Keeping the courses clear (Attn:Bella)

The World outside the Grey Tower is a vast place.
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Damon
"The Shadow Rising"
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Joined: January 25th, 2017, 5:14 pm

Keeping the courses clear (Attn:Bella)

Post by Damon » July 20th, 2017, 4:35 am

Olin
“So there I was, one boot on my foot and the other in my mouth as I tried jumping from the balcony to the hedgerow. I tell you I'm lucky her husband never saw me, and that I didn't break my neck, but she’s worth all the scratches,” grinned the guardsmen as he shared another story of his exploits among the women of Hama Valon.

Olin wasn't sure how much to believe, the man managed to paint himself as a blade master of wooing, but it helped to break up the routine of guard duty at the gates. He had once more volunteered to help with the inspections as it gave him a chance to work with the guards, and more familiarity with interacting with fighting men.

“You’ll end up hanging by your small clothes if a husband catches you,” teased another as he waved the wagon through, hopping down heavily off the wagon’s bed after inspecting the load. The wagon rattled through the gates noisily, and as Olin turned to greet the next approaching traveller, he spied a rider slumped over their horse further down the road. Concerned at the appearance of both rider and animal, Olin walked forward, calming the people he walked through as he approached the animal.

Grabbing the reins, he shook the rider gently, and was shocked to see it was a young man who appeared exhausted and filthy. The horse was lathered and it’s mouth had sores from the bridle after what appeared to be a long journey. “Is this Hama Valon, did I make it,” the boy croaked weakly as Olin led the horse gently into the Grey Tower.

“Yes my child, you are at the Grey Tower now, let's get you off the horse and get the animal stabled before you tell me more,” Olin said gently, pulling one of the guardsman aside, sending the man to fetch a groom for the weary horse. He had been around animals often in his life before becoming a Dedicated; and this animal had been ridden within an inch of it’s life.

While Olin waited for the grooms, he walked the horse slowly and allowed the young man to sip from a canteen and wash his face and hands off in the basin nearby. After washing the worst of the road off of himself, and with some water and food the boy began to liven. As Olin took him through the grounds of the Grey Tower, he often had to pause as the boy stared at one wondrous thing after another.

Once they had arrived at the stables, and the young man could see his horse was taken care of, Olin grabbed a bench, “So tell me, what is your name? What brings you to the Grey Tower? And with a horse on the verge of death?”

The boy looked startled by the questions, but as his wide eyes took in the Dedicated uniform and the sword pin he seemed to decide it was alright to defer to Olin. “Well sir, my mother and father sent me. We’re from a little village near Garen’s wall. We all just called it Garen’s Spring on account of the wild springs that helped feed into the river. Mostly farmers and some mining, but we’re being overrun.”

“You're name boy, and overrun by who?” asked Olin as he tried to place the description. He knew a little of the area surrounding Garen’s wall, having lived in southern Ghealdan, but he had never heard of Garen’s Springs. Still he knew that the mountains could easily hide many little hamlets, and he wondered what trouble could have found this boys home.

“I'm called Nevin sir, and it's the Seanchan. I don't know a lot, but I did hear my father say they were making a push up the great north road. Bad men came along with a group of people fleeing their homes, but my father and the others were able to fight them off. Our Lord died, so my father sent me here,” Nevin said in a rush as he clearly delivered a message he was worried he would forget.
“Stay in Hama Valon and get some rest, I must go speak with someone. But I will make sure you have a room. Ask the guard to show you to Olin’s inn and tell them I sent you,” Olin said as stood, his mind already dissecting the news. The men had most likely been displaced refugees and criminals, a wave of chaos fleeing the orderly Seanchan advance.

