones. She found her way quite easily from Merchant street to Main Street, though she had to take something of a roundabout path. Maradon’s streets were designed in such a way as to be easily blocked off, forcing an invading enemy to slog through various twists and turns in the outer reaches of the city before they could reach the Coramora Palace. Warehouses and merchants lay to the sothern part of the city, wedged between the palace and the southern gate.

Kali reached the wooden doors of a large and plain warehouse and quietly pushed her way inside. The interior was quite expansive, and filled with piles and piles of boxes and wooden crates. It must clearly be a depot used by many regional merchants. Indeed, during the day, there would likely be dealers and farriers and peddlers hustling back and forth. By night, however, there were far fewer eyes. But there was always a coachman in the bay.

“Hello, Dexter,” Kali announced, as she approached a nondescript man of middle years who leaned up against the door of an elegant but unmarked carriage.

Dexter the coachman looked up and peered at Kali. “Peace be upon you, mistress.” He knuckled his forehead with a fist. His eye caught hers. Clearly he recognized her, but Kali knew he wouldn’t mention her name, or at least the name she’d given him. Dexter dealt in discretion. “The usual?” He stood and began to make his way to an exceptionally large crate.

“I think not,” she replied. I ought to dissuade him from the notion of anything being the 'usual.'“Do you be seeing my friend lately?”

Dexter stopped, his hand resting upon the front of the crate. “Oh, the mistress [REDACTED]?” Kali motioned for him to continue. “She left the palace about three days gone, by...” he pointed to the still-closed crate. “Hasn’t been back this way yet.”

Kali frowned. That must be why her letter had been returned to her rooms undelivered. Kali’s contact was clearly no longer in the palace, and likely not even in Maradon any longer. “Did this person say anything to you?”

“Come now, Mistress,” the coachman replied, spreading his empty hands as his lip turned to a wry grin. “Whatever would become of my reputation?”

“Oh, but Dexter, you know very well this do be a friend,” Kali said. And she reached into her cloak and produced a purse, which she tossed him.

Dexter snatched it out of the air and tested its weight with a heft of his palm. His grin widened. “A good friend, I see.” He rubbed his beard with his free hand as the other disappeared the purse into his belt. “Hm. It seems I recall her asking if there was a coach that could provide service to Sidona about. I told her someone at the stables could probably saddle her a horse.” He snorted. “Coach service. To Sidona. They wouldn’t know what to do with a coach if it rolled into town.”

Kali nodded. “I do be thanking you. May the light illuminate you.” She turned to leave without another word.

So. The Eyes and Ears had gone to Sidona. That must be the location of the girl who could channel. How troubling that the contact had not returned yet. The village was hardly half a day’s ride from Maradon. Something must have beset her. She made her way back to Merchant Street, to find the stables herself. While Traveling could get her there in the blink of an eye, it would be a shame had something unfortunate befallen the Eyes and Ears along the way without Kali even bothering to look. So a horse it would be, then.

The road wound around to the north, past the central square. Was it her imagination, or were some of the lanterns out? Kali slowed her walk. She reached out to Saidar, and embraced the Source. The sweet flow of Saidar filled her. The bitter cold upon her face became even more apparent, pricking her skin like tiny daggers. She stopped, listening intently. Her own heartbeat echoed in her ears. Now she could smell the stable nearby. But what was that other smell? It reminded her of crushed nuts gone bad.

Crunch.

A bit of gravel ground beneath the toe of a boot. Not Kali’s boot.

Kali spun, whirling her staff before her, seeing for the first time the hooded figure as it lunged toward her. Her staff made contact with something, and she caught the glint of steel fly down away from her. The wood rang against the bare blade, shattering the silence of the still night.

Kali’s attacker – a man with his hood drawn about his head, wearing little more than dirty rags for clothing, snarled with a face full of crooked teeth. “Kali!” He yelled. “You will die before your time!”

He drew back the knife to lunge at her again, but Kali wove massive flows of Air and struck him a massive blow. The man was knocked clear off of his feet and went sprawling across the plaza like a rag doll tossed by a petulant child. He scrambled to his feet, knife in hand again, but she wrapped his arms and legs in Air, trapping him him mid-stride, his knife raised awkwardly just to the side of his head. Struggle as he could against the bonds, he could not break free.

Kali approached him and lifted his chin with the butt of her staff. “Who sent you?” she asked. Fortune prick me, how did he know my name?

Instead of replying, the man stretched out his head – and licked the blade of his dagger. He began to make a choking sound, mouth wide open, and his body started quivering. Within moments it was over, and he slumped, eyes bulging, tongue swollen and blue.

Kali frowned and examined the blade. It was coated with a whitish powder where the man had not licked it. She carefully sniffed it. Yes, this was where the odor of crushed nuts gone bad had come from. Her knowledge of herbs was far from comprehensive, but powdered peach pit was easy to identify, by its effects if nothing else. Clearly this man had feared revealing his masters more than he feared death.

