Twists of the Wheel

The World outside the Grey Tower is a vast place.
User avatar
Matty
"The Path of Daggers"
Posts: 964
Joined: December 16th, 2015, 8:19 pm
PC: Murdock Mather, Keeper of the Archives
SC: Nathaniel Carridus, Asha'man (Blue)
TC: Maever Donovan, Asha'man (Yellow)
Location: Plain of Lances, UK

Twists of the Wheel

Post by Matty » July 10th, 2020, 9:34 pm

Murdock Mather, Keeper of the Archives
Days turned to weeks turned to months turned to years. Murdock wasn't supposed to have grey in his hair, was he? He tugged out a stray strand of it, holding it up to the light. It almost glittered, though without the dark brown to stand as a stark relief, it was less impressive. He should have just left it in.

"Ugh. I thought I would be ageless forever," he lamented as he dropped the grey hair. It drifted, slowly, landing in the blood pooling from the body on the table. Reya Sanskarta was once a useful Shienaran link in the Black Ajah; now she was a dead link. And Murdock had all the answers he needed. His daughters, missing for some time now, were still alive and being held captive. Thanks to the intel he found in the house in Saldaea he had managed to triangulate and ascertain where they had gone, and by whom. With a name and an intent he questioned some more guards, found this link back to Reya, and she sang like a bird with every organ he touched. After a good night of sleep, he would go find his children, and he would take a new family member along for the ride as well...

----

Murdock normally looked well dressed and presentable, ever the sort to wear his Asha'man uniform, and today was no different. He wore his best black uniform, and his pins glittered as he limped purposefully down the corridors of the Grey Tower. He wore the eagle belt buckle that lifted his overall strength in the Power, and his grip on his walking stick was white-knuckled and strong. An ornate gold ruby ring rested on his middle finger; the man was nothing but focussed, far from the stereotype afforded to many of his fellow Browns.

He figured Mia would be somewhere with her darling husband inflicting more redheaded babies on the world, but fortunately she was outside on the grounds, probably to ogle Ravak in training or some such nonsense. There was a training session of sorts going on but he didn't notice the teacher, and he saw Mia's striking form (he supposed, whatever) on the other side of the training area. He hobbled right on through in a beeline for her, using his stick to prod people out of the way if they came too close. If they were surprised by a limpy old Brown walking past them, they weren't ready to bond an Aes Sedai.

He bowed his head to the Green, then raised his head to look at her with an intent smile. "I am going on an adventure, and I know Greens love a good adventure. It's got all the tropes you need for a good tale - my daughters are in need of rescuing, and they are being held captive by the Shadow. I know where they are, and I have some tools in my arsenal to deal with them. However, I know I cannot set things on fire nearly half as well as you, and as we are loosely related to one another through some second cousin third removed, I thought you might be interested to see where this leads. Especially as it is the person responsible for trapping us in that ghastly house in Saldaea where I broke my leg that time. Or was it my arm? I'll get Matty to reread the thread later."

He was not a man prone to smiling, but he wore one now. "As a prospective Yellow back in my training days, I have some weaves which can be deadly if I am allowed to make contact with the patient- ahh, Darkfriend. I would be grateful for your firepower, but if we can leave the main troublemaker alive for questioning that would be even better. Regardless, I intend on retrieving all four of my daughters today." And getting revenge for what had happened to them, but he would inspect their injuries before deciding how best to return those harms tenfold.
Image
------ Murdock -------------- Nathaniel --------------- Maever -------

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: Twists of the Wheel

Post by Bella » July 11th, 2020, 9:20 pm

Murdock was not typically one to see Miahala out, and the same was true in reverse...but here he was, and so that told her before anything he had to say that it was Something Very Important.

She remembered that "ghastly house" all too well, given it was such an enjoyable way to spend some time for her. Bella was pretty sure it had been Murdock's leg, given a vague recollection of Mia commenting about not being able to carry the Asha'man out of the house...but she could be wrong.

Her piercing blue-green eyes held his gaze as he spoke, still practically a porcelain statue even if her own auburn hair was pronouncedly threaded with silver. (She was not going grey. She was going silver. There's a difference. Look it up.) One naturally-arched brow arched even further northward at the mention of his daughters.

"It's good to have a use for one's talents," she drawled with a smile that might have been a little scary. She and Murdock may not have liked one another, and neither enjoyed the idea that they were related, she was very familiar with being a parent...and the need to take care of one's children was something they shared.