Soon his steps had carried him to a familiar office door, where he knocked and awaited a call to enter. Once the door was open, Olin walked in and shut the door behind him. “Pardon Miahala Sedai, but I was serving on the gate when I met with a messenger. A young boy, riding hard to make it here in time has provided information. It appears the Seanchan maybe solidifying their hold on Altara. Is there anyone you could send to provide aide,” Olin asked as he finished his report on the facts he had learned.
Last edited by Damon on July 21st, 2017, 5:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Every man is the hero of his own song," Tad Williams.

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Bella
Female Channeller Representative
Posts: 5615
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 11:28 pm
PC: Miahala Darrow Sedai
SC: Lysira Viathene Gaidin
TC: Gareth Tomosan Asha'man
QC: Natlya Cade Gaidin
QC: Andraste Alhandra Sedai
Location: New England

Re: Keeping the courses clear (Attn:Bella)

Post by Bella » July 21st, 2017, 2:34 am

The time since the wedding had not been long, but the time the pair of newlyweds had taken off work for the wedding and immediately after was fairly short as well. There was always much to be done, and a balance to be struck between the doing of it and the doing of things to remind one why they did it.

Today found Miahala in her office, as she often was, going over reports and missives from her eyes and ears throughout the nations. It was certainly a benefit of her very long life to have made quite a network for herself...but the reading and writing might kill a woman.

So it was that when there was a knock at the door, she was grateful for the distraction. She called enter and watched as Olin, now a Dedicated, walked in. She recalled her last meeting with him, where he had been much concerned about the future, his dreams, and what Ajah he was destined for.

It wasn't another "chat" that he came for, though, but to make a surprising report.

The bloody, flaming Seanchan again, she muttered inwardly. Twice had she lived to see them attack the very walls of the Grey Tower itself, so it was hardly surprising that any would be so enterprising as to take on anything else almost anywhere else. "Aid will be provided," Mia assured him. She came to a decision within herself, but waited to voice it

"Tell me, what more do you know? What else did this boy tell you about what happened?"

Damon
"The Shadow Rising"
Posts: 195
Joined: January 25th, 2017, 5:14 pm

Re: Keeping the courses clear (Attn:Bella)

Post by Damon » July 21st, 2017, 7:03 pm

Olin
Olin could see the stack of papers and letters upon Miahala Sedai’s desk, and so as he began his report he was grateful she had made the time to hear him out. He rubbed the scar over his eye as he recallled his first meeting in this office. It truly seemed much longer than a year or so, and he had not yet earned the price of walking through the Three Arches.

As he finished his statement, he waited for the Captain General to respond, and he nodded in gratitude when she simply assured him that aide would be given. “What else did he say? Was there any other information?” she asked Olin her fingers resting over papers as she allowed him a second to recall.

Olin shook his head regretfully, “To be honest the boy is young and knew little more than what he had overheard from his elders. But I know a little of the area having been raised near the border in southern Ghealdan.”

“I believe the Seanchan are advancing, but that the boys village was more likely dealing with looters or refugees as they fled the army. I do not know if the Seanchan want to conquer all of Altara, I do not yet have eyes there. I do know that those behind Ebou Dar tend to think of themselves as belonging to their area rather than the country as a whole. This fractured view, might make it easier for lawlessness. I think Garen’s Spring is facing the overflow from the Seanchan advancing,” Olin said, pausing as he grabbed a spare sheet of parchment and a quill from the desk. Biting his lip as he tried to recall the layout, he drew a hasty map of the road.

“I do not know how far they are advanced. Many would flee word of their coming long before they arrived. But if they get through the narrows, they'd be on the road to Remen, and from there the Light only knows,” Olin said, using his quill to suggest where he believed they might be headed.
"Every man is the hero of his own song," Tad Williams.