She took the man’s purse off the still-suspended corpse and upended it on the street, spilling a handful of coppers along with a lockpick and an empty glass vial. Nothing to identify him. Blast it. She released the flows of air but was already moving past the square when she heard it fall to the ground. She would have the stable hands alert the guards to the presence of the body, but for now there was no more time to waste.

* * *

Sunlight was just breaking over the eastern Saldaean plains when Sidona came into sight. The small village, built atop a small bluff, was surrounded by a wooden palisade ringed with sharpened wooden stakes. Farmers grew ice peppers across rolling lands outside the gates, or at least they did during times when the land was not blanketed with a foot of snow. To the south lay farms, and eventually the town of Irinjivar. To the north lay bare trees that had yet to fall into the Blight.

Kali rode up the approach to the wooden gate and signaled the guards for entrance. As she did she began to take notice of rotting timbers and broken stakes along the wall. In one section a bit of hill had eroded out from under the wall. Sidona had certainly seen better days. At least the capital had sent them some extra protection. She drew back her sable hood and signaled to a Saldaean cavalry commander. “Peace, commander,” she called out.

The man saluted her. “Peace. You honor us, Aes Sedai,” he replied, and quickly ordered the gates open for her to pass.

Kali rode her horse through the open gates and made her way for the village square. She flagged down the captain of the town watch, a wiry man with a few days’ growth of gray, stubbly beard on him. “Pardon me. Did this person ever come through here?” she asked, giving a description of her contact.

The captain scratched his whiskers. “Bout two weeks ago, I reckon. Stuck around for a day and left. ‘Aven’t seen 'em around since.”

Kali nodded and thanked the captain. So the eyes and ears never made it back to Sidona after making their initial report. Kali had seen no signs of any struggle between here and Maradon. She reached the unfortunate conclusion that her contact had likely been waylaid inside Maradon itself, and now belonged to the streets. Unless they had run off, of course. But there was nothing she could do about it either way, now. She muttered a quick prayer for her lost contact.

“You here to see the masters?” the captain asked.

Kali shook her head. To her, working with the Sidona master blade crafters butted up too closely against the Second Oath, to make no weapon for one man to kill another, for her liking. Also, she’d hardly know which end of the blade to hold. “Your herbalist, please.” The manifestation of channeling could take many forms, but there were always symptoms that followed. Unexplained chills or fevers. Fits of giddiness or sudden loss of inhibition. And others. The herbalist would have been summoned had something of the sort happened to the girl.

“Sorry, Aes Sedai,” he replied, as he took off his helmet and peered out to the open field to the south. “Took off awhile ago, looking at the ground all close like. Said he needed to find a moonflower, whatever that is. Probably halfway to Irinjivar by now.”

Well, that was unfortunate. “The Wheel do be weaving as it wills,” she muttered. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since the prior night. “What about provisions?”

“Eh, there’s a grocer over yonder,” the captain replied. “It’s been a hard winter, but the poor girl running it might have something for you.”

She followed the soldier’s gesture until her eyes settled on a ramshackle storefront. It had once been brightly painted yellow and green, but now the building’s façade was a mottled mess of chips and flakes that would make a Yellow sister want to try to lay a remove contagion weave over the whole thing. Still, she’d seen worse.

Kali dismounted – thankfully – and unashamedly worked a gloved hand against her stiff back. She tested the first wooden step before the shop. It groaned under protest but held. The second and third seemed much less trustworthy, so she planted her staff in the joint between the first two steps and pushed against it to reach the landing with a single stride. The dilapidated wooden door creaked on rusty hinges but otherwise pulled free when she tested the latch.

There was very little light inside. Tiny beams of sunlight cut across the interior but left everything outside its pathway in darkness. Kali sniffed the air; from the smell, perhaps it was a blessing to not be able to see much. A thick layer of dust permeated the air. Dust and worn clothing and something more fetid. Probably rats. Or their leavings, anyway.

Kali embraced Saidar and quickly wove Air and Fire, tying off the knot and releasing as soon as it was done. A sphere of light sprang into existence before her, floating just to her left. Immediately her suspicions were confirmed. Half-broken shelves lined the interior of the store, some piled with various goods and wares, some with what might have once been wares or food. Trails of small dark balls lay across several of the surfaces.

“Eek!” yelled a high-pitched voice. Something thudded against the wooden counter before her, sending a cloud of dust billowing into the air. “Oof! Sorry! Be right there!”

A figure backed out from behind the counter clutching an armful various things. Now in full light, Kali took full note of the person – the girl. A young woman, perhaps sixteen, with a prominent hooked nose. Her dark hair had been roughly cut to shoulder length and had errant locks sticking straight up and to both sides. A crown of sweat had formed across her forehead that made streaks of dirt and dust down the sides of her face.