While she thought "getting them back today" might end up being a little unlikely, she gave her answer readily enough. "I will help," she said. "When do we leave?"

User avatar
Matty
"The Path of Daggers"
Posts: 964
Joined: December 16th, 2015, 8:19 pm
PC: Murdock Mather, Keeper of the Archives
SC: Nathaniel Carridus, Asha'man (Blue)
TC: Maever Donovan, Asha'man (Yellow)
Location: Plain of Lances, UK

Re: Twists of the Wheel

Post by Matty » July 12th, 2020, 8:17 am

Murdock had sort of relied on Miahala agreeing to come along, though it wasn't a complicated bet he had worried about; she would have agreed to come with him even if he told her there was a wheel of cheese being held captive, anything for the excuse to go hurt some Darkfriends. In fact she almost looked like she was looking forward to it, so hopefully Murdock could sit back and let her do all the grunt work.

Not that he intended on sitting back when his children were in danger. No, he fully intended on exercising his own talents.

"Excellent news. I intend on leaving imminently. If you have anything you want to collect then I would do so now; let's reconvene at the travelling grounds? I'll fill you in more on the way as I will be Skimming us there." They nodded to one another, and off Miahala went with that purposeful stride women of a certain age had. It made Murdock's limp towards the travelling grounds slightly pathetic in comparison, but he was fine with people underestimating what he could do.

---

A short time later our plucky heroes were reunited at the travelling grounds. There Murdock seized Saidin and wove the weaves for Skimming. His platform was fairly small, and the smooth grey stone was all one piece with an intricate maze pattern engraved into it, swirling away from the entrance. Two stone benches looked like they had grown out of the ground naturally, and there was even a little stone stool for Murdock's leg. This was where he sat with a sigh.

Once they were on their way, Murdock explained: "Using the books I found in the house, I scoured for the details of my children leaving Far Madding. A guard I had previously questioned, who had denied seeing them, was under Compulsion to not tell me anything about my daughters, but that did not stop him from being convinced to tell me everything else I needed to know. Our mutual would-be captor once trained at the Black Tower, though it was many years when I first trained there. I do not know what his," here he used air quotes, "'beef' is with my family nor do I care."

"They are in a small fishing village in Tear. Barely a village, just a clump of inbred houses. I am Skimming us a short way outside and then we will go in a cause a ruckus until I find my daughters. I am no expert with battle weaves but rest assured I am most skilled when it comes to holding a shield, despite my strength with Saidin. Where possible I will attempt to shield so you can deal with people; however, my shields are only useful when I hold the weave, so if I have to tie one off let's hope they are not a strong channeller..."

Rarely did Murdock talk for so long, and now he fell quiet. He twiddled the staff in his hands, spinning the end on the floor between his legs until it sat in one of the maze grooves. "I must acknowledge that my daughters may be dead. If they are I will hold a memorial service for them, and then I will throw myself off a Skimming platform."
Image
------ Murdock -------------- Nathaniel --------------- Maever -------

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: Twists of the Wheel

Post by Bella » July 14th, 2020, 9:26 pm

Considering that only half of the children she had given birth to were alive on this day, the living and dying of one's offspring was something familiar to her...although she had thus far been "lucky" to lose her children to the march of time rather than violence or mishap. Haeden had nearly been the one to break that streak before he was even born.

Mia listened closely but without any outward appearance of emotion to his tale, only arching that over-active brow when he mentioned jumping off a Skimming platform.

"Let us hope this is not the case," she drawled impassively, then she turned away--deep in thought for several moments. "What do we know of this village and who may be holding them? Will this Black Asha'man, our would-be captor, be there? Why this village? Simply that it is remote and unlikely to be searched, or do we have cause to believe there's another reason?"

User avatar
Matty
"The Path of Daggers"
Posts: 964
Joined: December 16th, 2015, 8:19 pm
PC: Murdock Mather, Keeper of the Archives
SC: Nathaniel Carridus, Asha'man (Blue)
TC: Maever Donovan, Asha'man (Yellow)
Location: Plain of Lances, UK

Re: Twists of the Wheel

Post by Matty » July 15th, 2020, 11:36 am

Murdock was privately glad for the lack of sympathy from Mia, focussing instead on wallowing for a bit. The silence stretched as they continued on their merry way, so by the time Mia asked about the village he had grown comfortable in his own thoughts and had to pull back out of them.