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Bella
Female Channeller Representative
Posts: 5615
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 11:28 pm
PC: Miahala Darrow Sedai
SC: Lysira Viathene Gaidin
TC: Gareth Tomosan Asha'man
QC: Natlya Cade Gaidin
QC: Andraste Alhandra Sedai
Location: New England

Re: Keeping the courses clear (Attn:Bella)

Post by Bella » July 22nd, 2017, 2:55 am

Nearly as still as a statue, Miahala listened and looked at the map as he drew it. While she listened, she recollected her own reports from her network of eyes and ears in Altara. Hers were not as extensive there as some of her fellows, but there was hardly a place within the mainland that did not have someone that whispered in the Green's ear.

"So far as I've heard, there has not been much forward advancement to bring them to that town," she mused aloud. "I would not swear to it that it couldn't change in a heartbeat, but I would suppose it more likely that you're right. Those fleeing their advancement are instead looking for easy targets. Desperate men do desperate things. There too is the idea of Seanchan-hired mercenaries, working under orders or on their own. The Seanchan had plenty hired sword-arms when they last attacked the Tower."

She steepled her fingers in front of her lips as she thought. If the Seanchan were advancing, it would need scouting. And if they weren't and this was just a band of ruffians...then they needed to be rooted out. Of course, the idea of a trap was not beyond her either.

"Return to the boy and tell him that we will help him," she finally determined. "Have him put up in a room for the night and fed, charged to my own account. I will myself investigate this matter. The boy will come along to show us where we should go, and since he has already started to know you, then you will attend as well." She spoke with the finality of a woman used to leading and being obeyed.

Damon
"The Shadow Rising"
Posts: 195
Joined: January 25th, 2017, 5:14 pm

Re: Keeping the courses clear (Attn:Bella)

Post by Damon » July 24th, 2017, 8:37 pm

Olin
After delivering his report and sketching out his thoughts on the matter, Olin waited nervously as Miahala Sedai sat there. She was as still as a stone statue and Olin concentrated on allowing her time to think, not wanting to once again chatter like a magpie in her office. He knew how words ran away with him when he was nervous, but calming and centring was something every channeler learned well in the Grey Tower.

"Return to the boy and tell him that we will help him," she finally determined. "Have him put up in a room for the night and fed, charged to my own account. I will myself investigate this matter. The boy will come along to show us where we should go, and since he has already started to know you, then you will attend as well,” Miahala Sedai commanded, and Olin nodded his agreement. He had never considered that the threat could be sell swords, purchased by Seanchan forces to cause trouble and chaos. Of course he had not been here for the attack on the Grey Tower, so it was hard to imagine the Seanchan being so aggressive.

“I had already sent him to be fed and housed at an Inn, he was in no shape to travel without rest. I will also prepare a mount for myself and supplies, is there a Gaidin or other arrangements you require Aes Sedai?” Olin asked as his mind worked on the possible gear he might need. He knew they would likely travel fast, and with gateways it would cut down the need for rations depending on where they initially began their search.
"Every man is the hero of his own song," Tad Williams.

User avatar
Bella
Female Channeller Representative
Posts: 5615
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 11:28 pm
PC: Miahala Darrow Sedai
SC: Lysira Viathene Gaidin
TC: Gareth Tomosan Asha'man
QC: Natlya Cade Gaidin
QC: Andraste Alhandra Sedai
Location: New England

Re: Keeping the courses clear (Attn:Bella)

Post by Bella » July 27th, 2017, 2:55 am

How quickly the young forget, Miahala thought with amusement, recalling the last time that Olin had sat in her office and spoke to her, casting constant nervous glances at Ravak as he sat like a quiet stormcloud on her sofa; how she had tried to stifle her amusement at her warder's demeanor while conversing with the young man...

"My warder will be traveling with us," she told him with a single nod and a small smile. "Ravak Gaidin." Now husband as well, but that did not need to be noted here. It was not relevant. Said husband would likely be displeased with her traveling in her condition, but she wasn't going to lock herself away for months...

She never had before.

"We will leave with morning's light," she said. "So prepare yourself and the boy for a trip through a Gateway." She paused thoughtfully. "Did the boy yet give you his name?" It was a minor detail, but one that she would wish to know.

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