“Whew!” said the girl, as she unceremoniously dumped her armful onto the counter. “Welcome! What can I get ya?” She started to rummage through the pile. “Got some rations here...” she sniffed them... "nope, not those ones...how about a water skin?” She pulled out a leathered skin that had been gnawed through on one side. “Er. Half price! Turn it upside down and use it as a funnel!”

Kali grimaced despite herself. “You could get yourself a bath, child,” she replied. “What do be going on here? Who do be in charge?”

The girl wrinkled her nose and squinted at the light ball. “You talk funny,” the girl answered. “And that’s a funny looking light. There’s something funny about you.” She found some thread and started stitching together the gnarled water skin. “It’s my store. I’m in charge.”

This girl was in charge? An answer that begat more questions. “How did you be coming to own your own store?”

The girl grimaced as she poked her finger. She set down the water skin and put her finger in her mouth. “Well, it was my ma and my pa’s. Trollocs got them last winter.” The girl sighed and wiped her grimy forehead with an even grimier palm. “I know things aren’t looking all that great right now but I’ll learn. I was just sick for a bit, you see.”

How did the village council allow this to go on? They just left her to run her family store like this? Sick? Anger flared beneath an expressionless face. “Come here a moment, girl,” Kali commanded. Nicely. Mostly. Best delve her for any trace of lingering infirmity. She embraced Saidar again.

The girl came around from behind the counter and approached Kali until she was within arm’s reach. “Are you – you’re Aes Sedai, aren’t you?” she asked.

And that’s when Kali felt it. An unmistakable pulse of warmth that flickered between them. It was so strong that it was hard to believe she had missed it in the first place. The sensation was nearly impossible to describe to one that had not experienced it. Like if light was a sound that could hum and vibrate as the string of a lute, but beyond the range of hearing. This was the girl she was looking for.

“Oh, child,” Kali whispered. “You might feel an odd sensation but I promise it do no be harming you.” She laid her hand upon the girl’s head, ignoring how dirty she was, and sent weaves of Saidar through the girl’s body. The girl shivered a bit but otherwise held her ground. Aside from a bad case of head lice, which – she altered the weave just so – were now fleeing as if their lives depended on abandoning their host, the child was healthy.

The child at Kali. “Wow, that was weird. Was that the Power?”

Kali nodded. “Aye, child. During the Age of Legends, there did be wondrous things done when men and women wove the One Power together, and put it to service of the whole world. Now, of course, only women do be able to use it safely. But while so much do be lost today...”

Kali opened up her palm and sent a thread of Fire into it. A flame leaped into the air. “In Tar Valon, in the White Tower, there do be women like myself who still swear to put this power to the service of the world, and we do be still able to accomplish many great things.”

The flame winked out and reappeared. Again and again it flickered. Kali regarded the girl’s dark eyes. Not a hint of fear in them. Wonder and determination.

“And sometimes,” Kali continued, as the flame continued to flicker, “we do be finding young women with the spark themselves, and we teach them to become like us.”

The girl’s eyes were fixed on the flame in Kali’s palm. She inhaled deeply. “Do you...do you think I could learn how to do that?”

The flame winked out, then flickered feebly back into existence for one brief moment.

Kali withdrew her palm. “Why, child, you just did.”

* * *

It had not taken much more than that for Kali to convince the girl to depart with her. Leaving behind the grocer appeared to be more of a relief than anything. After some inquiry, Kali learned the store had run up significant debts, but that the creditors, who also happened to belong to the village council, had refused to assume responsibility for the store or the girl in exchange for canceling said debt. A few sharp words and icy stares from an Aes Sedai explaining what was going to happen were enough to get them to agree to a much more amicable arrangement that freed the girl of her obligations.

The girl hoisted a backpack onto her shoulders. “Are you sure they’ll be okay here without me?”

“I do be certain,” Kali replied. “Now it do be time to focus on your own learning and your own studies. Life at the White Tower do be hard, but be having every confidence in your ability to handle it.” She chuckled. “Perhaps before too many years pass you may come back here as an Aes Sedai yourself.”

The girl took one last look at the dilapidated shop and nodded. “Okay, I’m ready. But how far is it? I’m not very good at riding a horse.”

"Horses?" Filled with Saidar, Kali extended her hand. A vertical slash of light cut across the road and widened into a gateway. “oh, do no be worrying about that. How we go, we do no be needing horses.”

One child found. But there were still many leagues to go before she slept.

To Be Continued

Liked and subscribed.
Looking forward to more. Better than RJ!

As the ankle-biter said to the Ghar'ghael, 'MOR!'

Chills reading this.. halfway through I was thinking 'can Kali PLEASE get a warder to watch her back' and then she ka-powed her way with pizazz

The last line of the flame bit was all kinds of eeeee

5/5

Keep them coming!