"It's barely a village. To be truthful I think everyone there will be in on this." Why they went through the effort to hold his daughters here was a bit daft to be honest, but there could well be other people being held captive there. "It's pretty remote, the land is good for farming, and there's a fishing port. I suspect it's self sufficient and enough out of the way of the usual trade routes. The Black Tower Asha'man could be there, but I've not advised them of our visit."

He stood up with a harrumph, smoothed his uniform, and gestured to the exit as the platform came to a stop, indicating for the Green to go on first. "I can only surmise that this village is a holding place for people, not only my daughters. If we see anyone else then we'll get them out as well." He didn't care to save anyone who wasn't blood related but he was supposed to be a good person and all that.

Hopefully his Dark Oaths wouldn't prevent him from channelling against these people... but with any luck Mia would set them all on fire and that would save him much hassle.

It made no sense that the Shadow would be directly involved. Murdock was a faithful if unambitious servant of the Dark, and he had always performed his tasks well. His work in Viadulo ought to speak for itself! If this was a way of assuring his compliance then they would be sorely disappointed. It wasn't like they could bring Giselle back to him, so why keep his daughters away from him? No, this had to be a separate party of conspirators who had some personal problem with Murdock. He was going to enjoy tearing them apart when Mia was out of the way.

The village was barely a handful of houses along a single wide dirt road, with a small pier at one side - the closest side to Murdock and Mia. At the far end there looked to be plenty of land set aside for farming. There wasn't a soul in sight.

"Well." Murdock drew on as much Saidin as he could, using his belt buckle angreal to draw more than he could alone. "We'd better get searching." It was cloudy overhead and it looked like it might rain soon; it felt appropriate, in a way.
Image
------ Murdock -------------- Nathaniel --------------- Maever -------

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: Twists of the Wheel

Post by Bella » July 18th, 2020, 8:12 pm

"We'd better," Mia echoed impassively, even as her mind raced. She knew Ravak would not be pleased that she'd set off alone--with Murdock, of all people--but she wasn't pleased with how long he'd been missing off in the wilds either. She knew she could take care of herself, and probably better than he could take care of himself.

This trip would likely prove that fact. Maybe she was just being petty... Either way, she was here.

And here was giving her a quiet but nonetheless chilling sensation rushing down her spine.

She didn't like the fact that this 'small, unimportant village' was so deathly quiet. She wondered if they would even find anyone here at all, dead or alive. "It feels like it may be a trap," she said softly. "You are certain of the information you received? That it was the truth? There may be no one here at all."

User avatar
Matty
"The Path of Daggers"
Posts: 964
Joined: December 16th, 2015, 8:19 pm
PC: Murdock Mather, Keeper of the Archives
SC: Nathaniel Carridus, Asha'man (Blue)
TC: Maever Donovan, Asha'man (Yellow)
Location: Plain of Lances, UK

Re: Twists of the Wheel

Post by Matty » July 20th, 2020, 11:44 am

Murdock didn't think he was being lied to - people with their insides being torn apart tended to sing like birds - but this could be a ruse. It wouldn't be a complete waste of time hopefully. "They believed they were telling the truth," he allowed, which was open for interpretation. Cold in the void, he went on, "if the place is empty, we can search for clues." Another hurdle in his way, what difference did it make? He would press on, stubborn as a mule. Hey, maybe it ran in the family and Miahala could relate to it.

Murdock limped on boldly (and slowly), his enhanced senses failing to pick anything up. It wasn't a trap, was it? If it was he hoped it went off on Mia, preferably after she'd taken down some of their potential opposition.

No. He caught movement from one of the nearby houses; in the window, someone looked to be putting a pie on the window. He looked up, blinked a few times at Murdock and Mia, and scowled. Murdock reached out to put a shield on him just in time. He stretched against it and Murdock simply held it, letting him try to break it with no joy. A small smirk nearly crossed his lips. "He's a channeller and I have him shielded," he said, "but I can't split my flows further without compromising it. Can you do your Green thing and sort him out before he stabs us?" As the man was grabbing something pointy and climbing out the window, knocking aside the pie. What a waste.

The weirdest part was when the shielded man began to squawk, which turned out to be a signal to the other houses...
Image
------ Murdock -------------- Nathaniel --------------- Maever -------

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: Twists of the Wheel

Post by Bella » July 24th, 2020, 11:02 pm

Maybe it had made some others of the Grey Tower look at Miahala with a suspicious side-eye, but she had yet to regret forsaking the Three Oaths that had bound her for so long. It had been a hindrance to taking preventative defense measures. Even if she'd figured out ways to work with them and around them, this was just easier...

Her hand flicked up, and a column of Air collided with the man. It flew straight through the window, disturbing little en route, and caught him in the chest. It knocked the air out of him, which thankfully stopped that bizarre sound, and knocked him into a wall. His head slammed back and he dropped as pile to the floor.

Mia let out a small sound roughly a "huh/hmm" but then realized the odd sound wasn't random. It had a purpose.

"Company," she declared, drawing in more Saidar.

A woman in blouse and breeches rushed from a stable with a bow in her hand. She already had it raised with an arrow nocked, ready to fire at Mia or Murdock, but she didn't get the chance when she was bodily lifted off the ground with Air and tossed aside. Her fingers released the bowstring with a twang, but the arrow sailed uselessly into someone's herb garden.

What a waste of good mint, Mia thought a touch inanely--after all, she had been called insane on more than one occasion.

Another bow went up in flames as Fire consumed the wood, making the second archer scream, before an Air shield blocked a swordsman's rush before the earth cracked beneath his feet. One leg fell in to a sickening crack.

From the corner of her eye, she saw weaves of Saidar rushing for Murdock. She certainly had no particular drive to protect him, but he was the reason they were there. It seemed rude to let some other Aes Sedai immolate him. Threads of Spirit sliced across the space between them, cutting the weaves and then preparing a return volley...

User avatar
Matty
"The Path of Daggers"
Posts: 964
Joined: December 16th, 2015, 8:19 pm
PC: Murdock Mather, Keeper of the Archives
SC: Nathaniel Carridus, Asha'man (Blue)
TC: Maever Donovan, Asha'man (Yellow)
Location: Plain of Lances, UK

Re: Twists of the Wheel

Post by Matty » July 29th, 2020, 11:12 am

Murdock was not a fan of being rushed by lots of people, and he couldn't split his flows very well - if it wasn't Rending or Healing, he was actually rather unimpressive - so he was more than happy to let Mia deal with these people. His arms tingled, and he figured Saidar was being used quite liberally, so all he had to do was stand there and let it happen. He threw some shields on people and let Mia do the rest as they were struggling against him, so that was almost a form of teamwork from them.

"Jolly good," he murmured as the last person (for now) fell, looking rather worse for wear thanks to liberal amounts of fire from Miahala. Murdock limped over to the nearest house where the pie was still steaming on the window, but he just had a quick look inside without going in. It was a small home and it looked rather cosy actually. Not sure what he had expected, Murdock fell back and made his way back to Mia. "Let's see who else comes crawling out the woodwork," he said, cold in the void. The pair of them advanced and apart from a couple of people popping out a nearby house who were promptly shielded and dealt with, they were quite alone once more.

Murdock made a slow beeline for the largest of the buildings, and he looked through the window before shrugging. "Nobody's come out of here, and I can't see anyone," he said, but it was as good a start as any and it actually had an upstairs. Murdock knocked the door open with Air but then paused, squinting at the room. "Wards," he warned Mia, "made with Saidin. I can't unpick them - I'm not Jaryd - but they will all be set off when a body makes contact with them." He ummed and aahed, before pointing at one of their would-be attackers that Mia had thoroughly broken. "Would you like to throw the body in there, or shall I?"
Image
------ Murdock -------------- Nathaniel --------------- Maever -------

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: Twists of the Wheel

Post by Bella » July 31st, 2020, 1:32 am

"Would you like to throw the body in there, or shall I?"

"Oh, Murdock, you know how to show a lady a good time."

Miahala smirked sidelong at her companion-in-mayhem-and-mayhem-only and cast a sidelong glance for the nearest body. It happened to be one of the archers that she had burned their bows free of and they were flopping around on the ground, crying and clutching burned hands to their bodies. She wrapped her up in Air and lifted her, then flung her into the door.

Since she didn't know what the Wards would do when a body hit them--and she hadn't asked--she put a wall of Air behind the body, which was good because the door exploded and flames shot out.

Yet it all just bounced harmlessly off the Air and to the ground on top of a now-smoking body. She looked at Murdock.

Post Reply
meble kuchenne na wymiar cennik

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests